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before the text \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Page: https://3d.wlu.edu/v21/pages/Orsanmichele/orsanmichelemark.html Location of Annotation: -17.737, 51.302, 2.601 Camera Location: -21.716, 48.690, 4.273 Camera Looks Towards: -12.870, 52.978, 2.105 Annotation block name: Bartholomew Annotation Details: Bartholomew descriptive text here \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Page: https://3d.wlu.edu/v21/pages/Orsanmichele/orsanmichele.html Location of Annotation: -17.016, 51.258, 2.746 Camera Location: -19.728, 49.652, 3.697 Camera Looks Towards: -16.139, 51.952, 3.648 Annotation block name: Bartholomew Annotation Details: Bartholomew descriptive text here \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Page: https://3d.wlu.edu/v21/pages/Orsanmichele/orsanmichele.html Location of Annotation: -19.516, 39.591, 2.315 Camera Location: -22.595, 44.700, 3.500 Camera Looks Towards: -21.743, 43.370, 3.472 Annotation block name: Andrea di Cione, Matthews Triptych Annotation Details:
Andrea di Cione Born sometime in the 1320s, Andrea appears to have trained in workshop of Bernardo Daddi before striking out on his own as an independent master in the mid-1340s. He partnered with two other painterly brothers, Nardo and the much younger Jacopo, on important projects in important centers, and with them produced frescoes in S. Croce, altarpieces for churches, and perhaps an odd fresco of the Expulsion of the Duke of Athens for the local debtor’s prison called the Stinche. His skills earned him the nickname of “Orcagna” (Archangel) due to the beauty of the figures he produced. When he died in 1368, his artistic legacy shaped the city in vital ways. The Commission The so-called St. Matthew Triptych, Orcagna’s last work, was produced for the guild church and former grain distribution center of Orsanmichele. Commissioned by the Arte del Cambio (the Bankers Guild) and dedicated to their patron saint, the picture was left incomplete at Andrea’s death in 1368 and finished the next year by his younger brother, Jacopo di Cione, who used the completed product as an example of his expertise to receive permission to join the Arte dei Medici e Speziali, the guild that included within its membership the city’s painters. St. Matthew Triptych The St. Matthew Triptych, now in the Uffizi Gallery, features the standing figure of the Evangelist dressed in a blue robe with a rose cloak wrapped around his body. He holds a quill pen in his right hand and an open book (showing the first phrases of his Gospel) in his left. Four moments from his life’s story move from the lower left to the upper left and then from the upper right down to the lower right. This triptych, a form often employed for altarpiece designs, oddly bends backwards on hinges that originally wrapped around a pier on the south wall of the building, only a few meters away from the enormous tabernacle that Orcagna had finished in 1359 to encase the miracle-working Madonna of Orsanmichele by Bernardo Daddi. Narratives Oddly, the story reads from the lower left to the upper left and then moves across the central compartment to the upper right before dropping down to lower right – perhaps to accommodate viewers who might be viewing the picture from below. In the first scene, Christ Calling St. Matthew, we see Jesus, beckoning to Matthew, a tax collector in alliance with the Romans in their control of Palestine, to follow him. A boy guards a safe box behind a bench, illustrating contemporary practices of customer service in 14th-century Florence. Matthew here exchanges the life of wealth and ease for a new life as disciple of Christ. The scene above bears the image of Matthew Quelling Dragons, an allegorical description of the saint’s ability to quiet the fury of sin and the presence of evil. Matthew and John the Evangelist, armed with the truth of their books, calm the threatening beasts, much to the surprise of their sinful witnesses. The upper right panel depicts Matthew, joined again by the beardless John, reviving a dead boy, who sits upright on his funeral bier. To the left we see the infidel marvel at the active power of God’s word as the righteous defeat the enemies of Orthodoxy. Below we see the martyrdom of Matthew, as the saint falls victim to an assassin’s blade while kneeling before an altar that has been partnered intentionally with the banker’s bench of his previous life’s work on the opposite side of the triptych. We again see our artists intentionally pairing up themes to emphasize a particular message: in this case, we encounter a protagonist’s spiritual development over a period of time. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Page: https://3d.wlu.edu/v21/pages/Orsanmichele/orsanmichele.html Location of Annotation: -24.404, 47.766, 2.577 Camera Location: -26.309, 50.723, 4.007 Camera Looks Towards: -23.881, 47.230, 3.546 Annotation block name: St Martin Annotation Details: St Martin descriptive text here \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Page: https://3d.wlu.edu/v21/pages/Orsanmichele/orsanmichele.html Location of Annotation: -11.685, 44.048, 2.783 Camera Location: -12.736, 45.702, 1.978 Camera Looks Towards: -9.799, 40.969, 6.586 Annotation block name: St John the Evangelist Annotation Details:
