Called "the Father of Renaissance Painting," Giotto was one of the first artists to venture into the field of fresco painting. The Gift of The Mantle is piece that represents his incredible sense of depth.

People were amazed upon seeing the new Renaissance art. They had never seen anything like it before. It was innovative in its design and controversial in its subjects. The new art was both realistic and beautiful. The city of Florence became the center of one of the most concentrated and productive periods in the history of the arts.

The most significant innovation in painting during the Renaissance was the use of linear perspective. Painting from the Middle Ages did not have a realistic sense of depth and tended to look flat. Early Renaissance artists developed a system for creating depth using the horizon line and the vanishing point.

One of the first artists to paint with a believable sense of depth was Giotto (1267-1337), although his works did not employ the system of linear perspective. Sometimes called the "Father of Renaissance painting," Giotto was also a pioneer in the field of fresco painting. Frescos are works that are painted onto wet plaster, which then hardens. This process seals the painting into the plaster wall. Later, artists such as Brunelleschi (1377-1446) and Masaccio (1401-1428) helped develop the science of linear perspective.

Brunelleschi was chosen to design the duomo (dome) for the Cathedral of Florence. This magnificent creation continues to dominate the Florence skyline and attract visitors from around the world.

A new energy and excitement grew as artists and city-states competed against one another to see who could produce the finest works. In Florence, the city leaders held a competition to see who would sculpt the doors to the city's Baptistery. The field of competitors was narrowed down to two: Brunelleschi and Ghiberti (1378-1455). Each man submitted a carved panel for the judging. In the end, Ghiberti won and spent more than 25 years carving the enormous bronze doors.

Later, Michelangelo (1475-1564) dubbed the Baptistery doors as worthy of being the gates to paradise. Although the door's carvings are only a few inches deep, Ghiberti successfully created a sense of tremendous depth and space. Ghiberti also carved a small likeness of himself into the doors. This act clearly demonstrates the rising importance of the artist, a phenomenon also seen in the new practice of artists signing their works.

Although he lost the competition to carve the Baptistery doors, Brunelleschi won the commission to design and build the dome on Florence's central cathedral or Duomo (Santa Maria del Fiore).

The Bargello, Florence, Italy

Donatello's David resonates with political meaning. David came to symbolize the Florentine Republic, in conflict with more powerful enemies, yet still favored by God.

For years the Duomo had a large hole in the top of it because none of the architectural techniques of the day could handle this huge project. Brunelleschi's design which involved building two domes on top of each other, was not only successful, but can be described only as architectural genius. Today, his dome dominates the skyline of Florence and is still one of the largest free-standing domes in the world.

Another artist of importance in the early Renaissance was Donatello (1386?-1466) who worked mainly as a sculptor. Donatello sculpted the first free-standing nude since the times of Ancient Greece and Rome. The statue, David, depicts an adolescent David with the severed head of his Biblical foe, Goliath, lying at his feet. The statue is realistic and anatomically accurate, a general characteristic of most Renaissance art. David is also modeled after the Ancient Greek and Roman statues, a revival the classical past.