5 ...

Newkirk leans forward as he continues:
The Renaissance, in French: Renaissance "re-birth", in Italian: Rinascimento, implies that something that died has been reborn – in this case, referring to the artistic achievements of Classical Greece and ancient Rome. And to a large extent I think that all of you would agree that those ancient periods served as your models for what could be achieved and perhaps surpassed in the arts. 

Unknown Greek artist, Nike of Samothrace, marble, c. 200–190 BCE

(for Emperor) Publius Aelius Hadrianus, The Pantheon, Rome, c. 126 C.E.

Historians of the 19th century seemed to have relegated the art of the Middle Ages to a dusty shelf unworthy to be considered in the same company as that created in the time before and after it. I think that more recently we have come a long way in correcting these arbitrary biases.

Robert of Luzarches, Thomas and Regnault de CormontAmiens Cathedral East End, 1220-1270 C.E. www.stanparryphotography.com

A number of "forgotten" ideas actually did have a kind of rebirth, a renaissance. Since Florence was such a large city – it had about 94,000 residents in 1350 – and because for so long its governing bodies, especially under the Medici, were sympathetic and even encouraging towards the arts, it became the hub of the Italian Renaissance. Latin was spoken in churches and universities. Architects like Brunelleschi showed renewed interest in the many Roman ruins easily available for study, and sculptors left behind the Gothic 'sway' pose we see at Rheims, for example, in exchange for the convincing contrapposto used by the ancients. 

Rheims Cathedral: the famous Smiling angel at left, and Mary, in sway pose, in the centre, about 1240

Donatello's nude David, though tiny in comparison with yours, Michelangelo, was the first life-sized, nude bronze in contrapposto pose since antiquity – a rediscovery not only of the pose, but also of the technique of lost-wax casting.

Donatello, David, c. 1430-50

Michelangelo
A small and beautiful bronze by a giant of a sculptor. What a wonderful man he was ... is?

Newkirk
You all appreciate the influence an older artist can have on someone younger. And each of you has seen how style and materials and technique evolve with every new generation. The same historians who put artists and time periods into categories, also like to make generalizations about the characteristics of style in each period. Again, according to these scholars, what we refer to as the Renaissance in Italy has an early phase, roughly beginning with Giotto (or perhaps even Duccio), a middle that corresponds generally to the quattrocento, and then a High Renaissance, the start of which is often linked with Da Vinci beginning his Milano painting of the Last Supper in about 1495. 

Leonardo Da Vinci, The Last Supper, 1494-1498

The High Renaissance, a brief 25 year period, and the entire Renaissance in Italy, are said to end in 1520 with the death of Raphael. Please excuse that indelicacy, Raphael.

Raphael (grinning with a shrug as Michelangelo leans back with a belly laugh, pointing at the younger man, while Bernini is content to smile, eyebrows raised.)
No apology is necessary, David. Although I'm not sure I would call this heaven (gestures at the room, the people, the world in general), if this is any indication, death is not so bad after all. (more laughter around the table)

Newkirk
Well, if it's any consolation, I think it's fair to say that each of you has approached immortality by leaving your creations for future generations. Then too, in your case Raphael, as I said earlier, your achievement is considered to be the pinnacle of the High Renaissance.

Michelangelo
But if, as you say, this Renaissance ended when he did (wiping the tears from his cheek and glancing at Raphael), then where does the rest of my time fit? And what about Gian Lorenzo?

Newkirk
I promise that I am getting to that, Michelangelo, however slowly.

Bernini
Slowly is fine. I'm in no hurry. I am enjoying the detours into unfamiliar areas of history.