MICHELOZZO DI BARTOLOMEO

The Medici chose the rising architect, Michelozzo di Bartolomeo to rebuild San Marco. The restoration proceeded with remarkable speed. The twenty cells of the east corridor of the dormitory were built between late 1437 and 1438, when renovation of the church was begun. Reconstruction continued sequentially, from the north corridor for lay brothers and guests (1440-41) to the south for the novices (completed in 1442).

In the courtyard at San Marco Michelozzo employs a basically Brunelleschian vocabulary without Brunelleshi’s strict proportions, modular elements, or novel vaulting types. By contrast, Michelozzo’s references to antiquity are often more varied and direct.

Like large medieval palaces, the Medici Palace was built around a central courtyard. Its lower story is a continuous arcade, the second has windows resembling those of the exterior, and the third was originally and open loggia.

Donatello’s bronze David was first documented in the centre of the courtyard.

About the middle of the 15th century, a new style of living came into fashion among the gentry of central Italy. It began with the Medici. Members of that family took to spending part of the year in the country. At first they stayed at the old fortified farm-houses that had protected their estates in the later Middle Ages. However, they soon began to require something more refined, little country palaces where they could relax, entertain friends, read and hear music. The fortified Medici villa at Careggi was remodeled by Michelozzo in the 1430s. The Villa di Careggi was considered the Medici favourite residence; it became headquarters of the Platonic Academy and a place where experts in literature, philosophy and art came to gather. Lorenzo the Magnificent died here.

View the ground plan of Villa Medicea, Careggi.

The fortified Medici villa at Careggi was remodeled by Michelozzo in the 1430s. Michelozzo elaborated the villa with a loggia that barely tamed its castle-like design.

View the ground plan of Villa Medicea, Careggi.

The tomb monument of Cardinal Brancacci (most likely related to Felice Brancacci, the commissioner of Masaccio’s and Masolino’s frescoes in the Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence) is the work of Donatello and Michelozzo, carved largely in a workshop Donatello set up in Pisa and then assembled in Naples. It is a mix of Florentine and Neapolitan elements, an exported style conforming to local traditions. The classical, fluted columns, paired pilasters, classicising caryatid figures carrying the tomb chest, and the schiacciato relief decorating the chest are characteristic Florentine art, but the shape of the tomb with its baldachin-like architectural frame and the angels standing behind the figure of the dead cardinal and pulling apart the draperies as if to reveal it are typical of Neapolitan tombs.

The work was presumably started in Rainaldo Brancacci’s lifetime who died on 5 June 1427. It is not innovative to the same extent as the anti-pope monument in Florence, and it is likely that Michelozzo was mainly responsible for its design and construction. Only the relief of the Assumption of the Virgin can definitely attributed to Donatello.

The Brancaccio tomb in Sant’Angelo a Nilo is an example of the floor-standing baldacchino type, based on Angevin tombs as well as Roman examples, reinterpreted in an early Renaissance architectural vocabulary usually attributed to Michelozzo. The sarcophagus, surmounted by a canopy supported by composite columns, is carried by marble caryatids - a favourite motif in Neapolitan tombs - which are probably the work of Michelozzo. Their identities are still uncertain, being either Christian Virtues or Classical Fates, although they appear to derive from Roman reliefs of religious processions but with an added movement that appears to capture an instant in the funeral ceremony. The simplification of the angular figures recalls both classical prototypes, especially their idealized heads, and the work of other 14th-century artists such as Giovanni Pisano.

Michelozzo worked together with Donatello on the Monument to Cardinal Brancacci in Naples. Most of the marble figures, among them the present Virtue, are by Michelozzo.

Donatello entered into a type of workshop partnership with Michelozzo in 1425. Both artists worked together right into the 1430s on a whole series of extensive projects which included the funeral monument to the anti-pope John XXIII. The artists positioned the funeral monument between two columns inside the Baptistery. In the lower zone, in relief, the figures of Faith, Love and Hope are portrayed. Above it, supported by four corbels, is the dead man’s sarcophagus which serves as a base for a bier. This manner of lying in state was unknown to funeral sculpture of the Trecento. The funeral monument is canopied by a curtain that is raised to a peak, emphasizing the theatrical quality of the scene. Above the dead man, a relief depicting the Madonna with Child can be seen.

The overall design of the monument is from Donatello, but in the execution he was heavily assisted by Michelozzo. The bronze effigy is certainly by Donatello, the marble reliefs of the Madonna with Child and the Virtues are by Michelozzo.

