Renaissance+Patrons

=Patrons of the Renaissance Era=

>> During the Renaissance, being a "patron" meant much more than being >> a wealthy person who sponsored an artist for their work. It signified a way >> of life, a ranking, a prestige that members of the upper classes strived for >> and the lower class aspired to. Patronage was a "key to social status" >> (Art Resources). Many patrons, being popes, kings, queens, princes, >> princesses, and nobles, were able to show there wealth and power with who >> they were able to commission work. If a noble was able to commission work >> from an artist like Leonardo da Vinci, and another noble did not have the >> finances to hire him, then people would look at the two differently. They could >> pass judgment on the power of the noble with less money, thinking that a man >> who could commission Da Vinci, would better hold a position of power. Power of >> the state was not the only thing patrons worked towards. The church >> also used patronage as a way to promote their religion and spread >> beliefs though a society. Churches commissioned artists to decorate >> their churches, cathedrals, chapels, and temples with sculptures of >> holy figures, and paintings of religious scenes.


 * Isabella D'este || Pope Julius II || Medici Family ||



Patronage
There were three ways of being a patron during the Renaissance. First, one could take the artist into their household and, in return, theartist would produce the work that they wanted. Second, one could hire an artist to work for him or her. For example, a king would hire a court painter who agreed to do any art that that king wanted and would be paid on a payroll. Lastly, they could commission an artist for only one piece of art, paying exclusively for that single job, regardless of how long it took to complete. Whatever way a patron was commissioning an artist, there was always a formal contract written and signed, concerning the money and job for the artist. Artist of a lower status usually held this contract without breaking it, knowing that this was probably the only way to make a name for themself. However, as an artist rose in respect and reputation, they would be more likely to break a contract for more money, a better opportunity, or more acceptable terms. This power struggle lead to conflict between many artist and their patrons. As the artist Michelangelo states, "One cannot live under pressure from patrons, let alone paint."

Major Patrons of the Renaissance Era
But not every artist had problems with his or her patrons. Some artists did not stay with single patrons for extended amounts of time, while others, would work for the patron from five to forty years. Three of the most famous artist, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphel, did just this.

For Leonardo, he had only one patron who lasted longer than five years. This patronage, which lasted for seventeen years, was for Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan as court artist. Because Leonardo was talented in many areas, his patronage was not limited to arts, but also included being the military and civil engineer. Another patronage of Leonardo that lead to one of his more famous paintings was with **Isabella D'este** of Mantua. Isabella was a very famous patron of the Renaissance. Coming from a family of patrons she started commisioning work at age 17. Not only was she a well respected parton and women in Mantua, but she became Ruler of Mantua for a period of time in her husbands absence. Leonardo worked for Isabella for about a year, in which time he produced his black chalk Sanguine cartoon of Isabella (see right). A tradition that Isabella had the made her patronage different from any other was a competition she liked to have with her artists. While Leonardo worked on her portrait, she also had artist Giovanni Bellini producing a portrait in his own style. Having the artist compete with each other she tells them that she will choose the painting she likes best to be displayed. Both artist know that having a powerful women like Isabella, choose their work over another respected artist will raise them to a new level. In the end Isabella chose Leonardo's drawing, helping him grow as a well known aartist.

Michelangelo had two patrons that were his primiary patrons: Pope Julius II, and the Medici family. came from a modest family who over time had grown in power and wealth. Raised by his uncle, Pope Sixtus X, Julius was a powerful ruler, more concerned with his personal fame than he was wuth the advancement of the Church. He is known for being very ambitios. His goal during papacy was to "build a new Christian Rome on the same scale as the monumental ancient city" (Art Resources). He wanted to be known for bringing Rome back to its original Golden Age, an acomplishment that would forever hold fame in the future. He used Michelangelo for this. As his cheif artist, Julius commisioned many projects for Michelangelo, starting with a tomb for himself in 1505.This tomb included three layers, and forty statues. He never finished this project, but worked on it for the next 40 years. His next largest, ambitious project was the painting of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (see right). With the support of Julius II, Michelangelo painted his most famous work of art which will be remembered and studied for hundreds or years to come.
 * Pope Julius II** (see right), birth name Giuliano della Rovere,

