Martha Raup 2/25/2006 Foothill College, Winter 2006
HIST-04b Mid-term #2 Exam Question 7
The RENAISSANCE!
8. Pick an area, a subject in this time period
- a subject that you have been "surfing" and thinking about, that
interests or intrigues you, or an area in which you have many impressions or a
vivid impression from your surfing and reading. Write your own SUPERB question
and then YOUR SUPERB answer it or integrate your impressions into a thoughtful,
analytical or creative SUPERB essay.
My Superb
Question
Can you tell the story of the Renaissance using
the example of just one individual?
Give us detail and vision; paint with a broad
brush, but sculpt a sturdy enough statue so we can FEEL what the Renaissance
was like.
Leonardo da Vinci
(1452-1519), Prism of and Pathfinder through the Renaissance
When I read the “Biographical Notes” on the
great artist Leonardo (Note Biografiche),
I was amazed to find how many other historically significant people he came in
contact with. In the 1460’s, Leonardo da
Vinci apprenticed with the artist Verrocchio; in the 1470’s he became a member
of the corporation of painters in Florence; in the 1480’s he went to Milan with
Ludovico Sforza; in the 1490’s he worked on a statue of Francesco Sforza, and
studied Euclid with the mathematician Luca Pacioli; in the 1500’s, he was back
in Florence with Cesare Borgia; and in the 1510’s, he went to Rome to seek
patronage of pope Leo X (originally known as Giovanni de’ Medici), constructed
a mechanical lion for the coronation of France’s King Francis I, and then went
to the court of Francis I in Amboise.
Let’s see now – he was in Florence, Milan, Rome, and France,
and crossed paths with Verrocchio, 2 Sforzas, a Borgia, a Medici, a Pope, and a
King! That’s a lot of history in any
one’s life. Is it just coincidental that
this is the life of the great Leonardo?
That’s what I hope to find out in this essay-exam. I will look at the people he met, and the
places he went, to find out what his life tells us about life during the
Renaissance. Unlike most essays on
Leonardo, however, I will NOT focus on his artistic and scientific genius! That is a GIVEN. What I prefer to analyze, for the purposes of
this exam question is this – Can Leonardo’s life be taken as a prism[1] through which we can understand what life was like during the era we
call “the Renaissance”? If so, will
following his life’s pathway lead us back into time such that we FEEL what life
was like? I believe his life DOES, and
following his pathway WILL, if we only let it. In fact, I believe that Leonardo
da Vinci can truly be called the quintessential Renaissance man. Like the bread crumbs left by Hansel and
Gretel, his life will show us the way.
Leonardo’s Origins
Leonardo’s name tells us where he came from - a small town
in Italy
called Vinci. Actually, he was born
April 15, 1452 in a farmhouse in Anchiano, 3 km from Vinci. His mother and
father were unmarried, and his father was a public notary. Ser Piero later
married another woman who was wealthier than the farm woman Catarina. When Leonardo was 5 (in 1457) he moved in with
his grandfather’s family in Vinci, where he remained until 1466. At the age of 14, he moved to Florence and began an apprenticeship with the artist
Andrea del Verrocchio, “the most gifted and manifoldest artist in Florence.”[2]
Already we have some clues in Leonardo’s story about the
history of events around him. Much of
the Renaissance life was still rural, yet increasingly people were moving into
the towns and the cities. Illegitimate
births and extended families were a frequent occurrence, as was the social
stratification between poor peasants (such as his birth mother) and wealthy
urban dwellers (such as the citizens of Florence).
Finally, we have the fact of apprenticeship – a fairly common way for one to
learn a trade, and to secure a financial future. All of these circumstances seem to be
characteristic of the Renaissance, and presage the changing economic tides that
will re-fashion the Middle Ages so much that it will truly feel like a
re-birth.
Luca Pacioli and Johannes Gutenberg
I am struck by the fact that Leonardo’s father was a public
accountant. Double-entry accounting made
its appearance in the 1300s, but it wasn’t until 1494 that Luca Pacioli
codified this system in his book Summa. The section on accounting therein “served as
the world’s only accounting textbook until well into the 16th
century.”[3] Gutenberg’s printing press helped popularize
it. “Perhaps the best proof that
Pacioli’s work was considered potentially significant even at the time of
publication was the very fact that it was printed on November 10, 1494. Gutenberg had just a
quarter-century earlier invented metal type, and it was still an extremely
expensive proposition to print a book.[4] Pacioli is the same man that Leonardo will
meet in later years and with whom he’ll study Euclid. He also ends up illustrating
Pacioli’s 1509 book on Divina Proportione.
