Exam Instructions: Genius and Innovation in Renaissance Florence

Part I: Identification of Works

• Artist’s Name
• Title of the Work
• Date
• Technique
• Location (+ the original)
• Patron

Description Paragraph

• Describe the work
• Discuss its importance and meaning in Florentine Early Renaissance art.

Part II: Evolution of Artists

• Focus on evolution of artists like Brunelleschi, etc.

List of Works

Cimabue

1. Maestà di Santa Trinita, Uffizi (1290)

• Technique: Tempera on wooden panel
• Style: Early Gothic styles
• Features: Gold leaf background, throne recedes
• Perspective: Attempt at rendering perspective, very early styles

2. Crucifixion Santa Croce (1285)

• Technique: Tempera on wood
• Location: Church close to river
• Style: Gothic, divine Byzantine tradition
• Features: Focus on Christ’s body, shading in torso and limbs, Virgin Mary, and John the Evangelist

Duccio

1. Maestà di Santa Maria Novella, Uffizi (1285-1295)

• Technique: Tempera on wood
• Features: Gold leaf background, spatial depth attempt
• Details: Virgin Mary central, throne diagonal, layered angels
• Perspective: Rendering of perspective, bros from Siena

Giotto

1. Maestà di Ognissanti, Uffizi (Early 1300s)

• Technique: Tempera on panel
• Features: Chiaroscuro, figures have weight, gold leaf background
• Style Transition: Medieval to early Renaissance

2. Crucifixion Santa Maria Novella (1290)

• Technique: Fresco
• Features: Chiaroscuro, realistic rendering of human body
• Perspective: Linear perspective/foreshortening

Simone Martini

1. Annunciation, Uffizi (1333)

• Technique: Tempera on panel, gold leaf
• Features: Gilded patterns, realistic human reaction, Gothic style
• Patron: Cathedral itself

Brunelleschi

1. Ospedale degli Innocenti, Florence (1417)

• Architecture: Early Renaissance
• Features: Symmetrical, round arches, Corinthian capitals
• Patron: Silk Guild

2. San Lorenzo Church + Old Sacristy (1421)

• Patron: Medici, Cosmo the Elder buried here

3. Pazzi Chapel (1443-1446)

Donatello

1. Orsanmichele: Saint Marc, Saint George

• Saint George: Patron - Sword and armor makers guild
• Features: Realistic movement, schiacciato technique

2. Bronze David, Bargello Museum (1440)

• Features: Young, realistic, bronze, Medici patronage

3. Mary Magdalene, Opera del Duomo (1450s)

• Features: Wooden sculpture, realistic depiction

Nanni Di Banco

1. Orsanmichele: Four crowned martyrs (1417)

• Features: Classical faces, Christian models
• Patron: Stone maker guild

Ghiberti

1. 1401 Competition panels

• Winning Panel: One cast, classical, less heavy
• Context: Baptistry doors competition

2. Baptistery: North Door, East Door

• Features: Gates of Paradise, Old Testament stories

3. Orsanmichele: Saint John the Baptist

• Patron: Wool guild

Masaccio

1. Brancacci Chapel frescoes (1425)

• Features: Realistic, chiaroscuro, story of St. Peter

2. Holy Trinity, Santa Maria Novella (1427)

• Features: Linear perspective, memento mori

3. Sant’Anna Metterza, Uffizi (1425)

• Features: 3D effect, triangular composition

Other Artists and Works

• Gentile da Fabriano: Adoration of the Magi, Uffizi
• Piero della Francesca: Portrait of Federico da Montefeltro e Battista Sforza, Uffizi
• Verrocchio: Medici tombs, San Lorenzo church
• Filippo Lippi: Madonna and Child with Angels, Uffizi

Orsanmichele Building

• Function: Grainery/Church
• Patron: Guild, involved artists include Donatello, Ghiberti, Nanni di Banco

These notes cover key points on various renowned artists and their contributions to Renaissance art, focusing on technique, style, and historical context.