Giovanni del Biondo, John the Evangelist, ca. 1380 Active in Florence from ca. 1360 until his death in 1396, Giovanni del Biondo’s prolific career spanned most of the last half of the fourteenth century. Trained as a fresco painter but also active as a miniaturist, the artist’s most frequent type of commission came in the form of panel pictures for liturgical settings. The facial characteristics of his figures frequently feature large eyes, jutting jawlines, and rosy cheeks. While he understood the potency of light and shadows as signifiers of volume and space, Giovanni’s paintings rarely convey the same brilliance as do the works of his Giottesque predecessors or his Gerinesque contemporaries. Still, the preponderance of images produced by Giovanni del Biondo – whose paintings adorned spaces in the Duomo, S. Maria Novella, S. Croce, and S. Maria degli Angeli, to name but a few – suggests his popularity in Florence irrespective of the limited skill set he retained. Circumstances of John the Evangelist Commissioned by the Silk Merchants sometime near 1380, Giovanni del Biondo’s vertically oriented painting of John the Evangelist matches the type of picture installed systematically on the piers of Orsanmichele by late Trecento painters working for the different guilds of Florence. Located on the pier adjacent to Orcagna’s Tabernacle and the miracle working Madonna of Orsanmichele inside it, painted by Bernardo Daddi in 1347, the picture of the patron saint of the Por Santa Maria – the name of the Silk Guild, taken from the location of its headquarters near the city gate named for the Virgin Mary – enjoyed a position of prominence inside the church of the guilds. Its arrangement, with a tall compartment for the effigy and a smaller narrative picture below, aligns the image with typical side panels and predellas that normally flanked central compartments of polyptych altarpieces. Its proximity to Daddi’s cult image of the Madonna, installed with neither side panels nor predella scenes, suggests that the Evangelist – as well as the other pier panels inside Orsanmichele – were produced as surrogates that extended the visual presence of a typical altarpiece throughout the entire ground floor of the guild church. The Form of John The enthroned Evangelist sits with the index finger of his right hand pointed up toward the half-length image of Christ. Both figures hold opened books in their left hands: Christ’s contains the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet – the Alpha and Omega – which symbolize the beginning and the end, or the entirety of purpose that He entails, while John’s book features the opening verses of his Gospel text, “In the beginning was the Word ….” John’s symbolic eagle perches below his right elbow and an inkwell and quill pen remind us of his authoritative authorship. At his feet, as though trampled by the power of Evangelic insight, lie personifications of the three vices of Pride, Avarice, and Vanity. The narrative scene below illustrates the Ascension of John, who rises up from his earthly grave into the waiting arms of Christ, who is flanked in His Celestial Court by Peter, Paul, and (presumably) the other three Gospel writers. Clerics to the left and puzzled bystanders at the right witness the miraculous event, while the symbol of the Silk Guild – a locked gate – appears on either side of this scene in the form of two coats of arms. Iconography The frontal position of the figure, combined with his iconographic attribute and emblem of his fame, matches standard representations of figures as they appeared on altarpiece designs. Although a similar approach was taken in the design of the pier panel of St. Zenobius for the nave of the Duomo, the addition of three vices under John’s feet deviates somewhat from the normal representation of saints. Pride, or “Superbia,” has been painted as a bearded soldier, complete with silver gilt wings, helmet, and sword: the metallic materials were used by artists when rendering armed invaders or militant marauders. Vanity has been represented as a royal woman in an emerald gown and gold crown, gazing at her own reflection in a gilt mirror. Between them lies Avarice, who struggles to clutch a bag of coins pregnant with sin. The combination implies a celebration of Republican virtues, for none of the personifications – neither armed marauder, privileged princess, nor female titan – were publicly embraced by Florentines steeped in their own traditions of patriarchal, non-aristocratic, mercantilism. Silk Guild (Por S. Maria) The Silk Guild, or the Arte Por S. Maria (the guild at the gate of St. Mary), was one of the six major trade organizations of the city: among their ranks were priors, artists, and international financiers of tremendous influence. Along with the Wool guild, the Arte Por S. Maria specialized in the creation of elegant garments that gradually became the staple of the Florentine wardrobe. The designer fabrics they produced brought with them hefty profits into the guild, and by the fifteenth century Silk merchants accounted for a disproportionate number of the city’s highest earners. Their decision to pay Giovanni del Biondo for the panel to celebrate their patron saint in Orsanmichele was in keeping with the guild’s interest in maintaining a visual presence in the church: indeed, the guild had chosen to serve as caretakers of the building as early as 1336 and its members were keen to maintain it. The symbol of the Silk Guild – a locked gate – appears on either side of the narrative scene in the form of two coats of arms. ` \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Page: https://3d.wlu.edu/v21/pages/Orsanmichele/orsanmichele.html Location of Annotation: -2.160, 49.00, 2.20 Camera Location: 2.229, 52.132, 3.886 Camera Looks Towards: -17.501, 41.835, -0.385 Annotation block name: Patronage of St. John the Baptist Annotation Details:
