Students Last Name 1 Student Name Instructor Course Name University 9 September 2012 Florence, the cradle of Renaissance

Renaissance, the cultural movement of unprecedented humanism and extolling of mundane values and knowledge in contrast to medieval theocentrism, originated in Northern Italy in the beginning of the fourteenth century and was firmly reigning over Western Europe by the end of the sixteenth century. But it is nowhere else than in Florence that the germs of this overwhelming reappraisal of values could have sprung. What was so particular about this Italian city? What were the necessary prerequisites of virtual rebirth of European culture that happened to have existed in Florence? As a matter of fact, it was a complex mixture of ingredients that Renaissance was cooked of, including exceptional political, cultural and social conditions, creating an extremely favorable atmosphere for development of a totally innovational mentality. By the middle of the fifteenth century Florence was a flourishing independent city-state. This status implied that political power rested in the hands of varying amount of citizens as distinct from monarchial setup of the majority of European countries, where the feudal obligations and traditions were still thriving, which inevitably bridled the development of freethinking (Cook). Such an autonomous position of the city cannot avoid being compared to that of ancient Greek polis in its core. However, much unlike ancient times, the city of Florence was ruled by twelve affluent merchant guilds which assembled at the Palazzo Vecchio to discuss urgent problems and vote (Barton). Thus, the political life of Florence was boiling with pluralistic opinions and the large competition in this domain also permeated to arts. Certainly,

Students Last Name 2 the development of arts required much finance as well and there was no place like Florence to find wealthy and rivaling patrons. Being favorably located at the major trading route of Europe, Florence owed its prosperity to commerce, with the largest source of income being textile manufacture, particularly woolen clothes. Florentines success in international business affairs can be illustrated with the rapid establishment of florin, the city coinage, as standard throughout Europe (Barton). Another popular source of revenue was banking in which, among others, the Medici family were involved. The Medici rule, which marked the returning to monarchial, though quite liberal system, began with Cosimo Medici in 1429 and lasted to the coming of Savonarola in 1494. It cost much diplomatic efforts and political intricacy to maintain the hereditary rule for such a long time, taking into consideration the incessant warfare between city-states and internal competition. This factor, however, was contributing to formation of new outlook: Jon Cook argues that the war with Milan, starting in 1402, was a great stimulus to civic humanism (History Review). A series of repeated lucky avoidances of Milanese conquest led the citizens to believe they were the the New Rome and Gods favorites. Thus, by the start of the Medici epoch, the citizens had enough freedom, security, wealth and confidence to indulge in cultural growth to gain ever more resemblance to the chosen people of Rome. Lorenzo the Magnificent (1469-1492) himself was a notable humanist and ardent book collector, who definitely set the example to other prosperous patrons of art. To a certain extent it was vanity that incited the flourishing of arts in Florence, as the sponsors were striving to override their rivals and show off their wealth. Instead of glorification of God and God only, they often ordered altar-pieces that would literally glorify themselves. Such a self-display is characteristic of Florence art protection and can be best demonstrated by the remarkable

Students Last Name 3 Renaissance fresco The Holy Trinity by Masaccio, where the judge Lorenzo Lenzi and his wife are depicted together with Jesus Christ, God the Father, John the Baptist and St. Mary. However prosperous was the city, the Florence Renaissance would have been certainly impossible without the immense contribution of individual genius. Fr. Adorno claims that the destiny of Florence as a major cultural center was primarily influenced by Francesco Petrarch who maintained close contacts with the city, although living elsewhere (9). Together with his spiritual heir Giovanni 1. The Holy Trinity by Masaccio Boccaccio, they have passionately cultivated love for ancient

ideals and values in florentine youth. Due to this overwhelming return to antiquity, the new trends began to pervade all spheres of art. First and foremost, inherent to the Renaissance visual and plastic art was the unprecedented focus on human personality: whereas in the Middle Ages art was predominantly sacral and infested with biblical motives and images, now common people, not only saints, were portrayed more and more often, without total replacing of sacral art, however. The eyes in the Renaissance portraits are the eyes of the people who believe in God, but who are also confident in their ability to rule their own destiny. Artists were emphasizing the spiritual side of human personality, but simultaneously, 2. The Creation of Adam. Sistine Chapel the physical side interested them too: the

Students Last Name 4 depiction of beautiful and proportional naked human body was by no means considered blasphemous. Artists turned their glances from the sky to the earth and extolled the palpable majesty of the surrounding world hence, the development of landscape painting. The city of Florence was the native land to the whole constellation of glorified artists. Among them were Michelangelo Buonarotti and Rafael Santi, whose paintings and sculpture are considered unsurpassable by now; they used a lot of classical allusions, experimented with linear perspective and light-shadow proportions, which enabled them to produce images of great precision, with facial features and gestures helping to communicate the emotional condition of a person. Filippo Brunellesci was successfully developing perspective in architecture and explained it mathematical theory. It was natural for Renaissance artists not to restrain themselves to only one field, but to develop versatile talents. Leonardo da Vinci, who went through apprenticeship in Florence, is the brightest example of such universality. The Florence Renaissance is an exceptional phenomenon in European culture: this citystate happened to have blended successfully the political liberalism, economic wealth, international renown, social security and unparalleled individual genius by as early as the fourteenth century to change the whole European mentality drastically and produce innovative pieces of art, which we are not tired to delight in by now.

Students Last Name 5 Works Cited Adorno, Francesco. The World of Renaissance Florence. 1st Edition. Florence: Guinti Gruppo Editoriale, 1999. Barton, Sara. Renaissance Florence. Nova-online. Nova, 01/07/2003. Web. 9 Feb 2012. Available at: <http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/evans/Student/Florence/index.html> Cook, Jon. Why Renaissance? Why Florence? History Review 46 (2003). Available at: <http://www.historytoday.com/jon-cook/why-renaissance-why-florence>