How does knowing about this broad and rich definition of space and gender impact on your understanding of Italian Renaissance Art in Florence during the fifteenth century? Are there

Images of Virtue & Beauty for Women

Honour for Men

Later Fifteenth Century Portraits

of Men and Women in Florence

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A new art form: portraits

Both in sculpture and in painting, Renaissance artists produced living likenesses of men, women and children. Portraits refer to sitters in a real world. They have to suggest enough of their appearance to be believable.

The independent portrait was new to 15th century Florence, inspired in part by antique busts and medals, as well as the traditional of Netherlandish portraits. Of course, these portraits have to be created within a continuum of realism but also idealization (only a few want their warts and lumps recorded).

The question remains: each work will offer a unique insight in a once living person: ideal or real? Florentine artists were ‘on their mettle’ with this kind of commission for a patron.

Fra Fi l ippo Lippi, Woman with a Man at a Window , late 1430s or 40s

� Hewas experimenting with a new type of portrait.

� Became standard pattern.

� She wears multiple rings on her fingers

Fra Fi l ippo Lippi, Portrait of a Young Woman , 1440 or 1455

Attributed to Paolo Uccello, A Young Lady of Fashion , 1460s, Isabella Stewart Gardner

Museum, Boston

Attributed to Paolo Uccello, A Young Lady of Fashion , 1460s, Isabella Stewart Gardner

Museum, Boston

The sitters’ faces are flatly modelled with minimal shading, and they hover against dark backgrounds. The desired hair colourwas blonde, as we have seen. She wears a head brooch, a pearl choker with a jeweled pendant, and a white cap ornamented with pearls. Her individuality is almost entirely suppressed in favour of the social ideals that she stands for (beauty, decorum, virtue)

Antonio del Pol la iuolo, Portra i t of a Young Woma n , 1475, tempera and oi l on panel , Metropol i tan

Museum of Art

This artist made about 5 surviving profile portraits of Florentine women. The women all wear brocade dresses with a pomegranate pattern, and similar hairstyles. The 5 images are so closely related that it seems the artist was creating an ideal portrait of a beautiful woman. Their faces seem barely modelled in light and shade. He uses slightly raised (impasto) brushstrokes to make the heads seem more real.

Antonio del Pol la iuolo, Portra i t of a Young Woma n , 1475, tempera and oi l on panel

[L] Mi lan vers ion; [R]Uff iz i

Sandro Bott icel l i , Wo ma n a t a W i ndo w (Smera l da B ra ndi ni ?) , inscr ibed, 1470-74, V ictor ia and Albert

Museum, London

This portrait represents an individual and not an ideal type. She has been identified as Smeralda Brandini, grandmother of a sculptor Baccio Bandinelli. She wears a transparent guarnello over her red gown. You can study the complex construction of space between the shutter at her back; this contrasts with the column of the opening to the left of the picture. She makes direct contact with the viewer. Botticelli’s approach is quite experimental.

Sandro Bott icel l i , Gi u l i a no de’Medi c i , c . 1478-80, Nat ional Gal lery of Art , Washington, tempera on

panel (murdered in the Pazzi conspiracy)

There are 3 exemplars of this portrait, so it must have been popular with people, presumably members of the Medici family. He seems very idealized. The portrait includes a turtledove perched on a dead branch in the lower left corner. The eyes seem to be lowered, which may reflect the idea that the likeness was based on a death mask. Botticelli uses the motif of the open shutters of a window behind his body to indicate death (a classical tradition).

Sandro Bott icel l i , Young ma n hol di ng a meda l of Co s i mo de’ Medi c i , 1470s , Uff iz i

Here the sitter makes direct eye contact and presents an inset medal of Cosimo de’ Medici. This detail of the medal is made of gilt gesso. It is meant to show this young man’s sense of connection as a Medici familiar, although this work cannot be connected to any one individual. Note the open landscape beyond the figure.

A new cultural influence: the transmission of Northern portraits to Ital ian cities and towns

from mid-fifteenth century onwards

Botticell i , Portrait of a Young Man, National Gallery London; Portrait of a Young Man,

National Gallery of Art, Washington; both 1480s

Lorne Campbell , Renaissance Portraits, Yale University Press, 1990 , p. 12

the distortions of portraiture

‘Botticelli distorts the sitter’s face in these portraits. Though the face, turned toward the sitter’s right, is in proportion to his torso, he has exaggerated the eyes and compressed the skull. Different parts of the face are seen from different angles, for the artist looked straight into his eyes, but looked up at other parts of the face from below. These devices of distortion compel the viewer’s attention and disturb slightly, making us feel a strong sense of palpable reality in the face’.

