Why was the city of Florence at the forefront of the early Italian Renaissance?.
Some say it was just a luck that many great men were born there during renaissance period in Florence. Some say Florence had wealthier families than other Italian states. That is a fact that Florence was one of the wealthiest areas in Italy during the Renaissance. However, it is not enough reason why renaissance happened in Florence Italy. Renaissance era was made up of paintings, sculptures, growth of humanism, architecture, individual geniuses. There are many factors that helped Florence becoming the birth place of renaissance. .
There was a geographical factor. Florence had major commerce sector and trade route to important cities in the world. It had powerful families like Medici. Although renaissance had started before Lorenzo do'Medici's rule, under Lorenzo's rule it flourished. Medici family, especially Lorenzo, has played vital role in patronizing and popularizing the arts. It was called feudal system in which a king or church would give a piece of land to the creator of art. It was said that art was becoming a necessity as same as food. For some it was literally food because there were lot of places where one can show his art and even sell it. Lorenzo dedicated his life and his money to produce more art than ever, and help created a culture best for art creation. Under his rule, there were artist like Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli, and Michelangelo. Their time is called High renaissance. .
Roman Catholicism also played huge role in renaissance art in Italy. There must be a best cultural environment for art because most of the great art that has made during renaissance era is more likely related to Jesus, Virgin Mary, or Greek Gods. Many Greek work is found also during that era. The reason behind it could be many Greek scholars have come to Italy from Constantinople. At mid-15th century, when Constantinople fell to Ottoman Empire, many people, religiously Christians, came to Italy.