“Da Vinci’s drawings are probably the first illustrations of skeletonic
solids which allowed an easy distinction between front and back. The work also discusses the use of
perspective by painters…”[5] Was
it the coincidence of having a father in accounting that attracted him to
Pacioli? If so, it is of such
coincidences that history is made.
Andrea del Verrocchio
Leonardo spent 6 years with Andrea di Michele di Francisco
di Cioni, who was known as Andrea del Verrocchio due to his apprenticeship with
the master jeweler Verrocchio (which means ‘true eye’ in Italian). Del Verrocchio (1435-1488) “was an
influential Florentine sculptor, goldsmith and painter who worked at the court
of Lorenzo de Medici. His pupils
included Leonardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli, but he also influenced
Michelangelo. He worked in the serenely
classic style of the Early-High Renaissance.”[6] An interesting description of the
apprenticeship practice during this period can be found on the following
website:
http://www.wfu.edu/%7Ehornms4/fys.htm.
“Compared
to other artists in the 15th century, Leonardo entered his apprenticeship at a
much later age and the art community never saw him as an up and coming child
prodigy.”[7]
The next big step for
Leonardo was to join the painters’ guild.
“Leonardo was enrolled as a painter in the fraternity of St Luke in Florence in 1472, after
serving an apprenticeship with Verrocchio.”[8] I
won’t focus any further on Leonardo’s artistic career, which is fairly well
known (for examples of his artwork, see this site: WebMuseum or perhaps this one: Addio Gallery). Our focus here is to use Leonardo as a prism
with which to see the rest of this era.
However, the apprenticeship system is certainly a key component of the
economic base of the cultural Renaissance in the northern Italian
city-states. And, the fraternity of
artists was also a well-known component of Leonardo’s artistry. It is clear that genius depends on one’s
community, and Leonardo was fortunate to live and work amongst many other
like-minded, forward-seeking, entrepreneurial artists.
“…Da Vinci
established his own shop in Firenze and was so successful that by the age of
twenty-five, he came under the patronage of Lorenzo de'Medici, the powerful
ruler of Firenze. He and his patron, however,
did not get along: Leonardo had an irritating habit of not finishing his work
and Lorenzo the Magnificent had an irritating habit of wanting his commissions
finished. So Leonardo left Firenze and came under the patronage of the Sforzas
in Milan.”[9] Now, this sentence is FULL of history! Let’s start with Lorenzo de’ Medici.
Lorenzo de’
Medici
Soon known as
Lorenzo the Magnificent, he took over as head of the Medici family in 1469 from
his father Piero. “One of the towering figures of the Italian Renaissance, he
[Lorenzo] was an astute politician, firm in purpose, yet pliant and tolerant; a
patron of the arts, literature, and learning; and a reputable scholar and poet.
Without adopting any official title, he subtly managed to conduct the affairs
of the Florentine state. His lavish public entertainments contributed to his
popularity, but, in combination with his mediocre success as a businessman,
they helped to drain his funds.”[10] It was this latter point that became the
undoing of the Medici family. However,
not before the Medici’s made a mark on the papacy: “Through his credit with
Pope Innocent VIII he obtained a cardinal's hat for his son Giovanni (later
Pope Leo X).” Here’s another accolade
for Lorenzo: “Lorenzo di Cosimo De' Medici was a man in a long line of family
history but nevertheless made a name for himself. He supported great artists
such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Botticelli. Lorenzo's support was
imperative, giving them the freedom to create masterpieces that otherwise would
have been disregarded and considered pagan. Lorenzo had a great effect on the
Renaissance era and helped it flourish artistically.”[11]
The Medici family was
significant for many reasons during the period of their “reign”, from
1360—1743. Their support of the literary and artistic talents is
legendary. And, their reputation as the
Popes’ bankers is probably also well-known.
But, what may not be as well known is the fact that the Medici’s got
their start through the collapse of the English banks. “The bank is founded in 1397 and
collapses in 1494”, writes Tim Parks in Medici Money.[12] What this statement leaves out is that the
Hundred Years War left England
bankrupt. When they defaulted on their
loans, the two major banks in Italy
went bust. It was into this environment
that the Medici family became such a dominant influence in Italian politics and
arts. Yet even their monetary wealth
could not last forever.
