A Special Place for Blog Lovers with a Touch of Science!

Image credit: sgemflorence.org

Welcome to Florence – the live museum of the Renaissance

Art Meets Science at Centro Congressi Auditorium al Duomo- Firenze. The synergy of Arts and Humanities, presented in one unique event - Extended Scientific Sessions "The Magic of the Renaissance", part of the SWS International Scientific Conferences on Arts and Humanities. The sessions are organized by the SWS International Society of Social Sciences, Humanities and Art, with the kind support of many Universities and Academies of Sciences.

Image credit: Wikipedia

The Genius of Michelangelo

Classical western art, as we perceive it today, owns its grandiose impact on European culture mainly because of two great epochs – the ancient Greece antiquity and the Italian Renaissance. Of course, meanwhile, the nature of art was a subject of an infinite amount of transformations and metamorphosis, but the idea of Art as the peak of human genius and highest ideal was the fundamental achievement of these two periods. Human imagination thrived with great enthusiasm, devotion, and unlimited possibilities! Humanitarian concepts raised the understanding of human beings as the wreath of Nature, and the greatest goal – the pursuit after the perfection of both knowledge and artistic expression. In the 15^th and 16^th centuries, Florence was the main center of Art and Renaissance thought. Annually, hundreds of artists, poets, and philosophers appeared on the scene. Some of them are still among the most eminent painters, sculptors, and thinkers as Donatello, Brunelleschi, Marsilio Ficino, Leonardo Da Vinci, and many others. Nevertheless the imposing company, there was one artist who dared to break through the limits of what was then possible in fine arts and architecture. His name was Michelangelo and he became one of the greatest sources of inspiration for later artists and researchers.

Image credit: Pixabay

In the 14th century, a drastic change in the way people were thinking and the art they were making started happening in Europe. One city - Florence, had the most important role in this change. The home of Dante Alighieri, Giovanni Boccaccio, and Niccolo Machiavelli has preserved so much of the renaissance art and architecture created there, that now it is considered the Living museum of this period.

Image Credit: Probable self-portrait of Botticelli, in his Adoration of the Magi (1475) via Wikipedia

Sandro Botticelli

Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi (c. 1445 – May 17, 1510), who is widely known as Sandro Botticelli, was an Early Renaissance Italian painter. He was part of the Medici's court artistic group and was highly regarded among his contemporaries but later his work was forgotten until the 19^th century. The Pre-Raphaelites rediscovered him and since then his pictures are praised as some of the most important forerunners of the High Renaissance. As opposed to the voluminous, sculpture-like style of latter artists like Michelangelo or Raphael, he put the accent on the linear grace of the personages represented.

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1 October 1507. Or Who Introduced Baroque into Architecture

On this day, 963 years ago,  the great Italian architect Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola was born. His most famous projects are Villa Farnese at Caprarola and the Jesuits' Church of the Gesu in Rome. The later, actually named Chiesa del Santissimo Nome di Gesu all'Argentina, is the first building with a true Baroque facade.  Vignola is one of the three architects that spread the Italian Renaissance through Western Europe (the other two are Serlio and Palladio).