14th Century articleA CLOSER LOOK AT CONTEXT—THE BLACK PLAGU

14th Century article
A CLOSER LOOK AT CONTEXT—THE BLACK PLAGUE
Let’s dive a little deeper into a few of the topics and themes
that were discussed in the Getty’s digital exhibit. First, I want
you to develop a deeper understanding of the impact the Black
Plague had on the city of Florence. A key resource that art
historians reference on the Black Plague is Boccaccio’s book
titled Decameron. The Decameron (Ten days) is a story written
in the 1300s! In general, it tells a story of those trying to
survive the Black Plague running rampant throughout Florence.
The book begins by detailing the terrors of the plague and the
challenges that it presented for the day to day operations within
the city. The below excerpt is from his “First Day” of ten
days. When reading this excerpt, think about the ways in which
people in Florence responded to the Black Plague and what
impacts it had on the city. The below excerpt was taken from:
Giovanni Boccaccio, Decameron, tr. John Payne, rev. by
Charles S. Singleton, (Berkeley, CA: University of California
Press, 1984).
The years of the fruitful Incarnation of the Son of God had
attained to the number of one thousand three hundred and forty-
eight, when into the notable city of Florence, fair over every
other of Italy, there came the death-dealing pestilence, through
the operation of the heavenly bodies or of our own iniquitous
doings, being sent down upon mankind for our correction by the
just wrath of God. In men and women alike there appeared, at
the beginning of the malady, certain swellings, either on the
groin or under the armpits, whereof some waxed to the bigness
of a common apple, others to the size of an egg, and these the
vulgar named plague-boils. From these two parts the aforesaid
death-bearing plague-boils proceeded, in brief space, to appear
and come indifferently in every part of the body; wherefrom,

after awhile, the fashion of the contagion began to change into
black or livid blotches.
Well-nigh all died within the third day from the appearance of
the aforesaid signs, this one sooner and that one later, and for
the most part without fever or other complication. The mere
touching of the clothes or of whatsoever other thing had been
touched or used by the sick appeared of itself to communicate
the malady to the toucher.
Well-nigh all tended to a very barbarous conclusion, namely, to
shun and flee from the sick and all that pertained to them. Some
there were who conceived that to live moderately and keep
oneself from all excess was the best defense; they lived
removed from every other, taking refuge and shutting
themselves up in those houses where none were sick and where
living was best. Others, inclining to the contrary opinion,
maintained that to carouse and make merry and go about singing
and frolicking and satisfy the appetite in everything possible
and laugh and scoff at whatsoever befell was a very certain
remedy for such an ill.
The common people (and also, in great part, the middle class)
fell sick by the thousand daily and being altogether untended
and unsuccored, died well-nigh all without recourse. Many
breathed their last in the open street, by day and by night, while
many others, though they died in their homes, made it known to
the neighbors that they were dead rather by the stench of their
rotting bodies than otherwise; and of these and others who died
all about, the whole city was full. The consecrated ground not
sufficing for the burial of the vast multitude of corpses there
were made throughout the churchyards, vast trenches, in which
those who came were laid by the hundred, being heaped up
therein by layers, as goods are stowed aboard ship.
So great was the cruelty of heaven that, between March and the
following July, it is believed for certain that upward of a
hundred thousand human beings perished within the walls of the
city of Florence. Alas, how many great palaces, how many
goodly houses, how many noble mansions, once full of families,

of lords and of ladies, remained empty even to the meanest
servant! How many memorable families, how many ample
heritages, how many famous fortunes were seen to remain
without lawful heir! How many valiant men, how many fair
ladies, how many sprightly youths, breakfasted in the morning
with their kinsfolk, comrades and friends and that same night
supped with their ancestors in the other world!
A CLOSER LOOK AT CONTEXT—CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY
Next, we should consider the unique civic pride that emerges
among city-states in Italy at this time. Florence was a city
state, ruled by a representative body of guild members, while
the city Siena (another prominent city state) was ruled by a
representative body of nobility. These representative bodies are
generally referred to as a republic.
· What is a Republic?
In this context, a republic was based on a group of peoples
ruling on behalf of the city—the terms of service were only two
months in duration. A primary benefit of a republic was that a
group of peoples dedicated to the city made policy decisions
thought to be in the best interest of their economy. This
empowered a sense of civic responsibility that was not typically
present in countries ruled by a monarchy—whose power
typically resided in his (less often her) family lineage and
whose decisions were often swayed by personal gain rather than
the good of the peoples.
· What is a guild?
Guilds were secular (non-religious) organizations that regulated
the majority of the arts and trades in Florence and other Italian
city-states from the twelfth into the sixteenth century. In
Florence, there were seven major guilds and five middle guilds.
A significant responsibility of a guild was to oversee rigor and
quality control. In Florence, Masters within a guild were
selected to serve as part of the Signoria (the Republic/system of
government noted above.
There is no better work of art than Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s

painting (a buon fresco) Effects of Good and Bad Government
to explore the ideals behind civic responsibility in Italy in the
1300s. It is also a quality example of the rise of naturalism
highlighted in the Getty exhibit previously visited. Let’s begin
by watching the below youtube video on Lorenzetti’s Effects of
Good and Bad Governmen
When attempting to answer the above questions, it is useful to
read and analyze the inscriptions that accompany Lorenzetti’s
buon fresco paintings. Below is a translation and transcription
of the Inscriptions in the Palazzo Pubblico Siena that
accompany the Effects of Good and Bad Government—
Ambrogio Lorenzetti. I have pulled them from Diana Norman’s
book titled Siena, Florence, and Padua: Case studies.
A. Good Government North Wall—The text within the lower
border
This holy Virtue [Justice], where she rules, induces to unity the
many souls [of citizens], and the, gathered together for such a
purpose, make the Common Good ‘ben comune’ their Lord; and
he, in order to govern his state, chooses never to turn his eyes
from the resplendent faces of the Virtues who sit around him.
Therefore to him in triumph are offered taxes, tributes and
lordship of towns; therefore, without war, every civic result
duly follows – useful, necessary, and pleasurable.
B. The Good City East Wall
· The text along the lower edge of the painting
Turn your eyes to behold her, you who are governing, who is
portrayed here [Justice], crowned on account of her excellence,
who always renders to everyone his due. Look how many goods
derive from her and how sweet and peaceful is that life of the
city where is preserved this virtue who outshines any other. She
guards and defends those who honor her, and nourishes and
feeds them. From her light is born [both] requiting those who
do good and giving due punishment to the wicked.
· Text held by Security
Without fear every man may travel freely and each may till and
sow, so long as this commune shall maintain this lady [Justice]

sovereign, for she has stripped the wicked of all power.
C. Bad Government West Wall
· Text within the lower border
There, where Justice is bound, no one is ever in accord for the
Common Good [ben comun], nor pulls the cord straight;
therefore, it is fitting that Tyranny prevails. She, in order to
carry our her iniquity, neither wills nor acts in disaccord with
the filthy nature of the Vices, who are shown here conjoined
with her. She banishes those who are ready to do good and calls
around herself every evil schemer. She always protects the
assailant, the robber, and those who hate peace, so that her land
lies waste.
· The text (partly obliterated) along the lower edge of the
painting
…and for the reason that, where there is Tyranny, there are
great fear, wars, robberies, treacheries and frauds, she must be
brought down. And let the mind and understanding be intent on
keeping each [citizen] always subject to Justice, in order to
escape such dark injuries, by overthrowing all tyrants. And
whoever wishes to disturb her [Justice], let him be for hjs
unworthiness banished and shunned together with all his
followers, whoever they may be: thus Justice will be fortified to
the advantage of your peace.
D. The text held by Fear
· Because each seeks only his own good, in this city Justice is
subjected to Tyranny; wherefore, along this road nobody passes
without fearing for his life, since there are robberies outside
and inside the city gates.
MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES—TEMPERA PAINTING and
FRESCO PAINTING
We’ve been learning that art from this era is more “natural”, or,
is interested in more accurately recording the natural world in
which these artists lived. How difficult is it to render figures,
landscapes, architecture, and emotions in paint? We’ve learned
a little bit about materials and technique in this era when we

“visited” the Getty digital exhibit. However, there is a lot more
to know about these materials and techniques. First, let’s
explore the basics of what is needed to make paint and, then,
define the three most prominent kinds of painting that were
made in the 1300s (tempera, buon fresco paintings, and fresco
secco paintings).
· Paint: All paint is made up of powdered pigment (ground up
minerals/vegetables) and some kind of binder to stick it
together and to a surface like a canvas. All paint also needs to
have a solvent, or, something that dilutes the paint.
· Tempera paint: Generally, tempera is made by combining
powdered pigment with the goo inside an egg yolk (not
including the membrane) as the binder. The solvent for tempera
is water.
· Fresco: There are two kinds of fresco painting 1) Buon Fresco
and 2) Fresco Secco.
· Buon Fresco: This is literally translated as a “true” fresco. A
“true” fresco is made by combining powdered pigment with
water and applying it to the binder, which is freshly laid, wet,
plaster.
· Fresco Secco: This is literally translates as a “dry” fresco. A
“dry” fresco is made by combining powdered pigment with any
number of binder options (in the 1300s it was usually tempera
paint) on to a dry plaster wall.
When studying the history of painting, it is useful to consult
one of the first “technique” guides ever written: Cennino
Cennini’s Il Libro dell’ Arte, penned in the early 1400s. This
book is fascinating, not only for it’s content but it’s tone and
historical relevance. In the below excerpt, Cennini discusses all
three types of paint/painting techniques delineated above. He
weaves them together the way that painters clearly did in his
era. This helps us to understand that, at this time, painters
rarely worked with one kind of paint and that most works were a
hybrid of all three
I have pulled the below excerpt from Il Libro dell' Arte -
Cennino D' Andrea Cennini. The Craftsman's Handbook. The

