Uccello, Paolo
(1397–1475)
Italian painter born as Paolo di Dono,
noted for the original use of perspective in
his works. Born in Florence, the son of a
barber, he earned the nickname “uccello”
(Italian for bird) for his skill at painting
birds. In 1407 he became an apprentice to
the sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti, the artist
who had won the commission to cast
bronze panels for the doors of the Baptis-
tery in Florence. Ghiberti’s workshop was
a busy, vital artistic center of Florence at a
time when the city’s painters were leading
the way in the new science of perspective.
In Uccello’s works, perspective became an
integral part of a unified picture, used in
order to give the scene depth and not to
simply separate different elements or sto-
ries within the paintings.
In 1414, Uccello became a member of
the Compagnia di San Luca, a painters
guild, and in the next year he was admit-
ted to the official painters guild of Flo-
rence. His early works include commis-
sions to paint frescoes for the churches of
Santa Trinita and Santa Maria Maggiore.
He was also engaged to paint frescoes on
the outdoor walls of the Green Cloister of
the Church of Santa Maria Novella. For
this work he created scenes of the Cre-
ation, the Expulsion from the Garden of
Eden, and the Flood. The paintings, which
earned widespread admiration among the
artists of Florence, showed the influence of
Ghiberti and his Baptistry panels, although
Uccello developed even greater skill at de-
picting nature and animals.
Uccello lived and worked in Florence,
but he also completed works in Venice,
where he created mosaics for the facade of
the Basilica of San Marco, Bologna, Prato,
and Urbino. In the Duomo (cathedral) of
Florence, he painted scenes on a large in-
terior clock and a fresco of the English
mercenary Sir John Hawkwood, completed
in 1436 and famous for its unusual per-
spective, which gives the illusion of view-
ing a three-dimensional sculpture from
below.SEEALSO: Florence; Ghiberti, Lorenzouniversities .......................................
The improved literacy and communica-
tions of the Renaissance era went hand-in-
hand with an increasing respect for intel-
lectual training for professions such as
medicine, theology, and the law. To create
well-rounded and educated citizens, major
universities were established throughout
western Europe: at Ferrara, Turin, and
Parma in Italy; Bordeaux and Nantes in
France; Copenhagen and Uppsala in Scan-
dinavia; Frankfurt and Tubingen in Ger-
many; Saragossa and Valencia in Spain;
and at Kraków, Poland. The University of
Paris, which taught the liberal arts and
theology, remained the model for institu-
tions throughout northern Europe, award-
ing bachelor’s degrees and training stu-
dents of the upper classes—all male—in a
fundamental classical learning of gram-
mar, rhetoric, and ethics.
For cities and their lords, the univer-
sity was a mark of prestige. It represented