King Charles VIII of France
We read that “In 1494 King Charles VIII of France
invaded the Italian peninsula, throwing the city states into the turmoil of
war.”[13] Within12 years, “King Francis I.
invited Leonardo da Vinci to spend the last span of life in Amboise at the court of France. In autumn
1516 Leonardo arrived in Amboise.”[14] In between those two dates a lot
happens. What is remarkable to me is how
astute an artist needed to be, and how versatile in finding employment. Leonardo seems to be a master, for whatever
the political winds blew, somehow Leonardo ended up on top.
‘Charles
succeeded to the throne upon his father's death on August 30, 1483,” but he was
only 15 years old, so his eldest sister, Anne de Beaujeu, and her husband,
Pierre de Bourbon headed the regency that ruled. Within 9 years, Charles married Anne de
Bretagne, heiress to the duchy of Brittany,
and she was only 15 at the time. This
was not uncommon! So many royal heads of
state and even the cardinals and popes were YOUNG. It’s amazing to us now, but pre-pubescent
rulers and child-brides were a frequent, normal event. Perhaps this helps explain some of the
wildness of the times!
The Italian Wars,
from 1494 to 1559 was really a continental event. All the major powers sought to control the
city-states in Italy. Yet it was not all bad. Indeed, “The wars, though ruinous to Italy, had helped to spread the Italian
Renaissance in Western Europe.”[15] In particular, France
and Spain
sought possessions and dominance in the southern states, and Italian
sovereignty was restricted for 3 centuries.
City-States
“In the 15th
Century what is now Italy
was divided into many small independent states, which were ruled in various
ways. In the South, Naples was ruled by a series of kings. The middle part of Italy was ruled by the Popes of the
Roman Catholic Church. Northern Italy
was ruled by powerful families who controlled the richest and largest city
states such as Milan, Venice
and Florence. In a climate of continual power struggles,
these city states fought wars against each other and military weaponry played
an important role.”[16]
Ludovico (or
Lodovico) Sforza
To give us a taste of the
convoluted liaisons possible during this epoch, ponder this: “In 1494, Gian Galeazzo
died, a virtual prisoner, and Ludovico was formally invested with Milan by Holy Roman
Emperor Maximilian I. Partly in
order to divert French ambitions from Milan, partly in order to protect himself
from the hostility of the king of Naples, Ludovico concluded an offensive
alliance with Charles VIII of France,
whose invasion (1494) of Italy was the beginning of the Italian Wars. In 1495,
however, Ludovico reached an understanding with Charles's enemies and turned
against the French, who were expelled from Italy. In 1499, Louis XII of France, who had a hereditary claim to the duchy
of Milan (he was a great-grandson of Gian
Galeazzo Visconti), invaded Italy
and expelled Ludovico from his duchy.”[17] No wonder Leonardo went from one patron to
another – the leaders were bouncing around just as often as he was! Nevertheless, “Leonardo spent about twenty
years (1480s - 1499) in the service of Lodovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan (who
frequently neglected to pay Leonardo). His output during this period included
two of his best known paintings: The Madonna of the Rocks (1483-85) and
the mural The Last Supper (1495-98).”[18] “In 1489 Leonardo received the Sforza
commission, to cast the largest equestrian statue ever, in honour of Ludovico’s
father.”[19] However, when King Charles VIII invaded Italy, “the 66 tons of bronze which had been set
aside to cast the statue was sent instead to Ferrara
to make cannons for the war against France.”[20]
However, “when Duke Sforza’s family fled Milan
in 1499, Leonardo left to search for a new patron.”[21] He returned to Florence, and “it was here that he painted
one of the most famous portraits of all time, The Mona Lisa, more correctly known as La Gioconda (1503-06).[22]
Francesco
Sforza, 1406-66
Francesco Sforza was the
father of Ludovico, and the duke of Milan
from 1450-66. Like Leonardo, he was also
an illegitimate son. “He succeeded his
father as leader of his band of mercenaries, and by his valor and sagacity he
became one of the most powerful condottieri of his time.”[23] Francesco Sforza had married the illegitimate
daughter of the duke of Milan,
and when he died, a republic was set up. “Francesco, who commanded the Milanese
troops, made himself master of the republic and was proclaimed duke in 1450
with the support of the Medici of Florence. He consolidated the power of Milan and in 1464 seized Genoa. An able prince, he patronized arts and
letters and beautified Milan.”[24] Sforza, it is said, was one of the “models”
upon which Machiavelli based his treatise on political survival called “The
Prince”.
