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Art of Florence

Florence is one of the best cities in the world for art enthusiasts. Known as the birthplace of the Renaissance, the galleries and museums of Florence are full of world-famous Renaissance masterpieces.

Gallery

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Famous Florentine Artists

Raphael

Man with black hat.

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Raphael, or Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, was an Italian painter and architect during the High Renaissance period. Despite his early death at age 37, Raphael ran an incredibly busy workshop and is considered one of the great masters of the High Renaissance period. 

Born in Urbino in the Marche region. Raphael’s earliest work began in Florence learning the artistic traditions of the region.

Artefacts

Botticelli

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Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, or Sandro Botticelli, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance period. He produced a great deal of ecclesiastical work, such as the well-known Madonna and Child. However, two of his best know paintings are housed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence; The Birth of Venus and Primavera.

Botticelli spent his entire life in Florence, except for short spells of work in Pisa and on the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Initially trained as a goldsmith, due to his father’s profession, Botticelli later apprenticed with Fra Filippo Lippi, one of Florence’s leading painters.

Artefacts

Botticelli

Leonardo da Vinci

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Leonardo da Vinci was a truly remarkable and unusual man, present and working in the High Renaissance period. He was what is referred to as a polymath, a person whose skills and knowledge span several subjects. During his life, Leonardo worked as a successful painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. He also kept notebooks on anatomy, astronomy, botany, cartography, painting, and paleontology.

Leonardo was born out of wed-lock in Vinci, just 20 miles from Florence. At 14, he began his studies under the accomplished painter, Andrea del Verrochio. As a young painter he was exposed to a range of technical skills; drafting, chemistry, metallurgy, metal working, plaster casting, leather working, mechanics, and woodwork. 

Artefacts