The document discusses developments in art and culture in 15th century Florence, known as the Quattrocento period. It describes the expansion of humanism and emphasis on education, as well as major artistic developments like linear perspective pioneered by Brunelleschi. A key event was a competition for the Baptistery doors, won by Ghiberti, which showcased the confrontation between Gothic and classical styles. Donatello's sculptures like the David were among the first freestanding nudes since antiquity. Painters like Masaccio and Uccello mastered techniques like linear perspective and foreshortening in their frescoes.

1. The Quattrocento (15th century) in Florence
• Expansion of Humanism:
Of all things the measure is Man, of the things that are, that they are, and of the things that are not, that they are not
(Protagoras of Abdera, 485-415 BCE)
Humanism in practice: emphasis on education and on expanding knowledge (especially of classical antiquity),
exploration of individual potential and a desire to excel, commitment to civic responsibility and moral duty.

2. Baptistery of San Giovanni, Florence, Italy
1401: The cathedral’s art directors initiated a
competition for the baptistery doors.
Baptistery of San Giovanni, Florence, Italy

3. Filippo Brunelleschi, Sacrifice of Isaac, competition panel
for the east doors of the Baptistery of San Giovanni,
Florence, Italy, 1401–1402. Gilded bronze. Museo Nazionale
del Bargello, Florence.
Lorenzo Ghiberti, Sacrifice of Isaac, competition panel for
the east doors of the Baptistery of San Giovanni, Florence,
Italy, 1401–1402. Gilded bronze. Museo Nazionale del
Bargello, Florence.
Competition theme: a relief panel
depicting the sacrifice of Isaac.
Participants were required to frame
their relief with a Gothic-styled
quatrefoil.
Finalists: Filippo Brunelleschi (1377
–1446) and Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378
–1455).

4. Filippo Brunelleschi, Sacrifice of Isaac, competition panel
for the east doors of the Baptistery of San Giovanni,
Florence, Italy, 1401–1402. Gilded bronze. Museo Nazionale
del Bargello, Florence.
Lorenzo Ghiberti, Sacrifice of Isaac, competition panel for
the east doors of the Baptistery of San Giovanni, Florence,
Italy, 1401–1402. Gilded bronze. Museo Nazionale del
Bargello, Florence.
Confrontation of styles

5. Lorenzo Ghiberti, Sacrifice of Isaac, competition panel for
the east doors of the Baptistery of San Giovanni, Florence,
Italy, 1401–1402. Gilded bronze. Museo Nazionale del
Bargello, Florence.
Confrontation of styles
Nicola Pisano, Fortitude, Pisa Baptistery
Pulpit, c.1260

6. Filippo Brunelleschi, Sacrifice of Isaac, competition panel
for the east doors of the Baptistery of San Giovanni,
Florence, Italy, 1401–1402. Gilded bronze. Museo Nazionale
del Bargello, Florence.
Confrontation of two styles
Giovanni Pisano, Massacre of the Innocents, Pulpit for S.
Andrea, Pistoia, 1301

7. L. Donatello, Saint Mark, Or San Michele,
Florence, Italy, ca. 1411–1413.
R. Lorenzo Ghiberti, Saint John the Baptist,
Or San Michele, Florence, Italy, ca. 1412-1416.
Confrontation of styles

8. Linear Perspective
• Developed by Filippo Brunelleschi (ca. 1415 - 1420) and popularized by Leon Battista Alberti in Della
Pittura (1435).
• Aims to convincingly and accurately represent depth on a two-dimensional surface (painting or
relief).
• Consequently, linear perspective allows the artist to adjust the relative size of objects and figures on
the basis of their relative distance from the viewer.

10. Leonardo da Vinci, The Last Supper , 1495-1498. Oil, tempera, fresco (Santa Maria delle
Grazie, Milan)

11. • Horizon line.
• Determination of a vanishing point where the
orthogonals meet the horizon line.
• The artist then arranges narration accordingly by
placing the work’s focus on the vanishing point.

12. Donatello, Feast of Herod, panel on the baptismal font of the baptistery, Siena Cathedral, Siena,
Italy, 1423–1427. Gilded bronze.

13. Donatello, David, from the Palazzo
Medici, Florence, Italy, ca.
1440–1460. Bronze, 5’ 2 ¼’’ high. Museo
Nazionale del Bargello, Florence.
• The revival of the freestanding nude statue: the first since ancient times.

14. Donatello, David, from the Palazzo
Medici, Florence, Italy, ca.
1440–1460. Bronze, 5’ 2 ¼’’ high. Museo
Nazionale del Bargello, Florence.
Adam and Eve, Escorial Beatus, ca. 950

15. Donatello, David, from the Palazzo
Medici, Florence, Italy, ca.
1440–1460. Bronze, 5’ 2 ¼’’ high. Museo
Nazionale del Bargello, Florence.
The victor is whoever defends the fatherland. God crushes the wrath of an
enormous foe. Behold! A boy overcame a great tyrant. Conquer, O citizens!
(Inscription added by the Medici family)

16. Andrea del Verrocchio, David, from the Palazzo
della Signoria, Florence, Italy, ca. 1465–1470.
Bronze, 4’ 1 ½’’ high. Museo Nazionale del Bargello,
Florence.
Donatello, David, from the Palazzo Medici,
Florence, Italy, ca.
1440–1460. Bronze, 5’ 2 ¼’’ high. Museo
Nazionale del Bargello, Florence.
Re-inscription of religious values in
a civic context?

