The Early Renaissance and Vernacular Culture

Charles Dempsey

ISBN 10: 0674049527 / ISBN 13: 9780674049529

Published by De Gruyter, 2012

About this Item

Neuware - Why do the paintings and poetry of the Italian Renaissance-a celebration of classical antiquity-also depict the Florentine countryside populated with figures dressed in contemporary silk robes and fleur-de-lys crowns Charles Dempsey argues that a fusion of classical form with contemporary content was the defining characteristic of the period.

Seller Inventory # 9780674049529

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Early Renaissance and Vernacular Culture
• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Publication Date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674049527
• ISBN 13: 9780674049529
• Binding: Buch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 211W x 139H x 35D millimeters 211 millimeters width by 139 millimeters height by 35 millimeters depth
• Weight: 552 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Why do the paintings and poetry of the Italian Renaissance―a celebration of classical antiquity―also depict the Florentine countryside populated with figures dressed in contemporary silk robes and fleur-de-lys crowns? Upending conventional interpretations of this well-studied period, Charles Dempsey argues that a fusion of classical form with contemporary content, once seen as the paradox of the Renaissance, can be better understood as its defining characteristic.

Dempsey describes how Renaissance artists deftly incorporated secular and popular culture into their creations, just as they interwove classical and religious influences. Inspired by the love lyrics of Parisian troubadours, Simone Martini altered his fresco Maestà in 1321 to reflect a court culture that prized terrestrial beauty. As a result the Maestà scandalously revealed, for the first time in Italian painting, a glimpse of the Madonna’s golden locks. Modeled on an ancient statue, Botticelli’s Birth of Venus went much further, featuring fashionable beauty ideals of long flowing blonde hair, ivory skin, rosy cheeks, and perfectly arched eyebrows. In the only complete reconstruction of Feo Belcari’s twelve Sybilline Octaves, Dempsey shows how this poet, patronized by the Medici family, was also indebted to contemporary dramatic modes. Popularizing biblical scenes by mixing the familiar with the exotic, players took the stage outfitted in taffeta tunics and fanciful hats, and one staging even featured a papier-maché replica of Jonah’s Whale. As Dempsey’s thorough study illuminates, Renaissance poets and artists did not simply reproduce classical aesthetics but reimagined them in vernacular idioms.

About the Author

Charles Dempsey is Emeritus Professor of Italian Renaissance and Baroque Art at Johns Hopkins University.