Italian "Il Libro dell' Arte." Translated by Daniel V. Thompson,
Jr. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. 1933, by Yale
University Press. Click on the below links if you want to access
the footnotes referenced in the document.
Notes 1-50 Notes 51-124 Notes 125-162 Notes 163-283
Third Section
The Method and System for Working on a Wall, That is, in
Fresco; and On Painting and Doing Flesh for a Youthful Face.
Chapter LXVII
In the name of the Most Holy Trinity I wish to start you on
painting. Begin, in the first place, with working on a wall; and
for that I will teach you, step by step, the method which you
should follow.
When you want to work on a wall, which is the most agreeable
and impressive kind of work, first of all get some lime[65] and
some sand, each of them well sifted. And if the lime is very fat
and fresh it calls for two parts sand, the third part lime. And
wet them up well with water; and wet up enough to last you for
two or three weeks. And let it stand for a day or so, until the
heat goes out of it: for when it is so hot, the plaster which you
put on cracks afterward. When you are ready to plaster, first
sweep the wall well, and wet it down thoroughly, for you cannot
get it too wet. And take your lime mortar, well worked over, a
trowelful at a time; and plaster once or twice, to begin with, to
get the plaster flat on the wall. Then, when you want to work,
remember first to make this plaster quite uneven and fairly
rough. Then when the plaster is dry, take the charcoal, and draw
and [p. 42] compose according to the scene or figures which you
have to do; and take all your measurements carefully, snapping
lines first, getting the centers of the spaces.[66] Then snap
some, and take the levels from them. And this line which you
snap through the center to get the level must have a plumb bob
at the foot. And then put one point of the big compasses on this
line,[67] and give the compasses a half turn on the under side.
Then put the point of the compasses on the middle intersection
of one line with the other,[68] and swing the other semicircle on

the upper side. And you will find that you make a little slanted
cross on the right side, formed by the intersection of the lines.
From the left side apply the line to be snapped, in such a way
that it lies right over both the little crosses; and you will find
that your line is horizontal by a level.[69] Then compose the
scenes or figures with charcoal, as I have described. And always
keep your areas in scale, and regular.[70] Then take a small,
pointed bristle brush, and a little ocher without tempera, as thin
as water; and proceed to copy and draw in your figures [p. 43],
shading as you did with washes when you were learning to
draw. Then take a bunch of feathers, and sweep the drawing free
of the charcoal.
Then take a little sinoper without tempera, and with a fine
pointed brush proceed to mark out noses, eyes, the hair, and all
the accents and outlines of the figures; and see to it that these
figures are properly adjusted in all their dimensions, for
these[71] give you a chance to know and allow for[72] the
figures which you have to paint. Then start making your
ornaments, or whatever you want to do, around the outside; and
when you are ready, take some of the aforesaid lime mortar,
well worked over with spade and trowel, successively, so that it
seems like an ointment. Then consider in your own mind how
much work you can do in a day; for whatever you plaster you
ought to finish up. It is true that sometimes in winter, in damp
weather, working on a stone wall, the plaster will occasionally
keep fresh until the next day; but do not delay if you can help
it, because working on the fresh plaster,[73] that is, that day's,
is the strongest tempera and the best and most delightful kind of
work. So then, plaster a section with plaster, fairly thin, but not
excessively, and quite even; first wetting down the old plaster.
Then take your large bristle brush in your hand; dip it in clear
water; beat it, and sprinkle over your plaster. And with a little
block the size of the palm of your hand, proceed to rub with a
circular motion over the surface of the well-moistened plaster,
so that the little block may succeed in removing mortar
wherever there is too much, and supplying it wherever there is

not enough, and in evening up your plaster nicely. Then wet the
plaster with that brush, if you need to; and rub over the plaster
with the point of your trowel, very straight and clean. Then snap
out lines in the same system and dimensions which you adopted
previously on the plaster underneath.
And let us suppose that in a day you have just one head to do, a
[p. 44] youthful saint's, like Our Most Holy Lady's. When you
have got the mortar of your plaster all smoothed down, take a
little dish, a glazed one, for all your dishes should be glazed
and tapered like a goblet of drinking glass, and they should
have a good heavy base at the foot, to keep them steady so as
not to spill the colors; take as much as a bean of well -ground
ocher, the dark kind, for there are two kinds of ocher, light and
dark: and if you have none of the dark, take some of the light.
Put it into your little dish; take a little black, the size of a
lentil; mix it with this ocher; take a little lime white, as much as
a third of a bean; take as much light cinabrese[74] as the tip of
a penknife will hold; mix it up with the aforesaid colors all
together in order,[75] and get this color dripping wet with clear
water, without any tempera. Make a fine pointed brush out of
flexible, thin bristles, to fit into the quill of a goose feather; and
with this brush indicate the face which you wish to do,
remembering to divide the face into three parts, that is, the
forehead, the nose, and the chin counting the mouth. And with
your brush almost dry, gradually apply this color, known in
Florence as verdaccio, and in Siena, as bazzeo. When you have
got the shape of the face drawn in, and if it seems not to have
come out the way you want it, in its proportions or in any other
respect, you can undo it and repair it by rubbing over the plaster
with the big bristle brush dipped in water.
Then take a little terre-verte in another dish, well tinned out;
and with a bristle brush, half squeezed out between the thumb
and forefinger of your left hand, start shading under the chin,
and mostly on the side where the face is to be darkest; and go
on by shaping up the under side of the mouth; and the sides of
the mouth; under the nose, and on the side under the eyebrows,

especially in toward the nose; a little in the end of the eye
toward the ear; and in this way you pick out the whole of the
face and the hands, wherever flesh color is to come.
Then take a pointed minever brush, and crisp up neatly all the
outlines, nose, eyes, lips, and ears, with this verdaccio.
There are some masters who, at this point, when the face is in
this [p. 45] stage, take a little lime white, thinned with water;
and very systematically pick out the prominences and reliefs of
the countenance; then they put a little pink on the lips, and
some "little apples" on the cheeks. Next they go over it with a
little wash of thin flesh color; and it is all painted, except for
touching in the reliefs afterward with a little white. It is a good
system.
Some[76] begin by laying in the face with flesh color; then they
shape it up with a little verdaccio and flesh color, touching it in
with some high lights; and it is finished. This is a method of
those who know little about the profession.
But you follow this method in everything which I shall teach
you about painting: for Giotto, the great master, followed it. He
had Taddeo Gaddi of Florence as his pupil for twenty-four
years; and he was his godson. Taddeo had Agnolo, his son.
Agnolo had me for twelve years; and so he started me on this
method, by means of which Agnolo painted much more
handsomely and freshly than Taddeo, his father, did.
First take a little dish; put a little lime white into it, a little bit
will do, and a little light cinabrese, about equal parts. Temper
them quite thin with clear water. With the aforesaid bristle
brush, soft, and well squeezed with your fingers, go over the
face, when you have got it indicated with terre-verte; and with
this pink touch in the lips, and the "apples" of the cheeks. My
master used to put these "apples" more toward the ear than
toward the nose, because they help to give relief to the face.
And soften these "apples" at the edges. Then take three little
dishes, which you divide into three sections of flesh color; have
the darkest half again as light as the pink color, and the other
two, each one degree lighter. now take the little dish of the

lightest one; and with a very soft, rather blunt, bristle brush
take some of this flesh color, squeezing the brush with your
fingers; and shape up all the reliefs of this face. Then take the
little dish of the intermediate flesh color, and proceed to pick
out all the half tones of the face, and of the hands and feet, and
of the body when you are doing a nude. Then take the dish of
the third flesh color, and start into the accents of the shadows,
always contriving that, in the accents, the terre-verte [p. 46]
may not fail to tell. And go on blending one flesh color into
another in this way many times, until it is well laid in, as nature
promises. And take great care, if you want your work to come
out very fresh; contrive not to let your brush leave its course
with any given flesh color, except to blend one delicately with
another, with skilful handling. But if you attend to working and
getting your hand in practice, it will be clearer to you than
seeing it in writing. When you have applied your flesh colors,
make another much lighter one, almost white; and go over the
eyebrows with it, over the relief of the nose, over the top of the
chin and of the eyelid. Then take a sharp minever brush; and do
the whites of the eyes with pure white, and the tip of the nose,
and a tiny bit on the side of the mouth; and touch in all such
slight reliefs. Then take a little black in another little dish, and
with the same brush mark out the outline of the eyes over the
pupils of the eyes; and do the nostrils in the nose, and the
openings in the ears. Then take a little dark sinoper in a little
dish; mark out under the eyes, and around the nose, the
eyebrows, the mouth; and do a little shading under the upper
lip, for that wants to come out a little bit darker than the under
lip. Before you mark out the outlines in this way, take this
brush; touch up the hair with verdaccio; then with this brush
shape up this hair with white. Then take a wash of light ocher;
and with a blunt bristle brush work back over this hair as if you
were doing flesh. Then with the same brush shape up the
accents with some dark ocher. Then with a sharper little
minever brush and light ocher and lime white shape up the
reliefs of the hair. Then, by marking out with sinoper, shape up

the outlines and the accents of the hair as you did the face as a
awhile. And let this suffice you for a youthful face.
_________________________
The Method for Painting an Aged Face in Fresco.
Chapter LXVIII
When you want to do the head of an old man, you should follow
the same system as for the youthful one; except that your
verdaccio wants to be a little darker, and the flesh colors, too;
adopting the system and practice which you did for the youthful
one; and the hands [p. 47] and feet and the body in the same
way. Now, assuming that your old man's hair and beard are
hoary, when you have got it shaped up with verdaccio and white
with your sharp minever brush, take some lime white mixed
with a small amount of black in a little dish, liquid, and with a
blunt and soft bristle brush, well squeezed out, lay in the beards
and hairs; and then make some of this mixture a little bit darker,
and shape up the darks. Then take a small sharp, minever brush,
and stripe delicately over the reliefs of these hairs and beards.
And you may do minever with this same color.
The Method for Painting Various Kinds of Beards and Hair in
Fresco.
Chapter LXVIIII
Whenever you wish to make different hair and beards, ruddy, or
russet, or black, or any kind you please, do them with verdaccio
still, or shaped up with white,[77] and then lay them in the
regular way as described above. Just consider what color you
want them; and thus the experience of seeing some of them
finished will teach you this.
The Proportions Which a Perfectly Formed ManÍs Body Should
Possess.
Chapter LXX
Take note that, before going any farther, I will give you the
exact proportions of a man. Those of a woman I will disregard,
for she does not have any set proportion. First, as I have said
above, the face is divided into three parts, namely: the forehead,
one: the nose, another; and from the nose to the chin, another.