Arte di Calimala, also known as the Cloth Merchants’ guild, functioned as one of the five major guilds in Florence during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The Calimala wielded power in the city because of their senior guild position and their elite Florentine members. Among their most important roles was their management of the decoration of the Baptistery, located directly across from the cathedral of Florence. The guild took this responsibility seriously and in 1401 announced a competition between artists to choose the best design for bronze reliefs to decorate the Baptistery doors. Lorenzo Ghiberti won the competition and was commissioned to execute the project in 1403. However, the guild did not act with the same attention on its commitment to ornament the church of Orsanmichele. To remedy this, the Signoria decreed in 1406 that the guilds could construct bronze statues instead of stone statues to fill the exterior niches of Orsanmichele – but also warned them that a failure to complete these projects would result in a forfeiture of the niche that had been allocated to them on the building’s exterior. This law spurred the guilds to begin commissioning the decorations for the niches that they agreed to fill seventy years prior. The niche reserved for the Cloth Merchants Guild on exterior pier of Orsanmichele was located in perhaps the most prestigious spot on the building. Positioned on the corner of Via Calzaiuoli and the Via de’ Lamberti, this site was immediately adjacent to Orcagna’s Tabernacle that held the miracle-working Madonna inside the space. It was also situated along the major thoroughfare that connected the governmental center of the Palazzo Vecchio to the spiritual heart of the city at the Piazza del Duomo. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people passed by it daily. Abiding by the agreement of 1406, the guild commissioned Ghiberti to fill that niche with a sculpture of their patron saint, John the Baptist, in 1412. They took advantage of the new decree and requested that Ghiberti use bronze as the material for the work. This decision was made for a number of reasons. First, bronze withstands weather much better than stone, making it a durable form that can withstand the punishments of rain, snow, and wind. Second, the degree of difficulty in procuring the amount of tin and copper to produce a sufficient amount of molten bronze made it a conspicuously expensive material. And third, the technical challenges involved in the casting process made it a symbol of high-quality workmanship. Its value explains its increasing use in commissions for Florentine civic structures and made it a perfect choice for the material of the sculptures for Orsanmichele’s niches. Surely the Calimala recognized the status of the material and person they chose for the commission. Lorenzo Ghiberti, the same artist the guild had selected to produce reliefs for the Baptistery’s doors a decade earlier, began casting the sculpture in December 1414 and chased it the next year before finally installing it in 1416. The guild paid Ghiberti the enormous sum of 530 florins for the sculpture, which covered the costs of materials and supplies, as well as the expense of maintaining his large workshop of apprentices and assistants. By Lou Langhorne Bibliography: Krautheimer, Richard, and Trude Krautheimer-Hess. Lorenzo Ghiberti. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2019. Najemy, John M. “Guild Republicanism in Trecento Florence: The Successes and Ultimate Failure of Corporate Politics.” The American Historical Review 84, no. 1 (1979): 53–71. Zervas, Diane Finiello. “Ghiberti’s St. Matthew Ensemble at Orsanmichele: Symbolism in Proportion.” The Art Bulletin 58, no. 1 (March 1976): 36. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Page: https://3d.wlu.edu/v21/pages/Orsanmichele/orsanmichele.html Location of Annotation: -1.58, 48.71, 1.89 Camera Location: 1.584, 51.705, 2.515 Camera Looks Towards: -14.712, 43.834, 0.703 Annotation block name: The Style of St. John the Baptist Annotation Details:
St. John the Baptist was one of the first sculptures erected on the exterior piers at Orsanmichele. The Cloth Merchants’ guild, also known as the Arte di Calimala, commissioned Ghiberti to create the statue around 1412 or 1413. The merchants’ patron saint was John the Baptist partly because he had clothed himself in animal skins when he had to spend time in the wild. Those animal skins invoked the idea of rich cloth. The Calimala highlighted John’s clothing in their commissions for his image to advertise their guild, and Ghiberti conformed to this by lowering the neckline of John’s tunic so that his goatskin garment is visible. Ghiberti crafted the sculpture in the International Gothic Style which gained momentum in Europe in the early fifteenth century. The style was brought to France by Simone Martini, the Sienese painter, and popularized there by local artists during the 14th century. It incorporated a combination of naturalistic elements and more ornate Gothic elements that idealized characters and stories into a sort of fairy tale. The preponderance of gold, abstracted spatial arrangements, and voluminous, billowing garments mark the objects produced by these artists, and the patrons who could afford to pay the costs of materials and craftsmanship preferred this style of painting and sculpture, which they interpreted as a signifier of their own wealth. Ghiberti’s selection