Transcript World History

World History
Florence Leads the Way
(15:2)
Quattrocento
 The century in which the Renaissance
fully bloomed (1400’s)
 This was the time in which history’s most
celebrated writers and artists competed for the
spotlight
The Medici
 Powerful family which gained wealth and
notoriety through trade and banking
 Ruled the city-state of Florence during
the Quattrocento
 Cosimo de Medici was the most powerful and
wealthy man in Florence
 Never sought political office for himself; puppet
regime
Cosimo de Medici
 Emulating Pericles of
Athens, Cosimo
invested his own
money into Florence
 Once paid the
debts of a friend
in exchange for
800 texts (some
ancient) and
opened the first
free public
library
Cosimo
 Cosimo de Medici died in 1464, but the
family still held control of Florence
 Power was eventually passed to his grandson,
Lorenzo (the Magnificent)
 Lorenzo ruled with absolute power with a republican
front
 Kept the people happy
 Survived an attempted assassination by Pope
Sixtus IV and the archbishop of Pisa
 Wouldn’t provide a loan to buy Imola
Lorenzo the Magnificent
 On his death bed Lorenzo was damned
by Savonarola
 Savonarola was later tortured and executed for his
religious beliefs
 It is said that at the moment of Lorenzo’s
death the chapel at the church of Santa
Reparta was struck by lightning
 Saint Reparata – 3rd Century Saint
 Mythical figure denounced for being a Christian
Artists in Florence
 Lorenzeo Ghiberti
 Comissioned to produce doors to an eight
sided cathedral
 The doors were made of bronze, with intricate sculpted
panels
 Michelangelo referred to the final two doors as the
“Gates of Paradise” (The name stuck)
Brunelleschi
 Worked across the street while Lorenzo
Ghiberti worked on the Baptistry
 Was denied the job Ghiberti accepted
 Proposed putting a dome on top of the Baptistry
making it almost 400 feet high
 Considering this was built in 1436, that is a
substantial height
Donatello
 Studied under Ghiberti at the age of 17
 Studied classical and ancient ruins in Rome
 Returned to Florence, ignoring the typical “front
side only” statues
 Created three-dimensional, free standing statues
Erasmo of Narni (1370 - 1443), better known as "Gattamelata", (nickname
meaning "The Honeyed Cat") was among the most famous of the condottieri or
mercenaries in the Italian Renaissance. He was born in Narni, and served a
number of Italian city-states: he began with Braccio da Montone, served Pope and
Florence equally, and served Venice in 1434 in the battles with the Visconti of
Milan.
He was the subject of Donatello's equestrian bronze sculpture in the main square
of Padua, the same city over which he became dictator in 1437.
Masaccio
 Changed painting by adding perspective
 A vanishing point, adding depth and distance to the
painting
 Called the “father of modern painting”
 Progress is obvious in “The Healing of the
Cripple and the Resurrection of Tabitha”
 Two events in the life of the apostle Peter
Masaccio’s “Trinity”
Machiavelli and Politics
 The Golden Age lasted until 1492 when
King Charles VII of France attacked
Northern Italy
 Florence just happened to be in his attack route
 Piero de Medici (Lorenzo’s son) surrendered
almost immediately
 He then went into exile after his palace was stormed by
angry Floretines
Machiavelli
 In the early 1500’s the Italian city-states
allied themselves with foreign powers for
survival
 Enter Machiavelli, who saw what life was like in
the Golden Age of the Renaissance and what it
had now become
Machiavelli
 Serving as a diplomat to many courts,
Machiavelli tried to understand why some
rulers succeed while others failed
 Machiavelli wrote The Prince, a book of
advice
 Pointed out that sometimes a ruler may have to
deceive enemies as well as his own people for the
good of the kingdom
Machiavelli
 “The end justifies the means”
 Morally right v. Politically effective
 Is this prevalent in our society?