Gian Lorenzo Bernini

Durante Alighieri, also known as Dante (meaning “he who gives” ) was born in Florence on May, 1265. He was born into a family with small nobility and a history of involvement in Florence complex political scene. His mother, Bella degli Abbati, came from a family of wealthy landowners but died a few years later after his birth. His father, Alighiero di Bellincione, whom Dante seemed to have avoid mentioning as much as possible, soon remarried with Lapa di Chiarissimo Cialuffi. His father made…

Medici (1360 - 1429), because he was the one who founded the Medici bank which led the family to wealth. Cosimo de Medici started the Medici dynasty as the first leader of the Medici family in Florence. Last but not least, we have Lorenzo de Medici (1449 - 1492). Lorenzo ruled Florence and supported the artists Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Sandro…

Upon their return Piero’s younger brother Giuliano reigned from 1512-1516, and became prince; he was followed by Lorenzo son of Piero, who was named Duke of Urbino by Pope Leo X, who was a Medici and son of Lorenzo the Magnificent. When Lorenzo Duke of Urbino died, Giulio, the illegitimate son of Giuliano the brother of Lorenzo the Magnificent, ascended and ruled the city but abdicated in 1523 to his illegitimate son Alessandro in order to become Pope Clement VII and…

The artist that was once forgotten after his death for many years, Piero Della Francesca, is now considered one of the key Early Renaissance artists. Piero Della Francesca had a big impact on the development of the Italian Renaissance because of the use of a variety of techniques that enabled him to produce realistic looking paintings. In 1416, Piero Della Francesca was born in a small town, Sansepolcro in Italy. Piero was the son of Benedetto de' Franceschi and Romana di Perino da Monterchi.…

As art commissions shifted from exclusively being issued by the church, to private families, governments and wealthy patrons, this provided ample opportunity in regards to the spiritual narrative. Whether it was modified, amended, or enhanced this was one outcome of the art that was now being made during the Renaissance. No family exemplifies this better than the Medici's of Florence. Essentially a wealthy Florentine banking family, their house and family contributed greatly to this Age of…

If Michelangelo Buonarroti were to paint a picture of a Renaissance gentleman and painter, it would most likely look like himself. He grew up in a moderately wealthy family with him being an apprentice to a painter for the royal Medici family. His life was full of great artistic accomplishments, such as creating the sculpture David, the interior painting of the Sistine Chapel, and probably his most famous painting, The Last Judgement. The legacy that Michelangelo Buonarroti left behind for…

The Medici were representatives of early Renaissance patronage, however, the only ones. Lorenzo de Medici was a strong ruler of the Florentine Republic, and is known for is patronage of the arts during the early Renaissance. Cosimo de Medici learned how using the arts would help him to influence the people and help him gain power. Because of Cosimo money and power art and architecture in Florence was flourishing during the Florentine Renaissance. The Procession of the Magi is filled with the…

The Birth of Venus is a truly magnificent piece of artwork. It was painted around 1480 with tempera on canvas. This painting was the first large mythological painting since antiquity. Botticelli painted this during the Renaissance era. Here are excerpts from Stanze per la Giostra, by Angelo Poliziano, that are though to be what Botticelli painted his image about. “A young woman with nonhuman countenance, is carried on a conch shell, wafted to shore by playful zephyrs…the Hours (Goddess of the…

church. Lorenzo was able to continue his father’s patronage on the fine arts by hiring a young artist who goes by the name of Sandri Botticelli. His creation of the Adoration of the Magi placed both Lorenzo and his family into the heart of the scene, as well as a self-portrait. Lorenzo was able to uphold a house that many writers and painters could to take place in his own bounty. He tries to capture the attitude many of the people held in the city of Florence. With the backup of Lorenzo,…

Barberini is the younger brother of Maffeo Barberini, who became pope in 1623. In 1624 he made a cardinal and spent the whole day in religious devotions in Rome and eventually became a secretary after being an Inquisitor in 1629 following the death of Gian Garzia Millini. Barberini “conducted the final phase of Galileo’s trial” and sought to dominate his order with illegal actions such as appointing “one of its friars as consultor to the Inquisition” forcefully. At his direction, The Capuchin…