The document provides context on the Early Renaissance period in three paragraphs. It discusses how the Renaissance began in Italy between 1400-1600 as an artistic revival centered on classical Greco-Roman styles and ideals. Key factors that influenced this rebirth were the decline of Constantinople which brought Greek scholars to Italy, and the rediscovery of classical texts. The arts during this period, especially painting, sculpture and architecture, began embracing principles of realism, anatomy, and linear perspective that had been lost since antiquity. Major artists like Masaccio and Botticelli produced influential works that advanced these naturalistic styles and techniques.

1. THE EARLY
RENAISSANCE

2. CONTEXTS AND CONCEPTS
CONTEXTS
THE RENAISSANCE
Between 1400 and 1600, Europe witnessed an astonishing revival of
art centered in Italy, which we now refer to as the Renaissance
The term Renaissance, describes the radical and comprehensive
changes that took place in European culture during the 15th and 16th
centuries,
The word "Renaissance" is not Italian, but French in origin. It
literally means "Rebirth." But now one must ask: Rebirth of what?
The rebirth of almost everything and mostly art.
Art collectors who lived during Roman times (2nd century B.C.–4th
century A.D.) wanted to own stone replicas of famous statues by
sculptors from the Classical period of Greek art (5th–4th century
B.C.). As a result the Roman empire left behind a huge repository of
classical art.

3.  Because few Greek statues survived, the Roman sculptures modeled
on them provide the most compelling visual evidence we have about
the appearance of the originals.
 Examples of Roman architecture and sculpture were found in almost
every town that was part of the Empire.
 What caused this rebirth of the visual arts is still being debated
because the 14th century in Europe witnessed several catastrophic
harvests, the Black Death (1346), and a continuing war between
England and France. None of the above were conditions conducive to
a creative outburst.
 The decline of Constantinople during this period prompted many
Greek scholars to emigrate to Italy. They brought with them important
texts and knowledge of classical Greek civilization. All these factors
help explain why the Renaissance started in Italy.

4.  The Italian Renaissance re-established Western art according to
the principles of classical Greek art, especially Greek sculpture
 The Renaissance embodied for the first time the values of the
modern world.
 This phenomenon is largely due to the renewal of education and
study.
 Renaissance comprised three or more periods:
 The Early Renaissance in Florence
 The High Renaissance in Rome and Venice
 And the Renaissance that occurred outside of Italy, mostly in
Northern Europe

5. THE RENAISSANCE VIEWPOINT
ANTIQUITY REVISITED AND MEASURED
 Classical Greece was obsessed with proportion and geometry in
architecture
 Renaissance obsessed with proportion and geometry in painting
and sculpture.
 The obsession with proportion and geometry in art becomes
apparent in one the most famous drawings of this period: The
Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci.
 The Vitruvian ideas, presented by Leonardo, formed the basis of
Renaissance proportion theories in art and architecture.
 Vitruvius was a first century Roman architect and author of 'De
Architectura libri X'.

6.  In his treatise, of 'e Architectura libri X, Vitruvius created a theory
about symmetry and proportion as related to the building of
temples.
 He believed that the proportions and measurements of the human
body were perfect and correct. Therefore proposed that the ideal
temple proportions should reflect and relate to the parts of the
human body.
 He noted that a human body can be symmetrically inscribed within
both a circle and a square; this idea influenced his architectural
practice.

7. Leonardo da Vinci,
Vitruvian Man, c. 1485-90.
Pen and ink,
13 ½ x 9 5/8 inches
(34.3 x 24.5 cm)
Academy, Venice Italy.

8. THE WORLD DISCOVERED
The scholars of this period thought that curiosity and
experimentation were important for the future of science.
They attempted to be objective and used experience and
experiments to observe their world.
Before Renaissance abstract ideas were simply accepted as truths.
During Renaissance, experimentation, objective questioning, and
acceptance of the results was most influential on the world of
science than any other achievement.

