The decade of the 1440s in art involved some significant events.
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Donatello, David
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Lippi, Portrait of a Man and Woman at a Casement
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Donatello and Michelangelo
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SPEAKER 1: We're in the Bargello in Florence, in an enormous vaulted room. This is a building that was used for judicial purposes. Now it's a museum. And it holds Donatello's David, one of the most important sculptures of the early Renaissance SPEAKER 2: Important because it was the first free-standing nude sculpture since classical antiquity. Quite an achievement. SPEAKER 1: So for 1,000 years, the Christian West had looked to the soul as the place to focus. The body was seen as a path to corruption, and so it was not to be celebrated. What we're seeing here is a return to Ancient Greece and Rome's love of the body, its respect for the body, which is so evident. SPEAKER 2: It really is. Donatello's looked back in ancient Greek and Roman sculpture also for the position that David is standing in, the position of contrapposto which is a very relaxed pose, where the weight is placed on one leg, the other leg is bent. And the figure has-- because of contrapposto-- has a sense of movement. In the Renaissance, this figure looked remarkably alive, given the way that medieval sculpture had looked for so long. SPEAKER 1: It's detached from any kind of figural group or any kind of architecture. And so there really is a sense of autonomy, as if this figure could move forward of its own accord. The figure is referencing the classical in another way, as well in its very material nature. This is bronze, largely copper with a little bit of tin added to it to give it strength. And it's actually hollow, it's created through a technique which is known as lost-wax casting, which the ancient Romans and the ancient Greeks before them had employed. And which had been used throughout the medieval period, but not at this scale. And it was just in the early Renaissance that artists are beginning to re-explore how to create bronze sculptures that are this large. SPEAKER 2: David is very young, and it's hard not to see a kind of sensuality in the way that David puts his hand on his hip and looks down. And the fact that he's wearing boots and a hat and is otherwise nude, there's a kind of eroticism here. SPEAKER 1: And that's especially evident if you look at the fact that David is standing on the now severed head of Goliath. In fact, in his right hand he's holding Goliath's own sword which David has used. But because he's standing on that head that pushes his leg up, one of the wings of the helmet is just riding up the inner thigh, perhaps a little too high, In fact. So there really is a kind of overt sexuality here. And it's so interesting because it's at odds with the civic symbolism of this sculpture. This was a sculpture that was really important to the city of Florence. And yet, it has this very intimate quality to it. SPEAKER 2: It was the seen in the 1460s in the Medici garden. Although we're not exactly sure who commissioned it, it's likely that it was a Medici. SPEAKER 1: So the Medici palace had a large entrance way, and there was a kind of axes that allowed you see directly into the garden. And this would have been visible in the center of it. SPEAKER 2: That's right. It's really important for us to remember that to the Florentine people, this wasn't just King David from the Bible. There were all sorts of associations. First of all, David in the biblical story defeats his enemy-- even though he's the underdog-- he defeats his enemy with God's help. The Florentine people felt very much identified with David because like David, they had defeated their enemy or they-- this is how they saw it-- they had defeated their enemy, the Duke of Milan in this early 15th century, with the help of God. In fact, they felt blessed and chosen by God, and the heirs of the ancient Roman Republic. And so the subject of David represented Florence, the Florentine