From the side of the nose through the whole length of the eye,
one of these measures. From the end of the eye up to the ear,
one of these measures. From one ear to the other, a face
lengthwise, one face. From the chin under the jaw to the base of
the throat, one of the three measures. The throat, one measure
long. From the pit of the throat to the top of the shoulder, [p.
48] one face; and so for the other shoulder. From the shoulder
to the elbow, one face. From the elbow to the joint of the hand,
one face and one of the three measures. The whole hand,
lengthwise, one face. From the pit of the throat to that of the
chest, or stomach, one face. From the stomach to the navel, one
face. From the navel to the thigh joint, one face. From the thigh
to the knee, two faces. From the knee to the heel of the leg, two
faces. From the heel to the sole of the foot, one of the three
measures. The foot, one face long.
A man is as long as his arms crosswise. The arms, including the
hands, reach to the middle of the thigh. The whole man is eight
faces and two of the three measures in length. A man has one
breast rib less than a woman, on the left side. A man has . .
.[78] bones in all. The handsome man must be swarthy, and the
woman fair, etc. I will not tell you about the irrational animals,
because you will never discover any system of proportion in
them. Copy them and draw as much as you can from nature, and
you will achieve a good style in this respect.
The Way to Paint a Drapery in Fresco
Chapter LXXI
Now let us get right back to our fresco-painting. And, on the
wall,[79] if you wish to paint a drapery, any color you please,
you should first draw it carefully with your verdaccio; and do
not have your drawing show too much, but moderately. Then,
whether you want a white drapery or a red one, or yellow, or
green, or whatever you want, get three little dishes. Take one of
them, and put into it whatever color you choose, we will say
red: take some cinabrese and a little lime white; and let this be
one color, well diluted with water. Make one of the other two
colors light, putting a great deal of lime white into it. Now take

some out of the first dish, and some of this light, and make an
intermediate color; and you will have three of them. Now take
some of the first one, that is, the dark one; and with a rather
large and fairly pointed bristle brush go over the folds of your
figure in the darkest areas; and do not go past the middle of the
thickness of your figure. Then take the intermediate color; lay it
in from one dark strip [p. 49] to the next one, and work them in
together, and blend your folds into the accents of the darks.
Then, just using these intermediate colors, shape up the dark
parts where that relief of the figure is to come, but always
following out the shape of the nude. Then take the third,
lightest color, and just exactly as you have shaped up and laid
in the course of the folds in the dark, so you do now in the
relief, adjusting the folds ably, with good draftsmanship and
judgment. When you have laid in two or three times with each
color, never abandoning the sequence of the colors by yielding
or invading the location of one color for another, except where
they come into conjunction, blend them and work them well in
together. Then in another dish take still another color, lighter
than the lightest of these three; and shape up the tops of the
folds, and put on lights. Then take some pure white in another
dish, and shape up definitively all the areas of relief. Then go
over the dark parts, and around some of the outlines, with
straight cinabrese; and you will have your drapery,
systematically carried out. But you will learn far better by
seeing it done than by reading. When you have finished your
figure or scene, let it dry until the mortar and the colors have
dried out well all over. And if you still have any drapery to do
in secco, you will follow this method.
The Way to Paint on a Wall in Secco; and The Temperas for It
Chapter LXXII
You may use any of those colors which you used in fresco, in
secco as well; but there are colors which cannot be used in
fresco, such as orpiment, vermilion, azurite, red lead, white
lead, verdigris, and lac. Those which can be used in fresco are
giallorino, lime white, black, ocher, cinabrese, sinoper, terre-

verte, hematite. The ones which are used in fresco call for lime
white as an adjunct, to make them lighter; and the greens, when
you want to keep them as greens, call for giallorino: when you
want to leave them as sage greens, use white. Those colors
which cannot be used in fresco require white lead and giallorino
as adjuncts, to make them lighter, and sometimes orpiment: but
orpiment very seldom. Now if you are to execute a blue with
lights on it,[80] [p. 50] follow that three-dish system which I
taught you for the flesh color and the cinabrese; and the system
will be the same for this, except that where you took lime white
before, you now take white lead; and you temper everything.
There are two good kinds of tempera for you, one better than
the other. The first tempera: take the white and yolk of the egg:
put in a few clippings of fig shoots; and beat it up well. Then
put some of this tempera into the little dishes, a moderate
amount, neither too much nor not enough, just about as a wine
might be half diluted with water. And then use your colors,
white or green or red, just as I showed you for fresco; and carry
out your draperies the same way you did in fresco, handling it
with restraint, allowing time for it to dry out. Know that if you
put in too much tempera the color will soon crack and peel away
from the wall. Be reasonable and judicious. I advise you first,
before you begin to paint, if you want to make a drapery of lac
or any other color, before you do anything else, take a well-
washed sponge; and have a yolk and white of egg together, and
put them into two porringerfuls of clear water, mixing it up
thoroughly; and go evenly over the whole work which you have
to paint in secco and also to embellish with gold, with your
sponge half squeezed out in this tempera; and then proceed to
paint freely, as you please. The second tempera is simply yolk
of egg; and know that this tempera is a universal one, for wall,
for panels, or for iron; and you cannot use too much, but be
reasonable, and choose a middle course. Before you go any
further with this tempera, I want you to carry out a drapery in
secco. Just as I had you do with cinabrese in fresco, I now want
you to do with ultramarine. Take three dishes as usual; put the

two parts of blue and the third of white lead into the first one;
and into the third dish, the two parts white lead and the third
blue; and mix and temper them as I have told you. Then take the
empty dish, that is, the second; take as much out of one dish as
out of the other, and make up a mixture, stirring it
thoroughly.[81] With a bristle brush, or a firm, blunt minever
one, and the first color[82] that is, the darkest, go over the
accents, shaping up the darkest folds. Then take the medium
color, and lay in some of those dark folds, and shape up the
light folds in the relief of the figure. Then take the third color,
and lay it in, and [p. 51] make the folds which come on top of
the relief; and work one well into the other, blending and laying
in, as I taught you for fresco. Then take the lightest color, and
put some white lead into it, with some tempera; and shape up
the tops of the folds in the relief. Then take a little straight
white lead, and go over certain strong reliefs as the nude of the
figure requires. Then shape up the limits of the darkest folds
and outlines with some straight ultramarine; and in this way
stroke over the drapery the colors corresponding to each area,
without mixing or contaminating one color with another, except
delicately. And work with lac in the same way, and with every
color which you use in secco, etc.
How to Make a Violet Color.
Chapter LXXIII
If you wish to make a pretty violet color, take fine lac and
ultramarine blue, in equal parts. Then, when it is tempered, take
three dishes as before; and leave some of this violet color in its
little dish, for touching up the darks. Then, with what you take
out of it, make up three values of color for laying in the
drapery, each stepped up lighter than the others, as described
above.
To Execute a Violet Color in Fresco.
Chapter LXXIII
If you want to make a violet for use in fresco, take indigo and
hematite, and make a mixture like the previous one, without
tempera; and make four values of it in all. Then execute your

drapery.
To Try to Imitate an Ultramarine Blue for Use in Fresco.
Chapter LXXV
If you want to make a drapery in fresco which will look like
ultramarine blue, take indigo and lime white, and step your
colors up together; and then, in secco, touch it in with
ultramarine blue in the accents. [p. 52]
To Paint a Purple or Turnsole Drapery In Fresco.
Chapter LXXVI
If you want to do a purple drapery in fresco which will look like
lac, take hematite and lime white, and step up your colors as
described. And blend them and work them well together. Then,
in secco, touch it in with pure lac, tempered, in the accents.
To Paint a Shot[83] Green Drapery in Fresco.
Chapter LXXVII
If you want to make a shot drapery for an angel in fresco, lay in
the drapery in two values of flesh color, one darker and one
lighter, blending them well at the middle of the figure. Then, on
the dark side, shade the darks with ultramarine blue; and shade
with terre-verte on the lighter flesh color, touching it up
afterward in secco. And know that everything which you
execute in fresco needs to be brought to completion, and
touched up, in secco with tempera. Make the lights on this
drapery in fresco just as I have told you for the rest.
To Paint in Fresco a Drapery Shot with Ash Gray
Chapter LXXVIII
If you want to make a shot drapery in fresco, take lime white
and black, and make a minever color which is known as ash
gray. Lay it in; put the lights on it, using giallorino for some
and lime white for others, as you please. Apply the darks with
black or with violet or with dark green.
To Paint one in Secco Shot with Lac
Chapter LXXVIIII
If you want to make a shot one in secco, lay it in with lac; put
on the lights with flesh color, or with giallorino; shade the
darks either with straight lac or with violet, with tempera. [p.

53]
To Paint one in Fresco or in Secco Shot with Ocher
Chapter LXXX
If you wish to make a shot one either in fresco or in secco, lay
it in with ocher; put on the lights with white; and shade it with
green in the light; and in the dark, with black and sinoper, or
else with hematite.
To Paint a Greenish-Gray Costume in Fresco or in Secco.
Chapter LXXXI
If you wish to make a greenish-gray drapery, take black and
ocher, that is, the two parts ocher and the third black; and step
up the colors as I have taught you before, both in fresco and in
secco.
To Paint a Costume, In Fresco and In Secco, of a Greenish-Gray
Color like the Color of Wood.
Chapter LXXXII
If you want to make a wood color, take ocher, black, and
sinoper; but the two parts ocher, and black and red to the
amount of half the ocher. Step up your colors with this in
fresco, in secco, and in tempera.
To Make a Drapery, or a Mantle for Our Lady, With Azurite or
Ultramarine Blue. .
Chapter LXXXIII
If you wish to make a mantle for Our Lady with azurite, or any
other drapery which you want to make solid blue, begin by
laying in the mantle or drapery in fresco with sinoper and black,
the two parts sinoper,[84] and the third black. But first scratch
in the plan of the folds with some little pointed iron, or with a
needle. Then, in secco, take some azurite, well washed either
with lye or with clear water, and worked over a little bit on the
grinding slab. Then, if the blue is good [p. 54] and deep in
color, put into it a little size, tempered neither too strong nor
too weak [and I will tell you about that later on]. Likewise put
an egg yolk into the blue; and if the blue is pale, the yolk
should come from one of these country eggs, for they are quite
red. Mix it up well. Apply three or four coats to the drapery,

