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125-687: The first proposal as to how the altarpiece might have been arranged, one that didn't include the panel depicting Christ on the Mount of Olives, was made by Vincenc (Vinzenz) Luksch, the then director of the Diocese Museum , in 1900. He placed the Crucifixion in the middle of the altar; on both sides he placed two single-sided panels as fixed wings, the Flagellation of Christ on the left and the Crowning with Thorns on

250-726: A council in Florence in an attempt to unify the Eastern and Western Churches. This brought books and, especially after the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, an influx of scholars to the city. Ancient Greece began to be studied with renewed interest, especially the Neoplatonic school of thought, which was the subject of an academy established by the Medici. Florence remained a republic until 1532 (see Duchy of Florence ), traditionally marking

375-633: A despotic monarchy, between the ideals of the Greek and Roman Republics and those of the Roman Empire and Medieval kingdoms. For Baron, the most important figure in crafting this ideology was Leonardo Bruni . This time of crisis in Florence was the period when the most influential figures of the early Renaissance were coming of age, such as Ghiberti , Donatello , Masolino , and Brunelleschi . Inculcated with this republican ideology they later went on to advocate republican ideas that were to have an enormous impact on

500-452: A large T-shaped cross, is portrayed before the Gate of Jerusalem . The background features a landscape with a river and distant mountains; the lowered horizon deepens the space beyond. The sky is replaced by silver background. The man in yellow clothing helping Christ to carry the cross is Simon of Cyrene . In the foreground, a soldier with a spear is lifting up the flagging Christ while another man

625-406: A limited range of illuminated monochrome areas and brownish or purplish shadows. The background is made up of dark-green vegetation, light areas of water, grey or brown stone architecture and brown cliffs. The clothes of the figures in the foreground use the contrast of rich colour tones ranging from vermillion red, sulphur yellow and an entire spectrum of greens to black and purple. The transitions in

750-501: A long red robe, with a serious expression on his face. Portrayed in profile, his head is disproportionately small compared with Mary as well as with the size of his own body. The lovely face of the Virgin Mary , similar to loving Madonnas, is different to the portrayal of Mary in other panels of the altarpiece. Two shepherds are approaching the hut, one of whom points to a pair of angels on the partial roof. The depiction of Baby Jesus on

875-451: A low wall, a landscape enlivened with cliffs covered with trees and vegetation unfolds into distant space; beyond, we can see a church and a half-built tower under scaffolding. The slender and subtly modelled fingers of the Virgin Mary cast a shadow corresponding to light coming from the right-hand side. The composition is modelled on a print by the Master E.S. Christ, dragging on his shoulder

1000-733: A major change in Italian poetry as the Dolce Stil Novo ( Sweet New Style , which emphasized Platonic rather than courtly love ) came into its own, pioneered by poets like Guittone d'Arezzo and Guido Guinizelli . Especially in poetry , major changes in Italian literature had been taking place decades before the Renaissance truly began. With the printing of books initiated in Venice by Aldus Manutius , an increasing number of works began to be published in

1125-435: A major influence for artists and authors, with the classics coming into their own as a second primary influence. In the early Italian Renaissance, much of the focus was on translating and studying classic works from Latin and Greek. Renaissance authors were not content to rest on the laurels of ancient authors, however. Many authors attempted to integrate the methods and styles of the ancient Greeks into their own works. Among

1250-471: A major source of inspiration and plots for many English authors in the Renaissance, including Geoffrey Chaucer and William Shakespeare . Aside from Christianity, classical antiquity , and scholarship, a fourth influence on Renaissance literature was politics. The political philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli 's most famous works are Discourses on Livy , Florentine Histories and finally The Prince , which has become so well known in modern societies that

1375-541: A more powerful adversary, and with the decline of Genoese power during the 15th century Venice became pre-eminent on the seas. In response to threats from the landward side, from the early 15th century Venice developed an increased interest in controlling the terrafirma as the Venetian Renaissance opened. On land, decades of fighting saw Florence, Milan, and Venice emerge as the dominant players, and these three powers finally set aside their differences and agreed to

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1500-607: A receptacle with sculptural decoration formed the centre of the altarpiece that was most probably consecrated to the Virgin Mary. Placed in pairs above each other on both sides, the movable wings depicted not just the surviving scenes of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary and the Birth of Christ (right-hand side), but hypothetically also scenes showing the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary and

1625-606: A rich fur-lined robe; St Longinus , whose spear is being held by Joseph; and a Roman centurion. The composition is loosely based on the prints of Albrecht Dürer (the Virgin Mary) and Hans Schäufelein (the centurion). The decorative rendering of Christ's robe with its billowing tips appears in late Gothic, for example in the work of Martin Schongauer and Lucas Cranach the Elder (1503). In contrast to earlier interpretations stating that

1750-568: A scene showing the Last Supper and, on the missing left-hand movable wings, the Annunciation and Flight to Egypt on the inner side and Ecce Homo instead of Christ before Pilate on the outer side. The altarpiece panels painted on one side that make up the fixed wings have dimensions of 177 x 121 cm (172 x 130 cm respectively). The movable wings painted on both sides have dimensions of 148 x 94 cm (147.5 x 96 cm respectively). The differing dimensions of

1875-748: A similar Europe-wide impact, as practised by Brunelleschi , Leon Battista Alberti , Andrea Palladio , and Bramante . Their works include the Florence Cathedral , St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, and the Tempio Malatestiano in Rimini , as well as several private residences. The musical era of the Italian Renaissance featured composers such as Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina , the Roman School and later

2000-485: A spiral composition and the figures surrounding him are portrayed in contraposition, emphasising their movement. The space is deepened by diagonally depicted architectural elements and by the contrasts of illuminated and shaded areas. The scene is loosely inspired by a print by the Master E. S. This monumental composition is dominated by the Crucified Christ with horizontally billowing tips of this robe. Christ's body

