Art
Visual arts, literature and music.
Category: Culture
- c. 435 BCEPhidias's statue of Zeus at Olympia
Around 435 BCE Phidias makes the seated statue of Zeus for his temple at Olympia, some 12 metres high, of ivory and gold on a wooden frame. It becomes one of the Seven Wonders. Its end is unknown, perhaps a fire in the 5th century CE.
- 356 BCEThe Temple of Artemis at Ephesus burns
Built about 550 BCE with funds from Croesus of Lydia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus is burned in 356 BCE. Tradition blames Herostratus and says it was the night Alexander was born. The Ephesians refuse Alexander's offer to pay for the rebuilding.
- 353 BCEThe Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
After the satrap Mausolus dies in 353 BCE, his sister-wife Artemisia II commissions his tomb at Halicarnassus, about 43-45 metres high, with sculpture by four Greek artists. It becomes a Wonder of the World and gives us the word "mausoleum".
- c. 292 BCEThe Colossus of Rhodes
The Colossus of Rhodes, a bronze statue of about 33 metres by Chares of Lindos, is begun about 292 BCE and finished in 280. An earthquake topples it in 226. The image of it straddling the harbour is unsupported.
- c. 166 BCEThe Great Altar of Pergamon
Under Eumenes II the Pergamon Altar is built in the first half of the 2nd century BCE, probably about 166-156. Its frieze shows the gods fighting the Giants, and an inner frieze tells the story of Telephus. It was excavated by Carl Humann from 1878.
- c. 700Codex Amiatinus, the oldest complete Vulgate, is made in Northumbria
Ordered by Abbot Ceolfrith in 692 and made at Monkwearmouth–Jarrow around 700, the Codex Amiatinus is the oldest complete Vulgate Bible. It leaves for Italy in 716 and is now in Florence.
- c. 1298 – 1299Marco Polo dictates his Travels to Rustichello da Pisa in a Genoese prison
Held prisoner by Genoa, Polo dictates an account of his journeys to the romance writer Rustichello da Pisa. The book, in French, is later known as Il Milione. Tradition links his capture to Curzola (1298).
- c. 1302Francesco Pipino translates Marco Polo's Travels into Latin
The Dominican friar Francesco Pipino produces a Latin version of the Travels, one of the earliest translations and a source for the book's wide circulation in manuscript across Europe.
- 1377Death of Guillaume de Machaut
The composer and poet Guillaume de Machaut died, probably in April 1377. Musicologists often use his death to mark the end of the ars nova and the start of the ars subtilior.
- 1420 – March 25, 1436Brunelleschi builds the dome of Florence Cathedral
Construction of Filippo Brunelleschi's dome over Florence Cathedral begins in 1420. Pope Eugene IV consecrates the church with the completed dome on 25 March 1436.
- c. 1435Alberti writes De pictura, setting out linear perspective
Leon Battista Alberti writes his treatise on painting, De pictura (Della pittura in Italian), setting out the rules of linear perspective and crediting Brunelleschi. Sources date the versions between 1435 and 1441.
- 1444 – 1484Cosimo de' Medici has Michelozzo build the Palazzo Medici
Construction of the Palazzo Medici, designed by Michelozzo for Cosimo de' Medici, begins in 1444 and runs to 1484. It is the family's main residence until Piero de' Medici is exiled in 1494.
- c. 1455Gutenberg Bible printed
Movable-type printing in Mainz produces the first major book in Europe.
- c. 1467Leonardo apprenticed to Verrocchio
At about fifteen, Leonardo is sent to Florence to train under the artist Andrea del Verrocchio. Sources date the start anywhere from 1464 to the late 1460s.
- 1468Cardinal Bessarion gives his Greek manuscripts to Venice
Basilios Bessarion, a Greek refugee cardinal, donates his library of Greek and Latin manuscripts to the Republic of Venice (letter of 31 May 1468); it becomes the core of the Marciana library and a hub for Greek learning in Italy.
- 1472Leonardo joins the Florentine painters' guild
Leonardo is accepted into the painters' guild of Florence.
- 1473 – August 15, 1483Sixtus IV builds the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican
Built for Pope Sixtus IV between 1473 and 1481, the chapel receives wall frescoes by Botticelli, Perugino, Ghirlandaio and Rosselli in 1481–82. It is consecrated on 15 August 1483.
- c. 1482Leonardo moves to Milan
Leonardo leaves Florence for Milan and finds work at the court of the Sforza family. Most sources say 1482; the National Gallery gives about 1482-3.
- 1483Van der Goes's Portinari Altarpiece arrives in Florence
Hugo van der Goes's oil triptych, painted in Flanders for the Portinari family, is installed in Florence in 1483. Florentine painters admire and imitate it, as Ghirlandaio does in 1485.
- c. 1485Botticelli paints The Birth of Venus, later at the Medici villa of Castello
Sandro Botticelli paints The Birth of Venus, probably in the mid-1480s (c. 1484–86). It hung at the Medici Villa di Castello, though no record of its commission survives and the old attribution to Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco is now doubted.
- 1489 – April 8, 1492The young Michelangelo joins Lorenzo de' Medici's household
In 1489 Lorenzo de' Medici asks Ghirlandaio for his two best pupils, and Michelangelo and Francesco Granacci are sent. Michelangelo stays with the Medici until Lorenzo's death in 1492 and attends the Medici Platonic Academy.
