Florence-its role in Renaissance

Tuscany is known for many great things including fiorentina steak, pappardelle pasta (wide flat spaghetti) with a wild boar sauce and good wines such as chianti and brunello di montalcino. But apart from that Tuscany, particularly Florence is known for il Rinascimento- Renaissance!

So what is renaissance?

The Renaissance is a period in European history that follows the Middle Ages the dark ages. The Black Death (bubonic plague) had devastated Italian society in the middle of the 14th century (Black death 1347) and recovery took almost 50 years. The devastation, understandably, led to great socio-economic, cultural and religious changes. It is said that the plague unleashed the forces in Italian society to make the renaissance possible because people wanted to live a more secular life. So the renaissance was also a cultural and intellectual movement, apart from being an art movement. It peaked during the 15th and 16th centuries with its main characteristic feature being a heightened interest, to near obsession, with classical, that is reference to Greek and Roman learning and culture. Much of these cultures were eclipsed at least in Western Europe, during the early Middle Ages. So the period preceding renaissance known as the dark ages, when uncivilized barbarians took control all across Europe. During this period when barbarians coming from present Germany would sack villages and people’s priority was survival, the magnificent Greco Roman culture declined and was almost forgotten. The Renaissance, which flowered first in Italy and spread to much of Western Europe saw an increased interest in the classical philosophy, mathematics and natural sciences which late medieval scholars had begun to revive in the 12th century. The Renaissance added to this an interest in the aesthetics of the classical world: architecture, sculpture letters. Great figures associated with Renaissance include the father of the Latin revival Petrarch, the great artist and inventor Leonardo DaVinci, the poet Dante Alighieri, author of the Divine comedy and the political philosopher Nicolo Machiavelli the author of the world famous book “the prince”

During renaissance a lot of reference is made to classical antiquity and this is referred to a renaissance humanism –quite simply put there is interest in the ancient world and the human body and validation is sought from classical antiquity. This was accomplished through the study of the studia humanitatis today known as humanities (method of study is speculative and critical) in fact when at university we refer to a faculty of humanities we are referring to the department were arts, literature and poetry are studied. Leonardo da Vinci VITRUVIAN man (1490) would be the classic example: As it shows the correlations of ideal human body proportions with geometry described by the ancient roman architect VITRUVIUS in his de architectura. Vitruvius described the human figure as being like the principal source of proportion among the classical orders of architecture.

It is important to distinguish between the high culture of the Renaissance and popular culture. The culture of the Renaissance was limited to those who were highly literate – effectively the nobility and wealthy middle class. Peasants living in small villages in the countryside, who comprised on average, about 85% of Europe’s population, were untouched. The culture of the masses continued to center on religion, tradition, and superstition. Religion played the greatest role in shaping the culture of Europe in the 1450s.

So how was life for the renaissance artist?

During the Renaissance, the social status of the artist improved drastically. Artists in the middle Ages had been viewed as artisans – similar to masons and carpenters. Renaissance artists became highly paid and the most talented became almost like celebrities. Just to mention practical instances: at a time when a person could live in a princely fashion on 300 ducats a year, Leonardo da Vinci was making 2,000 annually. We also know that Michelangelo was extremely wealthy although he always complained of being poor. I must say that not all artists were paid this much when they were commissioned for art.

There were two main systems for individual artistic patronage in Renaissance Italy.

1. A patron could take an artist into his or her household and in return the artist would supply the patron’s artistic needs. example as an apprentice,

2. Or a patron could commission a single work from an artist and employ him until that work was finished. If the commissioned work was particularly complicated the artist could be on the patron’s payroll for years. These systems are for individual patrons then you would have corporate patronage

3. As well as individual patronage there was also corporate patronage. Guilds, monasteries, convents, and city councils frequently commissioned artists and sculptors.

It was the city council, a form of corporate patronage that commissioned Michelangelo to sculpt the David. This magnificent sculpture was then placed in the Piazza della Signoria, the main square in Florence where the Palazzo Vecchio (city hall), is located. The David standing in the Piazza today is actually a copy since the original is at the Accademia. If you want to go and see it make sure you get your tickets beforehand so you don’t have to wait in long ques. Here you can also get tickets for other attraction. You can also book accommodation here if you're planning a holiday which I always suggest you do