ABSTRACT
Italian city-states of the fifteenth century were flourishing centers of art, literature, commerce, and science. In the early fifteenth century, European culture underwent a process of revitalization that later generations have labeled as the beginning of the modern age. However, the aim of Renaissance Italians was neither to effect a revolutionary break with the past nor to shape a new, more secular society. Renaissance philosophy augmented the confidence that Renaissance people were developing in themselves and their society. Until the fifteenth century Florentine patrician society had avoided wasteful expenditures and extravagance. Florentine pride is also apparent in the sculpture of Donatello. Donatello depicted the ideals of Florentine liberty through his representations of David, in marble and in bronze. Florentine pride is evident in the writings of Leonardo Bruni. Lorenzo Ghiberti received the commission for the doors now installed at the northern entrance of the Baptistery as a result of his victory in a competition.
