Venice Italy is best known today for its culture and romantic canals. With the exotic way the city was construction and the backdrop of the ever-changing light caused by the waters of the canals, it has been romantically portrayed in many paintings, plays, movies, songs and operas. The once city state was a major trading empire. Located on the north end of the Adriatic Sea it was ideal for merchant shipping. Specializing in trade with the Byzantine Empire and the eastern world, Venice established a stable and prosperous economy. This naturally created and attracted a wealthy population. With this wealth people could afford many luxuries like art creating a thriving artists population. The style of Venetian art spanning two centuries during the renaissance was directly affected by the trade industry. In the 14th and 15th centuries the population of Venice was broken down into three castes: nobili, cittadini and popolani. (P. F. Brown 1997) The nobili, or the ruling oligarchy consisted of men with varying levels of wealth. Some were even merchants. From the very wealthy to the near impoverished, the nobili were equals if only in the political realm. A majority of the cittadini, citizens, like the nobili, were involved in the mercantile industry in one way or another. Many even amassed great wealth in a relatively short amount of time. The rest of the population, the popolani, was considered to be on the lowest level on the social category but not necessarily on the wealth category. These consisted of but not limited to: artisans, craftsmen, mariners and wealthy foreigners. During this period there was great wealth flowing around the area. Venice was a major connection and seafaring powerhouse from the eastern world, such as modern... ... middle of paper ... ...Lives In Renaissance Venice : Art, Architecture, And The Family. New Haven, London: Yale University Press, 2004. Brown, Patricia Fortini. Art and Life In Renaissance Venice. New York, NY: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1997. Mentzel, Peter. A Traveller's History Of Venice. Northhampton, MA: Interlink Publishing Group, Inc., 2006. Michael Pierre, Martha Prosper. The Human Story: Europe in the Middle Ages. New Jersey: Silver Burdett Press Inc., 1988. Partridge, Loren. The Art of Renaissance Rome 1400-1600. New York, NY: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1996. Spufford, Peter. Power And Profit: The Merchant In Medieval Europe. New York, NY: Thames & Hudson Inc., 2002. Turner, A. Richard. Renaissance Florence; The Intvention of a New Art. New York, NY`: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1997. Zuffi, Stefano. European Art of the Fifteenth Century. Los Angeles, CA: Getty Publications, 2005.
Nash, Susan. Oxford History of Art: Norther Renaissance Art. 2nd. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. 30-65. eBook.
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Venice was founded in the fifth century by a people called the Veneti, who lived on the coast in what would become northeast Italy (geography.howstuffworks 4, Lambert np). When the land inhabited by the Veneti was invaded by the Lombards, the Veneti fled to the nearby islands in the lagoon, and formed a village built on mud flats. This village was the beginning of Venice. Venice was originally a part of the Byzantine Empire, but it gained its independence in the ninth century. During the Middle ages, Venice became a major trade center due to the trading introduced by the Crusades. In 828 A.D., Venice gained its patron saint, Saint Mark, when his body was smuggled into the city. Venice continued as a successful trading port, but its population was severely diminished in 1348 by the Black Plague. The discovery of the Americas prompted the decline of Venice, as it shifted trade away from the city. Then in 1630, Venice suffered from another plague. Venice was conquered by Napoleon, but was given to Austria in 1815. Venice regained its independence for about a year, but was recaptured by Austria. Austria was defeated in 1866, and Venice became a part of Italy (Lambert, np). During World War I, Venice was damaged by aerial bombing, but it went through World War II relatively unscathed. Due to its location, the city suffered from various water related problems, and was found to be sinking in the 1950s through the 1970s. Wells throughout the city were capped, and the sinking was stopped. During the 1970s and the 1980s, Venice was restored as work was done to repair many of its famous buildings (geography.howstuffworks, 4).
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A Closer Examination of Paolo Sarpi and the Uses of Information in the Seventeenth-Century Venice
Baxandall, Michael. “Conditions of Trade.” Painting and Experience in Fifteenth-century Italy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.
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When studying the High Renaissance in Italy, it is certainly no surprise to me as to why the period is considered to have the greatest pieces of art in the Western world. Artists such as Michelangelo, DA Vinci, and Raphael etc…are widely considered to be the world’s greatest at their craft, in any century or period. In the 16th century the center for Renaissance artists shifted from Florence to Rome. Almost every great name during the period went to Rome either to work on projects for the papacy or the nobility. As our text states, “the modern notion of the ‘fine arts’ and the exaltation of the artist – genius originated in Renaissance Italy” (Kleiner F.S p. 488). Indeed, the works of the period are master works…pieces that challenge our understanding of art itself. The Sistine Chapel ceiling by Michelangelo, The Mona Lisa by DA Vinci, and Marriage of the Virgin by Raphael are the foundations and examples of genius and greatness.
The Italian Renaissance was a result of many events that lead to one another. Even the least expected events, like the Black Death, contributed to the rise of the Renaissance. It’s greatness has been admired since the end of the Renaissance. It spurred fine arts and magnificent churches. New ideas surged and spread. It was a cultural evolution the defined the modern age. The Italian Renaissance is known throughout the world and will always be remembered. Due to it’s magnificence, it is hard to believe that one of the main causes, humanism, was a mere idea. To list all of the factors of the Renaissance is impossible, however the big causes include the Black Death, humanism, and patronage.
Some of the most well-known artists today come from the period of High Renaissance. Almost everyone knows the works of Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino o...
[xxx] J. Lucas-Dubreton, Daily Life in Florence In the Time of the Medici (New York; MacMillan, 1961), p.? 287.
Ruggiero, Guido (2006), 2007, Fold towards A Companion to the Worlds of the Renaissance, Wiley-Blackwell, P 143. ISBN AS 1405-157836001