as the artist for the guild’s effigy says as much about the guild’s interest in self-promotion as it does about his skill and popularity. Ghiberti’s St. John the Baptist measures 255 cm, around 8 feet tall. Sculpted in expensive bronze, John stands with his right leg slightly bent. He is situated in a niche that contains classicizing columns and pilasters along with a vaulted ceiling reminiscent of contemporary style. Ghiberti’s stylized naturalism, indicative of his interest in the International Gothic, appears in the details of John’s face. The wrinkles on his cheeks make him appear realistic and middle-aged, but the curls in his beard form two identical pieces which look unnaturally elaborate. John’s pose employs the Gothic S-curve and his robes cover the shape of his body, disguising his tilt to the right. He glances down and grasps the folds of his copious robes with his left hand, emphasizing the fabric that the Cloth Merchants valued and wished to highlight here. In fact, the large swoops of his robes form the most eye-catching part of the sculpture. By Lou Langhorne Bibliography: Chen, Yi-Pei. "The Depiction of St. John the Baptist's Legend in Florence, 1300-1500." Order No. 10167218, University of St. Andrews (United Kingdom), 1999. Krautheimer, Richard, and Trude Krautheimer-Hess. Lorenzo Ghiberti. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2019. Luciano, Eleonora. “A More ‘Modern’ Ghiberti: The Saint Matthew for Orsanmichele.” Studies in the History of Art 76 (2012): 213–42. Zervas, Diane Finiello. “Ghiberti’s St. Matthew Ensemble at Orsanmichele: Symbolism in Proportion.” The Art Bulletin 58, no. 1 (March 1976): 36. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Page: https://3d.wlu.edu/v21/pages/Orsanmichele/orsanmichele.html Location of Annotation: -39.37, 48.71, 2.33 Camera Location: -43.891, 45.958, 3.906 Camera Looks Towards: -33.754, 51.407, 2.737 Annotation block name: The Style of Lorenzo Ghiberti’s St. Matthew Annotation Details:
Lorenzo Ghiberti began working on St. Matthew’s sculpture for the exterior north corner on the West side of Orsanmichele in 1419 and finished by 1422. Ghiberti blended the late medieval style with the newer Florentine Quattrocento style that arose during the Renaissance. St. Matthew stands in a contrapposto pose, leaning on his left leg while bending his right. His pose appears solid and natural in contrast to Ghiberti’s earlier St. John the Baptist whose pose appears less balanced. St. Matthew holds a book open toward the viewer with his left hand and gestures with his right hand in the book’s direction. His robes cover his figure from the neckline to just above his sandaled feet and cascade in folds to portray the body underneath. Wrinkles line his cheeks and forehead, indicating his mature age. The mustache and beard further emphasize his older age. Curls frame his head, falling naturally on his forehead. Matthew’s gaze looks to his right, where many Florentines would walk on the Via di Orsanmichele and see him. St. Matthew was installed in a niche that contains both medieval and Renaissance features. The pointed arches and floral triangular gable of the niche recall features of Gothic architecture. However, the pilasters have been designed to reference the ancient Greek Corinthian order, and the shell behind the figure’s head contributes to the Renaissance aspects of the composition. The guild’s crest with thirteen circles crowns the composition. Ghiberti’s St. Matthew combines the Gothic and the Renaissance to make a public image that would be familiar yet new to the people who would have walked by. By Lou Langhorne Bibliography: Krautheimer, Richard, and Trude Krautheimer-Hess. Lorenzo Ghiberti. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2019. Luciano, Eleonora. “A More ‘Modern’ Ghiberti: The Saint Matthew for Orsanmichele.” Studies in the History of Art 76 (2012): 213–42. Taylor-Mitchell, Laurie. “Images of St. Matthew Commissioned by the Arte Del Cambio for Orsanmichele in Florence: Some Observations on Conservatism in Form and Patronage.” Gesta 31, no. 1 (January 1992): 54–72. Zervas, Diane Finiello. “Ghiberti’s St. Matthew Ensemble at Orsanmichele: Symbolism in Proportion.” The Art Bulletin 58, no. 1 (March 1976): 36. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Page: https://3d.wlu.edu/v21/pages/Orsanmichele/orsanmichele.html Location of Annotation: -39.37, 48.71, 2.10 Camera Location: -43.891, 45.958, 3.906 Camera Looks Towards: -33.754, 51.407, 2.737 Annotation block name: Ghiberti’s Workshop and the Creation of St. Matthew’s Sculpture Annotation Details:
The bronze sculpture of St. Matthew stands four and a half braccia tall, which translates to 2.70 meters. Making a statue out of bronze requires lots of steps, precision, and coordination. Sculptors in fifteenth-century Florence often did not work alone in this endeavor. Although Ghiberti focused on the design and the final touches on the sculpture, he also had a workshop of aspiring sculptors that did much of the manual work. Michelozzo di Bartolomeo Michelozzi was one of those who had a large role in Ghiberti’s workshop. Michelozzo joined the workshop around the middle of the statue’s production and probably worked on its casting and chasing. The banker’s guild commissioned Ghiberti to cast the bronze. Florentine sculptors were still experimenting with their method of making bronze statues when this commission was executed. The model for the statue was made of wax; however, Ghiberti also had a working clay model that he crafted with copper tools. Ghiberti made a core for the model around a wooden plank that was 2.90 meters long, covered with animal fat. The core could have served as the model just for the body with the head of the statue completed separately and then added together, using cloth and clay from the Porta San Piero Gattolino to create the forms. Ghiberti then installed the casting pit by his house where he worked on the model. The banker’s guild book, documenting the commission, describes how Ghiberti’s first casting failed in the summer of 1421. Yet despite challenges, Ghiberti tried again and managed to finish the sculpture only five months after the July 21, 1422 deadline the banker’s guild originally set. By Lou Langhorne Bibliography: Krautheimer, Richard, and Trude Krautheimer-Hess. Lorenzo Ghiberti. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2019. Luciano, Eleonora. “A More ‘Modern’ Ghiberti: The Saint Matthew for Orsanmichele.” Studies in the History of Art 76 (2012): 213–42. Taylor-Mitchell, Laurie. “Images of St. Matthew Commissioned by the Arte Del Cambio for Orsanmichele in Florence: Some Observations on Conservatism in Form and Patronage.” Gesta 31, no. 1 (January 1992): 54–72. Zervas, Diane Finiello. “Ghiberti’s St. Matthew Ensemble at Orsanmichele: Symbolism in Proportion.” The Art Bulletin 58, no. 1 (March 1976): 36. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Page: https://3d.wlu.edu/v21/pages/Orsanmichele/orsanmichele.html Location of Annotation: -39.37, 48.71, 1.90 Camera Location: -43.891, 45.958, 3.906 Camera Looks Towards: -33.754, 51.407, 2.737 Annotation block name: The Patronage of Lorenzo Ghiberti’s St Matthew Annotation Details:
The Florentine bankers’ guild of the Arte del Cambio commissioned Lorenzo Ghiberti in 1419 to sculpt their effigy of Saint Matthew in bronze for the niche allocated to them in the northwest corner of Orsanmichele’s exterior wall. The Arte del Cambio had received the niche on June 22, 1419 from the baker’s guild, who had given up their spot after failing to abide by the decree of 1406 that insisted that the guilds had to decorate their niche as soon as possible or lose their niche. Placing their patron saint on the exterior of this central public building in Florence was an immense source of pride and publicity for the major guilds. The guild kept a book titled the Libro del Pilastro, Book of the Pier, to document Ghiberti’s work on St. Matthew. As a result, we have more documentation on this single sculpture than we do on almost every other statue produced during the Italian Renaissance. For example, the book describes when the guild began searching for the artist to sculpt St. Matthew and who they elected to do so. It describes how the guild chose four of its members – the operai - to oversee this endeavor and how they came to secure his services for the project, which was settled officially on July 21, 1419, some two weeks after Ghiberti had actually begun to work on the sculpture (records show that Ghiberti began work as early as July 8). The book notes that the Bankers’ Guild wished for their statue to be larger than the bronze effigy of St. John the Baptist that Ghiberti had made for the rival Cloth Merchants’ guild and finished in 1416. They gave the artist exactly three years to complete the bronze sculpture. Choosing Ghiberti was a logical decision: in addition to the bronze sculpture, as he had made the Cloth Merchants’ guild – installed in its niche on the most prestigious position of the building, the southeast corner on the main thoroughfare of the Via Calzaiuoli – the artist was involved in a series of other high-profile projects. Ghiberti had already produced work in the papal apartments in Santa Maria Novella, on designs for the cupola of the Duomo, and on the bronze doors of the Florentine Baptistery that were nearing completion in 1419. He was the perfect, high-profile candidate for the commission. By Lou Langhorne Bibliography: Luciano. Eleonora. “A More ‘Modern’ Ghiberti: The Saint Matthew for Orsanmichele.” Studies in the History of Art 76 (2012): 213–42. Taylor-Mitchell, Laurie. “Images of St. Matthew Commissioned by the Arte Del Cambio for Orsanmichele in Florence: Some Observations on Conservatism in Form and Patronage.” Gesta 31, no. 1 (1992): 54–72. Zervas, Diane Finiello. “Ghiberti’s St. Matthew Ensemble at Orsanmichele: Symbolism in Proportion.” The Art Bulletin 58, no. 1 (1976): 36–44. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Page: https://3d.wlu.edu/v21/pages/Orsanmichele/orsanmichelemark.html Location of Annotation: -28.80, 31.41, 6.55 Camera Location: -24.694, 28.312, 5.440 Camera Looks Towards: -27.773, 33.478, 4.782 Annotation block name: Donatello's St. Mark Annotation Details:
Donatello’s St. Mark from the Orsanmichele sculptural program was commissioned by the Arte dei Linaiuoli e Rigattieri, the Linen Weavers’ and Pedlars’ Guild. The sculpture was installed in 1415, but by 1409 the guild had already ordered the marble for the statue. However, the sculptor, Donatello, was not selected until 1411. The statue is 7’10 high and is placed within a niche on the southwest pier of Orsanmichele’s exterior. Donatello subtly referred to the corporate patrons of the sculpture by carving a stone “linen pillow” for the saint to stand on, a witty reminder of the guild’s presence in Florence. The addition of the pillow connected St. Mark to the Arte dei Linaiuoli e Rigattieri, but also allowed Donatello to further emphasize his skill as a sculptor. Although made of stone, the linen pillow looks plush and soft, and it sinks