with a soft bristle brush. When you have got it well laid in, and
after it is dry, take a little indigo and black, and proceed to
shade the folds of the mantle as much as you can, going back
into the shadows time and again, with just the tip of the brush.
If you want to get a little light on the tops of the knees or other
reliefs, scratch the pure blue with the point of the brush
handle.[85]
If you want to put ultramarine blue on a ground or on a drapery,
temper it as described for the azurite, and apply two or three
coats of it over the latter. If you wish to shade the folds, take a
little fine lac, and a little black, tempered with yolk of egg; and
shade it as delicately and as neatly as you can, first with a little
wash, and then with the point ; and make as few folds as
possible, because ultramarine wants little association with any
other mixture.
To Make a Black Drapery for a Monk's or Friar's Robe, in
Fresco and in Secco.
Chapter LXXXIIII
If you want to make a black drapery, for a friar's or monk's
robe, take pure black, stepping it up in several values, as I have
already told you above, for fresco; for secco, mixed with a
tempera.
On the Way to Paint a Mountain, in Fresco or in Secco.
Chapter LXXXV
If you want to do mountains in fresco or in secco, make a
verdaccio color, one part of black, the two parts of ocher. Step
up the colors, for fresco, with lime white and without tempera;
and for secco, with [p. 55] white lead and with tempera. And
apply to them the same system of shadow and relief that you
apply to a figure. And the farther away you have to make the
mountains look, the darker you make your colors; and the nearer
you are making them seem, the lighter you make the colors.
The Way to Paint Trees and Plants and Foliage, in Fresco and in
Secco.
Chapter LXXXVI
If you wish to embellish these mountains with groves of trees or

with plants, first lay in the trunk of the tree with pure black,
tempered, for they can hardly be done in fresco ; and then make
a range of leaves with dark green, but using malachite, because
terre-verte is not good; and see to it that you make them quite
close. Then make up a green with giallorino, so that it is a little
lighter, and do a smaller number of leaves, starting to go back
to shape up some of the ridges. Then touch in the high lights on
the ridges with straight giallorino, and you will see the reliefs
of the trees and of the foliage. But before this, when you have
got the trees laid in, do the base and some of the branches of the
trees with black; and scatter the leaves upon them, and then the
fruits; and scatter occasional flowers and little birds over the
foliage.
How Buildings are to be Painted, in Fresco and in Secco.
Chapter LXXXVII
If you want to do buildings, get them into your drawing in the
scale you wish; and snap the lines.[86] Then lay them in with
verdaccio, and with terre-verte, quite thin in fresco or in secco.
And you may do some with violet, some with ash gray, some
with green, some [p. 56] with greenish gray, and likewise with
any color you wish. Then make a long ruler, straight and fine;
and have it chamfered on one edge, so that it will not touch the
wall, so that if you rub on it, or run along it with the brush and
color, it will not smudge things for you; and you will execute
those little moldings with great pleasure and delight; and in the
same way bases, columns, capitals, facades, fleurons, canopies,
and the whole range of the mason's craft, for it is a fine branch
of our profession, and should be executed with great delight.
And bear in mind that they must follow the same system of
lights and darks that you have in the figures. And put in the
buildings by this uniform system: that the moldings which you
make at the top of the building should slant downward from the
edge next to the roof; the molding in the middle of the building,
halfway up the face, must be quite level and even; the molding
at the base of the building underneath must slant upward, in the
opposite sense to the upper molding, which slants downward.

The Way to Copy a Mountain from Nature
Chapter LXXXVIII
Ends the Third Section of This Book. If you want to acquire a
good style for mountains, and to have them look natural, get
some large stones, rugged, and not cleaned up; and copy them
from nature, applying the lights and the dark as your system
requires.
15 Century articles Northern Euro
In the last section you learned about the black plague and the
resulting transition away from Gothic and Byzantine influences
in 14th century Italian art. The rising amount of powerful and
rich patrons created a competitive culture across guilds, which
in turn helped flourish civic pride and identity among city-

states. One of the main artistic trends to emerge during that
period was an interest in creating vivid and accurate portrayals
of the world. This trend not only continued and developed in
Italy in the following centuries, but traveled beyond the Italian
city-states into northern Europe, evolving into its own unique
style. In this module, we will be focusing on northern European
art created during the 1400s (15th century), specifically art
from France, the Netherlands, and Germany. In looking at the
north, we will examine the early development of humanism and
how it affected the art, culture, and religion of each region. We
will also explore how the primary medium of northern Europe—
oil paints!—was used to create a hyper-reality that blurred the
sacred (religious) and secular (everyday, mundane) and was full
of symbolism. Lastly, we will explore the practice of
printmaking in Germany.
What is important to note, before looking at the art, is the
difference between the centralization of political power in Italy
versus the north. While Italy and Germany were dominated by
independent city-states, parts of central and western Europe
began emerging as nation-states. This means that, rather than
small cities that were responsible only for themselves, nation
states were sovereign nations composed of a group of people
occupying a definite territory and ruled by a higher power.
These higher powers took the form of kings, dukes, counts, etc.
It twas these individuals who served as the main patrons for
artists in the North.
The philosophical branch of Humanism
During this period there was a rediscovery of Greek and Roman,
or Classical, texts. Because of the increase in trade during this
period, these texts traveled across Europe, influencing a variety
of people including religious figures, scholars, and artists alike.
These texts, along with the death and darkness brought about by
the Black Plague, sparked an interest in classical thought and a
focus on the human experience. This branch of philosophy later
became known as Humanism.

Humanism is a philosophical and ethical stance that emphasizes
the value and agency of human beings, individually and
collectively, and generally prefers critical thinking and
evidence (rationalism and empiricism) over acceptance of
dogma or superstition. The term was coined by theologian
Friedrich Niethammer at the beginning of the 19th century to
refer to a system of education based on the study of Greek and
Roman, or classical, literature. Generally, however, humanism
refers to a perspective that affirms some notion of human
freedom and progress. It views humans as solely responsible for
the promotion and development of individuals and emphasizes a
concern for man in relation to the world (definition from
Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanism).
As a response to this new way of thinking about the world and
man’s place in it, artists, such as Giotto, began creating art with
a focus on human experience and interactions. However, artists
in the north responded to it as well, leading to an artistic style
that blurred the sacred and secular. Although humanism and the
large number of surviving classical artworks and monuments in
Italy encouraged many Italian painters to explore Greco-Roman
themes, Northern painters developed interest in other subject
matters, such as landscape and genre painting, or scenes of
everyday life.
Manuscript article:
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-
arthistory/chapter/books-of-the-northern-renaissance/)
Tres riches heures article: https://www.saylor.org/site/wp-
content/uploads/2011/06/Tres-Riches-Heures-du-Duc-de-
Berry.pdf
John Ward article:
Ward, John L. “Disguised Symbolism as Enactive Symbolism in
Van Eyck’s Paintings.” Artibus et Historiae 15, no. 29 (1994):
9-53. Condensed version.

The view that disguised or concealed symbolism was a
fundamental feature of Netherlandish painting of the fifteenth
century was widely accepted for the first two decades after the
appearance of Erwin Panofsky's[endnoteRef:1] book, Early
Netherlandish Painting, which remains the fullest exposition of
the concept. Since then, however, it has fallen into such
disrepute that by 1988 Barbara Lane could write, "most writers
would probably agree that early Netherlandish painters made no
effort to 'disguise' this symbolism, which was perfectly apparent
to educated viewers.” [1: 15th Century art in Italy
THE 15th CENTURY ITALY: THE RISE OF THE
RENAISSANCE—Part 1
The word “Renaissance” is a French word that means “rebirth”
or “revival”. When it is capitalized, it refers to the 15th and
16th centuries in Europe when an interest in the Classical world
was reignited. Interest in the Classical world is often said to
have begun in Italy. Many pinpoint the city of Florence, Italy
(highlighted in the Getty’s digital exhibit on 14th century art)
as the fatherland of the Renaissance, with writers and
philosophers like Dante and Petrarch and artists like Giotto and
Pacino hailing from the region.
I know what you are thinking, “Why did people at this time
become interested in the Classical world?”. What an important
question, thank you for asking! As with nearly all trends, there
are a variety of reasons, three that I’d like for us to focus on
are:
The Black Plague
Humanism
Excavating the Classical world
REBIRTH (RENAISSANCE) OF CLASSICISM: THE BLACK
PLAGUE and THE WESTERN SCHISM
As you know from your previous readings/classes, the Black
Plague impacted every facet of late medieval European life.
The effects of this widespread disease lasted for centuries, and
can still be felt today in cities like Pisa (whose population has
yet to recover after the Plague). One of the consequences of the

Plague was that people started to question the authority of the
Catholic Church. Keep in mind that, to those living in Europe at
this time, the Plague was thought to have been a punishment
from God. It may be difficult for us to wrap our heads around
this today; but, European medieval life centered on the Church
and very few would have thought to question that the Plague
was anything other than the wrath of God. Of course, humanity
responded to this “punishment” a variety of ways. Some turned
to immoral self-indulgence—embracing gluttony, laziness, lust,
and so on were natural responses to those facing death and
suffering extreme loss. Others engaged more wholeheartedly in
prayer, looking to the Church for support. If the Plague was
God’s doing, then who better to stave it off than the priests and
doctors of the Catholic Church? Unfortunately, the devastation
continued to run rampant and not even the Pope(s) could quell
the fear and panic felt by all. As a result, some began question
the efficacy and authenticity of the Church.
Above I used Pope with an (s). This is intended to remind you
that there wasn’t just one Pope at this time—the beginning of
the 15th century experience what we commonly refer to today as
the Western Schism. The Western Schism occurred between
1378 and 1417. During the Western Schism, the Cardinals in the
Catholic Church were divided, and two men were appointed as
Pope. One lived in the city of Avignon, in Southern France,
while the other lived in the Vatican in Italy.
I bet some of you are wondering, “What makes the Pope so
special, anyways”? The Pope is a Bishop. There are lots of
Bishops. To Catholics, the Pope is a special Bishop, in part,
because his consecration makes him the living embodiment of
the apostle St. Peter—to whom Christ gave his “Keys of
Heaven.” St. Peter is often considered the “rock” upon which
the Catholic Church was built.
Why is the Western Schism important? This is important
because it further pushed people to question the integrity of the
Catholic Church. There were mixed messages coming from the
Church and many theological and practical issues that were

