Piero di Cosimo de' Medici

1. How did Masaccio impact 15th century Florence? ANSWER: Masaccio became known as the best painter of his time. He was known for his ability to depicting nature in a realistic manner and recreating lifelike figures. He was also able to depict movement in his art as seen in his piece, The Tribute Money. Masaccio was also well known for his ability to create three dimensional figures by casting shadows and other various art techniques that reflected three dimensionality. Masaccio was also…

There was a wise man who once said, do it with passion or not at all, because anything worth acting upon will ignite a spark within that is so insatiable that one cannot help but burn with the desire to do it. Passion can be defined as desire, and almost necessity, for something, whether it be love, happiness, work, or life in general. It is in the beginning of Irving Stone’s The Agony and The Ecstasy that we learn what could essentially be Michelangelo’s most defining trait; he is passionate.…

Catherine de’ Medici This report is on pages 115 through 299 out of 475 from Jean Heritier’s Catherine de’ Medici. This section begins with Part II. The Accession and ends with Part III Ch.II, Machiavellism and Maternal Love. When the last part ended, Catherine’s eldest son Francois II had just died, kicking the Guises, who had been controlling him through their niece, his wife, out of power. With no heirs, Francois was replaced by his younger brother Charles IX, who was only nine at the time.…

Giambattista Bodoni (b. 1740-1813, Saluzzo Piedmont, Italy) was an Italian printer and a designer of typefaces still used today. He was a third generation printmaker who modeled his type designs after Pierre Simon Fournier, "...but later felt inspired by the typography of John Baskerville" (Famous Graphic Designers). He was at the front of industrialized print making. The Bodoni typeface, according to Bodoni: The History of Being Awesome, is, "...an easily recognizable Romantic typeface with a…

The European Renaissance and Reformation was a pivotal time in history; numerous artists and thinkers from that time had created a new set of ideals that shaped the works of playwrights and poets. The new set of ideals were created by Humanist philosophers and were vastly different from the Medieval and Deterministic ideals that were previously popular. Medieval and Deterministic ideals coincided with the ideas that man was the scum of the Earth and that man would never amount to anything. Man…

According to “The Miracle of Debt” financing was bound to happen any time soon since Franklin Roosevelt president. Financing techniques and institutions started to appear in the ancient East and the Mediterranean. Within these techniques showing up all over the world an example of an empire being so advance in financing was the Rome empire. According to documents and records the Roman Republic people were very familiar with mortgages, debt instruments, equity, financial courts, and banks. In my…

chiseled a large statue of Hercules, but was later on sent to France and eventually disappeared sometime circa 18th century. In January 1494, after much snowfall, Lorenzo de’ Medici’s heir, Piero de Medici, commissioned a snow statue and Michelangelo returned to the Medici court. During this year, the Florentines drove the Medici family out of Florence as a result of a preaching monk,…

Saint Catherine was born in Siena, Italy on March 25, 1347 during the outbreak of the plague. She was the twenty-fifth child born to her mother, although almost half of her brothers and sisters died during their childhood. Bonaventura, Catherine’s sister, died at the age of sixteen, leaving her husband as a widower. Her parents thought that this would be a great opportunity for Catherine to marry, so they suggested that he marry her as a replacement. Catherine was appalled by this idea and ended…

Milan is a large, wealthy city in Northern Italy. The Sforza family have long held power in the city. While in 1499 troops serving Louis XII of France sought to take Milan, the Sforza triumphed in preserving their hold. Preternatural blood flows through the Sforza family's veins, and there are rumors of dragons or demons lurking in their lineage. Numerous intermarriages between the Sforza's and other influential families have taken place, assuring the spread of the family's influence throughout…

In the 15th century, the Medici family ruled over Florence. They were a family of bankers and merchants who rose to power due to their enormous wealth. They were also influential in the art community by being patrons of artists such as Donatello and Michelangelo. Their interest in humanism would have them seek out artists to paint or sculpt classical figures such as Venus from Roman mythology or David from the Bible. They would also help with funding the construction of the Florence…