Calendar of Events

TOPIC: Constructing Renaissance Florence: How One Artist Coped with the Challenges of Supplies, Transportation and Labor

PRESENTATION SUMMARY:

Tourists marvel at the visual splendor and workmanship in the works of the art and architecture produced in Renaissance Florence. But there is even more to appreciate and learn from by looking at the laborious process behind constructing such monuments in a preindustrial time. This presentation will focus on the sixteenth-century artist Bartolomeo Ammannati, whose sumptuous Neptune Fountain graces the main public square of the city, the Piazza della Signoria. A remarkable set of documents provides a detailed look at the challenges behind managing the supplies, transportation, and labor for such works. We will look in detail at how Ammannati struggled to keep track of his many ongoing projects and how he coped with a variety of setbacks in the quarrying and delivery of marble, from quarrelsome bargemen to improperly cut stones. Many assume Renaissance artists to be isolated and self-absorbed, but this case study shows quite the opposite. The importance of supervision, delegation, organization, and communication as well as managing paperwork and budget accounts reign supreme here. On-site imagery of works of art and handwritten documents of the time will bring this history to life, showing the importance of management and communication in making these artistic works possible and serving the political needs of Ammannati’s patron and ruler, the Medici Duke Cosimo I. 

March_4_2021-York-Program-Flyer.pdf