Republic. SPEAKER 1: So Goliath, in a sense, takes on the role of the Duke of Milan. Milan was significantly stronger than Florence, which was a mercantile culture, as opposed to a military power. And Florence was, of course, a republic whereas Milan was an autocracy. That is, it had a single ruler. SPEAKER 2: And so David became a symbol of the Florentine Republic. Anyone looking at this sculpture in the Medici garden in the 15th century would have understood David as a reference to the liberties and the freedoms that were so cherished by the Florentine people, and had been threatened by the Duke of Milan. SPEAKER 1: On the other hand, you could say that the Medici we usurping this civic symbolism for themselves in some ways. And in fact, when the Medici were run out of town, this sculpture was actually taken to the signoria, that is to the town hall, and made a public sculpture. And so there is really the sense of the investment of this culture in this story. SPEAKER 2: Right. And so by having it in the Medici garden, appropriating this symbol of the city and all that was great about the city, Medici were appropriating that for themselves. SPEAKER 1: So here in this sculpture is this embodiment of the promise of a long rule. David will grow up to be king, to have been enormously wise. And in a sense, it was a perfect kind of story for the Medici to put forward as a representation, not only the city, but specifically of their own rule within the city. SPEAKER 2: Right. So they're sort of identifying themselves as the city of Florence. Identifying themselves with youthfulness, with King David, and with all that's great about the Florentine Republic. SPEAKER 1: And although this is a sculpture that's about war, the symbols are clearly about David and peace, and the Medici and peace. David wears a soft hat as opposed to the helmet of war that Goliath wears. David has severed Goliath's head with Goliath's own battle-hardened sword. If you look at that sword closely, you can see that there are notches out of it. It's been in many, many battles. David needs to borrow it in order to sever that head. But in David's other hand, in his left hand, he holds a rock. Presumably the rock that he used in the slingshot to actually fell the giant in the first place. But I think it's interesting that Donatello here, a sculptor, is actually portraying that rock as, in a sense, the opposing weapon to the sword. That is a material that Donatello, as a sculptor, often carves. He works in marble as often as he does in bronze, perhaps more often. And so are these, in a sense, the two weapons of the two cities? Either the violence of Milan versus the culture of Florence? SPEAKER 2: The iconography, all of the meanings, David and what that meant to the city of Florence. That eroticism, or even the homo-eroticism, art historians are not really sure about all of those meanings for the 15th century Florentine people. And some art historians have even suggested that the identification of this figure as David is not even completely secure. That it could also have been read as Mercury. And so we see it in a complicated way, and it's quite likely that the people of Florence, in the 15th century, saw it in a complicated way and had multiple readings of it. SPEAKER 1: It's an important reminder that art history itself is a process of trying to restore meaning and understand meaning through the lens of time. And-- SPEAKER 2: It is, after all, 600 years old. SPEAKER 1: That's right. But nevertheless, it is one of the great sculptures that really embodies so many of the ideals and so many of the concerns of the 15th century.
Events
- 1440: Donatello completes his series of sculptures for Prato Cathedral.
- 1440: Pisanello moves to Milan.
- 1440: Luca della Robbia invents new techniques in terra cotta sculpting at about this date.
- 1440: Rogier van der Weyden begins his travels through the Italian city-states.
- 1445: Fra Angelico is summoned by the Pope to paint frescoes in the Chapel of the Holy Sacrament (destroyed) in St. Peter's Basilica.
- 1445: Piero della Francesca is commissioned by the Compagnia della Misericordia in Sansepolcro to paint the Madonna della Misericordia.