2125-463: A systematized foreign exchange market , insurance , and government debt . Florence became the centre of this financial industry and the gold florin became the main currency of international trade. The new mercantile governing class, who gained their position through financial skill, adapted to their purposes the feudal aristocratic model that had dominated Europe in the Middle Ages. A feature of

2250-462: A trend towards refeudalization in the later Renaissance as the urban elites turned themselves into landed aristocrats. The situation differed in the cities. These were dominated by a commercial elite; as exclusive as the aristocracy of any Medieval kingdom. This group became the main patrons of and audience for Renaissance culture. Below them, there was a large class of artisans and guild members who lived comfortable lives and had significant power in

2375-435: A way and reinforce the action with economical gestures of their arms and hands. The faces of the figures have sharp-chiselled features with pronounced cheekbones, high foreheads, full lips, expressive noses and eyes with swollen eyelids. Their large hands with striking joints are carefully modelled, including the small shadows they cast. Both the bared body of Christ and the figures portrayed in close-fitting clothes show how well

2500-582: A wide array of Renaissance works of literature, which marks the end of the illuminated manuscript together with Giulio Clovio , who is considered the greatest illuminator of the Italian High Renaissance, and arguably the last very notable artist in the long tradition of the illuminated manuscript, before some modern revivals. Under the suppression of the Catholic Church and the ravages of war, humanism became "akin to heresy". Equally important

2625-663: A widespread backlash over the secularism and indulgence of the Renaissance. His brief rule saw many works of art destroyed in the " Bonfire of the Vanities " in the centre of Florence. With the Medici returned to power, now as Grand Dukes of Tuscany , the counter-movement in the church continued. In 1542 the Sacred Congregation of the Inquisition was formed and a few years later the Index Librorum Prohibitorum banned

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2750-811: Is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church based in the town of Litoměřice in the Ecclesiastical Province of Prague in the Czech Republic. On July 3, 1655, the Diocese of Litoměřice was created out of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Praha . Patron saints of the Diocese of Litoměřice include: Zdislava Berka (primary), Stephen , Felix and Victorinus of Pettau . 50°30′N 14°00′E  /  50.5°N 14°E  / 50.5; 14 This Czech Republic -related article

2875-448: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a Roman Catholic diocese in Europe is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Italian Renaissance Timeline The Italian Renaissance ( Italian : Rinascimento [rinaʃʃiˈmento] ) was a period in Italian history between the 14th and 16th centuries . The period is known for

3000-678: Is about to hit Christ with a cudgel. Christ is accompanied by a praying Virgin Mary and a weeping John the Apostle who has a resigned expression on his face. This scene was modelled on prints by the Master E.S. and Martin Schongauer . Its composition has much in common with a later painting by an unknown master of the Danube School (c. 1520) that is in the collection of the Slovak National Gallery . The Adoration of Christ takes place against

3125-430: Is damaged, having been cut down to a smaller size; it is consequently missing most of the figure holding the rope. Christ looks back at a man holding a lamp with a burning candle – this man with a lamp is modelled on an engraving by Martin Schongauer . The men surrounding Christ are wearing short tunics and close-fitting leggings typical of Renaissance fashion in the early 16th century. Christ's long robe partially indicates

3250-441: Is portrayed with a good knowledge of human anatomy. The painter devoted great care to portraying Christ's face and details of his hands. On the left-hand side, Mary Magdalene in white turban and another woman in a green maphorion are looking up at the cross. In the foreground of the composition, St John is supporting the Virgin Mary , who has fainted and whose arms hang limply. On the right-hand side stands Joseph of Arimathea in

3375-408: The commedia dell'arte . Italian Renaissance art exercised a dominant influence on subsequent European painting and sculpture for centuries afterwards, with artists such as Leonardo da Vinci , Michelangelo , Raphael , Donatello , Giotto , Masaccio , Fra Angelico , Piero della Francesca , Domenico Ghirlandaio , Perugino , Botticelli , and Titian . Italian Renaissance architecture had

3500-503: The Bardi and Peruzzi banks would open the way for the Medici to rise to prominence in Florence. Roberto Sabatino Lopez argues that the economic collapse was a crucial cause of the Renaissance. According to this view, in a more prosperous era, businessmen would have quickly reinvested their earnings in order to make more money in a climate favourable to investment. However, in the leaner years of

3625-755: The Chapter of St Vitus for whom the painter also made a votive picture (1508, known only from a later copy). Like the Master of the Křivoklát Altarpiece in whose workshop he trained, the Master of the Litoměřice Altarpiece also worked for the royal court. He made the wall paintings in the St Wenceslas Chapel of St Vitus Cathedral , which means that the altarpiece could have come from a Prague church. Among those worth considering are St Vitus Cathedral and

3750-542: The Gonzaga , and Urbino under Federico da Montefeltro . In Naples , the Renaissance was ushered in under the patronage of Alfonso I , who conquered Naples in 1443 and encouraged artists like Francesco Laurana and Antonello da Messina and writers like the poet Jacopo Sannazaro and the humanist scholar Angelo Poliziano . In 1417 the Papacy returned to Rome, but that once-imperial city remained poor and largely in ruins through

3875-716: The Islamic Golden Age (normally in translation), but Greek literary, oratorical and historical works (such as Homer , the Greek dramatists, Demosthenes and Thucydides ) were not studied in either the Latin or medieval Muslim worlds ; in the Middle Ages these sorts of texts were only studied by Byzantine scholars. Some argue that the Timurid Renaissance in Samarkand was linked with the Ottoman Empire , whose conquests led to

