Quattrocento is formally the art period starting in 1401 with a competition to design the doors of Baptistry in Florence and ending in 1503 with the proclamation of Pope Julius II. The word, of course, comes from Italian number for four hundred (abbreviated for one thousand and four hundred - the era of the fifteenth century).
In this period the Italian art was steadily progressing to harmony and stability of the Renaissance. Thanks to its start in Florence, the birthplace of Renaissance, Quattrocento is often interchangeably used with Renaissance in general.
The main characteristics in different fields of arts were:
- the architecture used more geometrical and symmetrical elements with a preference of open spaces and additional light,
- painters started using less tempera and more oils,
- new, rationalized view on linear perspective and use of single light source caused changes which led to more realistic and three-dimensional paintings,
- compositions in paintings became more symmetric, pyramidal structure dominated,
- a better understanding of human anatomy led to greater popularity of large sculptures of nudes, for the first time after Antique,
- frescoes (and other large scale paintings) gained popularity,
- the popularity of mosaics, stained glass, and other decorative arts declined,
- religious themes started to be less popular, more secular themes found their place in art.
In the fifteenth century, many smaller city-states (like Mantua, where Giambattista Basile 'invented' a fairy tale) led by princes employed so-called court-artists who got fixed salary in exchange for their availability to execute orders by princes. Collaboration between artists became very common. Among their duties were also decor for parties, creation of costumes and masks, furniture design, making of gifts for important guests, ... Number of ordered portraits raised.
Greater stability and economic prosperity led to art sponsorship of more and more citizens like merchants and guild members. The relative length (full century) of piece and competitiveness among sponsors and artists helped to development of numerous artistic projects. Huge interest in science and application of scientific discoveries in art made a positive influence as well.
Some of the most influential artists from Quattrocento period were:
- Giovanni Bellini
- Jacopo Bellini
- Sandro Boticelli
- Carlo Crivelli
- Donatello (Donato di Niccolo di Betto Bardi)
- Masaccio (Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone)
- Michelangelo (Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni)
- Antoniazzo Romano
- Luca Signorelli
- Leonardo da Vinci
While it's next to impossible to distinguish Quattrocento (15th century) from Cinquecento (16th century) era because many artists created in both, it's clear the gravity of creative power moved from Florence to Rome and this is probably the best way to define the end of this influential period.
