LANDSCAPE OF HUMANISM
Authors: Iblova Radmila 
Published: May 2024

The place to live and the living space fundamentally shape each person and the possibilities of their own existence. The landscape of humanism defines an environment where the unique local landscape and architecture inspire people to free their minds from the principles and rules that protect the supremacy of the powerful in a way that invites new exploration.
The landscape of humanism, as conceived in my work, begins to be born during the early 13th century in central Italy. The progenitor who initiated this transformation by his life example is Saint Francis of Assisi. The life of this man subsequently influenced European civilization not only in the spiritual and philosophical sphere, but also in the sphere of material aesthetics, represented by beautiful art and architecture.
The landscape of humanism, thanks to the personal influence of Saint Francis, has helped to give birth to a new creative generation whose works are beginning to speak not only in the local italian language, but at the same time are beginning to use the local landscape and architecture to tell the life stories of people who are not written about in The Bible and who are not the powers of this world. Through this milestone, it is the creative freedom of the new generation that has helped to change the mindset, the rules and the laws of those who set them.
In the landscape of humanism, works whose creators are already known by name and whose authorship can be documented appear in art and architecture. A whole new chapter of art history begins here, as citizen investors appear whose influence on the subject of the artwork is evident. The business relationship between the investor and the artist sets new rules and this collaboration begins to influence the creation and existence of the artwork itself.
The artistic centre of the landscape of humanism is the Florentine Republic, whose exceptionally successful commercial potential in 13th-century Europe granted it an unexpected autonomy and a position of eminence. Florentine Republic was so influenced by the legacy of Saint Francis that it became the cradle of artists who began to write new rules, were personally responsible for their work to the investor, and received financial rewards for their work, of which there is already written evidence. Florence is the city that is the cradle of a new generation of artists able to author the expression of their work for their client.
The personalities who transformed central Italy into a landscape of humanism, and at the same time represent the artistic beginning of the liberation of the mind and spirit from the dictates of the times, are the subject of this work. The authorial differences of the selected artists, differing in their elaboration and in the way of depicting the same assignment, are the purpose of my thesis. The aim of this thesis is to present the landscape of humanism through the artists whose works of art represent this transformation, which at the same time has provided artists with a dignified and desirable place in the hierarchy of the society. The artists working in the landscape of humanism that will be examined in my thesis are Bonaventura Berlinghieri, Coppo di Marcovaldo, Giunta Pisano and Cimabue.