Given its enormous size and the magnificent diversity of its structuring, this work became the the precurzor of an entire seriesd of later funeral monuments, whwich were erected in Florenece - mainly in Santa Croce - during the Quattrocento.

The Funeral Monument to John XXIII was the result of a cooperation between Donatello and Michelozzo. The overall design is from Donatello, but in the execution he was heavily assisted by Michelozzo. The bronze effigy is certainly by Donatello, the marble reliefs of the Madonna with Child and the Virtues are by Michelozzo.

The Funeral Monument to John XXIII was the result of a cooperation between Donatello and Michelozzo. The overall design is from Donatello, but in the execution he was heavily assisted by Michelozzo. The bronze effigy is certainly by Donatello, the marble reliefs of the Madonna with Child and the Virtues are by Michelozzo.

The Funeral Monument to John XXIII was the result of a cooperation between Donatello and Michelozzo. The overall design is from Donatello, but in the execution he was heavily assisted by Michelozzo. The bronze effigy is certainly by Donatello, the marble reliefs of the Madonna with Child and the Virtues are by Michelozzo.

The picture shows the Virtues.

The Funeral Monument to John XXIII was the result of a cooperation between Donatello and Michelozzo. The overall design is from Donatello, but in the execution he was heavily assisted by Michelozzo. The bronze effigy is certainly by Donatello, the marble reliefs of the Madonna with Child and the Virtues are by Michelozzo.

When the Dominican Order took charge of the dilapidated monastery of San Marco in Florence in 1436, Cosimo de’ Medici hired Michelozzo di Bartolomeo to rebuild it. Cosimo also added a library (which he then helped to fill with books), a cloister, a chapter room, a bell tower, a bronze bell, and church furnishings, including an imposing altarpiece by Fra Angelico for the main altar.

The library is one of the most elegant creations of Michelozzo. It is composed of three aisles of equal height, the outer ones groin-vaulted, the central one roofed by a barrel vault and supported on an airy arcade of delicate Ionic columns; such a combination has no precedent. The effect of perspective recession is very strong. The long narrow design with windows on both sides is created to maximize the availability of natural light; this functional aspect of the architecture would have been more important to the monks who worked in this space - reading, writing, and copying manuscripts - than any of the architectural refinements we admire in the structure today.

This high-relief shows the influence of both Donatello and Ghiberti. The prototype of the half-figure Madonna reliefs is Donatello’s Pazzi Madonna while the face and the garment of the child evoke Ghiberti’s reliefs.

The surviving fragments of the dismembered Aragazzi monument at Montepulciano are almost exclusively the work of Michelozzo.

The picture shows a Virtue, one of the seven fragments of the monument which are displayed on different walls of Montepulciano Cathedral.

This and the companion figure, formed part of the monument of Bartolomeo Aragazzi (c. 1385-1429), poet, humanist and secretary to Pope Martin V, in the Pieve at Montepulciano. When the church was demolished in 1617, the monument was disassembled and never reconstructed. The other portions which have survived are now preserved in the Cathedral at Montepulciano. The monument was commissioned by Aragazzi from the joint studio of Donatello and Michelozzo in or shortly before 1427 and was completed in 1437. All of the surviving sculptures from the tomb are by Michelozzo.

The two Angels may have been set above the effigy of Aragazzi, flanking a statue variously identified as the Risen Christ and St Bartholomew, or beside a Virgin and Child in the lunette. Insufficient evidence survives to allow an accurate reconstruction of the tomb design.

This and the companion figure, formed part of the monument of Bartolomeo Aragazzi (c. 1385-1429), poet, humanist and secretary to Pope Martin V, in the Pieve at Montepulciano. When the church was demolished in 1617, the monument was disassembled and never reconstructed. The other portions which have survived are now preserved in the Cathedral at Montepulciano. The monument was commissioned by Aragazzi from the joint studio of Donatello and Michelozzo in or shortly before 1427 and was completed in 1437. All of the surviving sculptures from the tomb are by Michelozzo.

The two Angels may have been set above the effigy of Aragazzi, flanking a statue variously identified as the Risen Christ and St Bartholomew, or beside a Virgin and Child in the lunette. Insufficient evidence survives to allow an accurate reconstruction of the tomb design.

The surviving fragments of the dismembered Aragazzi monument at Montepulciano are almost exclusively the work of Michelozzo.

The effigy is one of the seven fragments of the monument which are displayed on different walls of Montepulciano Cathedral.

Bartolomeo Aragazzi (c. 1385-1429) was an Italian humanist, secretary and then chancellor to Pope Martin V. He was a pioneering researcher of Classical texts.