9. CITY AND PAPAL STATES
Italy is considered the birthplace of the European Renaissance.
During the early Renaissance, there were five major Italian city-
states:
 The Republic of Venice
 The Republic of Milan
 The Republic of Florence
 The Papal States
 The Kingdom of Naples
During the early years of the Renaissance many of these cities were
at war.
The republics of Venice, Milan and Florence were all in the northern
part of modern-day Italy.

10.  The Papal States were located on the central portion of the
peninsula. After the end of the Great Schism in 1417, with the
election of Martin V at the Council of Constance, the papacy made
an effort to restore its authority in Rome.
 The Kingdom of Naples took up the southern portion of Italy and
included the Island of Sicily.
 Minor city-states that also played a crucial role in the European
Renaissance included Ferrara and Modena.
 Urbino was significant city although not on the same level with
Florence, Rome, or Venice.

11. Luciano Laurana and Francesco di Giorgio,
Palazzo Ducale, Urbino, Italy, 1466-c.1481
The fortifications of
this city, as seen in
this image, point to
the wars these cities
we often engaged in
as they fought for
economic and
political supremacy

12. THE QUATROCENTO IN FLORENCE
In the second decade of the 15th century, Florence took the lead in
the development of an art that was to affect Europe for more than 500
years.
Political stability and powerful ruling families produced a climate
that produced patrons of art that made the artistic flowering possible.
Donatello, Brunelleschi, and Alberti were among the first artists to
look consciously toward classical antiquity as a model for their work.
They, with Masaccio, whose style recalls Giotto's monumentality,
began to devise the optical system of perspective.

13.  They also set a high artistic standard that was emulated by
succeeding generations.
 In the 15th century, the leading families of Florence needed a
strong person to lead them against the threat of rival cities.
 They chose Cosimo de Medici, a wealthy banker, to take control of
the government.
 The Medicis maintained control by exiling people who disagreed
with them and encouraging other Italian cities to form alliances
with Florence.
 The best known of the Medicis was Lorenzo, who was known as
“Lorenzo the Magnificent.”

14.  Lorenzo was a shrewd banker and clever politician; he was also a
scholar and a poet.
 Under Lorenzo’s leadership, Florence became one of the most
beautiful and prosperous cities in Italy, as well as a center of the
Renaissance.
 Under the influence of the great Medici family, the advances of the
Proto-Renaissance (c.1300-1400) were exceeded.
 Most visibly, much sculpture was created to adorn the squares and
buildings of Florence.

15. CONCEPTS
Three philosophical concepts emerged during the Renaissance:
 Humanism
 Individualism
 Scientific Naturalism
 Capitalism
Individualism, humanism, and secularism as philosophies depicted in
Italian art were shown in much more than only art. Literature,
politics, and the economy used these concepts, and all contributed
to the Renaissance.
These new ideas and concepts were the foundation for the
development of Western Europe during the Renaissance.

16. HUMANISM
 Renaissance, a more modern culture that depended on individualism,
skepticism, and ultimately on science replaced the culture of the
Middle Ages.
 Humanism is a type of intellectual and philosophical thought that
stressed the realization of human potential. Humanism is largely
responsible for the decline of Papal power that occurred at this time
and the increase of secular authority such as that of the Emperors and
wealthy families.
 One of the most important effects of humanism upon Western Culture
is in the realm of art. In addition to the new freedom of expression to
show nudity in art, art now attempted to answer questions and
represent the human condition in visual terms. The goal of the
Renaissance artist was to show the (physically) perfect human, the
culmination of all human potential towards greatness

17. INDIVIDUALISM
The concept of individualism emerged during the Renaissance. It
stressed personality, uniqueness, genius, and full development of
one’s capabilities and talents.
Before Renaissance, recognition of remarkable individuals of the
Dark Ages was strongly discouraged due to the fact that Christianity
encouraged humility.
However, from the Renaissance on, individualism remains as a
dominating theme in Western civilization.
Many artists were thought to have been "genius". Raphael, while
creating the School of Athens , depicted himself in the painting. It
was common for Renaissance artists used "self-glorification" to
show their own importance.

