Week 2

The dawn of the Renaissance is where we will start looking at architectural competitionBasilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (Florence Cathedral) 1436 and Palazzo Vecchio - Florence civic structures that created competition with Sienna- the city taxed its people in order to make money to build more civic structures- the two represented the city so they are very similar in style (Gothic)- Palazzo Vecchio was a place of public gather - a town hallVS Santa Maria della Scala (Siena Cathedral) 1348 and Palazzo Pubblico 1297- similar in style as the Florence Cathedral as well as the Palazzo Vecchio- the strong facade with the tower and dome at the back is similar to that of the Florence Cathedral- the tower with the clock front in the town halls make them both ideal for town gatherings - Gothic in style with the pointed and nature like ornamentation

Florence was seen as the city of the Renaissance- As one city grew the other followed. After the black death Siena could not pick itself back up again. - The city fell apart in comparison to Florence. - The rich families within Siena were wiped out and without tax payers, the city could not continue building civic projects.- By the 13th - 14th Century, Florence became the largest city in Europe.

Civic rivalry in the middle ages made the face of the Renaissance- A rich Florence family called the Medici could not fund a Cathedral on their own so they would get other rich families to help fund the building of these structures- Churches were also a form of rivalry for the cities

Rivalry in Churches within FlorenceFranciscan Church of Santa Croce by Giotto and Peruzzi Chapels- The Basilica is the largest Franciscan church in the world.- there are 16 chapels, many of which are decorated with frescoes by Giotto  - the use of two small doors to frame the large entrance creates a pattern that allows the viewers to know how grande the church is. Similarly, the Santa Maria Novella uses the same idea however; he adds more faux columns and arches to create a grander feel.  VSSanta Maria Novella and the Spanish Chapel - the facade was completed by Leon Battista Alberti in 1470- similar to the Franciscan Church, the facade makes connections to the inner Chapels- many architects worked on the completion of the Church reflect the wealthy families that funded them

Guild Rivalries- many guilds (trade unions) are the ones who fund civic structures due to competition between each guild- guilds can be big eco builders for the city and include; bankers, lawyers, merchants, smith and so forth- they wish to beautify the city and help encourage more trade Calimala Guild - was one of the major guilds in Florence and one of the first to expand the Florence Baptistry in 1330-36- it funded the bronze doors of the Baptistry and had Andrea Pisano design it however; due to famine, work on this project had to some to a stop after the first set of doors had gone up- the guild consisted of cloth merchants since, silks and fabrics were of great value during this time

Baptistry of San Giovanni - Baptistery of Florence; founded in the fourth century; then renovated in the eleventh and thirteenth centuries after the Black Plague - Bronze was very expensive during this time and by using bronze as the main material for the doors showed how wealthy the Calimala Guild was- When talks of completing the Baptistry came a decade had already gone by.- The city wanted to know who was the best sculpture in Florence so they held a competition - The styles of the door is still Gothic as represented by the Quatrafoil boarders 

Rivalries between the ArtistsCompetition of the Doors of San Giovanni Baptistry - Seven artists competed for the commission of the doors however, two really stood out; Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi- The theme of the competition was the sacrifice of Isaac; which relays the message that faith in God is of utmost importance and what God gives, he can take- The idea of last minute salvation; when Isaac's father is about to kill his son and an Angel comes down to stop him must be portrayed - The artists were tested on their ability to tell a narrative, show the figurative through poses, and deal with creating landscapes with bronzeTurn of events (Military Rivalry) - After the Guild announced its competition, Milan was threatening to attack- one may wonder how this would shape the outcome of the competition; that is actually very important because it heavily affected the judges- Milan was under one authority and the Duke of Milan knew he could win; Florence was a Republic City governed by the guilds of the city, elected by the people- when Milan was at the doorsteps of Florence, the Duke died abruptly and thus Florence was saved- relating this to the salvation that Isaac himself had faced, lead Florence to believe that they were favored by God

Different ApproachesLorenzo Ghiberti Sacrifice of Isaac 1401 - 1403- creates a distinct split between the frame- refers to classical figures from antiquity: Roman sarcophagus - Ghiberti creates a strong, brave and unwavering Isaac- the young man  looks at Abraham and does not fear what is coming as he knows that God will send someone to save him- the winner is Ghiberti because he represented the fearless Florence in his piece- also because of how expensive bronze was, the fact that Ghiberti could create this piece with less material meant that he was a master at castingVSFilippo Brunelleschi Sacrifice of Isaac 1401- 1403-used every part of the Quatrafoil, with servants curving to the lobes of the frame- he overlaps the figures and makes special illusions- also refers to classical figures from antiquity: The Thorn Puller is a statue from the 1st Century BCE. It's position mirrors that of the servant- drives home the idea of last minute salvation with having Abraham grab his sons neck to cut it- the Angel looks as if it is rushing to stop him- very dramatic moment and the way in which the fabrics cause motion really show how intense everything is- the fear in Isaac's face makes Brunelleschi's piece unappealing to the judges because after the attack from Milan, they do not want Florence to seem as if it were scared of death

After Winning the Commission- Ghiberti felt that there was no competition for be was actually brilliant- The doors became the New Testament - Ghiberti used Gothic elements with echos of classical figures- architecture is added to the background where before it was mostly landscape- The third set of doors was given to Ghiberti without holding a competition Lorenzo Ghiberti, East Doors of Baptistery (the “Gates of Paradise”), 1425-1452 - he then changes the format of the doors- he no longer used the Gothic Quatrafoil- he introduces new renaissance techniques such as perspective

