How did an artist's role change from the medieval period to the renaissance period?

Question

how did the artists' position change in society, whare are the cultural reasons from this change, and what art piece shows this change?

Answer 1

This should be a very illuminating article.


The Social World of the Renaissance:
The Emerging Status of Painters, Engineers, and Architects

Tessa Yeager
November 2000


Upper class, middle class and lower class. Like any social structure, that of artists and artisans had many levels and went under signficant changes during the Renaissance. Painters went from craftsmen to artists, engineers developed levels within their group and architects envisioned themselves at the top of society. In the middle of this change comes Leonardo da Vinci, who tried hard to raise the status of the painter, engineer and architect in order to raise his own social status from humble beginnings. In fighting for his own social status he became an example of the changing place of painters, engineers and architects within Renaissance Italy as they fought for their creativity and art.


Before the Renaissance, in many places such as Florence, artists worked within the confines of the city as craftsmen. In his Leonardo da Vinci: Marvellous Works of Nature and Man, Martin Kemp points out that artists worked as if in a business operation with "remuneration for goods provided or services rendered" (92). At this time patrons of the arts were not "were not philanthropically aiming to support ‘Art’ or ‘Artists’… and would expect delivery of finished product just as they would expect a completed suit from a tailor before parting with the remainder of the fee" (92). Patrons were not taking the time to appreciate the artistic quality of a work, only seeing the work of art as a completed task or purchase.


Throughout this time, the guilds also contributed to the way artists were viewed in society. Guilds for painters were founded in Italy and established at Florence in 1339. As Rudolf and Margot Wittkower describe in Born Under Saturn: The Character and Conduct of Artists: A Documented History from Antiquity to the French Revolution, "these guilds usually comprised related crafts such as glass maker, gilders, carvers, cabinet makers and even saddlers and paper makers" (9). Another guild organized sculptors and architects with stonemasons and bricklayers (9). Guilds exerted tight controls over their members, often regulating their religion, education, contracts, and patrons. The Wittkowers note that "it was not easy for an artist to assert his individuality or to be unruly" (9).

Guilds placed a strong hand on creativity, keeping back some of the genius held within an artist by forcing them to act within the confine of rules. This is not to say that artists did not act out against the guild system. In 1434 Brunelleschi tried to break from the guild and was thrown in prison. He was later freed and "he emerged victorious and established the right of a free man to look after himself and act as his conscience dictated. His was surely not the first such case, but the greatness of the man and if his task gives his action symbolic significance. Moreover, the intellectual climate in Florence was ripe for the emancipation of artists to proceed more rapidly and more effectively than anywhere else" (10).


This social system also began to change in favor of the painter, engineer and architect with growth of the Middle class.
Starting in the fourteenth century, " the rising middle classes in cities like Florence and Ghent superceded the old artistocracy in political power and wealth and vied with it in social prestige. They soon began to aspire to a cultured style of living and required artists in growing numbers" (31). The inclusion of artists in a "cultured style of living" demonstrates the growth in prestige of the artist. While not yet standing on their own as valuable, they at least began to serve great purposes for others who could use their talents for their own social gain.


In addition to general artists, Paolo Galluzzi adds in Leonardo da Vinci: Engineer and Architect that in the fifteenth century "engineer-architects were greatly in demand, and not only by Italian lords. Taccola served King Sigismund; Brunelleschi received important commissions from Florentine authorities; Francisco di Giorgio offered his services to many Italian lords, finding his chief patron in Federico da Montefeltro of Urbino. Well paid, respected, admitted directly into the presence of princes, during the Quattrocento the most qualified of these engineers enjoyed a fine reputation" (42). In this way some engineer-architects had greater social status than many painters in that they were respected earlier for their talents and what they could bring to their patrons. Galluzzi goes on to say that "at a time of great change, of continual wars which saw the emergence of an entirely new military technology (firearms), of technically daring, immense buildings (Florence Cathedral), of rapid development in commerce and production (particularly in the fields of metallurgy and textiles), the services of these men were of fundamental importance" (42). These new fields provided a showcase for the talents of engineer-architects, allowing them to be creative and inventive in ways that were less possible within the guild system.


Shortly after this time, Leonardo da Vinci makes his start. While employed in Andrea del Verrocchio’s studio, Leonardo took the first step in his social climb by entering the guild system as an apprentice. In several years, he takes another important step by joining the Company of St. Luke, the painters’ guild in Florence. This marked an important time in Leonardo’s life when an outside entity certified his talents. The certification allowed him to move from the role of apprentice to the eventual role of master. He used the guild as a way to raise his social position and would eventually rid himself of the restrictions of the guild while maintaining his higher social status. As the social structure and society changed, Leonardo’s social position became more secure and dependent on his abilities as an artist and the gaining of expertise.