18. Michelangelo
David, 1504
Carrara Marble
Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence
Michelangelo's David (David and
Goliath) depicts individualism
metaphorically, which is reflected in
his confident pose, which
symbolizes that man (David) can
accomplish anything (killing Goliath).

19. Raphael. School of Athens, 1509-1510. Fresco.
Apostolic Palace, Vatican City

20. SCIENTIFIC NATURALISM
Scientific naturalism contributions to science consisted mainly in
the recovery of Greek scientific literature which evinced a more
accurate and acceptable body of facts and ideas than most medieval
scientific works.
The scientific treatises of Aristotle, Euclid, and Ptolemy were
translated into Latin and known to scholars before the Renaissance.
Moreover, Islamic scholars had already introduced most Attic and
Hellenistic science into western Europe, often with vast
improvements on the original.

21. CAPITALISM
Prior to the Renaissance, European economies were predominantly
organized in small manors whose lords who were accountable to the
King.
Capitalism emerged first in Florence, which became a very important
center for manufacturing luxurious goods for export, and for its banking.
Capitalism pursued wealth and power as its goals.
The bankers developed bills of exchange, first to pay debts without
having to transport cash, second as a means of evading paying taxes to
the church, and finally as a means of extending credit.
Expansion of trade, prosperity, luxury, and widening social contacts
generated interest in worldly pleasures, in spite of formal allegiance to
ascetic Christian doctrine.

22.  The rich used their wealth on luxury goods for their palaces, and
luxurious clothing. They commissioned artisans, painters,
sculptors, architects and decorators.
 Florence was home to the fabulous wealth of the art-conscious
Medici family. They were great supporters of the arts.
 The Renaissance era fostered a general desire to explore all
aspects of nature and the world.
 European explorers discovered new sea routes, new continents
and established new colonies.

23. Maritime trade
network map
(c. 1500)
Red lines signify a
Venetian trade
route.
Venice traded with
numerous North
African and
European
cultures.

24. CHARACTERISTICS OF CAPITALISM
It flourished in urban settings
Predominance of Secularism is evident in the tendency toward the
worldly compensation
Capitalism pursued wealth and powers as its goals.
A person could achieve a better material standard of living to the
extent of his/her abilities.
It encouraged a diversification of occupations
Technology directly affected the economies
Increased exploration of the world

25. THE ARTS OF THE EARLY RENANISSANCE
 Early Renaissance art first developed in the city of Florence in in
the fourteenth century.
 The arts of the Early Renaissance, painting, sculpture, and
literature were influenced by scholars who migrated to Rome
following the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Their arrival prompted
an interest in ancient Greek and Roman arts and texts.
 This humanist study of antique arts explains the interest of these
artists in studying nature to gain an understanding of concepts like
perspective and anatomy, a knowledge lost since antiquity.
 This marks a return to naturalism as painters of the Early
Renaissance became increasingly interested in the representation
of the visible world. The adoption naturalism led to a series of
changes in the creation of art - especially, architecture, painting and
sculpture.

26. Masaccio's Tribute Money depicts the scene from Matthew's Gospel,
when Jesus and the Apostles arrived in Capernaum and a visit from the
tax collector.
PAINTING
Masaccio, The Tribute Money, c. 1427. Fresco. 8 ft 4” x
19 ft 8”. Santa Maria della Carmine, Florence, Italy.

27. Masaccio tells the story as three separate events happening at
different times (all in the same painting):
first, the tax collector requests the tribute money to Rome, and
Jesus tells Peter how to find it;
second, Peter fishes as directed by Jesus and catches a fish in
Lake Genezaret, then extracts a coin from the fish;
 third, Peter pays the tax collector with the coin (tribute money).
The painting refers directly to a controversy over a proposed tax
reform that took place at the time in Florence and it was settled in
1427. The Biblical story referenced in the Tribute Money is meant to
teach the legitimacy of paying taxes.