brought forth by having two Popes ruling at once. This,
coupled with the widespread panic brought on by the plague, led
the literate population to look for answers elsewhere.
REBIRTH (RENAISSANCE) OF CLASSICISM: HUMANISM
For the first time in over 800 years, literate peoples turned to
the writings from classical world. Of course, these texts were
written in ancient Greek or Latin, so they weren’t particularly
accessible to a wide audience. The first peoples to work to
translate these ancient writings, and to pen new books that were
influenced by the ancient texts, hailed from Florence, Italy. It
is often for this reason that many historians pinpoint Florence
as the birthplace of the Renaissance (or rebirth) of classical
ideals.
Humanism is a way of looking at the world, and it was brought
about by both translating and studying Classical texts and an
interest in trying to make meaning of the calamities that had
unfolded in the previous century. People who adopt a humanist
mindset emphasize human needs and desires over divine or
spiritual matters, as was advocated by ancient writers like
Socrates and Aristotle. Humanists are also interested in civic
virtue (serving the good of society and the local community)
and looking to the natural world for earthly answers to explain
phenomena. As you can imagine, a humanist worldview
directly conflicted with Church doctrine. It is important to
note, however, that most humanists at this time were still deeply
Catholic.
Humanist views impacted who paid for art in the 1400s, and for
what reasons. The emphasis on civic virtue led wealthy patrons
and guilds to sponsor “public art” and civic architecture.
Competitions were held and local artists demonstrated their
civic virtue while vying for employment. In addition, the
subjects or topics depicted in artwork from the 1400s were
increasingly rendered realistically. We’ve already seen the
beginnings of this interest in naturalism in the previous century,
with the art of Giotto and Pacino, but artists in this next century
continue to invent (or reinvent) techniques that enable them to

represent subjects naturalistically.
EXCAVATING THE CLASSICAL WORLD
Interest in ancient, Classical, texts and ideologies also inspired
craftsmen to look to Classical ways of sculpting, painting, and
building. For instance, Filippo Brunelleschi and Donatello
traveled to Rome and spent 13 years sketching and studying the
art and architecture of ancient Rome. This is noteworthy for
many reasons, including that archeology as a “discipline of
study” did not yet exist. Moreover, Rome had deteriorated so
significantly that packs of animals grazed on the grass that now
filled the once great Colosseum, let alone the rest of ancient
Rome. Most people living in Rome in the 1400s avoided the
ancient ruins surrounding them, as they were emblematic of a
crumbled, pagan (non-Christian) world. Deeply influenced by
their excavation and study of ancient ruins (including sculpture,
paintings, and architecture), Brunelleschi and Donatello left
Rome and returned to Florence where they went on to produce
Classically inspired works and, through their creations, helped
to fuel an artistic “rebirth” of classical art and architecture.
This “rebirth” or “Renaissance” of Classical ideals is what
defines the next few centuries of art/architecture in the Western
world. Let’s now examine two case studies that exemplify the
the interest in reviving Classicism and embracing Humanism in
the early Renaissance. The first case to consider is the
competition for the creation of the north doors on Santa Maria
de Fiore’s baptistry, the second includes sculptures decorating
the exterior of the Orsanmichele. Both csses, of course, reside
in Florence.
SANTA MARIA de FIORE and the COMPETITION FOR THE
BAPTISTRY DOORS
Santa Maria de Fiore is the name of the largest Cathedral in
Florence. Today, it is most famous for its dome, which
dominates the skyline of Florence. However, at the start of the
15th century (1400), no dome capped the Cathedral. It stood
incomplete for nearly 100 years because construction was halted
due to the plague and the ensuing economic decline throughout

Europe.
Florence Skyline with Santa Maria de Fiore, Firenze Italy.
Photo credit: Karen Danielson, PhD
View of Santa Maria de Fiore, Firenze Italy. Photo credit:
Karen Danielson, PhD
In front of this massive Cathedral sits a Baptistry, thought to
have been built in the 1100s (see below). Every citizen of
Florence would have been baptized in this baptistry, and it was
up to the Arte del Calimala guild (the guild of merchants,
finishers, and dyers of foreign cloth) to upkeep and enrich the
baptistry.
In 1401, the Duke of Milan’s troops were threatening to attack
Florence (Milan is another city in Italy, about 3 hours north
west of Florence by car or train today). Some historians have
identified that the impending threat of war Duke of Milan’s was
a cause for the Arte del Calimala guild to call for the
construction of new, bronze doors to decorate the Baptistry.
Art was then, as it can be today, used to bolster civic unity and
local pride. This is an important example of one way humanism
and the rise of civic virtue affected art projects in this century.
Baptistry of Santa Maria de Fiore, Firenze Italy. Photo credit:
Ian Danielson
The Arte del Cambio guild held a competition to determine who
would be commissioned to construct the doors. Part of what we
will do in our next class will be to assume the role of the judges
in this competition. To prepare yourself for this activity, you
will need to read the below 3 excerpts. The first is from a book
on Filippo Brunelleschi by Ross King; the second is a primary
document written by Lorenzo Ghiberti; and the third is from a
biography of Brunelleschi written in the late 1400s, after
Brunelleschi's death.
____________________________________________
Below is the excerpt from Brunelleshi’s Dome, by Ross King

pg. 12-19.
THE GOLDSMITH OF SAN GIOVANNI
IN 1418 FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI -- or "Pippo," as he was
known to everyone -- was forty-one years old. He lived in the
San Giovanni district of Florence, just west of the cathedral, in
a large house he had inherited from his father, a prosperous and
well-traveled notary named Ser Brunellesco di Lippo Lappi. Ser
Brunellesco originally intended his son to follow in his
footsteps, but Filippo had scant interest in a career as a civil
servant, showing instead, from a young age, an uncanny talent
for solving mechanical problems. No doubt his interest in
machines had been sparked by the sight of the half-built
cathedral that stood a short walk from the family home.
Growing up in the shadow of Santa Maria del Fiore, he would
have seen in daily operation the treadwheel hoists and cranes
that had been designed to raise blocks of marble and sandstone
to the top of the building. And the mystery of how to build the
dome was probably a topic of conversation in the family home:
Ser Brunellesco possessed some knowledge of the subject,
having been one of the citizens who in the referendum of 1367
had voted for the bold design of Neri di Fioravanti.
Although disappointed by his son’s lack of desire to become a
notary, Ser Brunellesco respected the boy’s wishes, and when
he was fifteen Filippo was apprenticed in the workshop of a
family friend, a goldsmith named Benincasa Lotti. An
apprenticeship with a goldsmith was a wise and logical choice
for a boy showing mechanical ingenuity Goldsmiths were the
princes among the artisans of the Middle Ages, with a large
scope to explore their numerous and varied talents. They could
decorate a manuscript with gold leaf, set precious stones, cast
metals, work with enamel, engrave silver, and fashion anything
from a gold button to a shrine, reliquary, or tomb. It is no
coincidence that the sculptors Andrea Orcagna, Luca della
Robbia and Donatello, as well as the painters Paolo Uccello,
Andrea del Verrocchio, Leonardo da Vinci, and Benozzo
Gozzoli— some of the brightest stars in a remarkable

constellation of Florentine artists and craftsmen—had all
originally trained in the workshops of goldsmiths.
Despite its prestige, goldsmithing was not the most wholesome
of professions. The large furnaces that were needed to melt
gold, copper, and bronze had to burn for days on end, even in
the heat of summer, polluting the air with smoke and bringing
the danger of explosions and fire. Noxious substances such as
sulfur and lead were used to engrave silver, and the clay molds
in which metals were cast required supplies of both cow dung
and charred ox horn. Worse still, the workshops of most
goldsmiths were found in Florence’s most notorious slum, Santa
Croce, a marshy and flood-prone area on the north bank of the
Arno. This was the workers’ district, home to dyers, wool
combers, and prostitutes, all of whom lived and worked in a
clutter of ramshackle wooden houses.
Filippo thrived in this environment, however, quickly mastering
the skill of mounting gems and the complex techniques of niello
(engraving on silver) and embossing. At this time he also began
studying the science of motion, and in particular weights,
wheels, and gears. The immediate fruits of these investigations
were a number of clocks, one of which is even said to have
included an alarm bell, making it one of the first alarm clocks
ever invented. This clever device—of which, unfortunately, no
evidence survives—appears to have been the first of his many
stunning technical innovations.
Filippo matriculated as a master goldsmith in 1398, at the age
of twenty-one, then rose to citywide prominence three years
later during a competition that, for its intense public interest,
rivaled the one between Giovanni di Lapo Ghini and Neri di
Fioravanti twenty-five years earlier. This was the famous
competition for the bronze doors of the Baptistery of San
Giovanni.
This competition—which would play a pivotal role in Filippo’s
career—came about because of an outbreak of plague. The
Black Death was a faithful visitor to Florence. It arrived, on
average, once every ten years, always in the summer. After the

horrors of 1348, there were further outbreaks, less severe, in
1363, 1374, 1383, and 1390. Various remedies were invented to
drive it away. Church bells were violently rung, firearms
discharged into the air, and the portrait of the Virgin from the
church at nearby Impruneta—an image with miraculous powers
that was said to have been painted by St. Luke—borne in
procession through the streets. Those rich enough escaped into
the country. Those who stayed behind burned wormwood,
juniper, and lavender in their hearths. Ox horn and lumps of
sulfur were also burned, because stenches were considered
equally effective in clearing the air. So intense were these
fumigations that sparrows would fall dead from the rooftops.
One of the worst outbreaks occurred in the summer of 1400,
when as many as 12,000 Florentines died—that is, just over one
person in five. The following year, in order to appease the
wrathful deity, the Guild of Cloth Merchants decided to sponsor
a new set of bronze doors for San Giovanni. The Baptistery, at
whose font every child in Florence was baptized, had long been
one of the city’s most venerated buildings. An octagonal,
marble-encrusted, domed structure standing a few yards to the
west of the rising hulk of the new cathedral, it was believed,
erroneously, to be a Temple of Mars constructed by Julius
Caesar to celebrate the Roman victory over the nearby town of
Fiesole (in fact it was built much later, probably in the seventh
century A.D.). Between 1330 and 1336 the sculptor Andrea
Pisano, later one of the cathedral’s capomaestri, had cast bronze
doors to ornament it: twenty panels showing scenes from the
life of John the Baptist, the patron saint of Florence. But no
further work had since been done to beautify the Baptistery, and
Pisano’s doors had themselves fallen into disrepair.
Filippo was in Pistoia in 1401, having left Florence because of
the plague. There he had been working in collaboration with
several other artists on an altar in the cathedral—prestigious
commission—but he returned to Florence immediately upon
hearing of the competition. Thirty- four judges were selected
from among Florence’s numerous artists and sculptors, along