Michelangelo's other patron was actually a family, the **Medici Family**. When he was not working for Pope Julius II, Michelangelo worked for many members of the Medici family in Florence. The Medici's were a very powerful and influential family, who, through banking (the Medici bank), was said to be the wealthiest family in Europe (Wikipedia). With this wealth, Cosimo de Medici was able to become the first "unnofficial" head of state of the Florentine government in 1434 AD, later members becoming official. The Medici continued to rule Florence untill 1537 AD when a feud between the Medicis and the powerful Borgia family, ended in the assassination of the Duke of Florence, Alessandro de Medici. Michelangelo worked many for Lorenzo de' Medici (ruler of Florence), **Pope Leo X and Pope Clement VII**. Since all were very influential in Florence, they preferred to employ Michelangelo in Florence. He started at a young age working for Lorenzo, doing mostly sculpture work of Roman battles. The Medici lost power twice during their patronage of Michelangelo because of revolts, one time sending Michelangelo into hiding for fear of beign arrested. During these times were when Michelangelo when to work for Julius II. Other commisions that the Medici gave Michelangelo were, designing the Medici Chapel (see right), carving tombs for members of the family for Leo X, and painting the Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel for Pope Clements VII.

Raphael had a patronage much like Michelangelo's. He worked on many commisions from Juilius II and Leo X, some being the decorating the Vatican Stanze (papal apartments), the extension to St.Peter's Basilica, and painting ten tapestries to be hung in the Sistine Chapel. Raphael worked perfectly with both popes, for he, like them, had the ambition to endow the city with magnificent building and works of art. Raphael is also the perfect example of an how a patron made an artist as famous as he or she could be. With the commisions of Pope Julius II and Leo X, Raphael quickly began to interpret a new visual arts. Not yet thirty, Raphael was already becoming a leading figure in the cultural life of Rome.

These three artists would never have gained their fame without Renaissance patrons. Today there is a similar system. These current patrons are now called sponsors. Just like a patron, a sponsor finances a project, as well as events, produced by a person or a group. Though now it is very rare to see a sponsor open their home to an artist or company, the same financial system is in place. The artist is able to live off his or her work, and the sponsor has the benefit of having their name linked with an accomplished person, showing just how affluent and prestigious they are.

Resources
Husley, Sarah. "Isabella D'este and her Relationships with the Italian Renaissance > Masters" http://people.smu.edu/shulsey/ 10/26/06

Tse, Anna. //Art Resources// "Discussion of the role of patrons in the Renaissance" > http://www.geocities.com/rr17bb/patronage.html 10/19/06

Tse, Anna. //Art Resources// "The role of papal in the Relation to the work of > Michelangelo" http://www.geocities.com/rr17bb/PatrMich.html 10/19/06

Tse, Anna. //Art Resources// "The role of papal in the Relation to the work of > Raphael" http://www.geocities.com/rr17bb/PatrRaph.html 10/19/06

//Wikipedia// "Medici"[| http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medici#Art.2C_archecture_and_science] > 10/26/06

Summers, David. //World Book Enyclopedia// "Leonardo da Vinci" 10/26/06

Pictures
Medici Chapel- [| http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.ktb.net/~bewier/Medici.jpg] 10/26/06

Leo X- http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.uni-leipzig.de/ru/bilder/sonstig/raffae01.jpg 10/26/06

Isabella D&rsquo;este of Mantua- http://www.geocities.com/unicornprincess84/Lady_Isabella_d_Este.html 10/26/06

Sistine Chapel- http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.artchive.com/artchive/m/michelangelo/lstjudge.jpg 10/26/06

Pope Julius II- http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.abcgallery.com/R/raphael/raphael36.jpg 10/26/06 = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =