Renaissance Artisans and Scholar Frederick Hartt
Essay on Art and Freedom in Quattrocento Florence
Aug 29, 2008
In his essay, Art and Freedom in Quattrocento Florence (ifound n Essays in Memory of Karl Lehmann, ed. L. Freeman Sandler, Locust Valley, New York, 1964), Hartt summarizes how the crises in Florence of 1400 shaped the sculpture and painting style that would come to characterize the renaissance.
Hartt Identifies Renaissance Style with Donatello’s St. Mark
First Hartt identifies the lag between the style shift of sculpture and that of painting during early the Florentine Quattrocento. According to Hartt and other art historians, the first truly renaissance sculpture was Donatello’s St. Mark for Osanmichele in 1411-1413. This sculpture was completed a full ten years before the inklings of a new Renaissance style emerged within Masaccio’s paintings.
Hartt offers little explanation other his own personal observation that paintings were for indoor, private worship and may have stayed in a more mystical, other-worldly style for longer for that reason, whereas statues during this period were located out in the town where they could stimulate man’s imagination and represent ideals.
Death of Duke of Milan, King Ladislaus Spur Renaissance Art Shift
Hartt’s explanation of why there occurred a style change is stronger. He mentions the 1402 sudden death of the Duke of Milan. The Duke dramatically succumbed to the plague on the battlefield, just as he was poised to conquer a much less advantaged Florentine army. Just ten years later nearly the same thing happened—this time with King Ladislaus of Naples and earthquakes instead of the plague.
Such incidents convinced Florentines of the power of Divine Intervention and must have heavily influenced their artwork. Hartt cites the subject of the Baptistery doors (the sacrifice of Isaac), Donatello’s portrayal of a triumphant David and his statue of St. George as examples of divine intervention, God willingness to help those who help themselves, and man’s willpower under extraordinary circumstances—all prevailing themes of the developing Renaissance.
Masaccio’s Tribute Money Symbolizes Florence’s Renaissance Concerns
Later, as Florentine’s previous luck freed them from a third round of military entanglement, painting began to catch up with sculptures' flair for capturing the day’s ideals. Masaccio’s Tribute Money portrayed the importance of paying taxes, which were newly implemented due to Florence’s emptying treasury after wartime costs.
It was a new concept of freedom and individual power along with the idea that God Helps Those Who Help Themselves that sparked the style shift of the Renaissance in Florence. Nothing supports this more than Hartt’s observation that the art of Florence’s enemies portrayed the opposite ideals as the opposite ideals of Humanism were imposed on them during this time.
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