with various worthy citizens, including the wealthiest man in
Florence, the banker Giovanni di Bicci de’ Medici. These
judges were charged with choosing the winner from among
seven goldsmiths and sculptors, all of them Tuscans.
The plague was not the only threat to Florence at this particular
time. No sooner had the pestilence abated than a new danger,
potentially worse, hove into view, with serious repercussions
for, among other things, Santa Maria del Fiore. Work on the
new cathedral had been moving on apace. The great arches over
the main pillars that would support the cupola had been started
in 1397, and the chapels on three sides of the octagon were in
the process of being vaulted. The Piazza dell’Opera, a triangular
space to the east of the cathedral, had been laid out and paved,
and a new building had been built to house the Opera del
Duomo. Early in 1401, however, this activity abruptly ceased
when the Duomo’s masons were conscripted into service
fortifying the walls of Castellina in Chianti, a small town on the
road to Siena. Soon afterward the Signoria, the executive body
of the Republic, hastily ordered them to fortify those of two
other towns, Malmantile and Lastra a Signa, both on the road to
Pisa.
The reason for this sudden flurry of building was a threat from
the north: Giangaleazzo Visconti, the duke of Milan, against
whom the Florentines had fought a war ten years earlier.
Giangaleazzo was a ginger-bearded tyrant, cruel and ambitious,
whose coat of arms was suitably grisly: a coiled viper crushing
in its jaws a tiny, struggling man. His autocratic rule differed
drastically from the “democracy” of Florence, which fulfilled
Aristotle’s criterion for an ideal republic in that it elected its
rulers (albeit with a narrow franchise) to short terms in office.
In 1385 Giangaleazzo had seized power in Milan by imprisoning
and then poisoning his uncle, Bernabó Visconti, who also
happened to be his father-in-law. To befit his new status,
Giangaleazzo had bribed the emperor Wenceslas IV to grant him
the title of duke of Milan. He had also begun work on a new
cathedral in Milan, an enormous Gothic structure complete with

pinnacles and flying buttresses—precisely the sort of
architecture to which Neri di Fioravanti and his group had
objected.
It was this old enemy, then, whose shadow now fell over
Florence. Not content with his power in northern Italy,
Giangaleazzo was proposing to unite the entire peninsula under
his rule. Pisa, Siena, and Perugia had already been subdued, and
by 1401 only Florence stood between him and lordship of all
northern and central Italy. Florence was politically and
geographically isolated, cut off from the sea-ports of Pisa and
Piombino. Under siege from Giangaleazzo, her trade came to a
standstill, and famine threatened. The Milanese tyrant even
prevented Florence from importing supplies of the wire that was
used to make instruments for carding wool. As his troops moved
on Florence, the historic rights of the Republic looked doomed.
It was against this background of urgency and crisis that the
competition for the second set of bronze doors was played out.
The rules of the competition were simple. Each of the
candidates was given four sheets of bronze, weighing seventy-
five pounds in all, and ordered to execute a scene based on an
identical subject: Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac as described in
Genesis 22:2—13. This story is traditionally said to prefigure
the crucifixion of Christ, but to the Guild of Cloth Merchants,
with Florence “miraculously” delivered from the plague and
with Giangaleazzo’s armies fast approaching, more immediate
analogies may have suggested themselves in this tale of sudden
salvation from mortal threat.² The competitors were given one
year to complete their trial panels, which were to be some 17
inches high by 13 inches wide.
A year may seem like a long time to execute such a relatively
small work, but casting in bronze was a delicate operation
demanding a high degree of skill. The first step in the process
was to model the figure roughly in carefully seasoned clay over
which, once the clay had dried, a coating of wax was laid. After
the wax had been carved into the shape of the desired statue or
relief-work of extreme sculptural precision—a new layer was

laid over it: a combination of burned ox horn, iron filings, and
cow dung was mixed together with water, worked into a paste,
and spread over the wax-coated model with a brush of hog
sables. Several layers of soft clay were then applied, each of
which was allowed to dry before its successor was overspread.
The result was a shapeless mass bound together with iron
hoops—the lumpy chrysalis from which the bronze statue was to
emerge.
This creation was placed in a kiln and baked until the clay
hardened and the layer of wax, as it melted, oozed through
small vent holes made for that purpose, usually at the base. A
hollow was thereby left into which bronze, melted in a furnace,
was poured. The final step in the process was to break away the
shapeless husk of baked clay and ex- pose the bronze figure,
which could then be chiseled, engraved, polished, and, if
necessary, gilded. So fraught with opportuni ties for mishap was
the whole process that, in later years, Michelangelo would
request a Mass to be said whenever he began pouring a bronze
statue.
The trial pieces were completed and the judgment commenced
in 1402, as Milanese troops displaying Giangaleazzo’s
gruesome insignia camped outside the gates of Florence. The
prestigious commission would almost certainly make the
victor’s reputation. Of the original seven competitors, only two
were considered worthy of the prize. Filippo Brunelleschi
found himself pitted against another young, unknown goldsmith.
And so began a lifelong professional rivalry.
Lorenzo Ghiberti was not the most auspicious contender for
such a major commission as the Baptistery doors. Only twenty-
four years old and with no major works to his credit, he was a
member of neither the goldsmiths’ nor the sculptors’ guilds.
Worse still, he was of dubious paternity. Officially the son of a
dissolute man named Cione Buonaccorso, he was rumored to be
the illegitimate child of a goldsmith, Bartoluccio Ghiberti, who
was now his stepfather.³ He had apprenticed in Bartoluccio’s
workshop, assisting in the manufacture of earrings, buttons, and

various other staples of the goldsmith’s trade—hardly tasks on
the scale of the Baptistery doors. When plague broke out in
1400, Lorenzo had left for the healthier climate of Rimini, on
the Adriatic coast, where he had worked not as a goldsmith but
as a painter of murals. He returned to Florence a year later, on
the urging of Bartoluccio, who assured him that if he won the
commission for the Baptistery doors, he need never make
another earring.
The two finalists in the competition could not have approached
their labors more differently. Lorenzo proved the more cunning
tactician, canvasing widely for advice from other artists and
sculptors, many of whom happened to be on the jury.
Summoned into Bartoluccio’s workshop in Santa Croce, they
were asked for their opinions of the wax model, which, no
matter how carefully carved, Lorenzo was always willing to
melt and reshape according to their criticisms. Advice was even
solicited from perfect strangers, the dyers and wool combers of
Santa Croce, who were beckoned into the shop as they passed
on their way to work. He also made good use of Bartoluccio,
who polished the finished work for him.
Filippo, on the other hand, worked in isolation. Secrecy and
individual effort were to be two hallmarks of his working habits
over the next forty years. Later, whether making architectural
models or specialized inventions such as hoist and boats, he
insisted on his own solitary authorship, never committing his
ideas to paper, or if he did, only in cipher. He worked either
alone or with one or two trusted disciples, always fearful that
some unworthy soul would bungle his plans or attempts to steal
the credit for them- a nightmare that was later to come true.
___________________________________________
Below is an excerpt from Ghiberti's Commentarii:
In my youth in the year of Christ 1400, because of the corrupt
air in Florence and the bad state of the country, I left that city
with an excellent painter whom Signor Malatesta of Pesaro had
summoned. He had had a room made which was painted by us
with great care. My mind was in a large part turned to painting

because of the work the prince promised us, and also the
companion with whom I was continually showed me the honor
and benefit we would acquire. However, at this time my friends
wrote me that the governors of the church of S. Giovanni
Battista were sending for skilled masters whom they wished to
see compete. From all countries of Italy a great many skilled
masters came in order to take part in this trial and contest. I
asked permission of the prince and my companion to leave. The
prince, hearing the reason, immediately gave me permission to
go. Together with the other sculptors I appeared before the
Operai of that church [Baptistry of S. Giovanni]. To each was
given four tables of bronze. As the trial piece the Operai and the
governors of the church wanted each artist to make one scene
for the door. The story they chose was the Sacrifice of Isaac and
each contestant was to make the same story. The trial pieces
were to be executed in one year, and he who won had to be
given the victory. These were the contestants: Filippo di Ser
Brunellesco, Symone da Colle, Nicholò d'Areço, Jacopo della
Quercia da Siena, Francesco di Valdombrina, Nicholò Lamberti.
We six were to take part in the contest, which was to be a
demonstration of the art of sculpture. To me was conceded the
palm of victory by all the experts and by all those who had
competed with me. To me the honor was conceded universally
and with no exception. To all it seemed that I had at that time
surpassed the others without exception, as was recognized by a
great council and an investigation of learned men. The Operai
of the governing board wanted the judgment of these men
written by their own hands. They were men highly skilled from
the painters and sculptors of gold, silver, and marble. There
were thirty-four judges from the city and the other surrounding
countries. The testimonial of the victory was given in my favor
by all, the consuls, the Operai , and the entire merchant's guild
which has charge of the church of S. Giovanni....
_____________________________________________________
________
Below is an excerpt from The Life of Filippo di Ser

Brunellesco:
It happened in his youth, in the year of Christ 1401, that is, in
his twenty-fourth year, while he was working at the goldsmith
trade, that the Operai of S. Giovanni in charge of its restoration,
had to contract for the making of the second pair of bronze
doors of this church, which today are on the north side. The
Operai first informed themselves as to which were the most
renowned masters of bronze casting, including those in Florence
itself, in order to give the commission to the best one. After
many debates among themselves and consultations with citizens
and craftsmen, it was decided that the two best were both
Florentine and that neither in Florence nor elsewhere were they
able to get any report of better masters. One of these two was
Filippo and the other Lorenzo di Bartolo, whose names is
inscribed on the doors as Lorenzo di Cione Ghiberti, for he was
the son of Ciono. At the time, when the work on the doors was
taken into consideration, Lorenzo was still young. He was at
Rimini, employed by the Lord Malatesta, and was called by this
event to Florence. To choose the best of the contestants, this
method was adopted: the Operai took as a model the shape of
one of the compartments of the bronze doors, representing the
story of St. John, which were already there and which were
executed in the past century by foreign sculptors, though the
design of the figures, which were modelled in wax, was by the
painter, Giotto. They asked each of the masters to make in
bronze a scene in this same shape, intending to award the
commission to whichever of them produced the best trial piece.
The works made have been preserved to our day. The one from
the hand of Lorenzo is in the reception room of the Arte de'
Mercatanti. The other by Filippo is built into the back of the
altar of the sacristy of S. Lorenzo in Florence. In each panel is
the scene of Abraham sacrificing his son. Filippo made his
panel in the form which is still to be seen today. He did it
quickly because he mastered his art boldly. When he had made
it, chased it, polished it completely, he felt no impulse to talk
about it to anyone, because, as I have said, he was no braggart,

