Renaissance, The

The term ‘renaissance’ refers to the re-emergence of past trends or techniques, given new life and taken further at a later stage. From the fourteenth to the seventeenth century, the arts flourished and became more important within every aspect of life than they had ever been. Italy was the forerunner
of this period of reinvigorated creativity. In the period termed ‘early renaissance’ Fra Angelico (1387-1455) liberated religious painting from its flat and constricting triptych structure and into
realistic open settings by using linear perspective, and gave characters much more expressive and
realistic features, drawing the viewer in and making them feel a part of the scene, which, in a culture dominated by religion, meant a lot.

He reinvented religious iconography, moving it on from the static Gothic styles to more realistic early Renaissance style, but still retaining its tradition of elegance and beauty achieved through much decoration. Graphic design relies on communication of a work to the viewer, and during the Renaissance this was a key element to a successful work. The Renaissance was also the first instance of what could be called early subliminal advertising. The wealthiest individuals or ‘guilds’ (various industries like linen, armourers or political parties) would commission the best artists at the time, and pay for the best materials, so that the work created to advertise themselves would overshadow all the others. For example, the statues that fill the Orsanmichele in Florence each represent a different guild, and they were replaced as time went on with better and more expensive statues as the wealth poured into Florence, one of the booming financial centres of Italy at the time.

The sculptors Michelozzo (1396 – 1472) and Donatello (c1386 – 1466) were asked to make a sculpture of St. Louis of Toulouse by the Parte Guelfa (policitcal party) out of gilt bronze for one of the niches. The use of this material resulted in a very expressive style of figure, which also had to be made in many sections. Traditionally saints should not be golden effigies as it suggests expenditure and luxury — St. Louis was a boy-heir to the throne of Naples who was permitted to renounce his succession to become a Bishop. The political party have employed a clever tactic by choosing this figure, a humble boy who chose religion over ruling a city, a message which is more obvious than the underlying one of power and political influence that the party clearly had in mind when choosing these two skilled artists and the medium of gilt bronze. This is another aspect that graphic design and the Renaissance share — choosing to associate with companies, products, celebrity figures that share your values, and whose public influence you can rely on to win customers over.

Bibliography: PHAIDON, 2007. 30,000 years of art. London, New York: Phaidon Press Ltd.
GOMBRICH, E.H. 1950. The Story of Art. Phaidon Press Ltd; 16th Revised edition.

Alice Lubbock