The Renaissance Commissioner

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An individual for a small group.

Who was Renaissance art originally intended for? Well, the buyer of a work of art, named the commissioner, would commission artists to paint according to needs and desires. Somestimes a self-portrait, other times a commemorative painting, to remind of devotion, to instill civic propoganda...these are merely some of the reasons in which an artist would be commissioned to paint a work. Paintings were rarely completed "by the individual for the individual". The majority of Renaissance works had a purpose; purchased with fixed specifications, a contractual agreement, and a paid sum (usually instalments among partial-completion).

These "individual for a small group" paintings give us two important insights. Firstly, an insight into the life, culture, politics, and motives of the Renaissance individual. Secondly, an insight into the status of art during the time. There were many active commissioners and thus active artists, indicating that there was indeed an interest and thus a market for the arts during the age known as the "re-birth".

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The relationship between the artist and the comissioner is a perfect example of an "individual for a small group". Below and along the side of this blog are some examples:

Federico da Montefeltro (1420-1482) was a condottiere, and his wife Battista Sforza, died in 1472. This double portrait, known as a diptych, had been commissioned after her death as a memorial. Federico and his wife were the Duke and Duchess of Urbino. Note their lands, the rolling hills of Urbino, in the background. Also note her jewels, a symbol of status and of the court. She is a pail white, which may symbolize the afterlife, but was also very popular for elite women of the time. Also popular with court women was bleached blond hair and an unnaturally far hair line. Federico is shown painted left because it is known that his nose and left eye were distroyed in an accident.

Piero della Francesca, The Duchess and Duke of Urbino, c. 1472

Leonardo da Vinci was commissioned in 1503 by the ruling body of the Republic of Florence to paint the Battle of Anghiari, a scene celebrating the a famous Florentine victory. All interior walls of the Salone dei Cinquecento in the Palazzo Vecchio were to be painted with scenes of civic Florentine propoganda. Due to Leonardo's experimental fresco technique, this painting was never realized.

Copy of Leonardo da Vinci's Battle of Anghiari by Peter Paul Rubens

Raphael was commissioned in 1511-12 by Pope Julius II. Notice several features; the pattern of the papal keys and tiara in the curtain, his beard which he grew as a symbol of mortification at having lost the city of Bologna in 1511, and his elderly features (he was to die the following year at the age of 70).

Raphael, Portrait of Pope Julius II, 1511-12