Page History

Charles Saunders

The art market in the Italian Renaissance was relatively unique in that the major players involved created, consumed, and enjoyed art through many different variables than purely financial consideration. Material wealth was less important in Italy than social status, prestige, and relationships---indeed, a significant portion of financial transactions, especially for the high socioeconomic strata, revolved around lines of credit, which in turn was based on reputation. Art and art patronage became a very important vehicle for outward representation of one's status and rank in society, and the public image conveyed by conspicuous works of art had very real ramifications through all aspects of economic, social, and political life.
                Through an economic lens, this "game" is significant as all key players (patrons, artists, and audience) can be defined as both an agent and a principle depending in which direction the relationship is viewed. Corporate patrons, such as city governments, religious orders, or "confraternities" -(namely organizations--) combined with private patrons represented by families, aristocrats, rulers, or merchants to achieve multifaceted goals of contribution to the public good and increased personal prominence. These definitions often overlapped, as private patrons often represented corporate interests, and at times private individuals served as intermediaries between artists and larger organizations. The audience played a key factor as well; comprised of contemporary, future, and heavenly components, the audience ultimately determined the worth and final judgment for a commissioned work of art.

In general, the patron served as the more traditional form of the principal, as they possessed the means and dictated the ultimate goal or purpose of the art, the focus of its representation, and the selection of constraints. The artist, or agent, contributed the unique ability to combine the capability for aesthetic art creation with the skill to navigate the constraints imposed on them. In other analyses, the principal can also be seen as an agent with the audience acting as principal, as the intended audience dictated in large part the content of the work, and their final judgment ultimately rendered any value which the patron originally sought.

Much of the art market can be explained through incentives, costs, and constraints, within the traditional economic mindset of maximization of value subject to a constraint. The interests of the artist and patron were generally aligned, fortunately circumventing the potential issues raised given the difficulty in monitoring the artist once a contract had been assigned. Artists made their living through their reputation; they bore the majority of the risk in the artistic endeavor and their effort was ensured through fear of rejection of work, humiliation through negative feedback, and a desire for repeat commissions from affluent patrons, as well as a fear of reduced compensation for a substandard finished product. Price was extraordinarily subjective, as the value of their art was generally dependent on its reception and reputation, and as a result the place of instruction and personal relationships played a large role in inflating prices.

Patrons also bore considerable cost in commissioning works of art, and the large possible benefits of public recognition and status carried with them considerable social and financial risk. Risk sources necessary for consideration included the possibility of financial loss due to faulty work, risk of negative reception and thus reduced benefit, delays, changes in ownership or patronage, confusing iconography or design, or a finished product that was low in quality. Relationships associated with commissioning art, and the art's content played a large role in the political status of the patrons, and could confer large benefits or loss, such as Lorenzo de 'Medici ultimately securing a cardinalship for his thirteen-year old son based on a favor in patronage to Carafa. High social risks came from avoidance of accepted societal norms, and opportunity costs and wealth constraints made true valuation of potential artistic investments difficult to measure. Yet often the signals of wealth and status gained through these endeavors far outweighed the high potential risk.

Some of the more significant avenues for the ostentatious displays were religious chapels and altarpieces, which although conferred high status due to the contemporary spiritual emphasis also produced a high constraint as these location were severely limited. Others included paintings, which clearly captured iconography and content that could convey connection and curry favor, and architecture, which although more expensive, also provided the dual benefit of the beautification of the city, as this display of public generosity helped mitigate some of the social risk of personal glorification. Audiences consisted of the heavenly, which was satisfied through religious displays and helped to reduce the time the patron spent in purgatory, the contemporary, which ultimately decided the fate of the commission and secured the status of the patron, and the future, which ensured the legacy and honor of the patron continued throughout history.

                Status through displays of magnificence was of primary concern to patrons of art in Renaissance Italy. Displays of art from wealthy patrons are examples of signaling, a method that suggested that patrons were of higher social quality purely through their ability to commission extravagant and expensive works of art. Often times this was reliable, as the many constraints placed on prestigious commissions often ensured that only those with means and political influence could obtain them. Sign-posting and stretching were significant in the planning and design of the commissioned art, as patrons, in true Machiavellian fashion, often highlighted specific and favorable information while omitting others in an effort to increase personal image, and "stretched" or exaggerated other favorable qualities to the extent that social norms allowed. In this way patrons were able to "self-fashion" their public image.  This desire for magnificence also increased the appeal of the host city, as works of art served to glorify the surrounding state as well as increase personal status, thus becoming more palatable to audiences. It can be argued that personal preference for art was almost insignificant, and art commissioning had a primary role in creating and influencing power shifts in Renaissance Italy.