Early Renaissance Art and the History of Florence

Course description

The city of Florence, Italy, is home to some of Western civilization’s greatest works of art and architecture. Let’s travel through the centuries to discover Early Renaissance masterpieces by Florence’s prided painters, sculptors, inventors, and theorists – from Giotto to Botticelli; from the development of humanism and the progressive mindset, to Neoplatonism and its influence on the art of the Early Renaissance.

Follow the series of narrated slides detailing a selection of Medieval and Early Renaissance artworks, their historical context, and their creators. Test your knowledge with online quizzes, and share your own Renaissance-inspired artworks or ideas in the public forum.

Course structure

Topic 1: Florence during the Middle Ages

• The wool trade and the introduction of a banking network
• Dante, Petrarca, Boccaccio
• Defining humanism

Topic 2: The shift to naturalism

• Cimabue
• Giotto
• Donatello and the art of sculpture

Topic 3: The rediscovery of perspective

• Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, Masaccio
• Chiaroscuro technique, Paolo Uccello, Fra Angelico

Topic 4: Neoplatonism and patronage in the arts

• The Medici Family
• The Platonic Academy

Topic 5: Symbolism and storytelling through painting

• Girolamo Savonarola and the campaign for Christian renewal
• Sandro Botticelli

This course is followed by the course “Late Renaissance Art and the History of Florence“, each course is self-standing.