Ghirlandaio, Giovanna Tornabuoni, 1488
Masaccio, Holy Trinity, Sta. Maria
Novella, Florence, c. 1428
Mantagna, The Dead Christ, c. 1490
Masaccio, Tribute Money, Brancacci Chapel, Sta. Maria del Carmine, Florence, c. 1425-7
Early Renaissance Art in and around Florence, Italy
1402 – 1494
Ghiberti,, Jacob and Esau, from the “Gates of Paradise” (East Doors of the Florence
Baptistery), 1425-52
Masaccio, Expulsion of Adam
and Eve from Eden,
Brancacci Chapel, c. 1425-7
Ghirlandaio, Birth of the Virgin, 1485-90, Cappella Maggiore, Santa Maria Novella, Florence
Early Renaissance, part III
Sacred and Profane Renaissance
Sandro Botticelli
Fra Angelico
Fra Angelico, Annunciation, Monastery of San Marco, Florence, c. 1440-5
Piero della Francesca, Flagellation of Christ, c. 1455-60
Mantagna, Camera degli Sposi, Palazzo Ducale, Mantua, 1474
Early Renaissance Art in and around Florence, Italy
1402 – 1494
Botticelli, Birth of Venus, c. 1482
Botticelli, Primavera, c. 1482, tempera on wood panel
Luca Signorelli, Damned Cast into Hell, Orvieto Cathedral, 1499-1504
Botticelli, Birth of Venus, c.
1482, Tempera on canvas,
68 × 110 inches
Lorenzo de' Medici,
son and heir to
Cosimo’s fortune,
probably
commissioned this
painting as a
wedding present for
his second cousin
Lorenzo di
Pierfrancesco, who
married Semiramide
Appiani. They
probably used it to
decorate their new
home.
The subject is most
likely the hope for
love and abundance
both in marriage and
in the city of
Florence.
Botticelli, Birth of Venus, c. 1482, Tempera on canvas,
68 × 110 inches
Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco was a humanist
scholar (able to read Latin and Greek) and
probably agreed with his contemporary
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, who wrote
in the 1470s that…
"The divine subjects and secret mysteries
must not be rashly divulged… All must be
covered with enigmatic veils and poetic
dissimulation ... Showing only the crust of
the mysteries to the vulgar, while
reserving the marrow of the true sense for
higher and more perfect spirits.”
Botticelli, Birth of Venus, c.
1482, Tempera on canvas,
68 × 110 inches
The Venus in
Botticelli’s painting
is based of the
Praxitilean-type
sculpture in the
collection of the
Medici. In the
sculpture, Venus
covers herself in
modesty, and is
accompanied by
her son, Cupid, the
god of erotic love,
who is notably
missing from
Botticelli’s
painting.
Botticelli, Birth of Venus, c.
1482, Tempera on canvas,
68 × 110 inches
Venus is usually
interpreted here as
a symbol of loveas-an-abstractidea, unsullied by
the physical world,
which was thought
to be suspect by
Neo Platonists in
the Medici court.
In this sense she is
the equivalent to
Eve before she
sinned and the
immaculate Virgin
Mary.
Botticelli, Birth of Venus, c.
1482, Tempera on canvas,
68 × 110 inches
The marriage of
the Greek gods
Zypher and Chloris
resulted in fertility
of flowers. Roses
are symbols of
both Venus and
the Virgin Mary.
Botticelli, Birth of Venus, c.
1482, Tempera on canvas,
68 × 110 inches
The devotee of
Venus, who cloaks
her in a robe of
flowers, is
probably a symbol
of Florence, the
“flowering” city.
Botticelli, Birth of Venus, c.
1482, Tempera on canvas,
68 × 110 inches
Botticelli, Birth of Venus, c.