Guild Competitions of Orsanmichele- Originally a open loggia that acted at a grain market in 1337- Within the building, the Virgin Mary started working miracles and thus many flocked to be within its presence- the attention the image brought also meant that the Guilds also took interest in it-  located between the Baptistry and the Pallazzo it was an ideal place for people to go to - the grainary would give away grains when the city people are in need of it and the Guilds knew to take care of their people. Civic order was kept because of the Guilds.Fresco (by Orcagna?) defeat of the Duke of Athens by the Florentine troops on the feast day of St. Anne, 1343- by 1339 the Guilds decided to get involved with the ornamentation of the Church however; due to the battle with the Duke of Athens and the Black Death of 1348; 14 niches remained empty well into 1406.- after the famine they declared it a Church- Only 3/14 statues were made pre-1406After the Famine and Black Death- After this, the Guilds were told that they had 10 years to complete a sculpture and fill the niche or they would lose it- this created an explosion of sculptures in Florence - it was a hot bed for competitors; young and old talent exploded; it was a battle of artist vs artist and guild vs guild

Pietro di Giovanni Tedesco, “Madonna of the Rose,” 1399 - Made for the Doctors and Apothecaries Guild - one of only 3 statues made pre-1406

Niccolo’ Lamberti, "St. Luke", 1406-Made for the Judges and Notaries’ Guild- looked rushed in comparison to the New Renaissance style that was emerging

Nanni di Banco, "St. Philip", 1410- 12- Made for the Shoemaker's Guild - sculpted from marble because only the wealthy guilds could cast from bronze

Lorenzo Ghiberti, "St. John the Baptist", 1410- Made for the Guild of Calimala - made from bronze, the most expensive material- St. John the Baptist is the face of Florence so not only did Ghiberti get to work with the richest guild, he also got to create a statue of a major figure- This was most elegant in the Gothic style, even though St. John himself was not elegant- it was casted in one pour, a classical style- the way the fabric folded around his body made this piece beautiful

Donatello, "St. Mark", 1411- 13- Made for the Linen and Weaver's Guild- he moves away from the elegance in the Gothic style to a more classic Roman Republic style- sculpted from marble and even though it was not bronze it still made an amazing impression- his pose of St. Mark is natural - The psychology behind this piece is the the mind behind the face; and a willingness to gamble on new talent (Major vs. Minor)

Nanni di Banco, "Four Crowned Saints", Maestri di Pietra e Legname (Stonecarvers and Woodworkers’ Guild), 1413-14- Nanni di Banco carved this for his own guild- exploring classically inspired work- modeled after Roman antiquity it became a new visual language - similar to Donatello's style, Nanni di Banco made the four saints seem like normal citizens- this gives it a realism that isn't over embellished and it seems life like as if they could come down and speak to you

Donatello, "St. George", 1415 - 18- Made for the Armorer's Guild- This was his response to the beauty of St. John the Baptist and the ideal beauty- St. George and his shield are carved from marble but the sword and helmet were casted of bronze- once more, this was a small guild however, he added the element of mixed media to the piece in order to give it something extra- There is also an element of narrative at the base of the statue; the story of St. George killing a dragon- this is a (SCHIACCIATO) = SQUASHED RELIEF and illusionist space

Donatello, "St. Louis of Toulouse", 1423- this was a major patron for Donatello and was the first full bronze response to Ghiberti's work- this was commissioned by the Gulf Party for the East-side of Orsanmichele - the piece was a solid guiding coated in gold and answered Ghiberti's technique with beauty

Lorenzo Ghiberti, "St. Matthew", 1419-1423- Made for the Banker's Guild- still goes to a Gothic style because it felt, to Ghiberti, as if it spoke internationally- this was during a mid point of the Gothic and Renaissance Style- he is unwilling to incorporate a classical form

Andrea del Verrocchio, Christ and St.Thomas, 1467 -1483- this piece replaced Donatello's St. Louis of Toulouse- there is a narrative to this piece- for competition this shows bronze replacing bronze- placed right next to Ghiberti's St. John the Baptist- Created for the Merchant's Guild - not did he create a New Renaissance bronze statue, he made two figures

Competition on the Florence CathedralBrunelleschi Vanishes and Returns - After losing the commission to Ghiberti, Brunelleschi Vanishes around 1401 - 1410- some say that he went back to Rome in order to study the classical architecture- during this time the Florence Cathedral was being constructed however, due to the size of the cathedral, the final piece could not be made: the Dome- The Florence Cathedral was the biggest church ever and the dimensions for the dome were even larger than that of the Pantheon- if they built scaffolding the traditional way, then the costs alone would have made it over their budget- another problem was the actual weight of the dome, if they're not careful then the whole piece would collapse on them after being built- Upon his return when asked why he deserved to win the competition, Brunelleschi presented the other engineers with the Egg Challenge The Dome- The idea was a double shelled dome - eight corners of the dome acted as a supporting rib- the infill was terracotta bricks that lightened the load of the dome- the way he designed the laying of the bricks also helped with supporting the dome. (An L shaped weave)- between the two domes would be a staircase that allowed workers to build upwards; this basically meant that he was able to have the scaffolding built along side the dome. it was a progression at every level- Ghiberti was also on the building team however, everyone knew he was nothing but a hassle - the form of the dome was Gothic however, the techniques in building it were ancient Roman

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