beneath the weight of St. Mark’s body as though a real person were standing on it. Donatello’s ability to depict a pillow in this manner demonstrated his recognition of the ways in which forms interact with each other and how to depict these effects naturalistically. St. Mark notably stands in a contrapposto stance. By putting his weight on his right leg, St. Mark’s whole body becomes engaged. His pelvis tilts, his right shoulder dips, and his relaxed left leg bends at the knee. Mark’s torso and neck gently twist, while his right arm hangs to his side and his left arm lifts up with the hand holding his gospel text. As with the pillow, the saint’s hands and feet are carved with great naturalism, and his thick eyebrows and deep-set eyes give the saint an unmistakable character. All of these features come together in a highly naturalistic sculpture inspired by the classical tradition. Donatello’s skill as an artist becomes even more profound when the proportions of the statue are studied: the sculptor intentionally distorted the length of the figure’s torso in order to address the optical correction that occurs when the sculpture is viewed from below, the angle from which the statue was (and is) actually seen. By Gretchen Cadranell Bibliography Bertelà, Giovanna Gaeta. Donatello. The Library of Great Masters. Florence: Istituto Fotografico Editoriale, 1991: 8 Johnson, Geraldine Anne. “In the Eye of the Beholder: Donatello’s Sculpture in the Life of Renaissance Italy.” PhD diss., Harvard University, 1994: 182 Nethersole, Scott. Art of Renaissance Florence: A City and Its Legacy. London: Laurence King, 2019: 80 Partridge, Loren. Art of Renaissance Florence, 1400-1600. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2009: 22-3 Poeschke, Joachim. Donatello and His World: Sculpture of the Italian Renaissance. Harry N. Abrams, 1990: 21, 377 Pope-Hennessy, John. Donatello: Sculptor. Abbeville Press, 1993: 38, 40 Turner, A. Richard. Renaissance Florence: The Invention of a New Art. Edited by Harvey Jacky Colliss. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1997: 54-6 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Page: https://3d.wlu.edu/v21/pages/Orsanmichele/orsanmichele.html Location of Annotation: -39.20, 51.28, 2.40 Camera Location: -35.230, 61.069, 3.814 Camera Looks Towards: -43.408, 49.088, 3.092 Annotation block name: Donatello’s St. George - Predella Annotation Details:
The bas-relief of Donatello’s St. George depicts the legend of St. George slaying a dragon in order to save the Princess of Cappadocia. The bas-relief, done in a low relief style called rilievo schiacciato pioneered by Donatello, is the most influential part of the whole work. Rilievo schiacciato explored three dimensionality through light and shadows and was inspired by the rediscovery of cast shadows by Florentine painters. Donatello’s new style allowed him to depict reality more naturalistically than even the painters could. Rilievo schiacciato uses shallow cuts which allow for great detail and movement on a stone surface, as seen in the flowing fabric of the princess’ dress, St. George’s cape, and the tail of the horse. After Donatello introduced rilievo schiacciato for his scene of St. George and the Dragon, the production of relief sculpture was forever changed. Donatello’s scene of St. George and the Dragon was also influential in how he rendered perspective. Although he intended to create a vanishing area rather than a single vanishing point, the sculptor unknowingly succeeded in this initial experiment by incorrectly placing this vanishing area above both the figures and the horizon and misaligning the palace roofline with the vanishing point. The orthogonals of the palace roof recede towards the central figure of St. George and direct the viewer’s eyes towards the landscape in the distance, creating a single vanishing point. The princess aligns with the loggia behind her, and her shoulders properly recede into space. Although too large for the architectural space behind her, Donatello places her in the midst of the panel in a way that suggests she stands in front of the loggia. Although his vision was not perfectly rendered, Donatello made great strides towards the creation of one-point perspective on a two-dimensional surface. Bibliography Bertelà, Giovanna Gaeta. Donatello. The Library of Great Masters. Florence: Istituto Fotografico Editoriale, 1991: 10 Janson, H.W. The Sculpture of Donatello. Princeton UP, 1963: 30 Johnson, Geraldine Anne. “In the Eye of the Beholder: Donatello’s Sculpture in the Life of Renaissance Italy.” PhD diss., Harvard University, 1994: 188 Pope-Hennessy, John. Donatello: Sculptor. Abbeville Press, 1993: 118 Rosenauer, Artur. “Orsanmichele: The Birthplace of Modern Sculpture.” Studies in the History of Art 76 (2012): 171, 175 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Page: https://3d.wlu.edu/v21/pages/Orsanmichele/orsanmichele.html Location of Annotation: -39.13, 51.28, 5.82 Camera Location: -35.607, 60.570, 3.993 Camera Looks Towards: -52.440, 30.619, 0.935 Annotation block name: Donatello’s St. George - General Annotation Details:
