Corbin Conrad
Am I an Artist
26 April 2011
Artists Weren't Always Wealthy and Powerful
The Renaissance period in Italy lasted from the end of the 13th century until about 1600. Renaissance refers to a rebirth. In the case of Italy at this time, it meant a rebirth of learning and the arts, and helped to mark an end to the dark ages. The main patron of the arts at this time was the Catholic church. This meant different things for many artists, and it depended on who the particular patron was when it came to what decisions the artists actually had in their work. Italy was split into many warring city-states, and had very little real interaction with each other. As such, it is amazing the amount of art and culture that came out of Italy during this time period, as well as the great diversity between the many different types of art from each individual city-state. If I were an artist in this time period, there would have been many commissions that I could have competed for. While the church was the main patron, as mentioned before, when looking for work, there were many places that I could have gone to find work. With the many warring city-states, there were many wealthy leaders that would have commissioned art to promote their wealth, power, and status.
In order to compete for the commissions, I would have created what is known as a prospectus drawing. “Prospectuses . . . were finished drawings that Renaissance artists submitted to patrons as a means of securing approval for their designs.” Once all of the artists have giving these drawings to the patron, it is then up to the patron to decide on which artist to use. Because of the number of artists competing for these commissions, much of our time would have been consumed with creating these sketches. While my sketches would ultimately give the patron an idea of what he could expect and could showcase my skill to him, he could still completely change the plan, and dictate what he would want to...