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4000-789: The Levant , and the Fourth Crusade had done much to destroy the Byzantine Empire as a commercial rival to the Venetians and the Genoese . The main trade routes from the east passed through the Byzantine Empire or the Arab lands and onward to the ports of Genoa , Pisa , and Venice . Luxury goods bought in the Levant, such as spices, dyes, and silks were imported to Italy and then resold throughout Europe. Moreover,

4125-477: The Master of the Litoměřice Altarpiece , there worked at least two other painters. Pešina also states that several figures of the Passion series are characterised by a more common form of execution as well as by defects in the drawing, which points to the involvement of journeymen painters. The figural component of the paintings is dominant and the construction of space is subordinated to it. The balanced composition of

4250-518: The Ottoman conquest of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century were important in sparking the new linguistic studies of the Renaissance, in newly created academies in Florence and Venice. Humanist scholars searched monastic libraries for ancient manuscripts and recovered Tacitus and other Latin authors. The rediscovery of Vitruvius meant that the architectural principles of Antiquity could be observed once more, and Renaissance artists were encouraged, in

4375-500: The Peace of Lodi in 1454, which saw relative calm brought to the region for the first time in centuries. This peace would hold for the next forty years, and Venice's unquestioned hegemony over the sea also led to unprecedented peace for much of the rest of the 15th century. At the beginning of the 15th century, adventurers and traders such as Niccolò Da Conti (1395–1469) travelled as far as Southeast Asia and back, bringing fresh knowledge on

4500-654: The Premonstratensian Canonry at Strahov that commissioned an altar triptych from the artist. In addition to this, Herold, the first recorded donor of the altarpiece, maintained close ties with the Strahov Premonstratensians . According to documents quoted by Lippert in 1871, Jiří Vilém Herold of Stod, a citizen of Litoměřice and a royal magistrate, donated the panels to the diocese Church of All Saints in Litoměřice in 1633. The paintings were removed from

4625-521: The Protestant Reformation , which started c.  1517 . The Italian Renaissance has a reputation for its achievements in painting , architecture , sculpture , literature , music , philosophy , science , technology , and exploration . Italy became the recognized European leader in all these areas by the late 15th century, during the era of the Peace of Lodi (1454–1494) agreed between Italian states. The Italian Renaissance peaked in

4750-585: The Sacrifice of Christ (left-hand side). The closed altarpiece showed eight scenes from the Passion of Christ in two rows, one above the other; of these, the surviving panels (from the left) are: Christ on the Mount of Olives and the Crowning of Christ with Thorns, Christ before Annas and Christ Carrying the Cross, the Flagellation of Christ and the Crucifixion. The missing left-hand movable wings might have had scenes such as

4875-644: The School of Fontainebleau that infused the style of the Italian Renaissance in France. From Fontainebleau, the new styles, transformed by Mannerism, brought the Renaissance to the Low Countries and thence throughout Northern Europe. This spread north was also representative of a larger trend. No longer was the Mediterranean Europe's most important trade route. In 1498, Vasco da Gama reached India, and from that date

5000-613: The Venetian School , and the birth of opera through figures like Claudio Monteverdi in Florence. In philosophy , thinkers such as Galileo, Machiavelli, Giordano Bruno and Pico della Mirandola emphasized naturalism and humanism , thus rejecting dogma and scholasticism . By the Late Middle Ages ( c.  1300 onward ), Latium , the former heartland of the Roman Empire , and southern Italy were generally poorer than

5125-484: The early Renaissance style of painting. The painter was well-acquainted with the qualities of various materials and displayed a well-developed knowledge of human anatomy. The model for the composition is a loosely interpreted and left-right reversed copper engraving by Martin Schongauer . The praying Christ before the cliff with a Eucharist chalice and an angel create the uppermost tip of a triangular composition in whose foreground there lie and sit sleeping apostles . In

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5250-512: The plague began to decline in the early 15th century, Europe's devastated population once again began to grow. The new demand for products and services also helped create a growing class of bankers , merchants, and skilled artisans . The horrors of the Black Death and the seeming inability of the Church to provide relief would contribute to a decline of church influence. Additionally, the collapse of

5375-507: The 14th century, the city of Venice had become an emporium for lands as far as Cyprus ; it boasted a naval fleet of over 5000 ships thanks to its arsenal, a vast complex of shipyards that was the first European facility to mass-produce commercial and military vessels. Genoa also had become a maritime power. Thus, while northern Italy was not richer in resources than many other parts of Europe, the level of development, stimulated by trade, allowed it to prosper. In particular, Florence became one of

5500-552: The 14th century, the wealthy found few promising investment opportunities for their earnings and instead chose to spend more on culture and art. Unlike Roman texts, which had been preserved and studied in Western Europe since late antiquity, the study of ancient Greek texts was very limited in medieval Italy. Ancient Greek works on science, maths and philosophy had been studied since the High Middle Ages in Western Europe and in

5625-660: The 17th century, such as the conclusion of the European wars of religion in 1648, as marking the end of the Renaissance. Accounts of proto- Renaissance literature usually begin with the three great Italian writers of the 14th century: Dante Alighieri ( Divine Comedy ), Petrarch ( Canzoniere ), and Boccaccio ( Decameron ). Famous vernacular poets of the Renaissance include the epic authors Luigi Pulci ( Morgante ), Matteo Maria Boiardo ( Orlando Innamorato ), Ludovico Ariosto ( Orlando Furioso ), and Torquato Tasso ( Jerusalem Delivered ). 15th-century writers such as

5750-435: The 1950s and 1970s. Several panels were examined using infrared reflectography in 1998–1999. The resulting scans revealed two individual styles in the underdrawing. Older art-historical publications detected in the panels of the Litoměřice Altarpiece the influence of Saxon painting and a relationship to the painting of Hanus Elfeldar, Bartholomäus Zeitblom , Hans Holbein the Elder and Bernhard Strigel . The painting style of

