Specialization and the firm in Renaissance Italian art

Renaissance Italian painters are among the most innovative and consequential artists inhuman history. They were also successful managers and business owners, always in search of commissions for their workshops. Indeed, their ability as managers and entrepreneurs were just as important to their success was just as important as their painting talents. This paper develops a theory of the organization of the production of paintings—frescoes and altarpieces—during the Italian Renaissance. I argue that Renaissance artists faced a trade-off between costly delegation and the sacrifice of gains from specialization in the performance of the tasks necessary for executing a painting. Applied to the historical record, the theory accounts for several of features of the organization of this industry: why Renaissance artists dabbled as entrepreneurs; why they performed several duties that did not require any artistic talent; and why they set up firms to aid them in the execution of some tasks while delegating other tasks to independent contractors.