Geometry and myth : A European History of Institutions study of a convergence between art and law during the Renaissance : Examples the cities of Florence and Mantua

• Main Author: Crestini, Anthony
• Other Authors: Centre d'Études Internationales sur la Romanité - EA 4227 (CEIR), La Rochelle Université (ULR), Université de La Rochelle, Università degli studi Roma Tre, Jacques Bouineau, Paolo Alvazzi Del Frate
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: French
• Published: HAL CCSD 2021
• Subjects: Renaissance; European history of institutions; Legal Iconography; Florence; Mantua; 15th century; 16th century; Sovereignty; Res publica; Res imperii; Power; Maniera; Geometry; Myth; Perspective; Histoire européenne des institutions; Iconologie juridique; Mantoue; XVe siècle; XVIe siècle; Souveraineté; Pouvoir; Géométrie; Mythe; Rinascimento; Storia europea delle istituzioni; Iconologia giuridica; Firenze; Mantova; XV secolo; XVI secolo; Sovranità; Potere; Geometria; Mito; Prospettiva; [SHS.DROIT]Humanities and Social Sciences/Law; [SHS.HIST]Humanities and Social Sciences/History; Jules; Minnows; The Minnows
• Online Access: https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-03642015; https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-03642015/document; https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-03642015/file/2021Crestini178344.pdf

Since its invention by Jules Michelet, the Renaissance has been given precise forms and meaning by historians : it spanned from the 15th to the 16th century and re-awakends Antiquity in order to give the modern world a new impetus. Men who lived before these times are sometimes seen as being deep in tenebris, in an « average age », deprived of Antiquity and freedom : they are the minnows mentionned by Bernard de Chartres, but, with their feet still in muck, they had to wait for the Renaissance to be able to stand on the shoulders of giants. However, are we certain about this ? We can start by wondering if the Renaissance is really the harmonious ensemble that is often presented. Using analysis methods in which art and law meet, we have studied the formation of the cities in the peninsula from the 12th century to the 16th century, along with their institutions, laws, customs, and the visual aspect that are described by city planning and representational arts. The legal and diplomatic sources (such as city statutes, judicial authorities registers, and letters from men of power) tell us that there actually were several « Renaissances » : it is obviously true that the cities in the peninsula used both the legal realism of the Ancients and Roman law, but they also created and developed rather different models. Two of them seem relevant : in the first one, which was named « Florentine res publica » by Leonardo Bruni, the power is given to the citizens of the res, and a civic humanism centered on the figure of Cicero is established. The second one, which we have named res imperii, is rooted in Mantua : the power is attributed to the prince, thus developing a form of court humanism. From an artistic perspective, the city planning of these two types of cities, their paintings, sculptures, and architectures differ entirely. Above all these models allow the association of the judicial and artistic forms, considering that, during the Renaissance, the power of representation was at the service of the representation of power. ...