5875-615: The Albizzi managed to have Cosimo exiled. The next year, however, saw a pro-Medici Signoria elected and Cosimo returned. The Medici became the town's leading family, a position they would hold for the next three centuries. Florence organized the trade routes for commodities between England and the Netherlands, France, and Italy. By the middle of the century, the city had become the banking capital of Europe and thereby obtained vast riches. In 1439, Byzantine Emperor John VIII Palaiologos attended

6000-745: The Arabs and then the Normans . Sicily had prospered for 150 years during the Emirate of Sicily and later for two centuries during the Norman Kingdom and the Hohenstaufen Kingdom , but had declined by the Late Middle Ages. In contrast, Northern and Central Italy had become far more prosperous, and it has been calculated that the region was among the richest in Europe. The Crusades had built trade links to

6125-418: The Arrest of Christ and Christ before Pilate. This reconstruction is basically accepted by other art historians as well. Ladislav Kesner assumed that the altarpiece had a predella with the theme of Christ in the Winepress or else the Lamentation of Christ. Using comparisons with other altarpieces of the early 16th century, he proposed a variant arrangement of the missing parts. In the centre he assumed there to be

6250-401: The Danube region, where he would have been able to acquaint himself with the works of Jörg Breu and Rueland Frueauf the Elder and Younger . A number of figural motifs link the Litoměřice Altarpiece with the Melk Altarpiece (1502) painted by Jörg Breu the Elder .[14] The painter's attention to detail, such as wrinkles, sprouting whiskers, knots in wood and coils of rope, are characteristic of

6375-435: The High Middle Ages in Northern Italy was the rise of the urban communes which had broken from the control by bishops and local counts. In much of the region, the landed nobility was poorer than the urban patriarchs in the High Medieval money economy whose inflationary rise left land-holding aristocrats impoverished. The increase in trade during the early Renaissance enhanced these characteristics. The decline of feudalism and

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6500-419: The Italian Renaissance affected only a small part of the population. Italy was the most urbanized region of Europe, but three-quarters of the people were still rural peasants. For this section of the population, life remained essentially unchanged from the Middle Ages. Classic feudalism had never been prominent in Northern Italy, and most peasants worked on private farms or as sharecroppers . Some scholars see

6625-399: The Italian Renaissance. Examples of individuals who rose from humble beginnings can be instanced, but Burke notes two major studies in this area that have found that the data do not clearly demonstrate an increase in social mobility . Most historians feel that early in the Renaissance social mobility was quite high, but that it faded over the course of the 15th century. Inequality in society

6750-451: The Italian language in addition to the flood of Latin and Greek texts that constituted the mainstream of the Italian Renaissance. The source for these works expanded beyond works of theology and towards the pre-Christian eras of Imperial Rome and Ancient Greece. This is not to say that no religious works were published in this period: Dante Alighieri 's The Divine Comedy reflects a distinctly medieval world view. Christianity remained

6875-529: The Master of the Litoměřice Altarpiece is based in the early Gothic, however it also employs certain elements of the early Renaissance. Its compositions are loosely modelled on the prints of the Master E.S. , Israhel van Meckenem , Albrecht Dürer , Hans Schäufelein and Martin Schongauer which it creatively remodels. In order to create a deeper sense of space, it uses simple, diagonally constructed architectural backdrops with alternately illuminated and shaded areas depicted in empirical perspective. The contrast of

7000-430: The Middle Ages, such as through the sale of indulgences. It also did not pay taxes, making the Church's wealth even more than some kings. In the 13th century, much of Europe experienced strong economic growth. The trade routes of the Italian states linked with those of established Mediterranean ports and eventually the Hanseatic League of the Baltic and northern regions of Europe to create a network economy in Europe for

7125-405: The North. Rome was a city of ancient ruins, and the Papal States were loosely administered, and vulnerable to external interference, particularly by France, and later Spain. The Papacy was affronted when the Avignon Papacy was created in southern France as a consequence of pressure from King Philip the Fair of France. In the south, Sicily had for some time been under foreign domination, by

7250-423: The Renaissance. Northern Italy and upper Central Italy were divided into a number of warring city-states , the most powerful being Milan , Florence, Pisa , Siena , Genoa , Ferrara , Mantua , Verona and Venice . High Medieval Northern Italy was further divided by the long-running battle for supremacy between the forces of the Papacy and of the Holy Roman Empire : each city aligned itself with one faction or

7375-418: The Vatican. Pope Sixtus IV continued Nicholas' work, most famously ordering the construction of the Sistine Chapel . The popes also became increasingly secular rulers as the Papal States were forged into a centralized power by a series of "warrior popes". The nature of the Renaissance also changed in the late 15th century. The Renaissance ideal was fully adopted by the ruling classes and the aristocracy. In

7500-424: The atmosphere of humanist optimism, to excel in the achievements of the Ancients, like Apelles , of whom they read. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century AD, the Catholic Church filled the subsequent vacuum. In the Middle Ages, the Church was considered to be conveying the will of God, and it regulated the standard of behaviour in life. A lack of literacy required most people to rely on

7625-403: The austere architecture with naturalist details points to the lesson of Italian Renaissance painting, either directly ( Bellini ) or indirectly ( Michael Pacher ). On the basis of differences in execution of how the figures are painted, and, assuming that the landscapes were painted by a specialist, Vladěna Haragová concludes that the altarpiece was created in a painting workshop where, as well as

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7750-442: The background of simple architecture beyond which there unfolds a landscape with a church, cliffs and a lake. The birth of Christ is set in a hut indicated merely by a thatched roof. On the left there stand a donkey and an ox looking on behind a low tumbled-down wall. The naked Baby Jesus lies on a white swaddling cloth and, behind him, two kneeling angels hold a blank inscription band. On the right there stands St Joseph , covered in

