San Giorgio e il drago Paolo Uccello a Londra

In the early Renaissance, Paolo Uccello created one of the most enigmatic and fascinating works of art in the history of art: ‘Saint George and the Dragon’. This masterpiece, created in two versions, is not only the representation of a legendary clash, but a symbolic journey into the conflict between Christianity and paganism, between peace and war, between the visible world and the hidden world of alchemical symbols and occult philosophy.

Immersed in a dreamlike and mysterious atmosphere, the details of the painting reveal a profound and complex narrative, full of meanings and questions. In this post, I take you on a journey to discover the secrets behind Paolo Uccello’s brushstrokes, in a work that continues to enchant and provoke reflection.

SAINT GEORGE AND THE DRAGON BY PAOLO UCCELLO

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Masaccio’s majestic fresco of the Trinity, painted around 1426-27, which you can admire inside the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence, is the pictorial work that best summarises the important achievements of the early Renaissance.
It is the last work created by Masaccio, who died at the age of 27 in 1428, in which the artist establishes the proportion between God and men not on the basis of hierarchical criteria but on the basis of perspective. Therefore, the objective of the representation is no longer only allegorical, as the representation of reality and the description of the spiritual world coexist in this painting.

Here I take you on a discovery of Masaccio’s great masterpiece.

TRINITY OF MASACCIO

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The equestrian monument dedicated to the condottiere Erasmo da Narni, called the Gattamelata, is the first to be executed since ancient Rome. Donatello, therefore, takes an ancient subject and brings it back into the Renaissance by renewing it.

In this post I describe Donatello’s Gattamelata and tell you why it is to be considered one of Donatello’s masterpieces.

DONATELLO’S GATTAMELATA

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One of the most important architectural undertakings in Renaissance Florence was the completion of the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, which had been left without a dome in the 13th century and needed to be completed.

The Medici family is the first to understand the importance of building monuments or completing long abandoned enterprises. These are in fact the activities that allow a useful return in terms of image to increase their political prestige. In truth, the whole city of Florence is driven by the desire to increase its prestige and become a kind of new Athens. It was because of these ambitions that the competition for the construction of the dome was launched.

In this post I tell you about the feat and the innovative technical solutions that led to the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore being one of the most beautiful in the world.

THE DOME OF SANTA MARIA DEL FIORE

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