In class on Wednesday we began by discussing the studia humanitatis, the study of human works, rhetoric, literature, art, etc. with an emphasis on drawing on ancient knowledge and practices. We also discussed some background information to contextualize the period such as the introduction of the printing press in Italy in 1464 which allowed for the spread of knowledge and the Florentine guilds which were the ruling body of the republic at the time. The first work we discussed was the doors of the Baptistry of Saint John in the Florence Cathedral. The guild of wool merchants who were caring for the baptistery held a competition to elect an artist to complete the doors. We looked at the competition entries from the two finalists, Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi. I thought it was especially interesting how we compared the two designs by first finding similarities and then highlighting differences. Although the panels looked similar at first, once we singled out the similar aspects and then discussed how the artists treated the same subject matter differently, it was easier to see why Ghiberti was selected, as his composition was more dynamic.
Although Brunelleschi was not selected to complete the doors for the baptistery, we discussed how he became a very successful architect. Brunelleschi designed the dome of the Florence Cathedral which became so famous the entire building became known as Il Duomo. I thought it was interesting how Brunelleschi exemplified his use of ratios and relationships. For example, the marble sheathing below the dome is a visual representation of some of the relationships he used to design the dome. We next looked at Brunelleschi’s Osepedale degli Innocenti which also includes decorative evidence of structural ratios.
Finally, we looked at Donatello’s The Feast of Herod which exemplifies artists; interest in creating convincing depictions of space with the use of linear perspective.