Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Renaissance
Textile Market
The thriving
Florentine textiles
industry allowed
the textile guilds
and merchants like
the dye importer
Rucellai
(see p104)
to become patrons
of the arts.
Under astute Medici leadership,
Florence enjoyed a period of
peace and prosperity. Rich
bankers and merchants
invested in fine palaces to
replace their cramped tower
houses, and paid for the adorn-
ment of churches. The result
was an outpouring of art and
architecture, remarkable for its
break with the Gothic past and its conscious
attempt to give “rebirth” to Classical values. The
rediscovery of works by ancient philoso-
phers like Cicero and Plato profoundly
influenced the intellectual pre-
occupations of the day. Their ideas
inspired the Humanists, who em-
phasized the role of knowledge
and reason in human affairs.
Della Robbia roundel
from the Cappella de'
Pazzi (1430)
Terracotta roundels
of babies in
swaddling bands, added by Andrea
della Robbia in 1487, reflect the
building's function as an orphanage.
SPEDALE DEGLI
INNOCENTI
The archetypal Renaissance
building, Brunelleschi's
colonnade (1419-26) for
the
Spedale degli Innocenti
(see p95)
is a masterpiece
of restrained Classical design.
Europe's first orphanage,
the
Spedale
is also a major
social monument.
Classical arches
illustrate the
Florentine
passion for
ancient Roman
architecture.
Battle of San Romano
(1456)
Florence hired
condottieri
(mercenaries)
to fight its battles. Its citizens were therefore
free to concentrate on making the city
wealthy. Uccello's striking depiction of
the Florentine victory over Siena in 1432
is an early attempt to master perspective.
TIMELINE
1402
Florence Baptistry
doors competition
(see p66)
1436
Brunelleschi
completes dome for
Florence cathedral
(see
pp64-5).
Work starts on
San Marco
(see
pp96-7)
1425-7
Masaccio
paints
The Life of St
Peter
frescoes in Santa
Maria del Carmine
(see pp126-7)
1416
Donatello completes
his
St George (see p67)
1410
1420
1440
1400
1434
Cosimo
il Vecchio
returns
from exile
1419
Work begins on the
Spedale degli Innocenti
1406
Pisa falls
to Florence
Cosimo il
Vecchio