28.  Masaccio's technical innovation in the Tribute Money is the technique
of the use of a single light source. Masaccio's Tribute Money and
Expulsion from Paradise are considered to be his masterpieces.
 Behind the group of people positioned off center to the left, we can see
sloping mountains, in colors that range from dark green to the white
snow in the background, and a blue sky with white clouds painted in
perfect perspective.
 The hills, mountains, farmhouses, trees and hedges, have an entirely
new and earthy concreteness: a perfect use of linear perspective.
 Masaccio learned from Brunelleschi about the principles of
perspective and architecture, which we see as backgrounds in many of
his frescoes.

29. Masaccio,
The Holy Trinity, c. 1426-7.
Fresco, 21 ft 10” ½ x 10 ft 5”
(6.67 x 3.17m).
Santa Maria Novella,
Florence, Italy.
For the architecture in The Holy
Trinity, Masaccio takes his
inspiration from ancient Roman
triumphal arches and the recent
perspective discoveries, with a
vanishing point at the viewer's eye
level.

30.  The vault, drawn in perspective, is divided into squares that
diminish in size and are foreshortened so well that there seems to
be niche in the wall. This technique is called trompe l'oeil, which
means "deceives the eye," in French.
 Visually the painting is balanced by the juxtapositions of round
and straight lines organized symmetrically by Christ’s body on the
cross.
 The only figure without a fully-realized three-dimensional
occupation of space is God supporting the Cross, because he is
considered an immeasurable being.

31.  The kneeling patrons represent another important innovation.
Overlapping makes them seem that they are occupying the
viewer's space.
 The patrons are depicted in the traditional prayerful pose of donor
portraits, but at life size, rather than the more usual small scale,
and with attention to realism and volume achieved by using light
and shadows.
 The fresco influenced generations of Florentine painters and
European artists.
 All these innovations make Masaccio the most important figure in
Early Italian Renaissance painting.

32. Fra Anglico,
Annunciation,
altarpiece for San Domenico,
Cortona, c. 1434. Panel,
5ft 3 ins x 5 ft 11”
(1.6 x 1.8 m).
Museo Diocesano, Cortona,
Italy.

33.  Fra Angelico spent most of his life in the San Marco convent. He
and his assistants painted the walls between 1438 and 1450
 Fra Angelico is known in Italy for paintings of religious subjects. In
Annunciation, Fra Anglico demonstrated an understanding of
linear perspective by setting the figures under arches and behind
columns.

34. Sandro Botticelli, La Primavera (Spring),
c.1478. Tempera on panel, 6’8” x 10’ 4”(2.03 x
3.15 m). Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy.

35.  La Primavera (Spring) by Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) is a tempera
on wood panel painting.
 The painting’s hermetic (mostly known by the artist and only
guessed by experts) iconography explains the aesthetic solution.
The painting depicts a group of mythological figures in a garden,
in the lush growth of Spring.
 Other meanings have also been explored, such as a mythological
allegory of the fertility of the world.
 The painting is a very popular artworks in Western art. Its history
has not been definitively confirmed but it is believed to have been
commissioned by one of the Medici family.

36. Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus, c. 1482. Tempera
on canvas, 5 ft 8 ¾ ins x 9 ft 3 ½ ins (1.72 x 2.78 m).
Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy.

37.  Sandro Botticelli’s, The Birth of Venus, is another one of his
famous works. The painting illustrates the arrival on the island of
Cyprus of the mythological figure Venus, the goddess of love.
 This painting is so large the figure is almost life size. The oranges
in the background point to the fact that this painting was
commissioned by the Medici family, Botticelli’s greatest
supporters.
 On the left are the wind god, Zephyr and his wife Chloris. Botticelli
showed Zephyr and Chloris each blowing to help Venus reach the
shore. On the right is Hora the goddess of summer welcoming
Venus. In the background are orange groves running along the
coastline.
 Primavera and the Birth of Venus paintings show two parts of
Venus. Botticelli painted them as a pair to be hung in the same
space. Both have the same theme that love triumphs over brutality.

