tellectual Life of the Painters of the Early Renaissance :: History

Intellectual biography of the Painters of the Early conversionBefore attempting to answer the question it is important to bring what we mean by primaeval Italian Renaissance. Unlike many periods in history the Renaissance has no obvious start and end dates, for the purposes of this fitting I will define the approximate period within which to behavior as about 1390 to about 1520. 1390 represents the age when the Carrara court in Padua was gaining an sharp reputation of excellence, as well as this being about the time that two Roman coin like medals were cast of Francesco II and his father. This represents a typically renaissance trait of looking to antiquities for inspiration, as will be discussed later. The time around 1520 represents when Raphael died this was followed closely by the death of Pope king of beasts X, the second High Renaissance pope. It is after their deaths that the creative and optimistic witticism in Italy began to fade. The decade ending 1520 saw Leonardo da Vinci go forth for France and then dieing there in 1519. There are many other examples that could confirm these dates as significant, and also many more that would dispute them, save for the purposes of simplicity we will take these as a guide. In the startles of the Renaissance painting was seen very much as a craft performed by members of the artisan class and not a liberal art. In situation the term artist was not used, as it is today, as a general term meaning painter and sculptor. Artista was a term already in use by Dante, but it was used in course credit to a University level graduate of the liberal arts, it is not until the beginning of the sixteenth century that it is used in a context resembling todays usage. The dismantle status of painting at the beginning of the Renaissance is reflected in the fact that members of the aristocracy or learned class did not generally institutionalize it. A member of the Milanese aristocracy, Giovanni Antonio Boltraffios epitaph stressed that although he was a painter, he was an amateur, because if it were thought that he made his living from painting it would significantly lower his tender status. It is for this reason that few people in the early Renaissance would see painting as a method of social advancement or to demonstrate intellectual ability. This did not however condition many