- c. 1490Leonardo draws the Vitruvian Man
Leonardo draws a male figure inscribed in a circle and a square, a study of ideal human proportions, probably in Milan.
- April 8, 1492Death of Lorenzo de' Medici, 'the Magnificent'
Lorenzo de' Medici dies at the family villa of Careggi on 8 April 1492. He had patronised Botticelli and the humanists Ficino, Landino and Poliziano; his son Piero succeeds him, and the Medici are expelled in 1494.
- c. 1495 – 1498Leonardo paints The Last Supper
For Duke Ludovico Sforza, Leonardo paints The Last Supper on a wall of the Santa Maria delle Grazie convent in Milan. The exact dates are undocumented; sources range from 1493 to 1498.
- February 7, 1497Savonarola's followers burn the 'vanities' in Florence
On Shrove Tuesday, 7 February 1497, followers of Girolamo Savonarola burn mirrors, cosmetics, playing cards, musical instruments, books and artworks in Florence's public square.
- c. 1503Florence commissions The Battle of Anghiari
The Florentine Republic commissions Leonardo to paint a mural in the Palazzo Vecchio. He leaves it unfinished in 1505. Sources date the commission to October 1503 or to 1504.
- c. 1503Leonardo begins the Mona Lisa
Leonardo da Vinci starts the portrait now hung in the Louvre.
- April 18, 1506Julius II lays the foundation stone of the new St. Peter's Basilica
On 18 April 1506 Pope Julius II lays the foundation stone of a new basilica in Rome, to Donato Bramante's design. It replaces the fourth-century church of Constantine, which had stood for more than a thousand years.
- 1508 – October 31, 1512Michelangelo paints the Sistine Chapel ceiling for Julius II
Commissioned by Pope Julius II in 1508, Michelangelo paints nine scenes from Genesis, with prophets and sibyls, on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. The full work is unveiled on 31 October 1512.
- March 9, 1513Giovanni de' Medici is elected Pope Leo X
Giovanni de' Medici, second son of Lorenzo the Magnificent and a cardinal since the age of 13, is elected pope on 9 March 1513. He backs Raphael's work in the Vatican and on St. Peter's.
- August 27, 1521Death of Josquin des Prez at Condé-sur-l'Escaut
Josquin des Prez, the most celebrated composer of his generation, died on 27 August 1521 at Condé-sur-l'Escaut in Hainaut.
- 1536 – 1541Michelangelo paints the Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel
Michelangelo paints the Last Judgment on the Sistine Chapel's altar wall between 1536 and 1541, begun for Clement VII and completed under Paul III. Critics attack its nudity, and Daniele da Volterra later paints drapery over nearly 40 figures.
- January 1537Cosimo I becomes Duke of Florence after Alessandro's assassination
After his cousin Alessandro is murdered on 6 January 1537, Cosimo I de' Medici, aged 17, succeeds him as Duke of Florence. He strengthens Medici power, expands Florentine territory and becomes a major patron of the arts.
- 1560 – 1581Cosimo I has Vasari build the Uffizi in Florence
Giorgio Vasari begins the Uffizi in 1560 for Cosimo I, housing Florence's magistracies and guilds under one roof; it is completed in 1581. Its top floor becomes the Medici gallery, and it opens to the public in 1769.
- 1579The Corral de la Cruz opens as Madrid's first permanent theatre
Built in 1579, the Corral de la Cruz becomes Madrid's first permanent playhouse. Such open-air corrales de comedias gave Golden Age drama a stable public stage.
- February 24, 1607Monteverdi's L'Orfeo premieres at the Gonzaga court in Mantua
Claudio Monteverdi's opera, to a libretto by Alessandro Striggio, was first performed on 24 February 1607 for Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga. It is the earliest opera still regularly staged.
- 1609Lope de Vega sets out his rules for the new Spanish drama
Lope de Vega's verse treatise Arte nuevo de hacer comedias (1609) defends mixing tragedy and comedy and breaking the classical unities. It codifies the comedia nueva.
- c. 1613Luis de Góngora writes the Soledades, peak of culteranismo
Góngora composes the Soledades c. 1613, a dense, Latinate poem that circulates in manuscript. It defines culteranismo and sparks a long literary feud with Quevedo.
- c. 1630Tirso de Molina's El burlador de Sevilla introduces Don Juan
El burlador de Sevilla, attributed to Tirso de Molina and dated c. 1630, stages the first literary version of the Don Juan legend, a seducer punished by a stone guest.
- c. 1635Calderón de la Barca writes La vida es sueño
Pedro Calderón de la Barca's philosophical drama La vida es sueño, written c. 1635 and printed in 1636, explores fate and free will. It is a high point of Spanish Baroque theatre.
- 1637Teatro San Cassiano opens in Venice as the first public opera house
Opened in 1637 with Francesco Manelli's L'Andromeda, it was the first theatre to sell opera tickets to a paying public, moving the art form from courts to a commercial audience.
- November 29, 1643Death of Claudio Monteverdi in Venice
Monteverdi died on 29 November 1643, the year his last opera, L'incoronazione di Poppea, was first staged in Venice. He is the central figure in the passage from Renaissance to Baroque music.
- 1682Louis XIV moves the royal court to Versailles
Louis XIV made the palace of Versailles the permanent seat of the court and government, drawing the high nobility into ceremonial life under royal supervision.