Sandro Botticell i , Portrait of a Young Woman (Simonetta Vespucci), 1475, Stadelsches

Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main

This image belongs to a group of images that feature the idealized beauty of a blonde woman, probably Simonetta Vespucci, who was a renowned beauty in Florence, who died in 1476. She faces right, which is an unusual detail. She wears a cameo pendant that features the theme of Apollo and Marysas. She wears a pearl net woven through her hair.

Sandro Botticell i , Portrait of a Young Woman (Simonetta Vespucci), 1475, Stadelsches

Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main

This image is full of iconographic complexity. You can just see a shiny metal corselet circling her breasts. She may appear here as a reference to Pallas Athena, the great Greek goddess. This is not an individual but an idealized image of a beautiful young woman mythologized as a goddess; there are 4 examples of her likeness.

Cameos on sale in a shop in Florence

Domenico Ghir landaio, [L] Portra i t of a Young Gi r l , 1490, Nat . Gal lery, London; [R] Portra i t of a La dy , 1490 Ster l ing and Francine Clark Art Inst i tute, Wi l l iamstown, Massachusetts

Domenico Ghir landaio, [L] Portra i t of a Young Gi r l , 1490, Nat . Gal lery, LondonWil l iamstown, Massachusetts

Ghirlandaio invented a new type of portrait in the 1490s. He set the figures before a neutral background or a landscape vista, and the women turn ¾ towards the viewer. The artist was able to capture the delicacy and innocence of a younger woman.

Domenico Ghir landaio, Portra i t o f a La dy , 1490 Ster l ing and Francine Clark Art Inst i tute Wi l l iamstown, Massachusetts

This innovative portrait of a lady probably reflects the influence of Northern Renaissance portraits, in which figures appear before a landscape and their hands are included in the composition. In this example, this young woman rests her hand on a window ledge draped with a Florentine textile, and she holds a flower, which may be emblematic, in her hand.

Ghir landaio, Portra i t of a Young Ma n; Portra i t of a Young Woma n , c . 1490, tempera on panel , The

Hunt ington L ibrary, San Marino

Domenico Ghir landaio, Portra i t of a n Ol d Ma n w i th a young chi l d , 1490, Louvre

The picture portrays an older man in a red robe, embracing a young child who is also wearing red. They sit in an interior, illuminated against a darkened wall. Behind them at right is a window through which can be seen a generalized landscape. The poignancy of the image is dramatized by the contrast between the man's weathered, older and wise face, and the child's delicate profile.

Ghir landaio, drawing of a man with rh inophyma, done in metalpoint on pink paper,

Nat ionalmuseum, Stockholm

This drawing was once owned by Giorgio Vasari, who trimmed it and fit it into the oval shape. It is created using white heightening, to make the shapes stand out in relief. The facial expression suggests that it was made as part of the process of taking a death mask.

Gender, Gifts and Patronage in Renaissance Florence

Piera de’Medici, Abbess

Female Power in the Convent

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Surviving samples of her beautiful handwrit ing; ski l led as a scribe

‘Sister Piera, born of the distinguished Medici bloodline, has transcribed this work of holy virtue’

Example of type of textiles made in her convent of San Verdiana

Acquiring the arm of Santa Verdiana

Women, Gender and Space

in Florence

Preparation for the reading by Natalie Tomas

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Attributed Fi l ippo Lippi, Portrait of a Woman and a Man at a Casement , 1435-45

Women at windows

Women at windows Women on the street

Women on display in the Tornabuoni Chapel

The best example of a religious commission which stresses the importance of public display, while at the same time illustrating the difference of men’s and women’s ideal roles and behaviour in late 15th century Florence, belongs to Domenico Ghirlandaio for the church of Santa Maria Novella, commissioned by Giovanni Tornabuoni in 1485-90. He was an influential man, involved with the Medici family banking interests. He became financial advisor to Pope Sixtus IV. Portraits of the family and the Medici appear throughout the cycles of frescoes created in this location.

