Page:The painters of Florence from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century (1915).djvu/98

74 Antonio Veneziano. But the next step forward was only to come with the opening years of the new century. As in the days of Giotto, Florence was still the centre of the new culture, the starting-point of all literary and artistic endeavour. After the troubles excited by the revolt of the Ciompi and the final conquest of Pisa, the Republic entered on a prolonged period of peace and prosperity. The wealth of her merchants increased rapidly, and the chiefs of rival factions, whether Medici or Albizzi, alike devoted their gold and authority to the encouragement of art and letters. The first thirty years of the fifteenth century witnessed a great development of civic life, which was followed by a corresponding advance in humanist literature and a wonderful blossoming of the fine arts. Then Brunellesco modelled the mighty cupola which is still without a rival in the world; then Ghiberti carved the Baptistery gates, and Donatello worked the passionate dreams of his soul into the marble Saints which guard the walls of Or' San Michele. And then, too, Masaccio painted the frescoes of the Brancacci Chapel, to be the wonder of future ages and the model of successive generations of artists in the years to come.

The three essential points which distinguish Quattrocento painting from that of the Trecento are: the accurate study of the human form, the scientific knowledge of perspective, and the introduction of classical instead of Gothic architecture. These were followed by many other minor developments in modelling and chiaroscuro, in landscape and portrait painting. Once more the sister-art of sculpture led the way, and it was Brunellesco and Donatello who