Completed between 1415 and 1417, St. George by Donatello was commissioned by the Arte dei Spedai e Corazzai, the Swordsmiths and Armorers Guild, whose patron saint was the legendary warrior. Donatello portrayed St. George with his feet spread apart, as this was the typical stance for a soldier in armor. In order to support the wide stance of the saint, Donatello included a large shield between his legs. This shield had the double purpose of supporting the statue and making it clear that the work was commissioned by weapon makers. St. George stands confidently and his muscles can be seen through his breastplate. His cloak is tied on the right side of his chest, but his head turns to the left, adding liveliness to the sculpture. Motion is not the intention of the statue, however. Donatello intended to produce a rigid and ready St. George who still seems relaxed and unafraid, as these are the characteristics of a good warrior saint. St. George has been moved several times. It was carved for and first stood in the niche belonging to the Arte dei Spadai e Corazzai on the north facade of Orsanmichele. A bas-relief at the base of this niche was carved with the scene of George Slaying the Dragon specifically to enhance the statue. Due to weathering concerns, the St. George was moved sometime between 1677 and 1700 to a niche on the south façade (originally containing the Madonna of the Rose), which is deeper and more protective than the one for Donatello’s sculpture. In about 1860, the statue was returned to its original niche, but by 1868 it was moved back again to the one intended for the Madonna of the Rose. In 1887, St. George, along with a plaster copy of its tabernacle, was installed inside the Bargello Museum, where it remains on display today. Bibliography Johnson, Geraldine Anne. “In the Eye of the Beholder: Donatello’s Sculpture in the Life of Renaissance Italy.” PhD diss., Harvard University, 1994: 186 Nethersole, Scott. Art of Renaissance Florence: A City and Its Legacy. London: Laurence King, 2019: 81 Partridge, Loren. Art of Renaissance Florence, 1400-1600. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2009: 24 Poeschke, Joachim. Donatello and His World: Sculpture of the Italian Renaissance. Harry N. Abrams, 1990: 21, 380 Pope-Hennessy, John. Donatello: Sculptor. Abbeville Press, 1993: 47 Zervas, Diane Finiello. “‘Degno Templo e Tabernacol Santo:’ Remembering and Renewing Orsanmichele.” Studies in the History of Art 76 (2012): 9-11 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Page: https://3d.wlu.edu/v21/pages/Orsanmichele/orsanmichele.html Location of Annotation: -26.01, 33.01, 1.90 Camera Location: -23.872, 25.955, 2.817 Camera Looks Towards: -33.408, 58.979, 5.685 Annotation block name: Donatello’s St. Mark - Changes in Style Annotation Details:
A key development in sculptural style during the early 1400s is the rendition of cloth and draperies. When designing his sculpture of St. John the Baptist between 1412 and 1414, Ghiberti employed an approach to textile representation dominated by full and sweeping folds that fall laterally across the body in heavy curves. The body of the saint is almost invisible below its clothes. By contrast, the body of Donatello’s St. Mark shows through its clothes, privileging the anatomically accurate human form underneath. The naturalistic rendering of the saint’s clothes found form through a gentle and convincing approach to the folds of fabric that fall toward his ankles. Moreover, Ghiberti’s St. John the Baptist stands in the traditional S-curve pose, a choice eschewed by Donatello in his St. Mark. The contrapposto position now replaces the S-curve, allowing the statue to stand naturally and comfortably while conserving a commanding air. The contrapposto position refers to classical antecedents, a mainstay of Renaissance art, and announces Donatello’s decisive turn away from the Gothic style of his contemporaries. Another way St. Mark breaks from the Gothic tradition is through its placement in the niche. Unlike those sculptures that came before it at Orsanmichele, which use the space of the niche for compositional support, Donatello’s figure does not depend upon its niche for full effect. Instead of being contained by its niche, St. Mark break free from it. Neither artists, patrons nor viewers were thinking about distinctions between “Gothic” art and an emerging “Renaissance” alternative when these statues were produced in the early fifteenth century. Neither of these modern terms had been invented yet and would only come into academic parlance by scholars in the 1800s. Instead, contemporary viewers likely recognized distinctions between these two approaches but surely valued each as a different but equally effective rendition of the human form. Bibliography Lord Balcarres. Donatello. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1903: 37 Bertelà, Giovanna Gaeta. Donatello. The Library of Great Masters. Florence: Istituto Fotografico Editoriale, 1991: 8, 10 Poeschke, Joachim. Donatello and His World: Sculpture of the Italian Renaissance. Harry N. Abrams, 1990: 19 Rosenauer, Artur. “Orsanmichele: The Birthplace of Modern Sculpture.” Studies in the History of Art 76 (2012): 171 Turner, A. Richard. Renaissance Florence: The Invention of a New Art. Edited by Harvey Jacky Colliss. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1997: 56 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Page: https://3d.wlu.edu/v21/pages/Orsanmichele/orsanmichele.html Location of Annotation: -25.52, 33.28, 6.54 Camera Location: -25.133, 23.404, 2.714 Camera Looks Towards: -21.875, 45.548, 6.256 Annotation block name: Donatello’s St. Mark - General Annotation Details:
