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The Renaissance: Importance And Influence In The Renaissance

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A consideration of patronage obviously introduces questions about money. One of the defining characteristics of Florentine society throughout the centuries was a deeply-rooted system of patronage networks. Patronage was practiced as a social institution throughout early modern Europe, peeking in importance between the 14th and 17th centuries. The Medici family controlled Florence throughout much of the Renaissance and played a large part in the patronage of the arts and the political development of the city. As a wealthy and influential family, Medici had virtually no choice but to participate in public life which left its traces on buildings in Florence. Cosimo de' Medici used his vast fortune of an estimated 150 000 gold florins (almost 30 …show more content…

Its design was fully entrusted to Michelangelo when Medici pope Leo X gave him the commission to design a façade in white Carrara marble in 1518. Michelangelo made a wooden model, which shows how he adjusted the classical proportions of the facade, drawn to scale, after the ideal proportions of the human body, to the greater height of the nave. The work remained unbuilt, and it is also due to the patronage control. When the wooden model of the facade was presented to Leo X and Cardinal Giulio de’ Medici at 1518, it was the first visual evidence they had been given of the enormous increase in the size of the project caused by raising of the side bays full height, extending the facade a full bay’s width on each side. It is interesting that Leo X and Cardinal Giulio should have allowed the project to get out of hand and then have permitted Michelangelo to quarry marble for it over a period of 18 months. Thus we can suggest the failure of the San Lorenzo facade should be regarded as a failure in patronage, but not in the sense normally supposed. For the best architectural patronage does not consist in giving the artist unlimited funds and license to do what he wants, but rather in having a clear idea of the project and directing it with intelligence and understanding. Michelangelo did, however, design and build the internal facade, seen from the nave looking back toward the entrances. It comprises three doors between two pilasters with garlands of oak and laurel and a balcony on two Corinthian columns. In recent years, the association of “Friends of the Elettrice Palatina” and the Comune of Florence re-visited the question of completing the outer facade according to Michelangelo's designs. To assist with the public debate, a computerized reconstruction was projected onto the plain brick facade in February 2007. As yet, no decision has been

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