7875-405: The background there are depicted fortified walls and a city gate, most probably those of Jerusalem . On the left, in small detail, soldiers coming to arrest Jesus enter through the gate. Despite the fact that the entire altarpiece is a stylistically unified whole, the composition of this picture, its unifying of space and the masterly execution of the heads and hands, stands out with its quality from

8000-405: The bare ground is a motif stemming from the Franciscan mysticism and refers to ‘the Vision of Saint Bridget of Sweden ’. It became more widespread in the final third of the 14th century. There is no broad agreement among historians as to the original location of the altarpiece. It could have been commissioned for the capitular Cathedral of St Stephen in Litoměřice by Jan of Vartenberk, provost of

8125-518: The church in 1671 (1673) after a new high altar was installed there. In 1871 the paintings were located in the town council hall in Litoměřice. In 1885 Vinzenz Luksch purchased them from there for the collection of the Diocese Museum. In 1920 Luksch recognised that the painting of Christ on the Mount of Olives that had, until then, hung in the Church of All Saints, also belonged to the altarpiece. Roman Catholic Diocese of Litom%C4%9B%C5%99ice The Diocese of Litoměřice ( Latin : Litomericensis )

8250-408: The city's cathedral. The failed assassination led to a war with the Papacy and was used as justification to further centralize power in Lorenzo's hands. Renaissance ideals first spread from Florence to the neighbouring states of Tuscany such as Siena and Lucca . The Tuscan culture soon became the model for all the states of Northern Italy, and the Tuscan dialect came to predominate throughout

8375-400: The city-states of Italy, these laws were repealed or rewritten. The 14th century saw a series of catastrophes that caused the European economy to go into recession. The Medieval Warm Period was ending as the transition to the Little Ice Age began. This climate change saw agricultural output decline significantly, leading to repeated famines , exacerbated by the rapid population growth of

8500-486: The city. In 1469 the reins of power passed to Cosimo's 21-year-old grandson Lorenzo , who would become known as "Lorenzo the Magnificent." Lorenzo was the first of the family to be educated from an early age in the humanist tradition and is best known as one of the Renaissance's most important patrons of the arts. Lorenzo reformed Florence's ruling council from 100 members to 70, formalizing the Medici rule. The republican institutions continued, but they lost all power. Lorenzo

8625-420: The classic humanist education being propounded by scholars like Pico della Mirandola was the hunting down of lost or forgotten manuscripts that were known only by reputation. These endeavours were greatly aided by the wealth of Italian patricians, merchant-princes and despots, who would spend substantial sums building libraries . Discovering the past had become fashionable and it was a passionate affair pervading

8750-458: The colour areas are subtle, fluent and modelling volume. Light illuminates the given scene from a single source, usually from the top right. Its direction is represented by the lit areas of the architecture, the shading of draperies and faces, as well as by the striking triangular shadows on the floor. The drapery of several of the figures still retains late Gothic decorative articulation with its deep or doubly-bent folds without direct connection to

8875-407: The connection between physical beauty and inner virtues. In Renaissance Italy, virtue and beauty were often linked together to praise men. One role of Petrarch is as the founder of a new method of scholarship, Renaissance humanism . Petrarch encouraged the study of the Latin classics and carried his copy of Homer about, at a loss to find someone to teach him to read Greek. An essential step in

9000-782: The course of the 15th century, the most powerful city-states annexed their smaller neighbours. Florence took Pisa in 1406, Venice captured Padua and Verona , while the Duchy of Milan annexed a number of nearby areas including Pavia and Parma . The first part of the Renaissance saw almost constant warfare on land and sea as the city-states vied for preeminence. On land, these wars were primarily fought by armies of mercenaries known as condottieri , bands of soldiers drawn from around Europe, but especially Germany and Switzerland, led largely by Italian captains. The mercenaries were not willing to risk their lives unduly, and war became one largely of sieges and manoeuvring, occasioning few pitched battles. It

9125-434: The earlier era. The Hundred Years' War between England and France disrupted trade throughout northwest Europe, most notably when, in 1345, King Edward III of England repudiated his debts, contributing to the collapse of the two largest Florentine banks, those of the Bardi and Peruzzi . In the east, war was also disrupting trade routes, as the Ottoman Empire began to expand throughout the region. Most devastating, though,

9250-453: The early Renaissance artists were seen as craftsmen with little prestige or recognition. By the later Renaissance, the top figures wielded great influence and could charge great fees. A flourishing trade in Renaissance art developed. While in the early Renaissance many of the leading artists were of lower- or middle-class origins, increasingly they became aristocrats. As a cultural movement,

9375-457: The end of the High Renaissance in Florence, but the instruments of republican government were firmly under the control of the Medici and their allies, save during the intervals after 1494 and 1527. Cosimo and Lorenzo de' Medici rarely held official posts but were the unquestioned leaders. Cosimo was highly popular among the citizenry, mainly for bringing an era of stability and prosperity to

9500-648: The ever prospering merchant class. In 1298, one of the leading banking families of Europe, the Bonsignoris , were bankrupted and so the city of Siena lost her status as the banking centre of Europe to Florence. The main challengers of the Albizzi family were the Medicis, first under Giovanni de' Medici , and later under his son Cosimo de' Medici . The Medici controlled the Medici bank —then Europe's largest bank—and an array of other enterprises in Florence and elsewhere. In 1433,

9625-429: The first stirrings of Renaissance art were to be seen, notably in the realism of Giotto . Paradoxically, some of these disasters would help establish the Renaissance. The Black Death wiped out a third of Europe's population. The resulting labour shortage increased wages and the reduced population was therefore much wealthier, better fed, and, significantly, had more surplus money to spend on luxury goods. As incidences of

9750-536: The first time since the 4th century. The city-states of Italy expanded greatly during this period and grew in power to become de facto fully independent of the Holy Roman Empire ; apart from the Kingdom of Naples , outside powers kept their armies out of Italy. During this period, the modern commercial infrastructure developed, with double-entry book-keeping , joint stock companies , an international banking system,