Niccolo
Machiavelli
“Machiavelli has been
called the brilliant creator of modern political science by some, and a cynical
beast by others; he is considered the originator of the idea of a political
pragmatism that says "the end justifies the means." Either way, his
1513 book The Prince is a landmark work in the history of political
power.”[25] For my money, Machiavelli was a genius, in
the same way that Leonardo was a genius.
It wasn’t that he was so much smarter than others, and such an
originator of new thoughts. Rather, he
pulled together what was already available to be known, and he expressed it in
a way that was clean, clear, and simple.
Like Leonardo, he was above all else an observant man. He noted what succeeds in political life, and
what fails. It is said that Machiavelli
wrote The Prince with the intent of
appealing to the Medici rulers, but that this never happened. His dedication to
"Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici" in The Prince is to the grandson” of Lorenzo the Magnifico.[26] More than that, though, Machiavelli wrote
with the intent of summarizing the lessons he had learned, either personally or
through observing others. “As defense
secretary he substituted (1506) a citizens' militia for the mercenary system
then prevailing in Italy.
This reform sprang from his conviction, set forth in his major works that the
employment of mercenaries had largely contributed to the political weakness of Italy.”[27] Machiavelli was also employed in
diplomatically, and “became acquainted with power politics through his
important diplomatic missions. He met Cesare Borgia twice and was sent by way of Florence
to Louis XII of France
(1504, 1510), to Pope Julius II (1506), and to Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I
(1507).”[28]
Cesare Borgia
The Borgia family was
“influential from the 14th to the 16th century, that
included the son and daughter of pope Alexander VI. Cesare (1478?-1507), a religious, military,
and political leader, was the model for Machiavelli’s The Prince. Lucrezia (1489-1519), the Duchess of Ferrara,
was a patron of learning and the arts.”[29] Cesare was the younger son of Pope Alexander
VI, who “used his position to aggrandize his son and establish a papal empire
in N and central Italy.”[30] Like so many rulers of the time, Cesare
suffered at the hands of fate just as much as others suffered by his
hands. “By killing his enemies, packing
the college of cardinals, pushing his conquests as fast as possible, and buying
the loyalty of the Roman gentry, he had hoped to make his position independent
of the papacy, or at least to insure that the election of any future pope would
be to his liking. But before his schemes could be realized, Cesare was struck
in 1503 by the same poison (or illness) that suddenly killed his father. Cesare
recovered; however, his political power had suffered a fatal blow.”[31] He was later arrested by first Pope Julius
(who demanded he turn over his lands to him) and then by the Spanish governor,
who was in cahoots with Ferdinand and Isabella (now in control of Naples), was jailed and then escaped, and finally ended
his days fighting for the kingdom
of Navarre. “His former possessions had passed under
direct papal rule; thus, Cesare must be regarded as instrumental in the
consolidation of the Papal States, even if
that was not his purpose. Cesare has long been considered the model of the
Renaissance prince, the prototype of Niccolò Machiavelli's Prince—intelligent,
cruel, treacherous, and ruthlessly opportunistic.”[32]
In 1502 Leonardo “was
appointed a Military Engineer to Cesare Borgia on his campaign to central Italy. While in this post he was able to inspect
fortresses. He also saw the Romagna campaign.”
It’s amazing, once again, how consistently versatile Leonardo was, as
well as prolific. It’s said he left many
works undone, yet the marvel is that he accomplished so much, and of such
variety. Certainly his contacts with the
people of power during this time stimulated his artist and scientific talents. Yet just as easily one may say that Leonardo
had an effect on those around him. With
ideas flowing freely, it’s easy to understand how the cross-fertilization of
one project promoted tangential interests.
It is not for naught that the image of the “Renaissance Man” is the
human being drawn by Leonardo that has all limbs and all faculties engaged in
the world around him.
Pope Julius II
(Giuliano dei Medici)
In 1513 “Leonardo moved to Rome at the invitation of
the newly elected Pope Giuliano dei Medici.”[33] Giuliano was “duke of Nemours
(1515–16); younger son of Lorenzo de' Medici (Lorenzo il Magnifico) and brother
of Pope Leo X. He entered Florence
in 1512 when the Holy League restored his family to rule the city.” “He
married Philiberta (1498–1524), a princess of the House of Savoy, in February
1515, at the court of France. Francis I of France invested them jointly with the Nemours
title (which had recently reverted once again to the French crown) on the
occasion, and was apparently grooming him for the throne of Naples (in which the French maintained a
historical interest) when Giuliano died prematurely. He
was followed at Florence
by his nephew Lorenzo.” “Giuliano
finally succeeded to the papal throne as Julius II on 28 November 1503 (not
without resorting to bribery, it is said). As pope,
Julius continued to extend papal authority and the temporal power of the
church, with particular designs on Venice and France. He
became a great patron of the arts, including commissioning Raphael, Donato Bramante (who began the rebuilding of St.