The Visitation of El izabeth and the Virgin Mary (concept of embedded portraits)

The scene of the Visitation is witnssed by Giovanna degli Albizzi, the wife of Giovanni Tornabuoni’s only son, Lorenzo. Her dress is embroidered with the Tornabuoni diamond. She appears as an icon of perfect femininity. Her dress falls in stiff folds heavily to the ground as she walks. She looks decorously in front of her, in a measured manner.

Women appeared in public as icons of perfect virtue and decorum.

By the time this portrait was painted, Giovanna was dead, having died in childbirth.

G h i r l a n d a i o , P o r t r a i t o f G i o v a n n a

d e g l i A l b i z z i To r n a b u o n i , 1 4 8 8 ( ? )

Niccolò Fiorentino, medal of Giovanna degli Albizzi, c. 1486, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

D o m e n i c o G h i r l a n d a i o , B i r t h o f t h e V i r g i n , 1 4 8 5 / 6 – 9 0 .

Yo u n g L o d o v i c a To r n a b u o n i a t h e a d o f a g r o u p o f w o m e n

D e t a i l o f f r e s c o , B i r t h o f t h e V i r g i n

This fresco also shows an image of another important Tornabuoni woman, Lodovica, the only daughter of the patron. She appears as the ideal virginal young girl, modest and beautiful. She wears a dress of the same fabric as Giovanna.

Behind her, as seen in this detail, you see an elder woman from the household, reminding us of the idea that women travelled in groups, as chaperons and extended groups of female members of a household.

D o m e n i c o G h i r l a n d i o , B i r t h o f S t . J o h n t h e B a p t i s t , 1 4 8 5 / 6 – 9 0 .

We d o n ’ t k n o w t h e n a m e o f t h e y o u n g w o m a n s t a n d i n g a t t h e h e a d o f t h e g r o u p , d r e s s e d i n t h e p i n k g o w n . B u t t h e o l d e r w o m a n s t a n d i n g b e h i n d h e r i s L u c r e z i a M e d i c i – ( To r n a b u o n i ) , s i s t e r o f G i o v a n n i To r n a b u o n i .

The world of men and women in the Tornabuoni frescoes

The world of men and women seems to be clearly differentiated in the frescoes of the Tornabuoni chapel. The young women are put on display in relation to Christian stories that relate to themes of childbirth. They stand as witnesses to the sacred events.

The Tornabuoni women are presented as makers of social order and pedigree. They are presented in opulent, expensive clothes, they wear exquisite jewels, and they stand on display, marked by their measured steps and folded hands.

AHVS 341A: The Ascendancy of the Medici

Brunelleschi and the Building of San Lorenzo

The Decoration of the Medici Family Burial Chapel and Sacristy

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San Lorenzo with its unfinished facade

Brunelleschi and the Medici

Not only did he solve the problem of the Cathedral dome, but Brunelleschi was also responsible for a revolution in the plan of church building and interiors. He was asked to build San Lorenzo and he wanted to include a piazza as part of the rebuilding – although this never materialized.

San Lorenzo was patronized by the Medici family, and the architect was able to use more expensive materials and elaborate details in his design – even though he had to struggle with preexisting structures on the site.

Lorenzo de’ Medici noted in his Diary that, between 1434, the year that Cosimo returned from exile, and 1471, the year that he was writing, his family spent an impressive 663, 755 gold florins on charity, taxes, and public buildings.

The founder: Giovanni di Bicci de’ Medici

� Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici (c. 1360 – February 20/28, 1429) was an Italian banker and the founder of theMedici Bank. His children: Cosimo, and their children, go on to become the de facto rulers of Florence. They create an oligarchical system of rulership that is democratic but run by elite men in the same power network.

P r o c e s s i o n o f t h e M a g i , f r o m t h e P a l a z z o M e d i c i : i m a g e o f C o s i m o d e ’ M e d i c i : p a t r o n o f m a s t e r s l i k e B r u n e l l e s c h i a n d

F r a A n g e l i c o

Portrait Bust of Piero di Cosimo de' Medici (1416-1469), son of Giovanni Bicci

Piero is the father of Lorenzo and Giuliano (most famous of the 15th century Medici people). He was not as brilliant a banker as his father, Cosimo. He paid for the Procession of the Magi frescoes in the Palazzo Medici – Riccardi. He was the de facto ruler of Florence between 1467-69. This was a time of great upheaval, with various non- Florentine individuals helping to limit the family’s power.

