florencia - History Lab

Eleanor of Toledo with her son Juan de Medici

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:32:03 +0000

Portrait by Bronzino, court painter to Cosimo I de Medici and representative of Mannerism. The Duke’s wife and one of his sons are depicted in rich clothes. She was the daughter of the Viceroy of Naples Pedro de Toledo, Marquis of Villafranca. Their marriage sealed the Florentine alliance with the Spanish Monarchy

The post Eleanor of Toledo with her son Juan de Medici first appeared on History Lab.

Birth of Venus

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:31:28 +0000

During the 15th century, European civilisation underwent an important process of enrichment and expansion, in addition to profound political, economic and social transformations. In short, there was a change of mentality that culminated in the emergence of a new artistic and literary movement, the Renaissance. This cultural epoch is rooted in anthropocentrism (Man as the centre of the Universe) and in the revaluation of the individual personality, while at the same time it is strongly marked by its attempt to break with the Middle Ages in order to recover the forms of classical Antiquity. It originated in Florence, where it was born in the early 1400s, and lasted for two centuries in three distinct stages. The first, the 15th century, is known as the Quattrocento or early Renaissance; the second, as the Cinquecento or full Renaissance, reduced to the first 20 years of the 16th century and considered the period of plenitude; the third and last is called Mannerism, which covers the rest of the 16th century and in which certain anti-classical connotations predominate. The architecture, which mainly uses stone and marble, is dominated by a high degree of proportion and symmetry; in this field, churches with a centralised plan and a variety of civil buildings stand out: villas, palaces, hospitals and libraries. The architects Filippo Brunelleschi, Leon Battista Alberti, Bramante, Andrea Palladio and Michelangelo stand out. Man is the fundamental subject of sculpture, whether religious or profane, and he was the protagonist of a large number of portraits of a royal, heroic, equestrian or funerary nature. The materials used are diverse, the most common being stone, marble, bronze, wood and terracotta. The most notable figure is Michelangelo, who was joined by Lorenzo Ghiberti, Donatello, Andrea Verrocchio and Luca della Robbia. Finally, the main centres of painting were Florence, Rome and Venice. During the Quattrocento, artists focused their attention on perspective and composition, with Fra Angelico, Massaccio, Piero della Francesca, Ghirlandaio and Botticelli, the latter two being painters of a refined and detailed style. Finally, Cinquecento painting was dominated by simple, monumental forms in which a high degree of technical perfection was achieved, with important examples in the works of Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo.

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Assassin’s Creed II

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:27:29 +0000

Second installment in the Assassin’s Creed series, which begins the story of Ezio Auditore, a member of the fictional Order of Assassins. It improves the graphics engine, mechanics and gameplay compared to the first title, achieving a better dynamism, a richer atmosphere, a meticulous recreation of cities and interaction with the environment and characters. The plot is set in Italian cities such as Florence, Monteriggioni, Venice and San Gimignano during the second half of the 15th century, with the Pazzi Conspiracy against the Medici family as the central theme. Prominent characters such as Lorenzo and Julian de Medici, Francesco de Pazzi, Leonardo da Vinci, Catherine Sforza and Pope Alexander VI appear throughout the game.

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