9875-499: The first years of the Renaissance. The great transformation began under Pope Nicholas V , who became pontiff in 1447. He launched a dramatic rebuilding effort that would eventually see much of the city renewed. The humanist scholar Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini became Pope Pius II in 1458. As the papacy fell under the control of wealthy families, such as the Medici and the Borgias , the spirit of Renaissance art and philosophy came to dominate

10000-724: The heart of a Mediterranean empire and in control of the trade routes with the east since its participation in the Crusades and following the journeys of Marco Polo between 1271 and 1295. Thus Italy renewed contact with the remains of ancient Greek culture , which provided humanist scholars with new texts. Finally the Renaissance had a significant effect on the Papal States and on Rome , largely rebuilt by humanist and Renaissance popes , such as Julius II and Leo X , who frequently became involved in Italian politics , in arbitrating disputes between competing colonial powers and in opposing

10125-420: The importance of the Renaissance in human history. These historians tend to think in terms of " Early Modern Europe " instead. Roger Osborne argues that "The Renaissance is a difficult concept for historians because the history of Europe quite suddenly turns into a history of Italian painting, sculpture and architecture." The end of the Italian Renaissance is as imprecisely marked as its starting point. For many,

10250-472: The individual paintings is reduced to several key protagonists and the accompanying action is presented on a diminished scale in the background. The painter's figures are successfully incorporated into the geometric backdrop of architectural elements. In terms of perspective, they are convincingly scaled in space. Their faces are concentrated and serious, with an expressive and well-differentiated physiognomy. They don't demonstrate their feelings in too ostentatious

10375-469: The individual panels show that they were cut down to a smaller size subsequently. The altarpiece as a whole, including the lost middle part, the predella and the altarpiece attachment, could have thus measured (including the frames) about 6 metres in height and about 5 metres in width. The paintings are executed in tempera on fir wood. The most recent restoration, which repaired defects such as inappropriate restoration made in 1931 and 1945–46, took place between

10500-561: The initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity . Proponents of a "long Renaissance" argue that it started around the year 1300 and lasted until about 1600. In some fields, a Proto-Renaissance , beginning around 1250, is typically accepted. The French word renaissance (corresponding to rinascimento in Italian) means "rebirth", and defines

10625-641: The inland city-states profited from the rich agricultural land of the Po Valley. From France, Germany, and the Low Countries, through the medium of the Champagne fairs , land and river trade routes brought goods such as wool, wheat, and precious metals into the region. The extensive trade that stretched from Egypt to the Baltic generated substantial surpluses that allowed significant investment in mining and agriculture. By

10750-400: The man with the cane originates in the engraving by Martin Schongauer . The tormented Christ, sitting on a stone seat, is partly covered by a red robe. Three bailiffs press a crown of thorns down on his head using long wooden poles. The fourth person in the spot where the painting is heavily damaged has his back turned to us and is giving Christ a bulrush as a sceptre. The figure of Christ has

10875-538: The merchants almost complete control of the governments of the Italian city-states, again enhancing trade. One of the most important effects of this political control was security. Those who grew extremely wealthy in a feudal state ran the constant risk of running afoul of the monarchy and having their lands confiscated, as famously occurred to Jacques Cœur in France. The northern states also kept many medieval laws that severely hampered commerce, such as those against usury , and prohibitions on trading with non-Christians. In

11000-606: The mid-16th century as domestic disputes and foreign invasions plunged the region into the turmoil of the Italian Wars (1494–1559). However, the ideas and ideals of the Italian Renaissance spread into the rest of Europe, setting off the Northern Renaissance from the late 15th century. Italian explorers from the maritime republics served under the auspices of European monarchs, ushering in the Age of Discovery . The most famous voyage

11125-411: The migration of Greek scholars to Italy. One of the greatest achievements of Italian Renaissance scholars was to bring this entire class of Greek cultural works back into Western Europe for the first time since late antiquity. Another popular explanation for the Italian Renaissance is the thesis, first advanced by historian Hans Baron , that states that the primary impetus of the early Renaissance

11250-452: The most emulated Romans are Cicero , Horace , Sallust , and Virgil . Among the Greeks, Aristotle , Homer , and Plato were now being read in the original for the first time since the 4th century, though Greek compositions were few. The literature and poetry of the Renaissance were largely influenced by the developing science and philosophy. The humanist Francesco Petrarch , a key figure in

11375-399: The open altarpiece would be about 5.5 metres which is why Luksch considered that the panels might not have created an altarpiece but could, alternatively, have been individual Stations of the Cross. The art historian Jaroslav Pešina attempted a different reconstruction of the altarpiece on the basis of a comparison with the altar retable from the castle chapel at Křivoklát. Pešina assumed that

11500-404: The other panels. The naked Christ, dressed merely in a loincloth, is tied to a pillar in the centre of a room. Four men torture him with a scourge and a birch cane. In the background, Pontius Pilate looks on. The light coming from the right-hand side is represented by the small triangular shadows of their legs that, along with fragments of the cane, articulate the area of the floor. The detail of

11625-453: The other, yet was divided internally between the two warring parties, Guelfs and Ghibellines . Warfare between the states was common, and invasion from outside Italy was confined to intermittent sorties of Holy Roman Emperors . Renaissance politics developed from this background. Since the 13th century, as armies became primarily composed of mercenaries , prosperous city-states could field considerable forces, despite their low populations. In

11750-434: The painter was acquainted with human anatomy and how he understood the function of the muscles and joints. Figures connected with Christ are portrayed in long flowing clothes, while his enemies are distinguished by contemporary Renaissance clothing. The colour scale of the paintings is characterised by a wealth of shades, contrasts of cool and warm tones and a colourist inventiveness. The architectural backdrops are depicted in