- 1448: Giovanni d'Alemagna the elder, Antonio Vivarini, Niccolò Pizzolo and Andrea Mantegna are commissioned to decorate the Ovetari Chapel of the Church of the Eremitani in Padua.
Paintings
- Anonymous – The Triumph of Death (c.1446) (Palazzo Abatellis, Palermo)
- Fra Angelico – Frescoes in San Marco, Florence, notably the Crucifixion in the Capitular Hall (completed 1442), and the San Marco Altarpiece (completed c.1443)
- Fra Angelico and assistants – Frescoes in Niccoline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican City (1447-1451)
- Hans Bornemann – Heiligentaler Altar (Altarpiece of St. Nicholas) (after 1444)
- Dieric Bouts – Infancy Triptych (c.1445) (Museo del Prado)
- Petrus Christus
- Lamentation (Pietà) (c.1444)
- Portrait of a Carthusian (1446)
- Niccolò Antonio Colantonio – Delivery of the Franciscan Rule (c.1445)
- Lluís Dalmau
- Virgin and Child (1445)
- Virgin of the Consellers (1443-1445)
- Andrea del Castagno – Frescoes
- Death of the Virgin (1442–1443) (St Mark's Basilica, Venice)
- San Tarasio Chapel, San Zaccaria, Venice (1442)
- The Last Supper (1445-1450) and others (Sant'Apollonia, Florence)
- Piero della Francesca
- The Baptism of Christ (completed c.1448-1450)
- Frescoes in Castello Estense and church of Sant'Andrea, Ferrara (1449; now lost)
- Barthélemy d'Eyck (attributed) – Aix Annunciation (1443-1445)
- Giovanni di Paolo
- Guelfi Altarpiece (1445)
- Illuminations of Dante's Paradiso (c.1444-1450)
- Jean Fouquet – Portrait of Pope Eugene IV (before 1447)
- Jost Haller − Tempelhof Altarpiece (ca. 1445)
- Filippo Lippi
- Annunciation (completed c.1443-1450) (Alte Pinakothek, Munich)
- Annunciation (completed c.1445-1450) (Doria Pamphilj Gallery, Rome)
- The Annunciation with two Kneeling Donors (1440-1445)
- Coronation of the Virgin (1441-1447)
- Marsuppini Coronation (after 1444)
- Martelli Annunciation (c.1440)
- Andrea Mantegna – Saint Jerome in the Wilderness (c.1448–1451) (São Paulo Museum of Art)
- Pisanello
- Portrait of a Princess of the House of Este (c.1435-1449)
- Cecilia Gonzaga commemorative medal (1447)
- Stefano di Giovanni (Sassetta) – The Meeting of St. Anthony and St. Paul (c.1440)
- Tenshō Shūbun – Reading in a Bamboo Grove
- Paolo Uccello
- The Battle of San Romano (triptych, c.1435-1455)
- Green Stations of the Cross frescoes in Chiostro Verde (green cloisters) of Basilica of Santa Maria Novella, Florence (1446-1447)
- Nativity and Resurrection stained glass windows (1443-1444) and Four Evangelists clock face in Florence Cathedral
- Rogier van der Weyden
- The Descent from the Cross (c.1435)
- The Exhumation of Saint Hubert (c.1437-1440)
- Beaune Altarpiece (c.1445-1450)
- Miraflores Altarpiece (c.1442-1445)
- Portrait of Isabella of Portugal (c.1445-1450)
- Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin ("Self-portrait as Saint Luke") (c.1435-1440) (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
- Seven Sacraments Altarpiece (1445-1450)
- Frontispiece of the Chroniques de Hainaut (1447)
- Jan van Eyck
- Annunciation (c.1440)
- Portrait of Christ ("Vera Icon") (c.1440) (Groeningemuseum)
- Saint Jerome in His Study (1442)
- Domenico Veneziano
- The Carnesecchi Tabernacle (c.1440-1444) (surviving fragments in National Gallery, London)
- Santa Lucia de' Magnoli Altarpiece (c.1445-1447)
- Konrad Witz
- Altarpiece of the Virgin (c.1440)
- Saint Madeleine and Saint Catherine (c. 1440)
- The Miraculous Draft of Fishes (1444)
Births
- 1440: Jacopo de' Barbari – Italian painter and printmaker (died 1516)
- 1440: Agnolo degli Erri - Italian Gothic painter of the Italian Renaissance (died 1482)
- 1440: Antonio Vivarini – Italian painter of the Vivarini family of painters (died 1480)
- 1440: Adriano Fiorentino - Italian medallist and sculptor (died 1499)
- 1440: Giovanni Dalmata – Dalmatian sculptor (died 1514)
- 1440: Andrea di Niccolò - Italian painter of the Sienese School (died 1514)
- 1440: Dionisius – head of the Moscow school of icon painters (died 1502)
- 1440: Rueland Frueauf the Elder - Austrian Late-Gothic painter (died 1507)
