The term “Quattrocento” refers to the 15th century in art, but also in literature, in Italy, that is, the years 1400 to 1499. This is, however, mainly the style of the early Italian Renaissance, the beginning of which dates back to the year 1420 (see Literaturepochen). Further centuries related to the Italian Renaissance are therefore described by (art) historians as Duecento, Trecento, Quattrocento, Cinquecento and Seicento.The term is based on the Italian numerical word quattrocento, which can be translated with four hundred, which is a shortening since the year 400 is not meant, but 1400, that is, the fifteenth century, and therefore the Italian early Renaissance.
The fresco Renaissance was the first phase of the Renaissance and dates back to the beginning of the 15th century, with its beginnings in Florence. It was followed by the Gothic period, the period after that being referred to as a high Renaissance, followed by the late renaissance. The High Renaissance is conceived under the term Cinquecento. The first approaches in the 13th / 14th Century is called Trecento or Protorenaissance.
Typical features of the art of this period are the so-called central perspective, to which even mathematical laws were formulated, and, of course, the revival of ancient art, which is always the dominant motif in the Renaissance. The central point is the circumstance that the room surfaces in a plant flee into a point. Thus, the aspect is taken into account that objects which are further removed appear smaller, which made the art of that time much more realistic. Mythological as well as religious representations are typical for the painting of this time.
Sando Botticelli’s proclamation is a typical example of art in the Quattrocento
Boticelli’s proclamation is a typical example of art in the Quattrocento
The example shown is a painting by Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510), an Italian painter of the Frühraissance. It shows the Annunciation to Mary. The Annunciation refers to the fact that Mary is proclaimed in the New Testament of the Bible by the angel Gabriel, that she is to become the mother of Jesus Christ. Maria is on the right in the picture, on the left we see an angel.
Particularly noteworthy is the outlook in the background: the depiction of the fleeing architecture, although this is hardly connected with the rest of the picture. The Annunciation to Mary is also one of the most frequent motifs of the early Renaissance, which can be discovered in numerous works of Florentine painting. Nevertheless, the fleeing of the background, so that the depicted becomes smaller in the background, is a typical feature of the art in the Italian Quattrocento.
Representatives of the Quattrocentos
Andrea del Castagno
Andrea del Verrocchio
Andrea della Robbia
Andrea Mantegna
Antonello da Messina
Antoniazzo Romano
Antonio Pollaiuolo
Antonio Rossellino
Benozzo Gozzoli
Bertoldo di Giovanni
Carlo Crivelli
Cosimo Tura
Desiderio da Settignano
Domenico di Bartolo
Domenico Ghirlandaio
Domenico Veneziano
Donatello
Ercole de ‘Roberti
Filippo Brunelleschi
Filippo Lippi
Fra Angelico
Francesco del Cossa
Francesco di Giorgio
Francesco Squarcione
Gentile Bellini
Gentile da Fabriano
Giovanni Bellini
Giovanni di Paolo
Jacopo Bellini
Justus of Ghent
Leonardo da Vinci
Lorenzo Ghiberti
Luca della Robbia
Luca Signorelli
Luciano Laurana
Masaccio
Masolino
Melozzo da Forlì
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni
Paolo Uccello
Pedro Berruguete
Piero della Francesca
Pietro Perugino
Sandro Botticelli
Il Sassetta
Vecchietta
Vittore Carpaccio
Vittore Crivelli