Donatello’s St. Mark from the Orsanmichele sculptural program was commissioned by the Arte dei Linaiuoli e Rigattieri, the Linen Weavers’ and Pedlars’ Guild. The sculpture was installed in 1415, but by 1409 the guild had already ordered the marble for the statue. However, the sculptor, Donatello, was not selected until 1411. The statue is 7’10 high and is placed within a niche on the southwest pier of Orsanmichele’s exterior. Donatello subtly referred to the corporate patrons of the sculpture by carving a stone “linen pillow” for the saint to stand on, a witty reminder of the guild’s presence in Florence. The addition of the pillow connected St. Mark to the Arte dei Linaiuoli e Rigattieri but also allowed Donatello to further emphasize his skill as a sculptor. Although made of stone, the linen pillow looks plush and soft, and it sinks beneath the weight of St. Mark’s body as though a real person were standing on it. Donatello’s ability to depict a pillow in this manner demonstrated his recognition of the ways in which forms interact with each other and how to depict these effects naturalistically. St. Mark notably stands in a contrapposto stance. By putting his weight on his right leg, St. Mark’s whole body becomes engaged. His pelvis tilts, his right shoulder dips, and his relaxed left leg bends at the knee. Mark’s torso and neck gently twist, while his right arm hangs to his side and his left arm lifts up with the hand holding his gospel text. As with the pillow, the saint’s hands and feet are carved with great naturalism, and his thick eyebrows and deep-set eyes give the saint an unmistakable character. All of these features come together in a highly naturalistic sculpture inspired by the classical tradition. Donatello’s skill as an artist becomes even more profound when the proportions of the statue are studied: the sculptor intentionally distorted the length of the figure’s torso in order to address the optical correction that occurs when the sculpture is viewed from below, the angle from which the statue was (and is) actually seen. Bibliography Bertelà, Giovanna Gaeta. Donatello. The Library of Great Masters. Florence: Istituto Fotografico Editoriale, 1991: 8 Johnson, Geraldine Anne. “In the Eye of the Beholder: Donatello’s Sculpture in the Life of Renaissance Italy.” PhD diss., Harvard University, 1994: 182 Nethersole, Scott. Art of Renaissance Florence: A City and Its Legacy. London: Laurence King, 2019: 80 Partridge, Loren. Art of Renaissance Florence, 1400-1600. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2009: 22-3 Poeschke, Joachim. Donatello and His World: Sculpture of the Italian Renaissance. Harry N. Abrams, 1990: 21, 377 Pope-Hennessy, John. Donatello: Sculptor. Abbeville Press, 1993: 38, 40 Turner, A. Richard. Renaissance Florence: The Invention of a New Art. Edited by Harvey Jacky Colliss. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1997: 54-6 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Page: https://3d.wlu.edu/v21/pages/Orsanmichele/orsanmichele.html Location of Annotation: -25.15, 33.68, 4.42 Camera Location: -26.130, 23.431, 2.929 Camera Looks Towards: -24.462, 73.807, 10.702 Annotation block name: Viewership of Donatello’s St. Mark and St. George Annotation Details:
Florentine public sculpture changed dramatically during the first quarter of the fifteenth century. At this time, sculptures such as Donatello’s St. Mark and St. George begin to intentionally engage with the people who see them through their powerful, direct, and anatomically accurate bodily positions. The positioning of Donatello’s St. Mark makes it clear that the saint focuses his attention on the to the east. Lay pedestrians could not ignore the gaze of St. Mark. Along with his face and body, people would notice the softness of the saint’s garments and the cushion on which the statue stands, a direct reminder of the fabrics crafted by the influential Arte dei Linaiuoli e Rigattieri, the Linen Weavers and Pedlars Guild, who commissioned the work. Vasari writes that when guild members first saw Donatello’s completed St. Mark at ground level, they were disappointed with its “inaccurate” proportions: and, in fact, the elongated torso does not match the shorter legs below. Donatello told them he would fix it, but instead of altering the statue, he elevated it on a pedestal in a way that replicated the height of the niches in Orsanmichele. When Donatello revealed his sculpture to his patrons for the second time, the guild members were satisfied. Vasari probably invented this story to demonstrate a point: that St. Mark’s position in relation to the viewer dictated decisions that Donatello made while designing the figure. Donatello’s inventive use of perspective in the bas relief at the eye level of viewers encouraged Florentines to imagine a spatial box that receded back into the depths of the landscape he created. At the same time, the spear, sword, or banner that appears to have been clutches in George’s hand jutted out over their heads into the street, effectively ‘breaking the fourth wall’ by penetrating the viewer’s space. Thus a back-and-forth, tug-and-pull effect caused spectators to understand themselves occupying a position within the same area as that depicted by the sculptor. Bibliography Johnson, Geraldine Anne. “In the Eye of the Beholder: Donatello’s Sculpture in the Life of Renaissance Italy.” PhD diss., Harvard University, 1994: 182-3, 185, 187 Nethersole, Scott. Art of Renaissance Florence: A City and Its Legacy. London: Laurence King, 2019: 80-1 Partridge, Loren. Art of Renaissance Florence, 1400-1600. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2009: 22-3 Turner, A. Richard. Renaissance Florence: The Invention of a New Art. Edited by Harvey Jacky Colliss. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1997: 51 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\