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December 2001

Spotlight: Florence, Italy

Beyond David
by Karen Bergeson

The Lover's Florence
by Jackie Goyette

Views Over Florence
by Jane Lofton

Photojournal: Florence and Siena
by Michael Strickland

The Artist's Florence
by Jackie Goyette

Florence at Night
by Elizabeth Wareham

Florence on Foot
by Sheri Ann Richerson

Elinore's Room
by Marco North

The Florentine Love Letter
by Phil Pisani

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Archives

December 2001—Spotlight: Florence, Italy

Beyond David
by Karen Bergeson

It has been said that 60% of the world's great art is in Italy and half of that is in Florence. One of the great artists of Florentine history is the Renaissance sculptor and painter Michaelangelo Buonarotti. Learning more about Florence and Michelangelo will enhance your enjoyment of both. Let's take a chronological tour of the painting, architecture and sculpture of Michelangelo in Florence.

At the time of Michelangelo's birth in 1475, the Renaissance was in full swing in Florence but not in the rest of Italy. Tastes were changing from Gothic to Classical and reality was moving from symbolism to the tangible. Economically Florence was growing into a major industrial sector producing and exporting wool which supported her commercial network—primarily banking and finance. The wealth spread from the elite and nobility through to the middle and even working classes. This wealth was able to finance the great achievements of the artistic and architectural capital of the Renaissance.

The most influential Florentine nobles were the Medici—Cosimo the Elder (1389-1464) and Lorenzo the Magnificent (1449-1492). Political public interest was shown through the patronage of the city, particularly the arts. From the time of Dante, Florence was the center for poets and writers.

Michelangelo was born 6 March 1475 in Caprese near Arezzo. He was the 2nd of 5 brothers. His mother became quite ill after his birth, and he was sent to a wet nurse in Settignano. It was here, with the Topolino family, where Michelangelo continued to return for spiritual and emotional healing on and off until he left Florence for the last time in 1534. The Topolinos were stone masons, and they taught Michelangelo about the nature of carving. He learned that 'stone gives itself to skill and to love.'

The High Renaissance began in Florence in the studios of Verrocchio and Ghirlandaio, where Michelangelo apprenticed for one year. At 13, Michelangelo shocked and outraged his father by working in the bottega where he was to learn from the master of fresco painting and drawing. Michelangelo assisted Ghirlandaio on the frescoes at the Florentine Church of Santa Maria Novella. It is likely that Michelangelo is responsible for some of the painting at the highest section of the church. This would be his first public work.

About 1490 Michelangelo was welcomed into the Medici household. He was treated very well here; like one of the family. His first creation is a small relief marble carving called MADONNA OF THE STAIRS (1491-1492). This is now in Casa Buonarotti, a group of houses Michelangelo bought in 1508 at the corner of via Ghibellina. The same year Michelangelo carved THE BATTLE OF THE CENTAURS also at Casa Buonarotti.

After the death of Lorenzo de'Medici, Michelangelo returned to his family and began to study human anatomy. He was permitted into the mortuary in the church of Santo Spirito and became an expert in the musculature and skeleton of the human body. Also at Casa Buonarrotti is the wooden CRUCIFIX (1492) he gave to the prior of the convent in return for his use of the mortuary.

In 1496, in Rome, Michelangelo began to sculpt BACCHUS—the god of vine, wine and mystic ecstasy. The Bacchus was originally commissioned by Cardinal Riario, but sold to Jacopo Galli, for whom Michelangelo had already carved a cupid (now lost). It is now at Museo Nazionale del Bargello. Already a famous sculptor, he returned to Florence to carve DAVID (1501-1504). The most popular hero of the bible, Michelangelo carved him as a model of heroic courage and moral virtue. He was also carved as a symbol of Florence at the time. It took 40 men 5 days to get the sculpture to Piazza della Signoria where there now stands a copy. The original was moved to the Accademia in the early 1800s.

Angelo Doni commissioned the DONI TONDA (1504) in the Uffizi as a wedding present for his bride. Doni was from Michelangelo's old neighborhood. Doni did try to take advantage of this when negotiating payment, but it backfired and Doni ended up paying double for the piece in the end. After the Doni was installed, he also finished the TONDA sculpture for the Pitti family. This is now at the Bargello.

Carved in 1503, SAINT MATTHEW was to be part of a commission to carve the 12 Apostles for niches in the Duomo. It is the only one he finished and is at the Accademia.

In 1519 Michelangelo began the GIANTS—or the FOUR UNFINISHED CAPTIVES for the tomb of Julius. They are at the Accademia. VICTORY (1526-1530) may also have been intended for the tomb of Julius II and is also unfinished. Instead it was given by Michelangelo's nephew to Cosimo I and is at Palazzo Vecchio.

In the 5 years (1526-1531) Michelangelo worked on the tomb of Lorenzo de'Medici the Duke of Urbino, he lost his mentor, brother and his father. Two figures NIGHT and DAY are on top of the sarcophagus of Guiliano de'Medici —the son of Lorenzo the Magnificent. DAY (unfinished) is a powerful man; NIGHT is a pensive woman. Behind this is the matching tomb of Lorenzo de'Medici and the allegorical statues of DAWN and DUSK. The statues are thought to express thoughts of the soul and to symbolize mortality through the passage of time. The NEW SACRISTY housing the tombs was commissioned in 1520 by Cardinal Guiliano. It was his first architectural commission, but was not finished by him. Although much more was planned for his earliest patron and mentor Lorenzo the Magnificent, the only work made for his tomb is the MADONNA and CHILD.

In 1529 Michelangelo began plans for the vestibule of the LAURENTION LIBRARY in the cloisters of the San Lorenzo Church. This was the Medici family parish and Pope Clement VII (a Medici) made the commission. Michelangelo used columns, pediments and brakets, more commonly used for building exteriors to get into the small high space. The showpiece is the staircase which was designed, but not built, by Michelangelo.

The unfinished DAVID-APOLLO (1530) is in the Bargello. It is called both names because no one is sure who it was meant to represent. It does not show strength, but it shows a sort of regret, and it was commissioned by the not-too-well-liked Papal Governor of Florence, Baccio Valori. Also in the Bargello is the powerful BRUTUS, carved for Cardinal Ridolfi in 1540. It is thought Michelangelo had Lorenzo the Magnificent in mind as he carved this marble.

In 1547 at the age of 72, Michelangelo began the DEPOSITION from the CROSS which is now in the Museo del Opera del Duomo. Designed for his own tomb, the face of Niccodemus bears an unmistakable likeness to its sculptor.

There are collections of Michelangelo's drawings in the Casa Buonarroti and the Ufizzi.

When Michelangelo died in 1564 in Rome, his body was smuggled out of Rome and into Florence by his nephew Lionardo. He was laid to rest in the Church of Santa Croce in a tomb designed by Vasari in 1570. There are 3 female statues representing Painting, Sculpture and Architecture that adorn the tomb.

Although the Renaissance did more to influence culture than the economy, the gifts of its cultural change spread through Europe until the end of the 18th century.

References

The Lives of the Artists by Giorgio Vasari

The Importance of Michelangelo by William W. Lace

History of Italian Renaissance Art by Frederick Hartt