Florentine Art & Politics
How were Andrea Mantegna's & Benozzo Gozzoli's frescos used as statements of political power?
Renaissance Italy
Veduta della catena (chain map) of Florence, c. 1471–72, attributed to Francesco and Raffaello Petrini, etching, 1.25 x 1.38 m (Palazzo Vecchio, Florence).
Florence in the 15th century was a city of commerce, finance, and manufacturing. Trade and business created great wealth while art was used as political statements. This bustling location was the center of an artistic, humanistic, technological, and scientific growth known as the Renaissance, resulting in innovations within the fields of mathematics, medicine, engineering, architecture, and the visual arts.
Founded primarily on the rediscovery of classic texts and artifacts, the culture around the Renaissance looked towards ideals from interdisciplinary research from past civilizations, also known as classical antiquity, allowing this era to be known for promoting liberal arts and intellectual potential.
Andrea Mantegna
Andrea Mantegna, Camera Picta, 1466–75. Castello San Giorgio, Mantua.
The Camera degli Sposi is located in the Castle of San Giorgio in Mantua also called Camera Picta or Painted Chamber, due to the cycle of frescoes that covers its walls. This work was created by Andrea Mantegna between 1465 and 1474, covering all the walls of the cubic room (about 8 meters per side). The “art” adapts to the architecture, but at the same time illusionistically breaks through the physical limits of the walls of the room.
The Camera Picta was painted inside the prince’s apartment within the castle at Mantua. The general theme is one of political-dynastic celebration of the entire family of Ludovico Gonzaga, the prince/commissioner. It displays intricately decorated vaults, and painted pilasters, with the main focus on portraits of the first eight Roman emperors. When creating this he worked very slowly, making sure the portraits were naturalistic and descriptive, coinciding with the intricate patterns within the vault. The room was the most important painted room of the home as it was considered “a space of the prince’s image.” It was considered to be visual evidence of the family’s good faith.
Benozzo Gozzoli
Benozzo Gozzoli, Procession of the Magi, chapel of the Medici Palace, Florence, 1459. Fresco.
When Piero Medici commissioned Benozzo Gozzoli to paint a series of frescoes to decorate the private chapel of the Medici family in Florence, he desired work that would outdo the art in the chapel owned by the rival family, the Strozzi’s. He hired the artist to create a vast, colorful fresco representing the journey of the ‘wise men’ to the birthplace of Jesus. The result was a story featuring the Medici and their entourage, traveling, being displayed as the stars of the show.
The Procession of the Magi was painted on the east and west walls of a chapel owned by the Medici family. In it, you see huntsmen chasing deer with dogs and leopards, reminiscent of Pisanello’s “model book” naturalism. This is apparent as the procession is winding in a very artificial and stacked way, along with how they are posed in a way that makes sure you see every figure’s face. This is important to show the faces of the Medici family and their entourage along with the artist as well. It gives off a “ruler” theme as this is how the family wanted to portray themselves.
Looking at these two works show similar themes of rulers, one being for a ruling family and the other for a prince. Both contain figures of important individuals with scenes of naturalism that work to show the importance of the ruling figures. Decoratively, they both show figures that are squashed but dynamic, moving in a way that they always make sure you can see their faces (probably because they want to emphasize how important these specific figures are). Visually, Gozzoli’s piece seems much less realistic and detailed than Mantegna's as the colors are much brighter, with the super unrealistic distance from foreground to background further emphasizing this.
