Renaissance Florence has often been described as the birthplace of modern individualism, as reflected in the individual genius of its great artists, scholars, and statesmen. Renaissance Florence had a productive and progressive culture with a tradition of skill in the crafts. The combination of new ideas from the past and traditional Florentine values fostered and environment that bred creativity.
The mercantile economy gave Florence vitality and it offered many chances of upward social mobility. The people and families working their way up the social food chain became the new bourgeosie who were great patrons of the arts. By commisioning works of art, they cemented their names and reputations in the history of Florence forever. The clients of these bourgeois patrons also gained acclaim for their works as Florentines were interested in art and ready to praise works of high quality.
Residents of Florence were interested in classical studies such as language and writing, as well as architecture, math and the sciences. Humanism was wide spread and the study of antiquity became a passion of the elite. Artists flourished in this environment where they could hone thier skills as well as make money. They were not free to paint, draw or build whatever they wanted, but work was available and they were able to make grand works of art. Public discussion became more important as the residents of Florence became more involved in their community and the governing of their city.
They worked under a mercantile system, which promoted individual action, and as men with increased leisure time, were provided with the option to futher their education by studying their classical history. Florentine society demanded that since there was no real definitive upper-class, as anyone could advance to such a position, these middle-class citizens should make an impression upon society by commissioning great works of art. The ability to do so was provided by the fact that there was increased leisure time to comission such art, and for the enjoyment of such pieces of art.
It was then that artisans became artists, as the interpretations they placed on each of their works with their own distinctive characteristic ways of creating the art began to create the Florentine renaissance in the cultural arts. There were also different interests in intellectual ideas, and this spurred on the cultural expansion in its literary form. The artists and the patrons intermingled, situations in which discourse produced ideas which would become great art.
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