Tuscan Renaissance: a story of men, ideas and passion

Tuscan Renaissance is maybe the period that more, among all the artistic periods, has gone through the imagination of people. We think about Tuscan Renaissance, as the moment in which man touched its artistic and intellectual apex. Even today the names of the great renaissance artists, still evoke admiration and respect, as Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael. And this amazing moment in the history of the humanity, took place in Tuscany, and more specifically in Florence. Florence is the city that best represents Tuscan Renaissance. Anyway, all Tuscany contributed to this artistic grow: for example some of the most important artists were born in small Tuscan country village as Leonardo, that was born in Vinci, or Michelangelo that was born in a small village, Caprese, near Arezzo. So, the entire Tuscany gave birth to Renaissance.

Tuscan Renaissance: main artworks

The first name of the Tuscan Renaissance is Filippo Brunelleschi, and not only for his artworks, which are the first to renew the Romanesque architectures, but also his person. Brunelleschi was the first to claim the intellectual dignity of the artist, not as a mere craftsman, but as real thinker, a philosopher and creative. The artworks that mark the beginning of the Tuscan Renaissance are: the Old Sacristy of San Lorenzo and the Dome of Santa Maria del Fiore, both around the 1420 AC. In architecture, after Brunelleschi, the greater innovator was Leon Battista Alberti, another great Tuscan artist that, for example, designed the fantastic facade of the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. And it is proper in that church, in Santa Maria Novella, that you can admire the fresco that opens the Renaissance season also in painting: the "Trinity" by Masaccio. It is a fresco where Masaccio almost for the first time, applied the Brunelleschi’s perspective rules. Nearby you can find one other great fresco by of Masaccio, in the Brancacci Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine. Visiting these artworks you will get introduced to the dawn of Tuscan Renaissance.

In was during the Renaissance times that born the idea of “artist” and a more modern vision of art.

Tuscan Renaissance: artist and masters

After Brunelleschi and Masaccio, Tuscan Renaissance totally exploded, though the contributions of Tuscan artists as Filippo Lippi, who will be the master of the great Sandro Botticelli, as well the Beato Angelico, Fra' Bartolomeo, Ghirlandaio and with him a young Michelangelo. To go through the best works of Michelangelo, you should visit the Bargello Museum, which collects all his first sculptures, the Princes Chapel and the Gallery of the Accademia. Moreover, to get a general idea of how Tuscan Renaissance has been developed through time, from XII to XVII century, you should visit the Uffizi. Here you will discover the rare paintings of Leonardo da Vinci and the Raphael masterpieces. Works of Raphael can also be admired in the Galleria Palatina in Palazzo Pitti. All these cultural and artistic ferment, took place just in Florence: the heart of the Tuscan Renaissance. At those times, in fact, the city of Florence attracted all the talented young artists. During the XIV and XV centuries Florence was one of the richest cities in Italy, and was populated by an educated and elegant merchant class that have enough money to promote and invest in art. They love art. At that time, in fact, artworks had a central role as diplomatic goods, to establish friendship, political pacts and alliances, as well to make gifts and to glorify the Church and the Christian faith. In Florence there was a free market, active and wealthy and a free circulation of idea and men. Florence is truly the city that best represents the Tuscan Renaissance, even if the entire Tuscany has the merit of being the birthplace of the Renaissance. Among all the small museums and churches of the smallest Tuscan villages, lies a treasure of artworks that perhaps are less famous than the one in Uffizi, but equally interesting and important to discover and understand Tuscan Renaissance.