38. SCULPTURE
Donatello (c.1386~1466) made the statue of St. George for a
niche on Or San Michele.
St. George was the patron saint of the Guild of Armorers and Sword
makers.
The figure seems serene but at close inspection it displays a
dramatic inner life (furrowed brow).
Despite seeming relaxed, each muscle is taut, the shield rests
momentarily on its point, and the hands have the tension of
readiness in repose.
This sculpture established Donatello’s reputation as the greatest
sculptor in Italy.

39. Donatello, St. George,
1415. Marble, 3 ft 7 ½” x 2 ft 3”
Museo Nazionale del Bargello,
Florence, Italy.

40. David, Created by Donatello in Italy between 1425-30, it was the first
significant free standing lifesize nude bronze since antiquity.
It was condemned and never placed on a pillar as planned. It was the
only work of its kind for about a century. There are numerous
questions surrounding the sculpture about:
the "helmet“, which looks more like a French or Italian woman's
hat;
the long feminine hair and facial features, the slender feminine
arms, the curvaceous feminine waistline and abdominal muscles,
the feminine hips and legs;
the feminine positioning of the hands.
In this scuplture, David is not admiring the head of his slain victim,
but rather at his own graceful and powerful body after his heroic
triumph. This self admiration is a dominant theme in Renaissance art.

41. Donatello,
David, dated variously
1430-40. Bronze, 5 ft 2 ¼ “
(1.58 m) high.
Museo Nazionale del
Bargello, Florence, Italy.

42. Equestrian monument of Erasmo da Narni, called
Gattamelata, created by Donatello,
This bronze equestrian statue, is commemorative monument for the
Venetian condottiere, Erasmo da Narni (nicknamed Gattamelata).
This monument, set on a high marble base, is in front of Sant'Antonio, the
main church of Padua.
This work became the prototype for honoring a military heroes. The work
is a powerful statement of Renaissance respect for military commanders
since usually only heads of state would have received such honor.
The horse's hoof, for example is on an orb, the ancient symbol for control
over the earth. And although Gattamelata had died in his seventies,
Donatello idealizes the general at the height of his powers.

43. Donatello, Equestrian
Monument to Gattamelata,
1445-50. Bronze, 11’ x 13’
Piazza del Santo, Padua,
Italy.

44. Lorenzo Ghiberti, Sacrifice of Isaac panel was made for the
competition that pitted Lorenzo Ghiberti against Filippo Brunelleschi
The San Giovanni Baptistry in Florence ran a design competition to
decide to whom to award the commission of the Baptistry Eastern
Doors. Entries were submitted by both Ghiberti and Brunelleschi.
There is some controversy over who was proclaimed winner, though it
is known that Ghiberti executed the commission on his own.
The competitors were expected to submit panels representing the Old
Testament story of the Abraham's Sacrifice of Isaac, at the moment
when Abraham, ordered by God to sacrifice his only son, is about to
do it , but his hand is stayed at the last moment by an angel.
Ghiberti in his account of the competition lists the name of seven
competitors, all from Tuscany: Filippo Brunelleschi, Lorenzo Ghiberti,
among them. Two of the competition panels have been preserved: one
by Lorenzo Ghiberti and the other by Filippo Brunelleschi.

