Italian Renaissance art and humanist ideals

The art of the Italian Renaissance was part of a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries, beginning in Tuscany and centered in Florence, while proponents of a long Renaissance argue it lasted until about 1600. What can its art reveal about the relationship between artistic practice and humanist ideals?

3 articles, 1 book · about 51 min of reading and viewing

The reading path

1. Read
   

   the art of the italian renaissance · Wikipedia · 45 min read

   In Italian Renaissance art, Florentine artist Masaccio's frescos are generally considered to be among its earliest examples. Masaccio incorporated the ideas of Giotto, Donatello and Brunelleschi into his paintings, creating mathematically precise scenes that give the impression of three-dimensional space. Lorenzo, Cosimo's 21-year-old grandson, took power in 1469 and would become known as "Lorenzo the Magnificent." Lorenzo was the first of the family to be educated from an early age in the humanist tradition and is best known as one of the Renaissance's most important patrons of the arts.

2. Read
   

   "Italian Renaissance" · history.com · 4 min read

   Many of the Italian Renaissance's scientific, artistic and cultural achievements shared the humanistic belief that man was the center of his own universe. Fifteenth-century Italy was divided into independent city-states, each with a different form of government.

3. Read
   Northern Italian Renaissance Painting · metmuseum.org · 2 min read

   Observant viewers and authors sensed that Lombard, Emilian, and Venetian painters were unified by naturalism, in degrees that varied by artist and area but present almost everywhere. "Naturalism" to them meant investigating the natural world through direct observation translated into paint, distinguishing their work from the strongly classicizing styles of their fellow artists south of the Apennines.

4. Book
   

   The Agony and the Ecstasy · Bookshop.org

   The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone brings Michelangelo to life as both an artist and a man.

Book links are Bookshop.org affiliate links. Curiate may earn a commission on purchases, at no extra cost to you — Bookshop.org also gives a share to independent bookshops.