Italian cultural and artistic heritage was formed in large part in the Renais- sance, one of the periods of greatest splendour ...
in the long history of Italy. Developed on the roots of Humanism and the recovery of classical antiquity, the golden age of Italian culture starts from Florence and develops throughout Europe between the end of the fourteenth century and the end of the sixteenth century. From the Florence of the Medici the cultural movement extends to the papal court of Pius II and Leo X, to the Aragonese Neapolitan court of Alfonso I, to the Milan of Ludovico il Moro, to Ferrara of the Estensi, to Urbino of Federico da Montefeltro, to other smaller courts but with artists of the first rank.
The Renaissance takes place between the recovery of Platonism and a faith in man inspired by the classical world which, although it does not deny religiosity, bases the order instituted by God on natural causes.
New spaces opened with the autonomy of culture from religion, a secularized vision of life, a freer and "scientific" research that lead, among other exceptional achievements, to the Copernican revolution and geographical discoveries.
A radical renewal of the artistic tradition began with Brunelleschi for architecture, Donatello for sculpture, Masaccio for painting and lead to a rational application of mathematical and geometrical tools and a rigorous application of proportions with perspective.
Remarkable is also the psychological investigation that expressed in the gallery of real and symbolic characters present in numerous paintings.
The affirmation of the bourgeoisie and, at the political level, of the Lordships brings the most powerful aristocratic families to an intense building and urban activity, which led to the redevelopment and elegance of many cities. The meeting of the classical Latin culture and of the new ruling classes, the development of the economy and commerce, the taste of elegance and refinement lead to exceptional results. Filippo Brunelleschi studies the Roman technical solutions for the construction of the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral in Florence.
Leon Battista Alberti inspired by the Colosseum for Palazzo Rucellai, incorporating three different classical orders and replacing the pilaster strips. In Rome Donato Bramante elaborates the first project of the new Basilica of St. Peter, which will then be taken up and modified by Michelangelo and Carlo Maderno; the ogival and ribbed dome resumes the development of the dome of the Cathedral of Florence. Variations on classic themes, together with attention to symmetry and proportions, characterize the achievements of Venetian villas, in which the genius of Andrea Palladio dominates. Palladian theories, exhibited in the Four Books of Architecture, influenced many artists in Europe and America.
Renaissance art also expressed in many churches, fortresses, public buildings and in splendid urban arrangements, such as the Piazza Ducale of Vigevano. Civil architecture leads to the creation of numerous private buildings: among many, we mention Palazzo Medici by Michelozzo Michelozzi and Palazzo Strozzi by Benedetto da Maiano in Florence, Palazzo Diamanti by Biagio Rossetti in Ferrara. Military architecture is also of great importance. Leonardo was at the service of Cesare Borgia as an architect and military engineer, and he made design sketches of fortifications and drawings of complicated war machines. The influence of Francesco di Giorgio Martini is evident in the castles of Taranto and Otranto.
The development of the figurative arts is exceptional. The list of artists working in this particular cultural period is very long. In Florence there are, among others, Lorenzo Monaco, Gentile da Fabriano, Filippo Lippi, Fra Angelico, Domenico Veneziano, Paolo Uccello, Andrea del Castagno, Piero della Francesca, Michelangelo; in Rome operate Benvenuto Cellini, Rosso Fiorentino, Parmigianino, again Michelangelo, then Bramante and Raffaello; in Veneto, among the crowd of artists, we find Donatello, Sansovino, Tintoretto, Veronese, Giorgione, Jacopo Bellini, Antonello da Messina; in Milan with the Sforza dukes we find Bramante and Leonardo; in Mantova, with the Gonzaga, operate Leon Battista Alberti and Andrea Mantegna. Many artists, including foreigners, also work in other Italian courts. We have limited ourselves to mentioning only a few names for an artistic reality of the highest level, which has filled entire libraries.
Perhaps only a new Renaissance, which focuses on culture, art and creativity, will give back a leading role to Italy in the globalized world, where it is too small to compete with the traditional and emerging giants, but where, with the landscape beauty, will be able to assert the cultural and artistic heritage that has no equal in the world. (Felice d’Adamo)