Bust of Lorenzo de' Medici (The Magnificent)(1449-92)

Giuliano de' Medici (1453-78): murdered in the Pazzi conspiracy

The Importance of Patronage: For Religion, Honour and Renown

In this week’s lectures, we will be looking at several case studies: the Sacristy of San Lorenzo and the Medici, in light of two other spaces created by rival families: the chapel/sacristy of Santa Trinità and the Strozzi family – and the Brancacci chapel in the church of Santa Maria del Carmine, on the other side of the Arno. This fits with our idea of the period eye: these families commissioned works of art that expressed their religious hopes for eternal life – and they also had a keen eye for their reputation with one another. We are very fortunate that they believed in beauty and great craftsmanship, so they were very aware of who were the most talented architects or sculptors or painters.

San Lorenzo: plan with the cloister and library (left)

MA Medici Chapels 16thc

Old Sacristy

San Lorenzo: Old Sacristy, 1422-28

Giovanni di Bicci gave Brunelleschi the commission for the Sacristy, in the wake of seeing the dome of Florence Cathedral successfully completed. He also chose Donatello to create the bronze doors, the stucco figures over the doors, the roundels of terracotta in the corners of the vault. The sacristy/chapel quickly set the bar for being one of the most innovative new spaces in the city. It was part of a trend in this period for families to create private/public spaces that contributed to the idea of ‘seeing and being seen’.

San Lorenzo: The Old Sacristy, where Giovanni and his wife are buried

When their father died in 1429, Cosimo and his brother Lorenzo assumed formal responsibility for the embellishment of the interior.

San Lorenzo: cross-section of the Old Sacristy

Buggiano, Tomb of Giovanni di Bicci de’Medici and his wife Piccarda Bueri, Old Sacristy, San

Lorenzo, 1433

Vault of sacristy with roundels by Donatello

The main space has a dome; the a l tar area has a smal ler dome with an astrological theme

C o s i m o d e ’ M e d i c i h a d a s t r o n g i n t e r e s t i n a s t r o l o g y. T h e c o n j u n c t i o n o f s t a r s s h o w n h e r e m a y r e l a t e t o J u l y 6 , 1 4 3 9 . I t

m a y c o m m e m o r a t e t h e u n i o n o f W e s t e r n a n d E a s t e r n C h r i s t i a n c h u r c h e s .

This date in 1439 was declared a public holiday; and the pope wrote a special bull entitled ‘Let the heavens rejoice..’

Dome Chapel area

Diagram of the astrological ceil ing

Saints Lawrence and Stephen

Protector saints of the Medici family

Saints Cosmas and Damian: patron saints of the Medici family

Protector saints of the Medici family

Sacristy Doors by Donatello: bronze – with figures of saints, prophets and martyrs

Ascension of Saint John

Rilievo Schiacciato Flat relief that is very low

Ascension of Saint John

Martydom of Saint John

Saint John on Patmos

Saint John the Evangelist

San Lorenzo: Sacristy: A Space that Speak to the Religious Interests of the Medici

Donatello created stucco roundels depicting the 4 Evangelists, and scenes from the life of St. John the Evangelist appear in the pendentives (we also see the Medici coat of arms). The roundels of the life of John appear to complement the theme of death in the burial chapel. The programme is said to be new, in that there is no focus on the Virgin Mary – instead the focus was on saints that were particularly revered by the Medici family.

A truly significant space: the importance of family spaces

1. What makes this space so special is the unusual level of design and beautiful art production.

2. It speaks to us about how artists cooperated (or not)/ competed to plan each part of the decorative ensemble.

3. We can see that the best artists and materials were used. 4. Each part of the chapel/sacristy works together to

communicate a clear message about Biblical heroes: saints, prophets and martyrs.

5. We know that this space was created to meet the spiritual needs of the family, to provide burial space for the ancestors of the Medici lineage.

6. It also expressed the social aspirations of the Medici – and it created a sensation, with people coming far and wide to see it, once it opened.

San Lorenzo: interior with the nave looking back towards the retrofacade:

supervised by Cosimo de’Medici in 1440’s

By the time the building was done, many aspects of its layout, not to mention the detailing, no longer corresponded to the original plan created by Brunelleschi. The principal difference is that Brunelleschi had envisioned the

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