ART IN FLORENCE

The great Tuscan artists can be divided over 3 major periods stretching from 1200 to 1500. During this period Florence was the cradle to the most influential artistic revolution in history spawning masterpieces which record the transition from stylized Medieval Art to Classical beauty to the richness of the high Renaissance.

Medieval Art
This form of figurative art served mainly for religious purposes. Religious figures, icons, saints and virgins were the main representation. The subject of the painting was in the centre of the picture surrounded by idealised subject in adoration. Ample use of the gold was made which represented purity, lack of prospective and depth characterises all Medieval representations. Major exponents of this period were Duccio di Buoninsegna, Filippo Brunelleschi, and Andrea Pisano, Donatello was on the cusped transitioning into Renaissance.

Renaissance Art
This artistic movement which spread throughout Europe saw its birth in Tuscany. Inspire by ancient Roman art, sculptors and painters brought the classical ideas back to life. They were supported by the Mecenate, an Italian term signifying people of means and cultured patrons who were in turn fascinate by the works of Classical authors such as Plato and Cicero. Here we see depictions of nudes, scenes of mythology but also everyday life becoming legitimate subjects for art. With a total reject of the medieval form of representation, the classical artists studied anatomy in order to portray as realistically as possible the human figure, they used their mathematical skills to perfect the rules of proportions and perspective. Cunningly many artists included their patrons in their pictures as on lookers to flatter them. Renaissance artists also started to give psychological insight to their subjects. For the first time we see representations of grief, anger or joy. A wonderful example is Michelangelo’s Maddalena where you can read the sentiments on the statues face.

Main exponents of this current were, Michelangelo, Lippo Lippi, Masaccio, Botticelli, Verrocchio.

Mannerist Art
Mannerism uses warm colours, elongated forms and deliberately contorted poses. A precursor of this form is Michelangelo when with his Holy Family, he established the key features of this style. We see the return of biblical subjects surrounded by classical references such as statues of roman gods, the portrayal of writhing figures create the dramatic tension and the muscles and flesh are well defined. The major exponents of this current are Bronzino, Pontormo and Giambologna.