1482, Tempera on canvas,
68 × 110 inches
Botticelli, Birth of Venus, c. 1482, Tempera on canvas
Simone Martini, Annunciation, 1333
This is David Bowman’s proposed reading of two paintings combined: the Birth of Venus and Primavera, both by Botticelli. According to
Neo-Platonist dialectics, emanation, rapture and re-ascent become metaphors for the Virgin Mary and the incarnation of Jesus—the
divine in physical form.
Emanation of Love
Rapture
Re-ascent of
Love
Botticelli,
Primavera, c.
1482, tempera
on wood panel
Botticelli, Primavera, c.
1482, tempera on
wood panel, 6' 8" x 10'
4"
Mercury, the
messenger god and
god of abundant
commerce keeps the
dark clouds away with
his caduceus.
Botticelli, Primavera, c. 1482
tempera on wood panel, 6' 8" x
10' 4"
For the Neo-Platonist the Three
Graces represent a trinity not
unlike Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost: beauty arousing desire,
leading to fulfillment.
Botticelli, Primavera, c. 1482
tempera on wood panel, 6' 8" x
10' 4"
Here Cupid aims blindly and
strikes one of the Three Graces.
Below Cupid… Venus reappears,
this time pregnant.
Botticelli, Primavera, c. 1482
tempera on wood panel
The Roman poet Ovid described
Chloris this way: "As she talks,
her lips breathe spring roses: I
was Chloris, who am now called
Flora.”
Fra Angelico, Annunciation,
Monastery of San Marco,
Florence, c. 1440-5
Fra Angelico was born Guido di
Pietro and joined the Dominican
convent at Fiesole, near
Florence, assuming the name
Giovanni da Fiesole.
When Cosimo de’ Medici paid
for the construction of the
Convent of San Marco in
Florence, Fra Angelico was
invited to move into the city to
decorate the monastery’s cells.
Cosimo kept a cell in the
convent for meditation.
Second Floor
Fra Angelico, Annunciation, Monastery of San Marco, Florence, c.
1440-5
Ground Floor
Fra Angelico, Annunciation, Monastery of San Marco, Florence, c.
1440-5
Fra Angelico, Annunciation, Monastery of San Marco, Florence, c.
1440-5
Fra Angelico, Annunciation, Monastery of San Marco, Florence, c.
1440-5
Michelozzo da Bartolomeo, Monastery of San Marco, 1440
Fra Angelico, Annunciation, Monastery of San Marco, Florence, c.
1440-5
Michelozzo da Bartolomeo, Monastery of San Marco, 1440
Fra Angelico, Annunciation, Monastery of San Marco, Florence, c.
1440-5
Michelozzo da Bartolomeo, Palazzo Medici, 1440
Fra Angelico, Annunciation, Monastery of San Marco, Florence, c.
1440-5
Michelozzo da Bartolomeo, Palazzo Medici, 1440
Fra Angelico, Annunciation, Monastery of San Marco, Florence, c.
1440-5
Fra Angelico, Annunciation, Monastery of San Marco, Florence, c.
1440-5
Fra Angelico, Annunciation, Monastery of San Marco, Florence, c.
1440-5
Simone Martini, Annunciation, c. 1333
Fra Angelico, Annunciation, Monastery of San Marco, Florence,
c. 1440-5
Botticelli, Birth of Venus, c 1482
Fra Angelico, Annunciation, Monastery of San Marco, Florence,
c. 1440-5
Girolamo Savonarola, Dominican Priest
and resident of San Marco in the 1490s.
Plan of San Marco,
Second Floor
Girolamo Savonarola, Dominican Priest
and resident of San Marco in the 1490s.
King Charles VIII of France and, after 1494, King of
Naples
Girolamo Savonarola, Dominican Priest
and resident of San Marco in the 1490s.
Charles VIII of France invaded Florence in 1494 on his way to claim title to
the crown of Naples.