but he waited confidently until the time of the judging. Lorenzo,
it was said, was more afraid than not of Filippo's talent which
was obvious enough to him, and not sure of his mastery of the
art, he proceeded slowly. When it was rumored about what a
beautiful thing was Filippo's he thought himself, being a man of
part, of making up for it by industry and by humbly asking for
advice and criticism from all those whose opinion he esteemed
and who, since they were goldsmiths, painters, and sculptors,
would eventually judge his work. Thus he meant to prevent the
failure of his work at the competition. And while he was
working on the wax model, continually consulting and asking
advice, deferring to people of this sort, he endeavored to find
out as much as possible about Filippo's model. Conferring with
these experts, Lorenzo undid and remade the whole and parts of
his model as many times as it seemed necessary to the best of
them, not shirking any amount of labor while it was still under
his hand in the wax stage, and after a long time he finally
finished it completely. Then came the contest and the judging.
The Operai and the officials of the building consulted precisely
those experts whom Lorenzo had picked out as the most learned
since they were in fact the most competent and perhaps there
were no others; they were the very ones who had had a share in
Lorenzo's work many times in the course of its progress. Since
not one of them had seen Filippo's model, they did not believe
that Filippo, or even Polycletus himself, would have been able
to do better than Lorenzo. The fame of Filippo was not yet
widespread, for he was still a young man and had his mind more
on doing than on talking. But when the experts saw his model
all were astonished and amazed at the problems he had set
himself, such as the movement of Abraham, the position of his
finger under Isaac's chin, his animation, the draperies and the
style, the design of the boy's whole body, the style and
draperies of the angel, his gestures, how he seizes the hand of
Abraham; at the pose, style, and design of the boy drawing the
thorn from his foot, and likewise the man drinking bent over.
They were amazed at the many difficulties in those figures he

had overcome and how well the figures performed their
functions, for there was not a limb that did not have life. They
admired the design of the animals that are there and every other
detail as well as the composition as a whole. But since they had
strongly praised Ghiberti's work to every one who would listen,
it seemed awkward to them now to have to contradict
themselves, though they were aware of the truth. Thus,
consulting together, they fixed on this solution and made this
report to the Operai : both models were very beautiful and for
their part, when all things were balanced, they could not
discover any superiority. Since the task was great, demanding
much time and expense, let them allot an equal share in the
commission to each of them so that they could work in it
together as partners. When Filippo and Lorenzo were called and
told the decision, Lorenzo was silent, but Filippo would not
agree unless the work was entirely his, and in this he persisted.
The officials kept to their decision, fully believing that in the
end they would agree. Filippo would not budge, like one whom
God, without his knowledge, had destined for greater things.
The officials threatened to commission it from Lorenzo if he did
not change his mind. He replied that he did not want to take part
if he did not have entire charge and if they did not wish to do
this, as far as he was concerned, he would be perfectly happy if
they should give the commission to Ghiberti. They asked for
opinions and as a result the city was sharply divided. Those
siding with Filippo were resentful that the entire work had not
been given to him. However, the matter was settled in that way.
And we can see that considering what the future held in store
for Filippo it was better so.
15th Century Art in Italy—Part 3: Understanding Context:
Artwork under the Medici
Our focused look at the Renaissance continues by examining the
influence that the Medici had on art in Italy in the 1400s. The
Medici family used art to legitimize their power and prestige.
You’ve learned a little bit about the Medici family when we
examined the Foundling Hospital and the construction of the

Duomo, both by Brunelleschi. This module will help you to
understand this powerful family more, particularly in light of
their patronage of the arts.
What follows is a brief overview of the Medici family. Then,
you will read an article that addresses several ways in which the
Medici utilize the arts to legitimize their power. The last
section of this module will examine the impact of Lorenzo de
Medici’s interest in Classicism on art.
Let’s begin by introducing you to the Medici family. The below
article, from Rice University, on will provide you with useful
information on this important Renaissance family.
A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE MEDICI:
The Medici family of Florence can be traced back to the end of
the 12th century. It was part of the patrician class, not the
nobility, and through much of its history the family was seen as
the friends of the common people. Through banking and
commerce, the family acquired great wealth in the 13th century,
and political influence came along with this wealth. At the end
of that century, a member of the family served as gonfaliere, or
standard bearer (high ceremonial office) of Florence. In the
14th century the family's wealth and political influence
increased until the gonfaliere Salvestro de' Medici led the
common people in the revolt of the ciompi (small artisanate).
Although Salvestro became the de facto dictator of the city, his
brutal regime led to his downfall and he was banished in 1382.
The family's fortune then fell until it was restored by Giovanni
di Bicci de’ Medici (1360-1429), who made the Medici the
wealthiest family in Italy, perhaps Europe. The family's
political influence again increased, and Giovanni was gonfaliere
in 1421.
Giovanni's son, Cosimo (1389-1464), Cosimo il Vecchio (the
old or first Cosimo), is considered the real founder of the
political fortunes of the family. In a political struggle with
another powerful family, the Albizzi, Cosimo initially lost and
was banished, but because of the support of the people he was

soon recalled, in 1434, and the Albizzi were banished in turn.
Although he himself occupied no office. Cosimo ruled the city
as uncrowned king for the rest of his life. Under his rule
Florence prospered.
Cosimo spent a considerably part of his huge wealth on
charitable acts, [he] live[d] simply, and cultivated literature and
the arts. He amassed the largest library in Europe, brought in
many Greek sources, including the works of Plato, from
Constantinople, founded the Platonic Academy and patronized
Marsilio Ficino, who later issued the first Latin edition of the
collected works of Plato. The artists supported by Cosimo
included Ghiberti, Brunelleschi, Donatello, Alberti, Fra
Angelico, and Ucello (boldface added, these are artists we have
discussed or will discuss in class). During his rule and that of
his sons and grandson, Florence became the cultural center of
Europe and the cradle of the new Humanism. Cosimo's son
Piero (1416-1469) ruled for just a few years but continued his
father's policies while enjoying the support of the populace.
Piero's sons, Lorenzo (1449-1492) and Giuliano (1453-1478)
ruled as tyrants, and in an attack in 1478 Giuliano was killed
and Lorenzo wounded. If the family fortunes dwindled
somewhat and Florence was not quite as prosperous as before,
under Lorenzo, known as the Magnificent, the city surpassed
even the cultural achievements of the earlier period. This was
the high point of the Florentine Renaissance: Ficino, Giovanni
Pico della Mirandola, Botticelli, Michelangelo, etc. (boldface
added, these are artists we have discussed or will discuss i n
class). But Lorenzo's tyrannical style of governing and
hedonistic lifestyle eroded the goodwill of the Florentine
people. His son Piero (1472-1503) ruled for just two years. In
1494, after accepting humiliating peace conditions from the
French (who had invaded Tuscany), he was driven out of the
city and died in exile. For some time, Florence was now torn by
strife and anarchy and, of course, the rule of Savonarola.
________________________________________
As noted in the above article, Cosimo is often identified as the

patriarch of the Medici family. Perhaps it is not surprising,
then, that Cosimo is the first in the family to invest heavily in
the arts. He does this for a variety of reasons, but a primary
reason was certainly to invest in the local community, gain
support in the community by supporting local artisans, and to
utilize art as a way to reinforce his power. The below article
vivifies these points by examining two, very famous, works of
art made for the Medici by the artist Donatello. Please note that
the footnotes and bibliography for this article are at the end of
the module.
Machinations, Manipulations, and the Medici: The
Legitimisation of Medici Rule Through Donatello’s “David”
and “Judith and Holofernes”
The Medici family came into prominence in 1434, after Cosimo
de’ Medici returned from exile and with the decline of the
previously powerful Albizzi family. They served as de facto
rulers of Florence from 1434 to 1494, when they were expelled
from the city again. One of the wealthiest families in Italy, the
Medicis were famous for their patronage of the arts, through
their support of artists such as Ghiberti, Brunelleschi, Fra
Angelico, and Donatello. Cosimo did not have a court, and no
salaried artists until the end of the fifteenth century.[i] Despite
this, the Medici family maintained its power through it’s
supporters and through clever manipulation of republican
processes, as opposed to legal authority.[ii]Florence took great
pride in upholding republican ideals of independence and s elf-
government, and had a signoria elected by the people. However,
the signoria ultimately became puppets in the hands of the
Medici, who had to be cautious and subtle in their efforts to
maintain power as they were not established rulers.[iii] Their
chosen strategy was to make use of republican imagery to
subvert any charges of tyranny against them. The family thus
made use of art to create powerful visual symbols, and imbued
the imagery with republican values and opinions about
themselves which they wanted to project to the citizens. The
Medici used artistic patronage to create an identity for

themselves as just, moral leaders by masking their political
ambitions with religious and moral themes.[iv] Donatello’s
sculptures of David and Judith and Holofernes were a part of
this political propaganda. Through an examination of their
setting, inscriptions, the religious and political connotations of
the Biblical figures, and the sculptures’ emphasis on justice, the
Medici family’s calculated attempt to give their rule the
appearance of legitimacy can be effectively brought out.
Donatello’s bronze David
Donatello’s bronze statue of David was commissioned by
Cosimo de’ Medici for the Palazzo Medici. The dating of the
statue remains unclear, the suggested dates for it’s creation
being between the 1420s and 1460s, with the earliest mention of
it in a manuscript describing Lorenzo de’ Medici’s wedding to
Clarice Orsini in 1466.[v] The statue depicts a young,
triumphant David immediately after his battle with the
Philistine warrior Goliath, whom he struck with a slingshot and
then beheaded- an episode from 1 Samuel 17.[vi] David is
depicted as standing with one foot on the severed head and
sword in hand, wearing only a shepherd’s cap covered with
laurel leaves, and boots. David’s face suggests a moment of
contemplation. and his physique is ambiguously effeminate,
distinguishing it from other representations of David including
Donatello’s own marble David commissioned in 1408.
Judith and Holofernes
Judith and Holofernes was also commissioned by Cosimo or
Piero de’ Medici and created in bronze between the late 1450s
or early 1460s.[vii] The sculpture draws from a Biblical story
in the deuterocanonical Book of Judith, depicting Judith slaying
the Assyrian general Holofernes after charming him with her
beauty and getting him drunk, thereby saving her town of
Bethulia from the threat of Assyrian conquest. Judith is shown
to be straddling Holofernes’ bare chest , pinning his wrist down
with her foot, and grasping his hair tightly as she holds his