After his time in Verrocchio’s studio, Leonardo’s needs changed. Kemp conjectures that at this time in his life "he required a salaried appointment which would give him scope for intellectual improvisation; as far as such a position existed at all in the Renaissance, he seemed to have found it in Milan" (92). Leonardo’s move from Florence to Milan demonstrates his will to take his artistic life in his own hands. The patronage that existed within Milan was more like what Leonardo wanted and needed in order to raise the status of the artist. It provided him with security. He no longer had to rely on heavy commissions to pay the bills and as Kemp points out "the pressure of hand-to-mouth existence dependent upon the fruits of his labours had been removed by his court appointment" (93).


Renaissance lords could provide painters, engineers with a variety of creative projects in many different arenas besides the military technology most think of with respect to powerful lords. Galluzzi notes that Renaissance lords "had agriculutural and industrial interests and their profits could be greatly increased by the introduction of the mechanization of methods of irrigation or production. The Renaissance lord beautified cities not only with magnificent buildings which reflected the image of his own power, but also with large-scale public works, especially of a hydraulic nature (acqueducts, canalization projects, etc.) for the benefit of the general public" (42). These courts were also a place of the convergence of many different kinds of people from all walks of life. Kemp mentions the example of the Castle of Milan and other ducal properties which "formed the business centre and in some cases the residences of a large body of officials, secretaries, military men, masters of the hunt, writers, musicians, singers, dancing masters, artists, artisans, buffoons, dwarfs and servants" (92). Within this social circle artists and engineers could provide entertainment with their artistic creations and inventions.


The courts go on to make significant strides in the organization of power in to the sixteenth century. These courts exhibited great power that before had been reserved for the papalcy. As Kemp describes, "In the Sforza court, the actions of a secular prince, the activities of state government, the administration of business and a large measure of influence over the church were all overtly combined in a way which would have been unthinkable in fifteenth-century Florence"(92). Leonardo begins his work for Sforza early in the sixteenth century, after that institution has risen in power. His timing was impeccable for the type of social climbing he was trying to achieve.


Many courts worked in a unique manner with respect to the freedoms and opportunities they gave their engineer, architect or painter. The Sforza court was no exception. Working in the court of Duke Ludovico Sforza ("Il Moro"), Leonardo was granted a variety of freedoms that allowed his creativity to flourish. In addition to a regular salary, he also received a "vineyard outside the city walls which Leonardo still owned at his death" (92). Finally, he was granted a great liberty to accept outside commissions. This allowed him to have greater freedom to explore his artistry and find more lucrative patronage. One such piece was from the Milanese Confraternity of Immaculate Conception to create painted decorations for their large altarpiece in the church of S. Francesco Grande (93). As far as his place within the Court, Leonardo was looked upon to perform a variety of tasks and "was regarded as an ornament of the court, a man who could discourse on an astonishing variety of things, a wit with a ready fable for every occasion and a master chef of visual treats for sophisticated palates" (93).


While not of all Leonardo’s engineering feats where done within in the context of the courts, the variety of projects he was involved with had roots in the court system. In his book, Galluzzi defines what it meant to be an engineer in those times. He states that "Leonardo was an engineer…an inventor and builder of ingegni (complex machines as well as simple mechanical devices) of every sort and for every type of operation" (41). Doing many things in a variety of fields was at heart of what an engineer did at this time. In Sforza’s court Leonardo would be expected to "furnish technical solutions for making offensive weapons more effective and systems of defence more solid, to provide an army on the move with transportation on functional wheels or temporary bridges for crossing water courses that would be both sturdy and rapidly constructable. He was required moreover to modify the course of rivers in order to isolate an enemy under siege or, perhaps, to flood cities or fortifications" (41-42).


This practice in the court prepared Leonardo for his work on the Arno with Niccolo Machiavell. His work on the Arno project, as described by Roger Masters in Fortune is a River, was from the position of designer. He no longer needed to do the back-breaking work of digging out trenches. His new social status in the world of engineering also allowed him to be creative without being practical. As designer he would not have to build the projects himself so the finer details and logistics of a project could be left out. He could let his imagination roam of ways to move dirt and water without concerning himself with questioning if it would work.


In an attempt to determine their own social status without restrictions, the Renaissance architect placed himself often in the highest level of the ideal cities they created. With their designs, architects had the power to decide the social arrangement, designating where each kind of person should go. In Filarete’s treatise on painting he laid his own views for the ideal city. His ideal city was created for Francesco Sforza and named Sforzinda. In his city the architect dwelt in perpetual alignment with his patron. Leonardo’s design of the ideal city took a different approach, creating a multi-story town with different levels according to your status. On the lowest level goods were stored, roads were built and the lower classes performed their business. On the highest level were arcaded walkways, gardens and gentlemen dwelt in light. Leonardo saw himself on this higher level of courtly gentlemen.


