Proto-Renaissance (The Trecento) | The Beginnings of Italian Renaissance Art
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Adoration of the Magi (detail) 1423 by Gentile da Fabriano,
Proto-Renaissance/Trecento painting,
tempera on wood, 300 x 282 cm
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
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The Proto-Renaissance or Trecento (from Italian "mille trecento," 1300) refers to
Italian culture of the 14th century. It was in the Proto-Renaissance that the ornamental, very detailed, International
Gothic style of painting by artists like Gentile da Fabriano was in full bloom. The Proto-Renaissance style of painting and
sculpture was shortly to change, however. Brewing in the Proto-Renaissance was a new style, more simple and classical which
would revolutionize the art world. It is during the Proto-Renaissance that we see the beginnings of Early Renaissance Art in Italy.
Proto-Renaissance or Trecento painters like Giotto di
Bondone and others were active during this time. Proto-Renaissance artists laid a solid groundwork upon which
later artists were able to build. The Proto-Renaissance or Trecento was also a time of extraordinary literary achievement, with
Proto-Renaissance/Trecento writers like Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio leading the field.
Brenda Harness, Art Historian
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