CHAPTER II 



FLORENCE— THE BEGINNINGS TO UCCELLO 



It is in Florence that painting begins to free itself from 

 agelong conventions, and to think of the living world 

 and desire to represent it as it is. There in the thir- 

 teenth century the spirit of observation and open-eyed 

 inquiry revived, and grew and extended until it cul- 

 minated in the untrammelled outlook of the sixteenth. 

 There we can trace traditional mysticism becoming modi- 

 fied and gradually giving way to realism. In order to 

 understand the Renaissance proper, in its relation to 

 nature and in its pictorial presentation of it, earlier 

 stages have to be taken into account. 

 Margaritone, Margaritone's Virgin and Child, with scenes from the 

 lives of the Saints (National Gallery), may be taken 

 as a standpoint from which to consider the later paint- 

 ing of nature. Here the traditional requirements of 

 Byzantine art are observed ; to some extent the things 

 represented are symbols. But Dr. Richter says that 

 Margaritone's pictures appear to him "to be drawn in 

 the wild and grotesque style prevalent in Italy during 



10 



1216-1293 



