On our first lecture, we went through some of the key features of the 12 – 13th century Italian Art movements. With the unique geographical and political condition of being a ‘mosaic’ of fragmented states, the constant state of unsettlement within the 12th century leading to the eventual economic progress of the 13th century, we’ve seen constantly portrayed the concept of highly localized, birth-place pride, or campanilismo. This could be identified in the importance placed upon the campanile, and how, for example, the one built with the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena is intentionally made to be higher than that at the Palazzo della Signoria in Florence. I found this competitive air fascinating, especially taking into consideration one of the reasons why the town hall in Florence was constructed with battlements and fortified architecture: political struggle. The fact that of all mediums, architecture was chosen to convey this don’t-mess-with-us message to the losing party, the fact that it’s shown in the subtlest of manner, down to the choice of material – pietra forte, strong stone.
What I also think is interesting in regards to how Italian people of these periods perceived architectural sites is human’s relationship with the spiritual world. When the economy is prosperous and people have money to spare, they invest in the Art, more specifically arts that serve, and of, religious purposes. Despite some works of arts originally being created merely due to the fact that there’s a space that needs decoration (eg. the altarpiece). The physical development of a human being at this time was also highly intertwined with their religious development, which was shown clearly in the process of individual baptism, signifying the utmost connection between one becoming part of the economy and part of the church. This, along with the rise in interest with ancient culture, philosophy and art, otherwise known as humanism, created a wave of highly distinctive artworks that was influenced by elements from arts from a variety of different regions and ideologies, from Byzantine arts to French Gothic architectures.