GIROLAMO SAVONAROLAIn the 1490s, Florence under-
went a political, cultural, and religious upheaval. Florentine artists and
their fellow citizens responded then not only to humanist ideas but also
to the incursion of French armies and especially to the preaching of the
Dominican monk Girolamo Savonarola (1452–1498), the reforming
priest-dictator who denounced the paganism of the Medici and their
artists, philosophers, and poets. Savonarola exhorted the people of
Florence to repent their sins, and when Lorenzo de’ Medici died in
1492, he prophesied the downfall of the city and of Italy and assumed
absolute control of the state. Together with a large number of citizens,
Savonarola believed that the Medici’s political, social, and religious
power had corrupted Florence and had invited the scourge of foreign
invasion. Savonarola denounced humanism and encouraged citizens to
burn their classical texts, scientific treatises, and philosophical publica-
tions. The Medici fled in 1494. Scholars still debate the significance of
Savonarola’s brief span of power. Apologists for the undoubtedly sin-
cere monk deny that his actions played a role in the decline of Floren-
tine culture at the end of the 15th century. But the puritanical spirit
that moved Savonarola must have dampened considerably the neopa-
gan enthusiasm of the Florentine Early Renaissance. Certainly, his con-
demnation of humanism as heretical nonsense, and his banishing of
the Medici, Tornabuoni, and other wealthy families from Florence, de-
prived local artists of some of their major patrons. There were, how-
ever, abundant commissions for artists elsewhere in Italy.The Princely Courts
Although Florentine artists led the way in creating the Renaissance
in art and architecture, art production flourished throughout Italy
in the 15th century. The papacy in Rome and the princely courts in
Urbino, Mantua, and elsewhere also deserve credit for nurturing
Renaissance art (see “Italian Princely Courts and Artistic Patronage,”
page 569). These princely courts consisted of the prince (whose title
varied from city to city), his consort and children, courtiers, house-
hold staff, and administrators. The considerable wealth these princes
possessed, coupled with their desire for recognition, fame, and
power, resulted in major art commissions.Rome and the Papal States
Although not a secular ruler, the pope in Rome was the head of a
court with enormous wealth at his disposal. In the 16th and 17th
centuries, the popes became the major patrons of art and architec-
ture in Italy (see Chapters 22 and 24), but even in the 15th century,
the papacy was the source of some significant artistic commissions.
PERUGINOBetween 1481 and 1483, Pope Sixtus IV (r. 1414–1484)
summoned a group of artists, including Botticelli and Ghirlandaio, to
Rome to decorate the walls of the newly completed Sistine Chapel (MAP
24-1). Pietro Vannucci of Perugia in Umbria, who was known as
Perugino(ca. 1450–1523), was among the painters the pope em-21-40Perugino,Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to Saint Peter,Sistine Chapel, Vatican, Rome, Italy, 1481–1483. Fresco,
11 51 – 2 18 8 –^12 .
Painted for the Vatican, this fresco depicts the event on which the papacy bases its authority. The converging lines of the pavement connect the
action in the foreground with the background.
568 Chapter 21 ITALY,1400 TO 15001 ft.21-40AMELOZZO
DAFORLÌ, Sixtus
IV Confirming
Platina,
ca. 1477–1481.