Art of the Italian Renaissance

The Renaissance The Renaissance was a time of rebirth, revival of learning, and renewed cultural awareness. As the Middle Ages drew to a close, a new spirit emerged and the focus of study shifted from theology to humanity. This exciting cultural movement began in Italy in the late 1300's and ended in about 1600.

Renaissance Art The changes that the Renaissance precipitated are most evident in the art of that period. There was an evolution from the strict, symbolic figures of the Middle Ages, to the fluid, emotion-filled figures that gave life to Renaissance art.

Pre-Renaissance Art The Byzantine art style preceded the Renaissance. Does the style seem warm and inviting, or cold and distant to you?

Pre-Renaissance Architecture The Romanesque and Gothic styles preceded the Renaissance. Romanesque was round and sturdy Gothic was tall and pointed up to heaven. Which one seems to be a warmer, more inviting atmosphere? Why? Romanesque round arches of St Savin Gothic rib vaults of Durham Cathedral

Proto-Renaissance This period, roughly 1200 - 1400 A.D., is the time that the Italian style was just beginning to show breaks from the Byzantine and Gothic styles. We see the first attempts to display realism and greater interest in depicting the human form.

Byzantine v. Proto-Renaissance Compare a Byzantine painting with one of Giotto's paintings. Which one looks more realistic? Byzantine Art Detail from Giotto’s Mourning of Christ

Proto-Renaissance Art: Giotto Giotto di Bondone (c. 1267 - 1337) was a Florentine painter and architect. He was recognized as the first artistic genius of the Italian Renaissance. He dealt largely in the traditional religious subjects, but he gave these subjects an earthly, full-blooded life and force.

13th c. Madonna -Cimabue's Santa Trinita Madonna A sad, remote, inscrutable Virgin from the 13th century A very human woman, her lips parted in a hint of a smile that reveals the white of her teeth. 13th c. Madonna -Cimabue's Santa Trinita Madonna Giotto’s Ognissanti Madonna

Early 15th Century Renaissance In the early 15th century, the spirit of the Italian Renaissance was strongest in Florence. One Italian family, the Medici, bankers to all Europe, were such generous patrons of the arts that it has been said they "financed" the Renaissance.

Early 15th Century Renaissance Innovation: Perspective

Late Middle Ages Treatment of Space: It Encompasses Viewer Artists have always portrayed space in ways that suit their worldview. In the religious painting of the late Middle Ages, space seems to open out from the picture plane. It encompasses the viewer to make him part of the sacred events taking place.

Early Renaissance Treatment of Space: It Recedes from Viewer During the early Renaissance, as humanism focused attention on man, the viewer assumes the active role. Space recedes from the viewer's eye into the picture plane. The viewer himself is the point of reference.

Late Middle Ages Early Renaissance

Early 15th Century Renaissance Architecture: Brunelleschi Filippo Brunelleschi (1421 to 1440) was the first architect to employ mathematical perspective to redefine Gothic and Romanesque space and to establish new rules of proportion and symmetry.

Gothic Early 15th Century Romanesque

Early 15th Century Renaissance Sculpture: Donatallo Donatello (1386-1466) created the first free-standing statues of the Renaissance, independent of architecture or decoration.

Early 15th Century Renaissance Artist: Masaccio Masaccio (1401-1428) took up the inheritance of Giotto, developing his art according to the new techniques and methods of perspective.

Late 15th Century Renaissance By mid 15th century, the Renaissance movement had spread throughout Europe. However, Italy was still at the heart of this cultural rebirth and it continued to produce ingenious artists like Mantegna, Antonella da Messina, and Botticelli.

Late 15th Century Renaissance: Andrea Mantegna Andrea Mantegna (1431-1506) painted heroic figures, often using a dramatic perspective that gives the viewer the illusion of looking up from below.

Late 15th Century Renaissance: Mantegna’s Triumph of Virtue This detail of Mantegna’s The Triumph of Virtue (c. 1540) depicts Athena as moral guardian expelling the Vices from the garden.

Late 15th Century Renaissance: Antonella da Messina Antonella da Messina (1430-1479) made his portraits so perfect that they give the illusion of life. Particularly careful of perspective, his painting is characterized by strong colors and precision of architectural forms.

Late 15th Century Renaissance: Sandro Botticelli Sandro Botticelli (1444/5-1510) had a sophisticated understanding of perspective, anatomy, and humanism. His Birth of Venus (c. 1485) and Primavera (1477-78) are often said to epitomize for modern viewers the spirit of the Renaissance.

The High Renaissance The essential feature of High Renaissance art was its unity. Paintings invoked increasing dramatic force with the human forms becoming so life-like, they almost seemed to be breathing. Three artists whose work dominated this period were Michelangelo, Raphael, and Leonardo da Vinci.

The High Renaissance: Michelangelo as Sculptor Michelangelo (c. 1501-1504) preferred the chisel to the paint brush and he has left us with such astounding sculptures as David and the Pieta.

The High Renaissance: Michelangelo as Painter Through the insistence of Pope Julian II, however, Michelangelo set the chisel aside for a time and conceived the world's greatest single fresco in the walls and ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

The High Renaissance: Raphael Raphael’s (1483-1520) paintings reveal a soft, poetic quality.

The High Renaissance: Raphael’s Nymph of Galatea The sheer beauty of his figures is breathtaking. When he had finished the Galatea, he was asked where he had found a model of such beauty. He replied that he did not copy any specific model but rather followed “a certain idea” he had formed in his mind.

The High Renaissance: Raphael’s Madonna dell Granduca A painting like Raphael's Madonna dell Granduca is truly “classical” in the sense that it has served countless generations as a standard of perfection.

The High Renaissance: Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) epitomized the Renaissance humanistic ideal. He wanted to know the working of everything he saw in nature and filled more than 4,000 pages of notebooks with detailed diagrams and observations.

The High Renaissance: Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa Leonardo’s The Mona Lisa is considered the prototype of the Renaissance portrait.

The High Renaissance: Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper Before: Peeling and discolored after years of neglect After: The restored masterpiece was open to visitors in May 1999.

The Madonna and Child "Madonna and Child" was a common subject for artists of the Renaissance period. Let’s compare the works of artists from three different periods: Cimabue (Proto-Renaissance) Sandro Botticelli (mid 15th century) Leonardo da Vinci (High Renaissance)

Cimabue Proto-Renaissance Botticelli Mid-15th Century Leonardo da Vinci High Renaissance

Discussion Questions In your opinion, which painting conveys the most warmth and tenderness? What is there about the painting that gives it that appearance? What changes do you notice in the treatment of the human form by these three different artists in these three different stages of the Renaissance? Look at the treatment of the background in each painting. Consider the use of line, light, and space. How do these elements vary in each painting.