Minor Arts of the Renaissance in the Museo Cristiano

Abstract

The rise of conscious aestheticism characteristic of the Italian Renaissance was a dominant factor in the development of the minor arts of the period. As in mediaeval times, sculptors and goldsmiths continued to make the crosses and other objects necessary for the service of the Church, and to portray the traditional religious themes. But they also began to produce small pieces of all kinds which were valued as independent works of art regardless of their function or the content implicit in the subject matter. One of the chief manifestations of this new type of minor art was the rise of the plaquette and the statuette. In the beginning this type of Kleinplastik preserved sufficient content and interest in subject matter to balance the aesthetic interest. But this content was gradually lost and the art declined to a purely decorative level. In the objects of the minor arts of the Renaissance in the Museo Cristiano of the Vatican Library can be seen the various phases of development of the art of miniature ...