Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/505

 ITALIAN (FLORENTINE) RENAISSANCE. 447 iii. Climate. — Among other causes which affected the development of the style, the bright and sunny climate rendered large openings for light unnecessary. The character of the climate is well indicated by Tennyson : — • " In bright vignettes, and each complete Of'lower or duomo, stinny-sweet. Or palace how the city glittered Through cypress avenues, at our feet." iv. Religion. — At this period Florence produced the great Dominican preacher, Savonarola, whose reforming energy divided the city, and swayed its policy. He looked to the French king to call a general council to reform the Church. In art he tended to the Puritan theory, and although suppressed by the Pope, his influence on the minds of his generation was not lost, the Sistine frescoes bearing witness to his power over Michael Angelo. V. Social and Political.— In Italy generally there was a wave of national enthusiasm and patriotic feeling and an endeavour to assimilate the old Roman magnificence in art. The Medici dynasty, so intimately connected with the rise of Florentine art, was founded by John of Medici (died 1429), who took the popular side against the nobles, gradually usurping supreme authority over the State. His son Cosimo (died 1464) employed his wealth liberally in the advancement of art. He fotinded the Medici Library and Platonic Academy, and was the patron of Brunelleschi, Donatello, Michelozzo, Lippi, Masaccio, and others. Pietro and Lorenzo Medici succeeded Cosimo, and Florence — "the Athens of the Renaissance"- — became the centre of the revival in art and literature. The artists of the period were often at the same time sculptors, painters, and architects, and among these were : — Luca della Robbia (1400-1482), famous for glazed reliefs in terra-cotta, some of which are in the Victoria and Albert Museum ; Lorenzo Ghiberti (i 378-1455), the sculptor of the bronze gates to the Baptistery, reproductions also being in the same Museum; Donatello (1386-1466) ; Mino da Fiesole (a.d. 1431-1484), and Benedetto da Majano (a.d. 1442-1497), famous for his bas-reliefs and statues at Florence and elsewhere. As showing the com- mercial prosperity of P'lorence, it is worthy of note that the golden florin was first coined in that city in 1252, and soon became the general standard of value in Europe. As rival parties in the city were engaged in constant hostilities, safety and defence were primary motives in building, the palaces being in reality semi-fortresses. vi. Historical. — Florence commenced to grow in importance on the removal of the inhabitants of Fiesole to the banks of the Arno in 1 125.