King Charles VIII of France and, after 1494, King of
Naples
After Charles VIII of France invaded Florence in 1494, the
ruling Medici were overthrown and Savonarola emerged as the
new leader of the city, combining in himself the role of leader of
the secular and the sacred realms. He set up a republic in
Florence. Characterizing it as a “Christian and religious
Republic,” one of its first acts was to make sodomy, previously
punishable by fine, into a capital offence. Homosexuality had
previously been tolerated in the city, and many homosexuals
from the elite now chose to leave Florence. His chief enemies
were the Duke of Milan and Pope Alexander VI, who issued
numerous restraints against him, all of which he ignored.
Pope Alexander VI,
known for his corruption
Girolamo Savonarola,
Dominican Priest and
leader of Florence 14941497
King Charles VIII of France and, after 1494, King of
Naples
Pope Alexander VI, known
for his corruption
Girolamo Savonarola, Dominican
Priest and leader of Florence
1494-1497
Savonarola’s “Bonfire of the Vanities” in Piazza della Signoria.
On Shrove Tuesday, February 7, 1497, Savonarola and his
followers publicly burned thousands of objects that might tempt
one to sin, including vanity items such as mirrors, cosmetics, fine
dresses, paintings, playing cards, musical instruments, and
secular books. The event gave the name to Tom Wolfe’s 1987
novel (set in New York City) and 1990 film starring Tom Hanks and
Bruce Willis.
Savonarola’s “Bonfire of the Vanities” in Piazza della
Signoria on Shrove Tuesday, February 7, 1497.
Piazza della Sinoria with the Palazzo Vecchio. Plazzo Vecchio was
Florence’s City Hall until the Medicis became Dukes. Then it became
their private palace.
Orsanmichele
Florence Duomo
Palazzo Vecchio
Savonarola’s “Bonfire of the Vanities” in Piazza della
Signoria on Shrove Tuesday, February 7, 1497.
Location of the Bonfire of the Vanities
“Here, where, with his conspirators Brother Dominico
Buonvicini and Brother Silvestro Maruffi ,on May 23 of
1498, by unjust sentence was burned and hung Brother
Girolamo Savonarola, after four centuries this memorial
was placed.”
On May 13, 1497, Father Savonarola was excommunicated by
Pope Alexander VI, and in 1498, Alexander demanded his arrest
and execution.
On April 8, a crowd attacked the Convent of San Marco. A bloody
struggle ensued, during which several of Savonarola’s guards and
religious supporters were killed. Savonarola surrendered along with
Fra Domenico Buonvicini da Pescia and Fra Silvestro Maruffi, his
two closest associates.
Savonarola was faced with charges “religious errors” such as
heresy, uttering prophecies, sedition, and other crimes.
During the next few weeks all three were tortured on the rack, the
torturers sparing only Savonarola’s right arm in order that he might
be able to sign his confession. All three signed confessions,
Savonarola doing so sometime prior to May 8.
With the Bonfire of the Vanities and Savonarola’s execution the
Early Renaissance in Florence came to a close.
In 1533, Pope Clement VII (Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici) appointed
Alessandro de' Medici "Duke of the Florentine Republic," thereafter
making the republic a hereditary monarchy.
“Here, where, with his conspirators Brother Dominico
Buonvicini and Brother Silvestro Maruffi ,on May 23 of
1498, by unjust sentence was burned and hung Brother
Girolamo Savonarola, after four centuries this memorial
was placed.”
Luca Signorelli, Damned Cast into Hell, Orvieto Cathedral, 1499-1504
Luca Signorelli, Damned Cast into Hell, Orvieto Cathedral, 1499-1504
Fra Angelico, Annunciation, Monastery of San Marco, Florence, c. 1440-5
Piero della Francesca, Flagellation of Christ, c. 1455-60
Mantagna, Camera degli Sposi, Palazzo Ducale, Mantua, 1474
Early Renaissance Art in and around Florence, Italy
1402 – 1494
Botticelli, Birth of Venus, c. 1482
Botticelli, Primavera, c. 1482, tempera on wood panel
Luca Signorelli, Damned Cast into Hell, Orvieto Cathedral, 1499-1504