Firenze!

Florence boasts a plethora of Renaissance architecture and art by some of the most famous artists in the world. The city has a deep history of Etruscan and Roman rule; it was the site of an Etruscan military camp hundreds of years ago and was later inhabited by Romans during the third century BC. Of the many sites we analyzed, I will focus on the famous paintings by Cimabue, Giotto, and Duccio in the Uffizi, the demise of Savonarola, the Sacrestia Vecchia di San Lorenzo, and the interior of Chiesa di Santa Croce.

Of the many famous paintings we examined in the Uffizi, we spent much time in the room dedicated to the Gothic artists Cimabue, Giotto and Duccio. These three artists are known for creating some of the very first paintings of the Renaissance. Although their anconas, or altar pieces, were originally created for various churches around Florence, they were later moved to the museum. Cimabue, Giotto’s teacher, tried to represent Mary and Jesus realistically for the first time. Like his successors Giotto and Duccio, Cimabue attempted the use of perspective and dimension in his works. Cimabue’s Maestá, or Madonna and child sitting on a throne, is surrounded by four static angels on either side, and the four prophets below. Duccio’s Maestá appears very similar to Cimabue’s Maestá because Mary is surrounded by angels again. This time, the angels look at her and have facial expression. In addition, the baby Jesus is more realistic with his arm outstretched, unlike the infant in Cimabue’s Maestá, who sits up straight on his mother’s lap. Giotto’s Maestá clearly surpasses the skill of Cimabue and Duccio because he paints the Madonna and child with detailed expressions. The angels surrounding them are located in the foreground, the middle ground and the background. Instead of facing us, their bodies are turned toward the Maestá. They look pensively at the Madonna and child and offer them gifts. Mary is shown for the first time with breasts and knees, demonstrating Giotto’s use of chiaroscuro and dimension.

As we passed through the Piazza della Signoria, we discovered the site of Savonarola’s execution marked by a plaque on the ground. Savonarola was a Dominican monk who lived during the fifteenth century and preached against materialism, trade, money, vanity, and homosexuality. When Savonarola came to power after the death of the Medici family in 1497, he ordered the “bonfires of vanities” in which hundreds of Renaissance paintings, books, and furniture were burned in the Piazza della Signoria. On May 13, 1497, he was excommunicated by Pope Alexander, tortured, and imprisoned. Almost a year later, he was burned at the stake in the same location he ordered the “bonfires of vanities.”

The Old Sacristy in San Lorenzo is important because Cosimo de’Medici placed the tombs of his parents there. Giovanni de’Medici, his father, was the first in the family to establish a banking house for trade and the exchange of foreign currency. By the time of his death, he already had operations in Rome, Venice, Geneva and Naples. His son, Cosimo “the Elder” inherited this wealth and sponsored many important operations in Florence, including the founding of the Platonic Academy, which provided a revival of the classical studies and the Greek language. He was a great patron of the arts. The Old Sacristy, designed by Donatello, demonstrates a good example of Renaissance architecture because it follows the module system. The floor of the Old Sacristy is divided into 9 modules. The room itself is a giant cube based on this model. The ceiling is a circular dome with ribs and a lantern on top. Painted on another dome above the chapel of the Old Sacristy is a view of the night sky with constellations. On the walls are medallions of the four evangelists and the saint protectors of the Medici family. Shells mark the corners of the chapel, symbolizing eternity, harmony, and the everlasting life.

The Chiesa di Santa Croce houses the tombs of some the most famous Italians in the world, including Galileo, Michelangelo, Niccoló Machiavelli, Leon Battista Alberti. Galileo is considered the father of modern science. As a professor at Pisa he studied mechanics and astronomy. He discovered gravity, five moons of Jupiter, and he invented the telescope. In addition, he was one of the first to support the theory that the sun was at the center of the universe. On his tomb is a sculpture of himself studying astronomy.

Michelangelo, a master in sculpture, painting, and architecture, died in Rome in 1564. Three mourning women sit on Michelangelo’s tomb representing the allegories of the three arts. Architecture sits in the center and appears to be the most distressed because of Michelangelo’s brilliance in architecture.

Niccoló Machiavelli is considered the father of political science. He is most famous for writing The Prince, a guidebook to ruling over people. We read his work The Circle of Governments, in which he discusses the three types of good government (monarchy, aristocracy and democracy) and the three types of bad government (tyranny, oligarchy, and anarchy). The statue of a woman, symbolizing diplomacy, sits atop his tomb holding a shield with the reflection of Machiavelli.

Leon Battista Alberti was an Italian humanist, art theorist, and architect. He discussed Italian painting, sculpture and architecture in his writing. We read his Self Portrait of a Universal Man which outlines all of the qualities of the perfect Renaissance man, using himself as an example. A statue of Alberti in a toga stands on his tomb looking upwards with allegories on either side of him, epitomizing all of the characteristics of a Renaissance man.

Florence is home to thousands of Renaissance paintings, sculptures, churches, and palaces. By examining the early Renaissance works of Cimabue, Giotto, and Duccio, the architectural masterpiece of Donatello’s Sacrestia Vecchia di San Lorenzo, and the multiple tombs of Renaissance greats in the Chiesa di Santa Croce, we can better understand the rebirth that took place in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Through studying these Florentine works, we can easily identify the rise of humanism, and the glorification of the ancient Romans and Greeks, which signify the Renaissance.