Throughout the Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance a major field for sculpture in Italy was the funerary monument, from simple floor slabs to splendid constructions displaying the effigy of the deceased in a magnificent niche-like setting. Donatello and Michelozzo together made such a tomb for Cardinal Baldassare Cossa in the Baptistery in Florence, and Michelozzo made one, now dismembered, for the Aragazzi family in the Tuscan hill town of Montepulciano.

The surviving fragments of the dismembered Aragazzi monument at Montepulciano are almost exclusively the work of Michelozzo. The picture shows the figure of Faith from the Aragazzi tomb. The vigour of Michelozzo’s style and its strong classicism, place him in the second Renaissance style, but closer to Luca della Robbia than to Donatello.

The surviving fragments of the dismembered Aragazzi monument at Montepulciano are almost exclusively the work of Michelozzo.

The two reliefs that decorated the sarcophagus (still in the church, now Montepulciano Cathedral) are closely based on Roman processional reliefs. More dynamic are two reliefs of angels (Victoria and Albert Museum, London) once flanking a full-length male figure, perhaps the risen Christ in Montepulciano Cathedral. The antiquarianism can be related to the cultural background of the patron, Bartolomeo Aragazzi (whose effigy by Michelozzo is also in the cathedral), who, as secretary and then chancellor to Pope Martin V, was a pioneering researcher of Classical texts.

The Aragazzi monument anticipates Bernardo Rossellino’s Bruni monument (1444; Santa Croce, Florence) and Desiderio da Settignano’s Marsuppini monument (c. 1453; Santa Croce, Florence) in associating sculptural antiquarianism with the humanist avant-garde.

The picture shows one of the two reliefs, in which the deceased is presented to the Virgin and Child. The traditional scene is treated in a quite unprecedented fashion: Aragazzi’s mother, the youths portrayed in the first scene and the three children interceding with the Virgin on his behalf.

The surviving fragments of the dismembered Aragazzi monument at Montepulciano are almost exclusively the work of Michelozzo.

The two reliefs that decorated the sarcophagus (still in the church, now Montepulciano Cathedral) are closely based on Roman processional reliefs. More dynamic are two reliefs of angels (Victoria and Albert Museum, London) once flanking a full-length male figure, perhaps the risen Christ in Montepulciano Cathedral. The antiquarianism can be related to the cultural background of the patron, Bartolomeo Aragazzi (whose effigy by Michelozzo is also in the cathedral), who, as secretary and then chancellor to Pope Martin V, was a pioneering researcher of Classical texts.

The Aragazzi monument anticipates Bernardo Rossellino’s Bruni monument (1444; Santa Croce, Florence) and Desiderio da Settignano’s Marsuppini monument (c. 1453; Santa Croce, Florence) in associating sculptural antiquarianism with the humanist avant-garde.

The picture shows one of the two reliefs, in which Bartolomeo Aragazzi Bidding Farewell to his Family. The scene was executed in the manner of a classical sarcophagus. The two reliefs are so rigorously classical that in one the religious content is not immediately discernible, and in the other there is no religious content to discern.

The surviving fragments of the dismembered Aragazzi monument at Montepulciano are almost exclusively the work of Michelozzo.

The picture shows two Virtues of the seven fragments of the monument which are displayed on different walls of Montepulciano Cathedral.

The central courtyard of the Medici Palace is strikingly different from the exterior of the building. Here the novelty of the building becomes obvious in the refined classical detailing of the arcade which completely surrounds the courtyard, and in the sculpted roundels suggesting ancient Roman gems that decorate the frieze above the arcade.

View the ground plan of Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence.

The central courtyard of the Medici Palace is strikingly different from the exterior of the building. Here the novelty of the building becomes obvious in the refined classical detailing of the arcade which completely surrounds the courtyard, and in the sculpted roundels suggesting ancient Roman gems that decorate the frieze above the arcade.

The courtyard portico has Corinthian columns. The graffiti are the work of Maso di Bartolomeo, and the medallions on the architrave above the arches are attributed to Bertoldo. Behind the statue of Orpheus by Bandinelli is the entrance to the garden.

View the ground plan of Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence.

The courtyard was started by Michelozzo in the 15th century and later added to by Vasari: the columns were covered with sumptuous gilt stucco, the vaults were frescoed with grotesques, and the walls were decorated with views of the most important cities of the Austrian Empire. In the centre is Andrea del Verrocchio’s fountain.