17. Andrea del Verrocchio, David, from the Palazzo
della Signoria, Florence, Italy, ca. 1465–1470.
Bronze, 4’ 1 ½’’ high. Museo Nazionale del Bargello,
Florence.
Donatello, David, from the Palazzo Medici,
Florence, Italy, ca.
1440–1460. Bronze, 5’ 2 ¼’’ high. Museo
Nazionale del Bargello, Florence.
Nicola Pisano, Fortitude, Pisa Baptistery Pulpit, ca.1260

18. Donatello, Gattamelata (equestrian statue of Erasmo
da Narni), Piazza del Santo, Padua, Italy, ca. 1445–1453.
Bronze,
12’ 2’’ high.
Gattamelata: Erasmo da Narni (1370–1443), Venetian military
commander.
Equestrian statuary: Roman Imperial monumental custom.

19. Donatello, Gattamelata (equestrian statue of Erasmo
da Narni), Piazza del Santo, Padua, Italy, ca. 1445–1453.
Bronze,
12’ 2’’ high. Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius, gilded
bronze, c. 173-76 C.E. Capitoline Museums,
Rome.

20. Painting
Gentile da Fabriano, Adoration of the Magi, altarpiece from the Strozzi chapel, Santa
Trinità, Florence, Italy, 1423. Tempera on wood, 9’ 11’’ × 9’ 3’’. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.
International Gothic Style elements:
• Elaborate gilded Gothic frame.
• Slender, elongated figures.
• Atmosphere of splendor and stylization.

21. Painting
Gentile da Fabriano, Adoration of the Magi, altarpiece from the Strozzi chapel, Santa
Trinità, Florence, Italy, 1423. Tempera on wood, 9’ 11’’ × 9’ 3’’. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.
The Quattrocento spirit:
• Incorporations of multiple angles which
serve as testament to the artist’s ability to
organize figures in space.
• Left panel of the predella: night-time
Nativity scene which is lit by the radiance of
newborn Christ.

22. Sandro Botticelli, Primavera (Spring), ca. 1482. Tempera on wood, 6’ 8’’ × 10’ 4’’. Galleria degli Uffizi,
Florence.

23. Masaccio, Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden, mural in the Brancacci chapel, Santa
Maria del Carmine, Florence, Italy, ca. 1424–1427. Fresco, 7’ × 2’ 11’’.
Masaccio, Tribute Money, mural in the Brancacci chapel, Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence, Italy, ca. 1424–1427.
Fresco, 8’ 4 1/8’’ × 19’ 7 1/8’’.

24. Masaccio, Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden, mural in the Brancacci chapel, Santa
Maria del Carmine, Florence, Italy, ca. 1424–1427. Fresco, 7’ × 2’ 11’’.

25. Capitoline Venus, Roman copy of 3rd
century BCE Greek original.
Masaccio, Expulsion of Adam and Eve
from Eden, mural in the Brancacci
chapel, Santa Maria del Carmine,
Florence, Italy, ca. 1424–1427. Fresco,
7’ × 2’ 11’’.
Aphrodite of Menophantos, 1st century
BCE.
Venus Pudica

26. Masaccio, Holy Trinity, mural inside Santa Maria Novella, Florence, Italy, ca. 1424–1427.
Fresco, 21’ 10 5/8’’ x 10 4 ¾’’.

27. Masaccio, Holy Trinity, mural inside Santa Maria Novella, Florence, Italy, ca. 1424–1427.
Fresco, 21’ 10 5/8’’ x 10 4 ¾’’.
Scheme of linear perspective in Masaccio’s The Holy
Trinity
• Vanishing point at the level of the viewer's eye –
drawing attention to the crucifixion as well as
the implied division of space the work depicts.
• This illusionistic quality is further enhanced by
the outward projection of the tomb at the
bottom.

28. Masaccio, Holy Trinity, mural inside Santa Maria Novella, Florence, Italy, ca. 1424–1427.
Fresco, 21’ 10 5/8’’ x 10 4 ¾’’.
I was once what you are, and what I am you will become.
(Tomb inscription)

29. Memento mori (Remember that you have to die)
Nicholas Poussin, Et in Arcadia Ego, 1637-8. Oil on canvas
Rogier van der Weyden, Braque Triptych (outer panels), ca. 1452. Oil on
wood.

30. Paolo Uccello, Battle of San Romano, from the Palazzo Medici, Florence, Italy, ca. 1435–
1440. Tempera on wood, 6’ × 10’ 5’’. National Gallery, London.
• Meticulous, borderline obsessive,
employment of linear
perspective.
• Use of foreshortening (the
distorted perceived dimensions
of an object relative to the angle
it is looked at from).
• Example of history painting.

31. Andrea Mantegna, Foreshortened Christ (Lamentation over the Dead Christ), ca. 1500.
Tempera on canvas, 2’ 2 ¾’’ × 2’ 7 7/8’’. Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan.
What do you think about the size of the feet?

32. Antonio del Pollaiuolo, Battle of Ten Nudes, ca. 1465. Engraving,
1’ 3 1/8’’ × 1’ 11 ¼ ‘’. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York