Page 241 - Art In The Age Of Exploration (Great Section on Chinese Art Ming Dynasty)

THE RATIONALIZATION OF SPACE
Renaissance faith in the power of the intellect rationality of geometry. Brunelleschi's inven- lar art in Italy emphasized the narrative, in
to comprehend the universe and to order tion of linear perspective in Florence early in which individualized human actors played their
human life is nowhere more apparent than in the century provided theoreticians and artists parts convincingly within a realistically con-
the new visions of space that appeared in with a potent device to express their belief in ceived space. Perspective enabled the artist to
fifteenth-century Italian art. The humanists the ordering force of numbers. create a mathematically-de signed stage, the
believed that man's only hope for deliverance Practical as well as theoretical concerns made perfect setting for human action.
from the chaos of earthly existence lay in the the science of perspective a critical tool for the
discipline of the liberal arts, epitomized by the artist, from Giotto onward, religious and secu-

138 reference to the composition of Masaccio's Tribute unusually accomplished work by a specialist in

Follower of Filippo Brunelleschi Money in the Brancacci Chapel. The relief has at precious metals, such as Maso Finiguerra or
various times been attributed to such important Baccio Baldini. The apparent contrast in style
CHRIST HEALING A POSSESSED WOMAN artists as Brunelleschi, Donatello, Castagno, and between the uncompromisingly Renaissance relief
Filarete (Hyman 1981). It is likely to have been and the medieval filigree decoration of the frame
before 1462 cast before 1462, when the background archi- might at first glance suggest that the relief and
cast silver relief with traces of enamel; tecture was copied rather crudely on the reverse the frame were only united at a later date, but the
silver-gilt and enamel frame of a portrait medal of King Rene of Anjou by traditional decorative motifs of the frame recur
5
2
6.9 x 10.7 (2 /s x /8) (without frame); 17 x 20
4
5
7
(6 /s x 7 /s) (including frame) Pietro da Milano. It is also known in an inferior persistently in Italian metalwork throughout the
references: Pope-Hennessy 1965; Hi/man 1981 and marginally smaller bronze plaquette in the fifteenth century, and it is likely that image and
National Gallery of Art, which appears to have frame were made in the same workshop at the
Musee du Louvre, Paris, Departement des Objets been cast from a mold taken from the silver orig- same time. The precious materials and rich
d'art inal. The question of attribution remains intrac- appearance of the ensemble indicate that it was
table, largely because of the absence of a directly conceived as a prestige object for a wealthy patron
The miracle is set within an invented but overtly comparable work by any of the major Florentine like Piero de' Medici, who is known particularly to
Florentine-style townscape that shows similarities sculptors. Of the proposed attributions, that to have treasured small-scale objects of rich work-
to the background of Masolino's fresco of the Filarete has most to recommend it but seems less manship for close inspection in his writing room
Healing of the Cripple and the Raising of Tabitha than wholly convincing. It is possible that it is an (scrittoio). M.K.
in the Brancacci Chapel and, ultimately, to the
famous lost panel showing the Florentine Baptis-
tery which Brunelleschi created as one of his orig-
inal demonstrations of linear perspective. Here
the main building, dominating the spacious
piazza, appears to be a centralized structure on a
square base, with cruciform upper story and
corner domes (presumably over chapels set
between the arms of the Greek cross). Its architec-
tural style is Brunelleschian only in the broadest
sense. The pilasters and panels derive from the
Florentine Baptistery, while the porticoes are
closest to the door surrounds added by Donatello
to Brunelleschi's Sacristy of San Lorenzo. The
precise subject of the narrative remains obscure
and cannot be definitely identified as one of the
specific episodes of healing by Christ described in
the New Testament. It is not even clear if the
person from whom the devil is being expelled is
male or female.
Despite its extremely small size, the relief
reflects a high degree of ambition and achieve-
ment in the characterization of architectural space,
and its figure composition makes knowing refer-
ence to a number of works by the pioneers of the
early Renaissance, especially those by Masaccio
and Donatello. The alarmed female figure throw-
ing her arms in the air is a notably Donatellesque
feature, while the ring of standing apostles makes

240 CIRCA 1492