Cleveland Museum of Art

By the beginning of the 15th century, Florence was establishing itself as a city celebrated for its art and renowned for its artists. Brunelleschi’s Dome, one of the great architectural achievements of the age, towered above the Cathedral and cast its shadow over the city. Artists like Masaccio, Fra Angelico, Donatello, Botticelli and Verrocchio developed innovative approaches to painting, sculpture and architecture. Nurtured by civic and private patrons and fuelled by rivalry among themselves, these and other artists transformed the physical fabric of the city, laying the foundation for a remarkable epoch in art history.

With Florentine territory expanding, many of these same artists were called to produce work that would visibly connect these new dependencies with the city. Works of art forged within the city’s burgeoning arts scene were exported beyond Florentine territory, exchanged as diplomatic gifts, and valued as commodities in which the visual arts emerged as a valued currency. By the early 16th century, Florence and its artists were recognized as accomplished in courts and cities well beyond the confines of Florentine territories. Major commissions followed, exporting Florentine political ideals and artistic inventions well beyond the Arno River Valley. This exhibition examines the work of Florentine artists abroad through a select group of major works and commissions, considering what it meant to be “Made in Florence.”