Origins of Italian Guilds

• Roman collegia

• Most likely preserved in fall of Rome

• Mercanzia in 10th century – mother guild

Role of the Guilds

• Monopoly economic power

• Guardians of knowledge

• Provided social structure and managerial support eg. wages, terms of sale, contract making etc.

• Participated in government

Changes During the Renaissance

• Renaissance a period of decline for guilds

• Expanding power of the state

• Expanding markets (growth of aristocracy)

Arti Maggiori (Greater Guilds)

• Arte di Calimala (Wool/Import Merchants)• Arte della Lana (Woolworkers)• Arte del Cambio (Bankers)• Arte dei Giudici e Notai (Judges and Notaries)• Arte della Seta (Silk Weavers/Goldsmiths)• Arte dei Medici e Speziali (Physicians and

Pharmacists)• Arte dei Vaiai e Pellicciai (Furriers)

Arti Minori (Minor Guilds)

• Butchers• Shoe Makers• Tavern Keepers• Tanners• Salt and Cheese• Harness Makers• Masons• Bakers

• Blacksmiths• Carpenters• Hotel Keepers• Oil Merchants• Linen Manufacturers• Armor Makers• Locksmiths

• Members of the Greater Guilds were called popolo grasso (fat people)

• Members of the Minor Guilds were called popolo minuto (little people)

The Baptism of Christ by Andrea del Verrocchio (angels painted by da Vinci)

Guilds for Artists…

• Medici e Speziali (Physicians and Pharmacists) - for painters

• Arte de Pietra e Legname (Carpenters, Stone and Woodworkers) - for sculptors

• Arte Della Seta (Silk Weavers) for bronze sculptors

Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper, commissioned by his patron Duke Ludovico Sforza and painted in the refectory of the convent

of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan

One of da Vinci’s designs for an ornithopter, designed while the maestro worked for Ludovico Sforza

Detail of God, from Michelangelo’s fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, commissioned by Pope Julius II

Orsanmichele

• 1. Giambologna, St. Luke, marble• 2. Verrocchio, Doubting Thomas, bronze• 3. Ghiberti, St. John the Baptist, bronze• 4. St. John the Evangelist• 5. Simone di Ferruci, Virgin and Child,

marble• 6. St. James, marble• 7. Donatello, St. Mark, marble• 8. Nanni di Banco, St. Eligius, marble• 9. Ghiberti, St. Stephen, bronze• 10. Ghiberti, St. Matthew, bronze• 11. Donatello, St. George, marble• 12. Nanni di Banco, Quattro Coronati,

marble• 13. Nanni di Banco, St. Phillip,• marble• 14. Ciuffagni, St. Peter, marble

•Each guild established rules of behavior and quality for their members.

•Members of guilds had full benefits of citizenship.

•Despite comprising only a small percent of the population, guilds held all the power.

•One needed to belong to a guild in order to run for a political office.

Organization and Development of Guilds

•Power was not based on individual capacities

•Power was only gained when individuals were willing to join together and work as a collective. *

•Only masters in the trade would generally be allowed to sell the product or to employ others to produce.

The need to work in groups hindered the creativity of many authors. Keep in mind the ego of Brunelleschi…

Power of the Artists

•It was required that gentlemen be involved in one of the seven liberal arts: Grammar, logic, music, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry or astronomy.

•Each guild set the terms of its craft: forms of labor, standards of product and method of sale. Much cooperation was necessary. *

•Guilds became increasingly rigid as time progressed.

Thus, the development of the new trade and industry fell to the capitalists.

Spread of knowledge and creativity

•All artists spent their youth as apprentices learning the craft in their master’s workshop.

•Artists occasionally attempted masterpieces. *

•This piece had to be recognized by their guild in order for them to become a master artist.

•Only after this process was an artist allowed to open their own workshop.

Continued…

•Guilds tried to control every aspect of the creative process.

•Artists who may have been geniuses were constrained to these rules but could not have been successful independently. *

•In fact, Brunelleschi attempted to break from his guild in 1434 but was subsequently thrown in prison.

•Brunelleschi was not the first but the countless attempts to break free from guilds caused a new era of independent artists.

Continued…

•Guilds were unable to adjust to the technological process of their times.

•Members could not use a new method of manufacturing unless it was accepted by the guild and provided for in regulations.

•This process proved to be nearly impossible. Those who were the actual inventors of the process were forced to work outside of the guilds, without safety and without guaranteed success.

Weakness of the Guilds

…Fine