Most importantly, beyond Leonardo’s own social climbing, his social movement was enabled by the movement of the visual arts to the liberal arts. In order for this change to occur Rudolf and Margot Wittkower argue that "the creator of works of art casts a magical spell over the public" (1). They accomplished this "spell" by following the path of Dante and following the instructions Ghiberti laid out. Dante was considered to have acquired great knowledge to "adorn and exemplify in his verses through attentive and laborious study of philosophy, theology, astrology, [and] arithmetic" (39). In a similar way, artists of this time were encouraged at this time by Ghiberti to "master the principles of draughtsmanship but also be conversant with grammar, geometry, philosophy, medicine, astrology, optics, history, anatomy and arithmetic" (39). Mastery of the liberal arts became a fundamental part of what an artist must know. It helped substantiate their work within liberal arts since they used those conventions in the production of their work.


Artists also substantiated their work within the liberal arts with their specific knowledge perspective. Kemp discusses the role perspective had in helping the artist be on the same level as a musician or poet as he says, "Armed with the classical ability to portray the eloquent anatomy of the human figure and with the theoretical science of geometrical perspective, a few of the more intellectually self-conscious of the fifteenth-century artists began to press forward from the throng of artisans (saddlers, tailors, jewellers, weavers, etc.) to be recognized as the equal of the musician, who claimed the cerebral benefits of Pythagorean harmonies, and of the poet, the narrator of great moral tales"(39). Artists did not assume they should be included among the liberal arts, they did the work to prove they should. This "heavy burden of intellectual responsibility" was essential to the their cause and Leonardo spent much of his career proving this fact (39). His endeavors were key examples of what the new artist should do and be trained with. The Wittkowers point out that in order to be competitive and rise in social status "it no longer sufficed to be an excellent craftsman. The new artist had to be ‘huomo buono et dotco in buone lettere’—a man of good character and great learning" (16).


Overall, Leonardo makes the strongest case for visual arts to be included among liberal arts with his own statements. Kemp sites Leonardo’s words with the comment, "standing supreme among all the arts, painting deserved to be released from its traditional classification as a mechanical art: 'With justifiable complaints painting laments that it has been dismissed from the number of the liberal arts, since she is the legitimate daughter of nature and acts through the noblest sense. Thus it was wrong, O writers, to have omitted her from the number of the liberal arts, since she embraces not only the works of nature but also infinite things which nature never created’"(211 and Urb.15V).


Leonardo exerts the superiority of all visual arts, and as A. Richard Turner points out in Inventing Leonardo that in fifteenth century Florence "the medieval view of the artist as a humble craftsman slowly gave way to that of the artist as a man worthy of intellectual and social respect" (13). During this transformation Leonardo was able to raise his own social status and explore creative venues. His social climb allowed him to become the Leonardo that encompassed many worlds and changed all the conventions


References

Galluzzi, Paolo. Leonardo da Vinci: Engineer and Architect. Montreal: Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1987.

Kemp, Martin. Leonardo da Vinci: The Marvellous Works of Nature and Man. Cambridge, Massachusetts:
Harvard University Press, 1981.

Turner, A. Richard. Inventing Leonardo. Los Angeles, California: University of California Press, 1992.

Wittkower, Rudolf. Architectural Principles in the Age of Humanism. London: The Warsburg Institute
University of London, 1949.

Wittkower, Rudolf and Margot Wittkower. Born Under Saturn: The Character and Conduct of Artists: A
Documented History from Antiquity to the French Revolution. New York: Random House, 1963.

Wittkower, Rudolf. The Sculptor’s Workshop: Tradition and Theory from the Renaissance to the Present.
Glasgow: University of Glasgow Press, 1974.




Out of my head, a peice which shows the artist's changing position in society is the drawing made by Leonardo da Vinci of Isabella d'Este. There is primary source evidence that she, as an art collector, wanted a painting by Leonardo. He was the first artist to be asked for a comission because it was by him rather than a religious subject for a patron. It's rather like someone collecting Hockney's or Van Gogh's paintings today.

Answer 2

1] a raise in status although the artist was still considered a craftsman and not an artists as we think of him.
2] Individualization. In the Medieval period art was more collective and anonymous.

Answer 3

I do remember that artists were (and they still are) commissioned to paint and/or sculpt works of art for churches and other buildings.

I also know that the difference of the art is slightly significant; Renaissance art was more humanistic while Medieval art was more religious in nature.

Answer 4

1