Florence: Aesthetics & Politics, 1420-1450 | A Narrative Art History of the Renaissance (S2 E1)

In this video: Donatello, Brunelleschi, Masaccio, and the Early Renaissance in Italy.

This spring, “A Narrative Art History of the Renaissance" returns for a second season. Season 2 will take you through the 15th century, covering the period 1420 to 1500 in seven chapters - tracing the birth and development of the Renaissance in Italy, Flanders, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, and beyond.

This series aims to present Renaissance art in coherent context rather than as a disconnected collection of facts and artworks to be memorized. The focus here is not on individual artworks - although in-depth analyses of specific works are featured, too - but on the bigger picture of the Renaissance, foregrounding cross-cultural influences and artistic dialogues. It requires little to no background in art history.

0:00 Season 2 intro
1:33 Uccello, Battle of San Romano
6:50 Cosimo de' Medici rising
9:20 Uccello, Equestrian Monument to Sir John Hawkwood
11:16 Brunelleschi, dome of Santa Maria del Fiore
14:00 Brunelleschi, Ospedale degli Innocenti
Renaissance humanism
Linear perspective
Santa Maria Novella
17:24 Masaccio, Holy Trinity
20:41 Leon Battista Alberti
Santa Maria del Carmine
21:25 Masaccio, The Tribute Money
Florence Baptistery
23:42 Ghiberti, Gates of Paradise
27:20 Donatello, Pazzi Madonna
29:00 Donatello, Penitent Magdalene
31:24 Donatello, Amore-Attis
33:30 Donatello, David (bronze)
35:37 Michelozzo, Palazzo Medici
37:24 Benozzo Gozzoli, Magi Chapel fresco cycle
41:31 Domenico Veneziano, Santa Lucia de' Magnoli Altarpiece
44:26 Fra Angelico, Thebaid
Convent of San Marco
47:26 Fra Angelico, Annunciation, from San Marco
Convent of Sant'Apollonia
50:02 Andrea del Castagno, Last Supper
52:22 E1 recap, E2 preview

All content created, edited, written, and produced by Weili Jin, 2024
An initiative of The Close Looking Project
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