Peter's) and Michelangelo, who he hired (or bullied, some say) to paint
the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in 1508.”[34]
Pope Leo X
No sooner did Leonardo go to Rome,
than the Pope died unexpectedly. He was
replaced by Pope Leo X who “was not a competent ruler; he was a good, pious
man, a dilettante of letters and art, but not greatly interested in the
advancement of the church. His chief fame rests on his patronage of Raphael, on
the continuation of St. Peter's by Bramante, and on his literary circle,
including Cardinals Bembo and Bibbiena and many others.”[35] Leo X, who ruled from 1513-1521, is also
remembered for having “concluded a concordat with France (1516) and excommunicated
Martin Luther (1521).”[36] Luther, of course, is the man who complained
forcefully (with his 95 Theses pounded into the wall of the church in
Wittenberg The fury he felt was against
the selling of indulgences by the clergy, and Leo X, with his plans to build St.
Peter’s Basilica. Another claim-to-fame
for Leo is that he “granted Henry VIII
of England
the title Defender of the Faith (Defensor Fidei).”[37]
King Henry VIII
“As king, Henry inherited from his father a budget surplus and a precedent
for autocratic rule. In 1511, Henry joined Pope Julius II, King Ferdinand II of
Aragón, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, and the Venetians in their Holy League against France.”[38] How ironic, then, that it should be Henry
that breaks with the Catholic Church – all for the right to marry 6 women in
the attempt to have a son and male heir.
CONCLUSION
It appears that we could go on and on.
Leonardo da Vinci’s life is both typical and a-typical of his time and
place. The social, cultural, economic,
and political variables reflected in this analysis show that Leonardo is very
representative of his time. He lived the
life of a typical resident of Florence or Milan or Rome or France. He came in contact with many of the makers of
history, and he was one himself. Any
designation of “quintessential” is going to be a subjective opinion. But, for where I sit, I look back on Leonardo’s
life and can just marvel – at all he did; where he went; what he saw; who he
met. It’s almost as if his GENIUS is a
gift above and beyond his ordinary life circumstances. Yet perhaps they amount to the fact that he
DID “fit in” – he represented his era as well as transformed it. Without the ability to talk to the high-and-mighty,
he may not have received the commissions that provided the art work we see when
we travel the world. And without his
origins amongst the low-and-ordinary, he might not have related what was all
around so that we might see. To go
through a re-birth, after all, one must first fully live, and then be willing
to live anew. Leonardo demonstrates the
ability to do that, and then some. So I
will end this essay, like much of Leonardo’s work, in the state of undone/just
begun. I have a quest before me now, and
the answers will only draw me deeper within the world of the Renaissance. But life moves on around me. My patron calls with a new commission – I
must now open up to “Enlightenment.”
ONWARD!
[1] “A prism of glass (or a similar transparent material)
can be used to bend different wavelengths of light by different amounts through refraction. This bending separates a beam of white light into
a spectrum of colored light.” See
http://www.answers.com/topic/prism.
[2]
“Leonardo da Vinci”, by Martin Kausal, accessed 2/23/06 from http://www.kausal.com/leonardo/index.html,
1997. I will use this online account of
Leonardo’s life to help me construct a timeline of people and events that will
help us “flesh out” this portrait of da Vinci and his times.
[7]
“Apprenticeships during the Renaissance”, by Maggie Horne, from
http://www.wfu.edu/%7Ehornms4/fys.htm, accessed 2/24/06.
[25]
“Niccolo Machiavelli” from http://www.answers.com/topic/niccolo-machiavelli
accessed 2/24/06.
[26] “Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici” from http://www.answers.com/topic/lorenzo-di-piero-de-medici
accessed 2/24/06.
[27]
“Niccolo Machiavelli” from http://www.answers.com/topic/niccolo-machiavelli
accessed 2/24/06..
[34] “Pope
Julius II” from http://www.answers.com/topic/pope-julius-ii accessed 2/24/06.
[38] “Henry
VIII” from http://www.answers.com/topic/henry-viii, accessed 2/24/06.