- 1440: Cristoforo de Predis – Italian miniaturist and illuminator (died 1486)
- 1440: Fiorenzo di Lorenzo – Italian painter of the Umbrian school (died 1522)
- 1440: Ludwig Schongauer – German painter (d. ca.1494)
- 1440: Hugo van der Goes – Flemish painter (died 1482)
- 1440: Bartolomé Bermejo – Spanish painter who adopted Dutch painting techniques (died 1498)
- 1440: Fra Girolamo Bonsignori – Italian monk and painter (died 1519)
- 1440: Vittorio Crivelli – Italian painter (died 1501/1502)
- 1440: Fernando Gallego – Spanish painter brought up in an age of gothic style (died 1507)
- 1440: Rodrigo de Osona - Spanish Renaissance painter (died 1518)
- (born 1440–1445): Colijn de Coter – early Netherlandish painter who produced mainly altarpieces (died 1522-1532)
- c.1440s: Master I. A. M. of Zwolle, anonymous Dutch goldsmith and engraver (died 1504)
- c.1440s: Gil de Siloé, Spanish Gothic sculptor of Flemish origin (died 1501)
- 1441: Liberale da Verona – Italian painter of the Renaissance period active mainly in Verona (died 1526)
- 1441: Ali-Shir Nava'i – Central Asian politician, mystic, linguist, painter, and poet (died 1501)
- 1442: Benedetto da Maiano – sculptor (died 1497)
- 1442: Jacopo da Sellaio – Italian painter from the Florentine School (died 1493)
- 1442: Domenico Morone – Italian painter from Verona (died 1518)
- 1443: Giuliano da Sangallo - Italian sculptor and architect (died 1518)
- 1443: Piero del Pollaiuolo – painter (died 1496)
- 1443: Baldassare Estense – Italian painter and medalist (died unknown)
- 1443: Giovanni di Stefano, Italian bronze-caster, engineer, and sculptor (died 1506)
- 1445: Gian Giacomo Dolcebuono - Italian architect and sculptor (died 1504)
- 1445: Francesco Rosselli – Italian miniature painter, engraver of maps and old master prints (died 1513)
- 1445: Sandro Botticelli – Italian painter of the Florentine school during the Early Renaissance (Quattrocento) (died 1510)
- 1445: Ambrogio Foppa – Italian goldsmith, sculptor, and die sinker (died 1527)
- 1445: Guido Mazzoni – Italian sculptor and painter (died 1518)
- 1445: Luca Signorelli – Italian Renaissance painter, draughtsman, especially in his use of foreshortening (died 1523)
- 1445: Israhel van Meckenem – German printmaker and goldsmith (died 1503)
- 1445/1450: Veit Stoss – Engraver, painter, and sculptor of the late Gothic sculpture in Germany (died 1533)
- 1446: Antonio del Rincón – Spanish painter and artist (died 1500)
- 1446: Biagio d'Antonio - Italian painter (died 1516)
- 1446: Alvise Vivarini – Italian painter (died 1502)
- 1446/1450: Pietro Perugino – Italian painter of the Umbrian school during the High Renaissance (died 1523)
- 1447: Neroccio di Bartolomeo de' Landi – Italian painter and sculptor (died 1500)
- 1447: Bartolomeo degli Erri - Italian Gothic painter of the Italian Renaissance (died 1482)
- 1447: Giovanni Antonio Amadeo – Italian early Renaissance sculptor[1], architect and engineer (died 1522)
- 1448: Martin Schongauer – German engraver and painter (died 1491)
- 1448: Dieric Bouts the Younger - Belgian painter of the Early Netherlandish painting era (died 1491)
- 1449: Lazzaro Bastiani – Italian painter of the Renaissance, active mainly in Venice (died 1512)
- 1449: Domenico Ghirlandaio – painter (died 1494)
- 1449: Domenico Gagini – Italian sculptor (died 1492)
Deaths
- 1440: Cennino D'Andrea Cennini – Florentine painter (born 1370)
- 1441: Bartolomeo di Fruosino - Italian painter and illuminator of the Florentine School (born 1366 or 1369)
- 1441: Jan van Eyck – Early Netherlandish painter (born 1385)
- 1444: Robert Campin – Early Netherlandish painter (born 1375)
- 1444: Guo Chun – imperial Chinese painter in the early Ming Dynasty (born 1370)
- 1444: Ottaviano Nelli - Italian quattrocento painter (born 1375)
- 1445: Henri Bellechose – painter from the South Netherlands (b. unknown)
- 1445: Michelino Molinari da Besozzo – Italian painter (born 1385)
- 1445/1446: Konrad Witz – German painter, especially of altarpieces (born 1400-1410)
- 1446/1447: Mir Ali Tabrizi – Persian calligrapher and inventor of the Nastaʿlīq script (born unknown)
- 1447: Masolino da Panicale – Italian painter (born 1383)