The courtyard portico has Corinthian columns. The graffiti are the work of Maso di Bartolomeo, and the medallions on the architrave above the arches are attributed to Bertoldo. Behind the statue of Orpheus by Bandinelli is the entrance to the garden.

The palace Michelozzo designed for Cosimo de’ Medici is striking in its use of extremely heavy rusticated masonry on the ground story, which gives the building a fortress-like aspect - softened in the increasingly refined treatment of surface on the stories above. The rustication of the lower story is typical of Florentine palazzi of the fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries. Yet the extreme heaviness of the rustication and the double lancet windows of the upper stories can be found elsewhere only at the Palazzo della Signoria.

The construction of the Palazzo was started in 1445, commissioned by Cosimo de’ Medici (Il Vecchio), and it was also to serve the Medicis as an administration building in which to conduct their extensive financial and business concerns. During the 17th century, the Riccardi family acquired the palace and commissioned numerous renovations and extensions.

View the ground plan of Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence.

The picture shows the Palazzo Medici Riccardi on the corner of the Via Cavour and the Via de’ Gori with the Medici arms on the corner and the arches of the enclosed loggia, with windows by Michelangelo.

After the Prato pulpit, a joint project with Donatello, Michelozzo became increasingly engrossed in a large architectural practice, especially for Cosimo de’ Medici. The Medici Palace was seen by contemporaries, despite its traditional features, as ‘comparable to the works of the Roman Emperors’ (Flavio Biondo).

View the axonometric section of Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence.

The picture shows the general view of the enclosed garden of the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, to a design by Michelozzo.

View the ground plan of Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence.

The Pulpit for the exterior facade of the Cathedral in Prato, begun in 1428 and after long pauses finished ten years later, was executed by Donatello together with Pagno di Lapo and Michelozzo. Donatello was responsible for the architecture and the putti. Presently displayed in the Museum of the Opera del Duomo of Prato, it has been replaced on the outside with a copy.

The picture shows the figure of St John the Baptist on the front face of the silver altar commissioned in 1366 from the goldsmiths Leonardo di ser Giovanni and Betto di Geri by the Arte del Calimala for the Baptistery in Florence. The central niche figure of St John the Baptist was added to the altar in 1452, the sculptor is Michelozzo di Bartolomeo. This statuette is in the central niche of the altar, framed with relief scenes from the life of St John the Baptist.

Pope Martin V (1369-1431), born Oddone Colonna, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1417 to his death. His election effectively ended the Western Schism (1378–1417). He was buried in the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano where he held also the office of the dean.

Michelozzo’s authorship of the tomb is not universally accepted.

Michelozzo was a nobleman by birth. He was a first-rate sculptor and carver of reliefs in marble and other stone.

The Museum of San Marco is located in the former monastery of the Dominicans, constructed by Michelozzo in 1436 on a commission from the Medici ruler Cosimo the Elder. Michelozzo here adheres firmly to the Renaissance forms of Brunelleschi, even though his classicism has none of the other’s passion for archeological research in it. The smooth, flowing lines of the cloister’s arches create effects of light and shade which alternate in the series of vaults. Naturally the religious function and the deliberately spiritual effect of the structure, suggested by the order’s Vicar General and perhaps by Fra Angelico himself, qualify these chiaroscuro and plastic impressions. The history of San Marco is inseparably linked to the figures of the painters, Fra Angelico and Fra Bartolommeo, and the friar Girolamo Savonarola.

About the middle of the 15th century, a new style of living came into fashion among the gentry of central Italy. It began with the Medici. Members of that family took to spending part of the year in the country. At first they stayed at the old fortified farm-houses that had protected their estates in the later Middle Ages. However, they soon began to require something more refined, little country palaces where they could relax, entertain friends, read and hear music. At Cafaggiolo, the Medici castle from the 14th century was transformed in 1452 into a villa following designs of Michelozzo which retained some of the older features of the castle. It became a meeting place for some of the greatest intellectuals of the Italian Renaissance.

Various other works dating between 1445 and 1455 have been attributed to Michelozzo, but with no documentary foundation, although it is possible that he was involved with San Girolamo at Volterra, San Girolamo at Fiesole, the monastery at San Miniato, the Palazzo dello Strozzino (1458–65), Florence.

The Medici villa at Fiesole is also attributed to Michelozzo, although its construction was supervised by Antonio Manetti Ciaccheri (1405–1460). The design, a simple block with a loggia overlooking a terraced garden, reflects a new interest in the villa as a place of rest and culture as described by Cicero and Pliny.