11875-475: The period as one of cultural revival and renewed interest in classical antiquity after the centuries during what Renaissance humanists labelled as the "Dark Ages" . The Italian Renaissance historian Giorgio Vasari used the term rinascita ("rebirth") in his Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects in 1550, but the concept became widespread only in the 19th century, after

12000-472: The period include Machiavelli himself, his friend and critic Francesco Guicciardini and Giovanni Botero ( The Reason of State ). The Aldine Press , founded in 1494 by the printer Aldo Manuzio , active in Venice, developed Italic type and pocket editions that one could carry in one's pocket; it became the first to publish printed editions of books in Ancient Greek. Venice also became the birthplace of

12125-403: The picture portrayed Christ before Caiaphas , according to Jan Royt it is in fact the theme of Christ before Annas (according to St John's Gospel), because Caiaphas is usually shown in a robe torn at the chest or with a mitre (Giotto, Dürer). A group of armed men with torches has brought Christ, his hands tied, and turn to the enthroned high priest with gestures of their arms and hands. The panel

12250-717: The poet Poliziano and the Platonist philosopher Marsilio Ficino made extensive translations from both Latin and Greek. In the early 16th century, Baldassare Castiglione laid out his vision of the ideal gentleman and lady in The Book of the Courtier , while Niccolò Machiavelli rejected the ideal with an eye on la verità effettuale della cosa ('the effectual truth of things') in The Prince , composed, in humanistic style, chiefly of parallel ancient and modern examples of virtù . Historians of

12375-621: The priest's explanation of the Bible and laws. In the eleventh century, the Church persecuted many groups including pagans, Jews, and lepers in order to eliminate irregularities in society and strengthen its power. In response to the laity's challenge to Church authority, bishops played an important role, as they gradually lost control of secular authority, and to regain the power of discourse, they adopted extreme control methods, such as persecuting infidels. The Church also collected wealth from believers in

12500-607: The primary route of goods from the Orient was through the Atlantic ports of Lisbon, Seville, Nantes, Bristol, and London. The thirteenth-century Italian literary revolution helped set the stage for the Renaissance. Before the Renaissance, the Italian language was not the literary language in Italy. It was only in the 13th century that Italian authors began writing in their native language rather than Latin , French , or Provençal . The 1250s saw

12625-621: The region, especially in literature. In 1447 Francesco Sforza came to power in Milan and rapidly transformed that still medieval city into a major centre of art and learning that drew Leone Battista Alberti . Venice , one of the wealthiest cities due to its control of the Adriatic Sea, also became a centre for Renaissance culture, especially Venetian Renaissance architecture . Smaller courts brought Renaissance patronage to lesser cities, which developed their characteristic arts: Ferrara , Mantua under

12750-621: The renewed sense of scholarship, was also an accomplished poet, publishing several important works of poetry. He wrote poetry in Latin , notably the Punic War epic Africa , but is today remembered for his works in the Italian vernacular , especially the Canzoniere , a collection of love sonnets dedicated to his unrequited love Laura. He was the foremost writer of Petrarchan sonnets , and translations of his work into English by Thomas Wyatt established

12875-438: The republican governments. This was in sharp contrast to the rest of Europe where artisans were firmly in the lower class. Literate and educated, this group participated in the Renaissance culture. The largest section of the urban population was the urban poor of semi-skilled workers and the unemployed. Like the peasants, the Renaissance had little effect on them. Historians debate how easy it was to move between these groups during

13000-533: The right. These were connected on from by two double-sided panel paintings in the function of movable wings. He placed the painting of Christ before Caiaphas (Annas) on the left and Christ Carrying the Cross on the right. When the altarpiece was opened, it would show the Passion of Christ and, when closed, it would show scenes from the life of Mary: the Visitation of the Virgin Mary and the Birth of Christ. The overall width of

13125-401: The rise of cities influenced each other; for example, the demand for luxury goods led to an increase in trade, which led to greater numbers of tradesmen becoming wealthy, who, in turn, demanded more luxury goods. This atmosphere of assumed luxury of the time created a need for the creation of visual symbols of wealth, an important way to show a family's affluence and taste. This change also gave

13250-559: The rise to power in Florence of the austere monk Girolamo Savonarola in 1494–1498 marks the end of the city's flourishing; for others, the triumphant return of the Medici family to power in 1512 marks the beginning of the late phase in the Renaissance arts called Mannerism . Other accounts trace the end of the Italian Renaissance to the French invasions of the early 16th century and the subsequent conflict between France and Spanish rulers for control of Italian territory. Savonarola rode to power on

13375-480: The role of the Papacy as the largest patron of Renaissance art and architecture. While the Italian Renaissance was fading, the Northern Renaissance adopted many of its ideals and transformed its styles. A number of Italy's greatest artists chose to emigrate. The most notable example was Leonardo da Vinci , who left for France in 1516, but teams of lesser artists invited to transform the Château de Fontainebleau created

13500-490: The sonnet form in that country, where it was employed by William Shakespeare and countless other poets. Petrarch's disciple, Giovanni Boccaccio , became a major author in his own right. His major work was the Decameron , a collection of 100 stories told by ten storytellers who have fled to the outskirts of Florence to escape the black plague over ten nights. The Decameron in particular and Boccaccio's work, in general, were

13625-598: The state of the world, presaging further European voyages of exploration in the years to come. Until the late 14th century, prior to the Medici, Florence's leading family were the House of Albizzi . In 1293 the Ordinances of Justice were enacted which effectively became the constitution of the Republic of Florence throughout the Italian Renaissance. The city's numerous luxurious palazzi were becoming surrounded by townhouses , built by

13750-407: The town. One of his most important accomplishments was negotiating the Peace of Lodi with Francesco Sforza ending the decades of war with Milan and bringing stability to much of Northern Italy. Cosimo was also an important patron of the arts, directly and indirectly, by the influential example he set. Cosimo was succeeded by his sickly son Piero de' Medici , who died after five years in charge of