sword high in her right hand- all with an expression of
unsettling calm. The contortion of Holofernes’ neck indicates
that he has already been struck once, and Judith is about to
deliver the second blow to sever his head.[viii]
Besides the similarity of the material used and the depiction of
Biblical characters in both, the two sculptures are linked by
their setting in the Medici palace. Before they were installed in
the Palazzo, the only other instance of David and Judith
appearing close to each other was in Ghiberti’s Gates of
Paradise.[ix] Both statues were displayed in public spaces of
the palace, namely, the courtyard and the garden. The David
was placed on a high base in the courtyard, which was visible
even from the street as it was in front of the palace’s main
entrance. This opened out to the main path from San Marco
which the procession of the Confraternity of the Magi took,
during the Feast of the Epiphany- a celebration the Medici
closely associated themselves with.[x] The garden, located
behind the courtyard, housed the Judith and Holofernes. Both
sculptures could therefore be accessed by all, as the courtyard
was open to visitors, and the garden to invited guests.[xi] The
placement of the David and Judith and Holofernes within the
base of Medici power and in view of the public brings out the
intention of making them symbols of Medici rule in Florence for
all.
The courtyard of the Palazzo Medici
When dealing with the anti-tyrannical connotations of both the
statues, it is important to note the similarity in their respective
inscriptions. Christine M.Sperling connects the two inscriptions
by mentioning that they accompanied each other in the
Riccardiana Manuscript.[xii]The bronze David once had the
following inscription with it- “The victor is whoever defends
the fatherland. God crushes the wrath of an enormous foe.
Behond! A boy overcame a great tyrant. Conquer, o
citizens!”[xiii] This inscription is similar to that of the earlier
marble David by Donatello, whose inscription read- “To those

who bravely fight for the fatherland god will offer victory even
against the most terrible foes.”[xiv]Sperling mentions that the
lines were taken from a poem by Filfelfo, who wished to regain
the favour of the Medicis through it. The inscription evidently
stresses on and justifies the need for people to rise against
tyranny,with David here acting as the defender of the
“fatherland” and of liberty, and even directly incites the
citizens of Florence to do so. Moreover, the reference to the
marble David, which was present in the Palazzo Della Signoria
at the time, connected the Medici with the Florentine republican
government and showed an accordance with their ideals.[xv]
Donatello’s marble David
Similarly, the inscription to Judith and Holofernes was as
follows- “Kingdoms fall through luxury, cities rise through
virtue; behold the neck of pride severed by humility.” In the
Book of Judith 9:9-11, Judith prays to God saying- “Send your
fury on their heads,” and “Break their pride by a woman’s
hand.” The neck is also associated with pride in the writings of
St.Augustine, who mentioned “stiff-neckedness” when speaking
about his own pride, as well as by Dante, who in Purgatory
speaks about the proud being unable to raise their necks because
of the weight of heavy boulders.[xvi] The horses on the
medallion around Holofernes’ neck have also been commonly
interpreted as representing pride.[xvii]Moreover, the first two
lines are in accord with the Florentine humanists’ belief that the
increase of private luxury was inimical to public virtue, and that
true nobility resided in virtue itself.[xviii] The Medici might
have wanted to project themselves as true upholders of virtue,
despite their contradictory position as one of the wealthiest
families in Italy. The sculpture also bore a second inscription-
“The salvation of the state, Piero de’ Medici son of Cosimo
dedicated this statue of a woman both to liberty and to fortitude,
whereby the citizens with unvanquished and constant heart
might return to the republic.” This inscription overtly connects
Judith and Holofernes to contemporary Florence in order “to

strengthen this Medicean assertion of their position as a dynasty
with a symbiotic relationship with the commonwealth of the city
at large.”[xix]
David and Judith and Holofernes, along with their respective
inscriptions, would carry certain political and historical
resonances for the Florentine public. Allie Terry traces the
changes of the beheading motif in Florence- changes which are
paralleled by Medici personal and political history. The
decapitations depicted in the sculptures as well as their
inscriptions contain references to the Albizzi coup of 1433-34,
which had resulted in the Medici being exiled from Florence.
The rampant problem of factionalis m which had led to the rise
of Albizzi power became the reason for their downfall and the
exile of Rinaldo Albizzi with the return of the Medici to
Florence in November 1434. Terry also mentions that
decapitation imagery rose in Medici art commissions after their
return from exile. The new sculptures thus served to emphasize
the changing position of the Medici in Florence. In a 1976
article, Horst Janson placed David in the context of the conflict
between the Florentines and the Visconti of Milan which raged
in the 1420s, with Goliath’s head representing the
Visconti.[xx] Though both statues paint the Medici as the right
rulers for Florence through their defence of liberty, the
inscription to Judith and Holofernes in particular has overt
political connotations. In his Istorie fiorentine, Giovanni
Cavalcanti discusses the conflict between the Albizzi and the
Medici, and mentions that Florence “abounded with men filled
with pride”, among whom was Rinaldo Albizzi. Pride was
identified as a cause of communal unrest in Dante as well, and
the Judith sculpture could this be seen as representing the fall
of the Albizzi because of Rinaldo’s pride.[xxi] At the same
time, it celebrated the virtue of the Medici rule from 1434, thus
utilising the sculpture for both self-aggrandizement and to bring
in resonances of political history.
Terry also contends that the decapitation imagery alluded to the
beheading of St John the Baptist, as the officials who caused the

disturbances were elected on 29th August- the day of the feast
of San Giovanni Decollato and the day John the Baptist was
decapitated. In his History of Tuscany, Francisco Guicciardini
mentioned that the Florentines interpreted the conflict as a
result of them having angered their patron saint by disrespecting
his feast day and failing to protect the Medici. The Medici’s
took this opportunity to devote themselves to the head of John
the Baptist, which was the most notable aspect of his
martyrdom. The head was a prized relic and Cosimo led an
attempt to steal it from the church of San Silvestro in Capite.
Salome with the Head of John the Baptist by Caravaggio
After procuring the head, dramatised re-enactments of the
beheading of St John the Baptist became a part of the festal
celebrations on 29th August, and the Medici closely associated
themselves with the celebration. In addition, they also
associated themselves with Epiphany rituals of the cult of the
Magi in Florence, and sponsored the images used in the rituals,
for example, the climactic moment of Herod’s slaughter in the
liturgical plays. As mentioned earlier, the procession would
cross the main entrance of the Palazzo Medici on their way to
the cathedral, thus enabling a full view of the David. The
Medici thus slowly wrought an indirect association between
themselves and the beheading of St John the Baptist (also seen
in the frescoes in the church of San Marco), and with the
inclusion of theatrical representations of the beheading, the
festal celebration came to be associated with a celebration of
Medici power within the city. The commissioning of the David
and Judith and Holofernes thus alluded to a visual rhetoric of
decapitation and political friction which the Florentines would
have grasped.[xxii]Sarah Blake McHam also adds that the
sculptures would make the more educated, elite citizens recall
the bronze statues of the Athenian Tyrannicides group depicting
Harmodios and Aristogeiton- heroes who, according to Pliny,
were symbols of Athenian democracy. She adds that
contemporary Florence would recall two famous tyrannicides in

ancient history- the attempt to murder Hippias, which was
believed to have established democracy in the west, as well as
the assassination of Julius Caesar, which was seen by some as
treachery, but by many, like Boccaccio, as justified
tyrannicide.[xxiii] Thus the Medici could promote themselves as
defenders of democracy and liberty when Donatello’s statues
were seen in this context- ideals which were central to the
republicanism in Florence at the time.
The Tyrannicide sculptures
The selection of David and Judith in particular as symbols for
Medici power is significant. They are both Jewish saviours from
the Old Testament who conquer evil forces. Their respective
stories represent the victory of the weak over the strong. In
keeping with his position in the Old Testament, David was
usually depicted as a king, but Donatello introduces a change by
depicting David as a naked youth. In antiquity, nudity was used
to depict gods and heroes and Donatello’s David appears to
recall such heroism in his moment of victory over the tyranny
and injustice represented by the head of Goliath.[xxiv] The
youthfulness of David is emphasized by his physique- he does
not appear strong enough to hold a heavy sword and defeat the
formidable Goliath. This stresses that it was divine intervention
which caused David’s victory and not David himself.[xxv] In
the story of Judith as well, it is her prayer to God which gives
her the power to overcome Holofernes. Divine backing in both
cases seems to hint that the Medici too wanted to portray
themselves as agents of good aligned with divine principles and
perhaps backed by divine sanction.
Judith was interpreted in the medieval period as a “moral,
religious, and political heroine.”[xxvi] In Christian thought, her
triumph over Holofernes was seen as a victory of virtue. Most
importantly, she was seen as an epitome of humility and
chastity, which conquers the pride and licentiousness
Holofernes represents.[xxvii]Her humility is already mentioned
in the first inscription. The Medici also wished to associate

themselves with this humility, which would allow them to
assume a moral position above that of their enemies. Judith’s
chastity is brought out by her demure and sober attire, in
contrast to Holofernes’ semi-nakedness. The abundance of cloth
surrounding her body does not sexualise her figure, in contrast
to Holofernes’ plentiful hair which she is seen grabbing, which
was a marker for sexual virility at the time.[xxviii] The monk
Hrabanus Maurus saw Judith as a model of prudence by citing
Jerom’s preface to the Book of Judith.[xxix] Thus through the
image of Judith, the Medici wished to promote themselves as
humble, prudent and virtuous rulers while simultaneously
accusing their enemies of being morally depraved and
crude.[xxx]
An important aspect of the Florentine republic was the stress on
justice. Civic humanists stressed on maintaining justice and
liberty in order to become virtuous individuals- an essential
quality for one in charge of a republic. One was advised to
adhere to Cicero’s theory of virtue in the De Inventione and De
re publica, where Cicero explained that virtue consisted of four
parts, or four cardinal virtues- justice (justitia), prudence
(prudentia), fortitude (fortitudio), and temperance
(temperanzia). Of the four virtues, justice and prudence were
given the most importance.[xxxi] The four virtues were
represented in paintings, where they were often accompanied by
the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity.
The Cardinal and Theological Virtues by Raphael
Justice would also be represented in depictions of archangel
weighing souls or wielding a sword to ward off Satan’s dragon.
A painting of St Michael weighing souls by Master of
Soriguerola
Artistic representations of justice were very much accessible at
the time, and was utilised by governments who wished to
legitimise their rule.[xxxii] The Medici too employed the David
and Judith and Holofernes sculptures as a part of their visual

14th Century articleA CLOSER LOOK AT CONTEXT—THE BLACK PLAGU

14th Century articleA CLOSER LOOK AT CONTEXT—THE BLACK PLAGU

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