About the Artist

         Filippo Brunelleschi was born in Florence, Italy in 1377.  He was trained as a goldsmith; in 1398 he passed the test of becoming a master guild goldsmith.  Not soon after Brunelleschi found a hidden passion and talent for mathematics and architecture.  After becoming friends with a well known sculptor, Donatello, Brunelleschi continued his studies as an architect in Rome.  He constructed some of the greatest architectural pieces of the Renaissance which are still standing.  Today he is still known as a famous Renaissance architect.  Filippo Brunelleschi died April 16, 1466, at the age of sixty-nine.  Today he lies under the floor of the Cathedral of Florence.

http://www.gap-system.org/~history/PictDisplay/Brunelleschi.html

·         The church of San Lorenzo

·         The church of San Spirito

·         The Pazzi Chapel

·         Santa Maria degli Angeli (in 1436)

·         The Pitti Palace

·         The Palazzo Quaratesi

·         Loggia at San Pero a Grada (near Piza)

·         The Cathedral of Florence

·         The Foundling Hospital (also known as Ospedale degli Innocenti)

·         The Sacrifice of Isaac

http://www.patentlessons.com/Lesson%203%20the%20specification.htm

http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/ashp/brunelleschi_ghiberti.html

The History

One of Brunelleschi’s most famous works of carpentry is the Sacrifice of Isaac.  The piece tells the story of Isaac being sacrificed by Abraham.  This is a well known bible story of sacrifice.  Brunelleschi made this panel in 1401, in Florence, Italy. He made it for a contest to make the bronze baptistery doors for the Florence Cathedral.  This contest was announced by the Oprera de Duomo( the Board of Works).The competitors were given one year to complete a panel for the contest.  Of the seven competitors, Brunelleschi and Lorenzo Ghiberti were given commission to build the doors.  Brunelleschi, refusing to share the duty, withdrew, claiming Ghiberti as the winner.  The panel was made of bronze and today is in Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence.

Brunelleschi was one of the first to show realism, you can see this by the people and animals in the panel.  There are both spiritual and materialistic matters in the panel.  The angel at the top is spiritual and the people and animals at the bottom are materialistic. As you can see the panel is filled with more materialistic matters than spiritual.  This relates to one of the Renaissance values, secularism.  

The darkness and lightness of the bronze is like a shading effect. This adds to the three dimensional part of the panel. The darkness of the background makes the people and objects stand out more.

Speaking of standing out, there is depth between people and objects.  As you can on the picture to the right there is depth between the donkey and the stand Isaac is on.  This affect adds to the realism of the panel. 

Brunelleschi did a fine job of balancing the panel of bronze.  Isaac is the main character of the piece; therefore, he is in the center while everyone else is circled around him. Because of this, Isaac is the focal point.

Only two people in the painting are actually facing or interacting with Isaac (Abraham and the angel at the top).  This tells me, not many people want to, or even know about the sacrifice that is going on.  Everyone is continuing with their daily routines as this event is happening.  The views can also get a feel for his by the way the panel is sculpted.

There is depth between the horse and the stand.

http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/ashp/brunelleschi_ghiberti.html

There is a lot of detail such as, Abraham's beard and his clothing.

http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/ashp/brunelleschi_ghiberti.html

Influence

Filippo Brunelleschi was one of the most famous architects of the Renaissance.  He made a huge impact in architecture as well as influenced some of the great minds that came after him such as, Michelangelo and Donato Bramante.   He developed a method of having depth on a flat surface ¹ and a single vanishing point².  Even though The Sacrifice of Isaac panel did not win the contest for Brunelleschi it left an impact in history and is still talked about today.

Notes

	1Amy and Marcia "Filippo Brunelleschi ." Renaissance Personalities. 13 May 1997.Riverdale Junior Secondary School. 21 Jan. 2007 

<http://www.yesnet.yk.ca/schools/projects/renaissance/brunelleschi.html>.

	2Kren, Emil and Daniel Marx. "Brunelleschi, Filippo." Web Gallery of Art. Oct.1996. 16 Jan. 2007 

<http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/bio/b/brunelle/biograph.html>.

Bibliography 

"Brunelleschi, Filippo." Compton's by Britannica. 2007. Encyclopedia Britannica Online School Edition. 21 Jan.  2007                                 <http://school.eb.com/all/comptons/article-197920> 

Amy and Marcia "Filippo Brunelleschi ." Renaissance Personalities. 13 May 1997.

Riverdale Junior Secondary School. 21 Jan. 2007 <http://www.yesnet.yk.ca/schools/projects/renaissance/brunelleschi.html>. 

Kren, Emil and Daniel Marx. "Brunelleschi, Filippo." Web Gallery of Art. Oct.

1996. 16 Jan. 2007 <http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/bio/b/brunelle/biograph.html>.  

Walker, Paul Robert. The Feud that Sparked the Renaissance. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2002.