Italian Renaissance Courts: Art, Pleasure and Power (Renaissance Art)

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B.M. Adelson, The Lives of Dwarfs.Their Journey from Public Curiosity Toward Social Liberation. (Rutgers University Press, Piscataway, 2005) Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527), the author of The Prince and prototypical Renaissance man. Detail from a portrait by Santi di Tito. Court ballets had a long history of combining dance and etiquette since the Renaissance, but when it came to la belle danse, etiquettes in ballet were brought to a completely new height. Every single etiquette rule in Louis' courts was put in great detail in la belle danse and one could certainly see others' noble status through their dances. [24] Five positions of the bodies codified by Beauchamp, followed by Feuillet, described the body like a miniature court, with the head as the central point, coordinating its limbs like the king ruling his state. A dancer performing a genuine noble would perform different five positions than one performing a peasant or lower-ranking characters. [25] Proof of nobility was also indicated through use of masks, makeup, costumes especially shoes in la belle danse. [26]

Once you step inside, you are in a miraculously beautiful Renaissance courtyard. The palace once held countless ancient sculptures, musical instruments, and illuminated manuscripts. Mantua is one of the best towns to visit for art lovers, courtesy of its great Renaissance court. The court was ruled by the Gonzaga family. Florence remained a republic until 1532 (see Duchy of Florence), traditionally marking the end of the High Renaissance in Florence, but the instruments of republican government were firmly under the control of the Medici and their allies, save during the intervals after 1494 and 1527. Cosimo and Lorenzo de' Medici rarely held official posts but were the unquestioned leaders. Cosimo was highly popular among the citizenry, mainly for bringing an era of stability and prosperity to the town. One of his most important accomplishments was negotiating the Peace of Lodi with Francesco Sforza ending the decades of war with Milan and bringing stability to much of Northern Italy. Cosimo was also an important patron of the arts, directly and indirectly, by the influential example he set.The Estes constructed magnificent buildings. They transformed Ferrara into a hub for poets, musicians, and humanists like Ludovico Ariosto and Torquato Tasso.

The Baroque artist Caravaggio also fled to Naples when he was a fugitive from justice in Rome. He left three paintings there. The most famous is the Flagellation of Christ in the Capodimonte. Until the late 14th century, prior to the Medici, Florence's leading family were the House of Albizzi. In 1293 the Ordinances of Justice were enacted which effectively became the constitution of the republic of Florence throughout the Italian Renaissance. [27] The city's numerous luxurious palazzi were becoming surrounded by townhouses, built by the ever prospering merchant class. [28] In 1298, one of the leading banking families of Europe, the Bonsignoris, were bankrupted and so the city of Siena lost her status as the banking centre of Europe to Florence. [29] Portrait of Cosimo de' Medici by Jacopo Pontormo (ca. 1518-1520)

Courtly nobility and the nobility of art

Pas De Deux” Figurine of two Ballet Dancers, Ludwigsburg Porcelain Manufactory, c. 1760-63. (Photo: The Metropolitan Museum of Art [Public domain]) By the 18th century, ballet dancing could be found in many of the princely courts of Europe. Professional performers emerged, largely replacing the aristocrats who once danced together. Opera houses staged operas conjoined with ballet , but by mid-century this was abandoned in favor of orchestral accompaniment. Inspired by the emerging Romanticism of the second half of the 18th century, the characters portrayed by dancers expanded to include nobles, peasants, and other romantic, almost fairy-tale figures. Ballet began to develop as a narrative art rather than a simple spectacle. The use of steps and body language to express emotion and interaction became critical. Urbino was home to the artist Raphael and architect Donato Bramante. The court attracted important artists like Piero della Francesca, Paolo Uccello, and Raphael’s father, Giovanni Santi. France's court was in some ways the leading source of fashionable culture for many other royal courts in Europe. Styles of entertainment were imitated, including the royal ballets. Courts in Spain, Portugal, Poland, Germany, and elsewhere all became audiences and participants in ballets. In addition to France, Italy became an important influence on the art form, predominantly Venice. Suzanne Farrell and George Balanchine, performing “Don Quixote” in New York, 1965. (Photo: New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection/Library of Congress)

The first important Sforza man was Francesco Sforza. He was the city’s “muscle,” a condottie ri or mercenary who took over the city by force. Francesco married Bianca Maria Visconti, the heir to the previous Visconti rulers. In 1669 Louis XIV founded the Académie d'Opéra with Pierre Perrin as director. [32] Louis XIV retired as a dancer in 1670, largely because of excessive weight gain. Earlier, in 1661 he had founded a school, the Adacemie Royale de danse. Beauchamp was the first ballet-master of the Opéra and created the dances for the new company's first production Pomone with music by Robert Cambert. [19] Later, after Perrin went bankrupt, the king reestablished the Opéra as the Académie royale de Musique and made Lully the director. [32] Beauchamp was one of the principal choreographers. [19] In this position Lully, with his librettist Philippe Quinault, created a new genre, the tragédie en musique, each act of which featured a divertissement that was a miniature ballet scene. [27] With almost all his important creations Jean-Baptiste Lully brought together music and drama with Italian and French dance elements. His work created a legacy which would define the future of ballet.The Magnificent also commissioned works from the likes of Brunelleschi, Bennozo Gozzoli, Masaccio, Filippo Lippi, Donatello, Bronzino, and Fra Angelico. The list of Renaissance masterpieces in Florence is endless! Main article: Romantic ballet Marie Taglioni as Flore in Charles Didelot's ballet Flore et Zéphire (ca. 1831). She was a pioneer of pointework. Bayer, A., ed. (2008). Art and love in Renaissance Italy. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 9780300124118.

But the most celebrated item in the ducal palace is the studiolo. It was the duke’s personal study where the duke would retreat to stimulate his mind. Misty Copeland dancing in “Coppélia,” 2014. (Photo: Naim Chidiac Abu Dhabi Festival via Gilda Squire and Wikimedia Commons [ CC BY-SA 4.0 ])Ballet as an expressive art form is rich, emotive, and beginning to diversify to reflect those who were once excluded. Dancers of color such as the principal dancer Misty Copeland have risen to the heights of historically predominantly white institutions such as the American Ballet Theater. Young choreographers are also emerging, bringing classical training and athleticism to modern dance. Ballet is growing, expanding, and evolving. There's even a form known as hiplet which fuses ballet and hip hop. With the young artists leading the way, the future of ballet is likely to be even brighter than its past. Baron, Hans. "The Crisis of the Early Italian Renaissance". Princeton University Press, March 1, 1966. ISBN 0-691-00752-7 H.R. Wiedemann, Historical case of dwarfism: attempted diagnosis. Am. J. Med. Genet. 47, 805–806 (1993)Ferrara also boasts a stunning Romanesque cathedral, featuring a unique facade with three equally tall bays and a grand portal guarded by lions. We've created a Patreon for Medievalists.net as we want to transition to a more community-funded model. In the later, frescos surround you from top to bottom. You see Olympus descending on the titans below. In the early Italian Renaissance, much of the focus was on translating and studying classic works from Latin and Greek. Renaissance authors were not content to rest on the laurels of ancient authors, however. Many authors attempted to integrate the methods and styles of the ancient Greeks into their own works. Among the most emulated Romans are Cicero, Horace, Sallust, and Virgil. Among the Greeks, Aristotle, Homer, and Plato were now being read in the original for the first time since the 4th century, though Greek compositions were few. Hall, Marie Boas (1994-01-01). The Scientific Renaissance 1450-1630. Courier Corporation. ISBN 978-0-486-28115-5.