374 Route 53. FLORENCE. History.
The pioneers of painting in the Renaissance period were Paolo Uccelli
(1397-1475), and Masaccio (1401-28), whose immediate successors were
Fiiippo Lippi, the monk (1412-69), his son Filippino Lippi (1457-1504), and
Alessandro Botticelli (1447-1510). The chief aims of the school were to
master the technical intricacies of the art, to invest each figure with
beauty, to arrange the groups harmoniously, and to cultivate a faithful
portraiture of real life. The most famous representative of the school
was Domenico Ghirlandajo (1449-94), whose chief rivals were Cosimo Ros-
selli (1430-1507), Antonio and Piero Pollajuolo (1441-89?), and Andrea Ver-
rocchio (1435-88). In fervency of religious sentiment Fra Angelico da
Fiesole (1387-1455), by whom Benozzo Gozzoli was afterwards influenced
(p. 343), stands pre-eminent. The history of Leonardo da Vinci, Michael
Angelo Buonarroti, and Raphael, the princes of Italian art, is not per¬
manently associated with Florence, but their residence in this city exer¬
cised a material influence on their respective careers. Leonardo and Michael
Angelo may be regarded as belonging to Florence owing to the completion
of their studies there, and it was at Florence that Raphael supplemented
his art education, and shook off the trammels of the Umbrian school.
About 1506 the art history of Florence attained its most glorious period.
Leonardo, Michael Angelo, and Raphael were then engaged here together,
and with them were associated Lorenzo di Credi (1459-1537), a master
closely allied to Leonardo, Fra Bartolommeo (1475-1517), an intimate friend
of Raphael, and the talented colourist Andrea del Sarto (1487-1531), while
the two last were rivalled by Albertinelli, Franciabigio, Pontormo, and
Ridolfo Ghirlandajo. The union of the greatest masters at Rome, effected
by Julius II. and Leo X., at length detracted from the reputation of
Florence, and the despotic sway of the Medici tended to check farther
development. After the middle of the 16th cent. Florence produced no
architecture worthy of note; among the sculptors the vulgar Baccio Ban-
dinelli (1493-1560) may be mentioned solely on account of his failures as
an imitator of Michael Angelo; and the province of painting, although
cultivated with more success, now proved destitute of depth and in¬
dependence. Florence was the chief headquarters of the mannerist imitators
of Michael Angelo, the most eminent of whom were Giorgio Vasari, the
well known biographer of artists (1511-74), Angelo Bronzino, and Alessandro
Allori. In the 17th cent, the principal Florentine artists were Luigi Cardi,
surnamed Cigoli, Cristofano Allori (1577-1621), Furini, and the somewhat
insipid Carlo Dolci (1616-86). — The most distinguished sculptors of the
present century are Dupri (d. 1879), Fantacchiotti, and Zocchi, and the
most eminent painters are Stefano Ussi and Cassioli.
Florence is situated on both banks of the Arno, but by far
the greater part of the city lies on the right bank. On the latter,
to the N. of the Ponte Vecchio, at some distance from the river,
was situated the Roman town of Florentia, which however was
extended at an early period in the middle ages to the opposite
bank of the Arno. The walls of the city, which have recently been
almost entirely removed, were constructed at the same time as the
cathedral, between 1285 and 1388. The ancient Gates however
have been spared, of which the following are the most interesting:
Porta alia Croce (PL I, 6), erected in 1284, with frescoes by
Ghirlandajo; Porta S. Gallo (PI. H, I, 1), erected in 1330, once also
adorned with frescoes by Ghirlandajo; Porta Romana (PI. A, 7),
erected in 1328 by Jacopo Orcagna; Porta S. Frediano (PI. B, 4);
and Porta S. Miniato (PL F, 8). The New Quarters of the
town are at the W. end, on the right bank of the Arno, extending
as far as the Cascine (p. 445), and containing the best hotels
and the residences of most of the visitors, and also to the N. and
Permalink: http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/ksqrc