45. Lorenzo Ghiberti,
Sacrifice of Isaac,
1402. Gilt bronze
21” x 17 ½ “
Museo Nazionale del
Bargello, Florence, Italy.

46. Lorenzo Ghiberti, The Gates of Paradise
 An economic crash between 1339 to 1346, political upheaval, and
the outbreak of the Plague in 1348 led to the suspension of plans
to complete the two remaining doors.
 During the winter of 1400 - 1401, the consuls of the Calimala
decided to open a competition for another set of doors. Just as the
competition was initiated Milanese troops under the leadership of
Gian Galeazzo Visconti were threatening Florence.
 Some see the motivation of the Calimala to revive the door project
as an attempt to bolster civic unity and pride by embellishing one
of the city‘s most important monuments.

47. Lorenzo Ghiberti,
The Gates of Paradise, 1424-52.
Gilt bronze, about 17 ft high.
Baptistry, Florence, Italy.

48.  The Gates of Paradise consist of ten panels distributed in
two columns of five panels to each side of the seventeen-foot-high
double doors.
 From the story of Adam and Eve at the top left to Solomon at the
bottom right, each panel represents a succession of events.
 Often the same characters appear two or three times. The scheme
allows Ghiberti to make each panel an entire narrative. It also
allows him to create an encyclopedia of Renaissance
achievements.
 With The Gates of Paradise, Ghiberti gets to the Old Testament at
last. The scheme also pares back to just those ten panels. Within
that space, a lot is going on. Ghiberti had to cut back the number
of panels, but not the number of scenes.

49.  The Story of Jacob and Esau panel focuses on
architecture. A succession of tall arches, staggered and overlaid,
pushes to the scene's very edges and recedes into depth.
 Giberti learned from Donatello to mix foreground low relief with
lines incised into the plane, to further the illusion of infinite space.
 In this ideal city, the young men bargain, stride confidently, and
receive a father's blessing. The narrow roof of an arch serves for
their mother to receive the prophecy of all that is to come.
 The changing style of The Gates of Paradise has to do with distinct
subjects. At top God oversees the earth, at middle a city takes care
of itself, and below the city provides a backdrop to history.

50. Lorenzo Ghiberti,
The Story of Jacob and Esau,
panel of The Gates of
Paradise, c. 1435. Gilt bronze,
31 ¼ (74.9 cm) square.
Baptistery, Florence, Italy.

51. Filippo Brunelleschi, Dome of Florence Cathedral
 Brunelleschi came to prominence when he competed for the
second bronze door of the Florence Baptistery, held in 1401, in
which he participated alongside Ghiberti and five other sculptors.
This contest has been described as the first art competition since
Antiquity.
 Brunelleschi was asked to give his opinion on the dome of
Florence Cathedral whose actual execution remained a supremely
difficult engineering problem.
 Originally worked alongside Ghiberti, he soon acquired control
over the supervision of the work. The completion of this enterprise
spanned the rest of his life and it remains his most famous
achievement.

52. Filippo Brunelleschi,
dome of Florence Cathedral,
Italy, 1420-36

53.  He overcame the main task of enclosing the enormous drum
(which was already standing) by introducing a double-shell dome.
This required a series of ingenious technical innovations to reduce
weight and ensure maximum strength.
 The scaffolding and the weight-lifting devices needed to construct
the massive superstructure of the dome posed many and serious
difficulties.
 Brunelleschi conquered every problem as it arose, with a brilliant
display of engineering skill and great attention to each detail of the
construction.

54. Schematic of
Brunelleschi’s dome

55.  Brunelleschi's earliest surviving public building is the Ospedale
degli Innocenti (Foundling Hospital Florence), begun in 1419.
 Its long semi-circular arcade reveals a clear Tuscan Romanesque
influence, but the precision with which these medieval forms are
applied, and the modular system of proportion which govern the
whole design, are entirely Classical.
 The height of the columns is equal to the distance between the
columns, and the width of the arcade is equal to the height of the
column, making each bay a cube. The simple proportions of the
building reflect a new age, of secular education and a sense of
great order and clarity.

56. Filippo Brunelleschi, Foundling Hospital, Florence, Italy,
designed 1419, built 1421-44.