13875-526: The upper reaches of society. I go , said Cyriac of Ancona , I go to awake the dead . As the Greek works were acquired, manuscripts found, libraries and museums formed, the age of the printing press was dawning. The works of Antiquity were translated from Greek and Latin into the contemporary modern languages throughout Europe, finding a receptive middle-class audience, which might be, like Shakespeare, "with little Latin and less Greek". While concern for philosophy , art, and literature all increased greatly in

14000-406: The various coalitions led by Florence that sought in vain to halt the advance. This culminated in the 1402 siege of Florence when it looked as though the city was doomed to fall, before Giangaleazzo suddenly died and his empire collapsed. Baron's thesis suggests that during these long wars, the leading figures of Florence rallied the people by presenting the war as one between the free republic and

14125-405: The volume of his body. A view through to the street beyond shows a group of armed men in front of whom an old man, probably St Peter , is crossing. In the scene of the Visitation, the colour contrast of the richly folded drapery of both figures and the white head-veil of St Elizabeth provide the dominant artistic element. Mary is portrayed in a headband and with long locks of curly hair. Beyond

14250-409: The volume of the body. Another Gothic element can be seen in the full halos, the gilded background and a certain disproportion in the depiction of part of the body. Most of the figures have legs that are too long, a short body and a small head. The deepening of the pictorial space with landscape sceneries is a significant innovation that the painter most probably brought back with him from a study trip to

14375-678: The wealthiest of the cities of Northern Italy, mainly due to its woollen textile production, developed under the supervision of its dominant trade guild , the Arte della Lana . Wool was imported from Northern Europe (and in the 16th century from Spain) and together with dyes from the east were used to make high-quality textiles. The Italian trade routes that covered the Mediterranean and beyond were also major conduits of culture and knowledge. The recovery of lost Greek classics brought to Italy by refugee Byzantine scholars who migrated during and following

14500-500: The word Machiavellian has come to refer to the cunning and ruthless actions advocated by the book. Along with many other Renaissance works, The Prince remains a relevant and influential work of literature today. Many Italian Renaissance humanists also praised and affirmed the beauty of the body in poetry and literature. In Baldassare Rasinus's panegyric for Francesco Sforza, Rasinus considered that beautiful people usually have virtue. In northern Italy, humanists had discussions about

14625-567: The work of scholars such as Jules Michelet and Jacob Burckhardt . The Renaissance began in Tuscany in Central Italy and centred in the city of Florence . The Florentine Republic , one of the several city-states of the peninsula , rose to economic and political prominence by providing credit for European monarchs and by laying down the groundwork for developments in capitalism and in banking . Renaissance culture later spread to Venice ,

14750-428: Was also in the interest of mercenaries on both sides to prolong any conflict, to continue their employment. Mercenaries were also a constant threat to their employers; if not paid, they often turned on their patron. If it became obvious that a state was entirely dependent on mercenaries, the temptation was great for the mercenaries to take over the running of it themselves—this occurred on a number of occasions. Neutrality

14875-451: Was less successful than his illustrious forebears in business, and the Medici commercial empire was slowly eroded. Lorenzo continued the alliance with Milan, but relations with the papacy soured, and in 1478, Papal agents allied with the Pazzi family in an attempt to assassinate Lorenzo. Although the Pazzi conspiracy failed, Lorenzo's young brother, Giuliano , was killed at Easter Sunday mass in

15000-464: Was maintained with France, which found itself surrounded by enemies when Spain disputed Charles VIII 's claim to the Kingdom of Naples . Peace with France ended when Charles VIII invaded Italy to take Naples. At sea, Italian city-states sent many fleets out to do battle. The main contenders were Pisa, Genoa, and Venice, but after a long conflict, the Genoese succeeded in reducing Pisa. Venice proved to be

15125-633: Was that of Christopher Columbus (who sailed for Spain) and laid the foundation for European dominance of the Americas. Other explorers include Giovanni da Verrazzano (for France), Amerigo Vespucci (for Spain), and John Cabot (for England). Italian scientists such as Falloppio , Tartaglia , Galileo and Torricelli played key roles in the Scientific Revolution , and foreigners such as Copernicus and Vesalius worked in Italian universities. Historiographers have proposed various events and dates of

15250-509: Was the Black Death that decimated the populations of the densely populated cities of Northern Italy and returned at intervals thereafter. Florence, for instance, which had a pre-plague population of 45,000 decreased over the next 47 years by 25–50%. Widespread disorder followed, including a revolt of Florentine textile workers, the ciompi , in 1378. It was during this period of instability that authors such as Dante and Petrarch lived, and

15375-402: Was the end of stability with a series of foreign invasions of Italy known as the Italian Wars that would continue for several decades. These began with the 1494 invasion by France that wreaked widespread devastation on Northern Italy and ended the independence of many of the city-states. Most damaging was the 6 May 1527, Spanish and German troops' sacking Rome that for two decades all but ended

15500-554: Was the long-running series of wars between Florence and Milan. By the late 14th century, Milan had become a centralized monarchy under the control of the Visconti family. Giangaleazzo Visconti , who ruled the city from 1378 to 1402, was renowned both for his cruelty and for his abilities, and set about building an empire in Northern Italy. He launched a long series of wars, with Milan steadily conquering neighbouring states and defeating

15625-522: Was very high. An upper-class figure would control hundreds of times more income than a servant or labourer. Some historians see this unequal distribution of wealth as important to the Renaissance, as art patronage relies on the very wealthy. The Renaissance was not a period of great social or economic change, only of cultural and ideological development. It only touched a small fraction of the population, and in modern times this has led many historians, such as any that follow historical materialism , to reduce

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