Art Review

Art Review

Explain how Florence reflects the ideals of the dominant city-state.

With the advent and growth of the Renaissance era, trade started to flourish in Florence and neighboring cities of Tuscany and the entire Rome. The Medici family, one of the most influential families of Rome, moved and settled in Florence due to the growing trade opportunities there as well as the standard of living. This action was imitated by other officials and people of high stature. Soon, Florence became the dominant city state. Geographically, it was the best region for trade and business, the Knights and Templar could use it for their commute and even as a stronghold to protect the Kingdom. Additionally, due to the fact that majority of the officials and high status nobles started residing in Florence, it grew economically as well. Soon, it became the motivation of many artists for their works and some like Leonardo DaVinci and Michelangelo moved there. Florence became the centre of art, culture, banking and literature (Gardner, 1995); (MyHomePage. 2012).

Discuss how the Italo-Byzantine sense can be seen as an evident in Berlinghieri's St. Francis Altarpiece.

As was the case with most of the art of that time, the Italo-Byzantine sense is distinctly clear and evident in the works of Berlinghieri, especially his work “Saint. Francis's Altarpiece”. What makes this piece of art the perfect representation of the Italo-Byzantine sense is the extremely detailed symmetry of the artwork, the rigid folds of the fabric which was very common in the paintings of that era and the fact that the main focus is on the subject. There is hardly any surrounding or detailed scenery in the painting, as was the style at that time.

Other characteristics that could deem the painting as a work of the Italo-Byzantine era is the fact that the composition of the painting seems to be very formal, the background is golden (which is another common characteristic of that era) and panels that look like a vibrant display of emotion and activity (BrainMass, 2012); (Kitzinger, 1977); (Gardner, 1995).

How does the Holy Trinity by Masaccio express the humanist ideals of the15th century Renaissance?

The artwork 'Holy Trinity' by Masaccio from Santa Maria (Novella) compares the Old and the New Testaments and provides us with a detailed comparison. The work of Masaccio has linear perspective that creates a highly real depiction of space and carries the narrative of the art. The art very accurately shows the journey of a man on earth and then into the afterlife and the Christian faith. On one hand, the art shows the father, the son and the white dove (Holy Ghost) with the Crucifix as the main subject of the picture and a skeleton with the words “I am what you will become” at the bottom. The skeleton belongs to Adam, the first man on Earth as per religions (HomePage.com. 2012). The painting displays the concept of mortality (as per the old testaments) and the concept of Salvation (as per the New Testaments) (Gardner, 1995).

Compare Raphael's School of Athens to Veronese's Christ in the ...