The Italians of the 15th and 16th centuries thought themselves and their culture more important and advanced than the people of the medieval centuries However Italy valued the study of classical art learning and government During the 15th and 16th century Italy revived classical works by studying humanism and implementing their knowledge to more practical uses to help solve contemporary problems This resulted a cultural flourish in the art world called the Rinascimento by the Italians later translated to the Renaissance by the French The focus during this time period was still a singular one focusing more on the individual success of artists and city state governments It is believed that the Italian Renaissance began in Florence Italy Florence Florence is one of the most prominent city states in the histories of the Renaissance because many of its early humanists valued their hometown For example the chancellors to the Signoria Coluccio Salutati and Leonardo Bruni urged Florence to rise against the duke of Milan when he threatened to invade the city Leonardo praised Florence s defiance of Milan because of the city states republican and cultural achievements as well as the heritage of its citizens In Leonardo s In Praise of the City of Florence he praised the piety Florence demonstrated in church buildings His words inspired the increasing cultural activity within Florence Not only did families and individuals commission art projects but merchant guilds also sponsored numerous art competitions Baptistery Competition The success of Andrea Pisano s bronze doors inspired the Guild of Wool Merchants to commission a competition for another set of bronze doors In the competition all artist had to use the same theme The Sacrifice of Isaac and medium bronze constructing the doors There were several trials for this competition but only two of them survived Filippo Brunelleschi and Lorenzo Ghiberti are the only known sculptors that competed in this competition Although Brunelleschi s piece demonstrates great naturalist and drama Ghiberti s doors are ultimately chosen for the baptistery Ghiberti s piece has a greater naturalism to human form compared to Brunelleschi s He also fixes the problem of the quatrefoil field by putting the narrative within the margins and the focal point in the center Architecture and the Cathedral Competition Although Brunelleschi lost the baptistery competition he later went to compete in the cathedral competition with Ghiberti Before this time Brunelleschi went to Rome to study classical art with his friend Donatello He later applied this knowledge completing the dome of the Florence cathedral Duomo This dome symbolizes Florences inventiveness piety ambition and skill San Lorenzo Santa Maria Novella Brunelleschi s achievement s brought him the attention of many patrons Giovanni de Bicci de Medici commissioned Brunelleschi to build a sacristy at San Lorenzo The sacristy is used for both religious and funerary purposes Brunelle s chapel later became known as the Old Sacristy when future generations of the Medici family commissioned a new sacristy The Medici family later commissioned Brunelleschi to build a new design for the church Although his work was not finished until 20 years after his death the building in its entirety represents the full extent of his architectural aspirations Many prominent churches of Florences had their facades completed after the deaths of their architects Giovanni Rucellai commissioned Leon Battista Alberti to create marble facade for the Santa Maria However the dominican church Santa Maria Novella completed its facade during the architects lifetime Florentine Sculpture Or San Michele Another sculpture competition began near Or San Michele Powerful guilds commissioned artists like Lorenzo Ghiberti to fill in the niches of the building Nanni di Banco Nanni di Banco was commissioned by The Guild of Wood and Stone Carves to fill the niches at Or San Michele Nanni created the Quattro Coronati Four Crowned Saints statues which are the likeness of the four Christian sculptors who refused to create a pagan sculpture by the order of the Roman emperor Diocletian Introducing Donatello Ghiberti s former assistant Donatello was commissioned by the Linen Weavers Guild to fill the niches of the Or San Michele The most interesting feature of Donatello s sculpture St Mark is the contrapposto stance applied to the form As many of the artists before him Donatello borrows from the ancient past and applies it to a contemporary setting Donatello was also commissioned by the Guild of Armorers to create the sculpture called St George As this sculpture also borrows from ancient Greece Donatello gives the illusion of depth by introducing a new shallow relief called schiacciato As Donatello created more sculptures he began to attract commissions from other cities The work Donatello created made him the most influential sculptor of 15th century in Italy Donatello completed the relief The Feast of Herod in 1427 in a baptistry competition against his mentor Ghiberti at San Giovanni The relief depicts the story of John the Baptist s Martyrdom Donatello was later commissioned by the Republic of Venice in 1443 to produce the Equestrian Monument of Gattamelata in order to commemorate the Venetian commander Erasmo da Narni who had recently died Borrowing in the likeness of the Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius the Gattamelata is Donatello s largest free standing work made entirely out of bronze Besides his other international commissions Donatello completed most of his works in Florence for the Duomo the Palazzo della Signoria and for the Medici family One of his sculptures that is made entirely out of poplar wood is the Mary Magdalen This sculpture represents Donatello s artistic knowledge as a sculpture working with a new uncommon medium Florentine Sculpture Lorenzo Ghiberti was commissioned by the Guild of Wool Merchants to create a second pair of bronze doors for the Baptistery of San Giovanni The doors were placed in an area called Paradise which gave it its name Gates of Paradise Unlike the doors of Andrea Pisano which contain 28 panels in quatrefoils Ghiberti s doors contain 5 panels in square frames The Gates of Paradise panels depicts scenes from the Hebrew Bible While creating the bronze doors Ghiberti used techniques from his competitors such as Donatello s schiacciato relief and Brunelleschi s linear perspective The Tomb Tomb sculpture was important