Giotto: Death of Christ, Fresco c. 1306

Giotto. Meeting at the Golden Gate Fresco. Capella degli Scrovegni, Padua, Italy.

The Tribute Money, Masaccio, c. 1427, fresco Expulsion of Adam and Eve by Masaccio

Doryphorus, (Spear Carrier) Greek Approx 400 BC Michelangelo David, c , Marble Height 410 cm (13 1/2 ft) Accademia delle Belle Arti, Florence Renaissance = Rebirth Humanism

Donatello, David, c Bronze Height 158 cm Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence Michelangelo David, c , Marble Height 410 cm (13 1/2 ft) Accademia delle Belle Arti, Florence First life-size bronze statue since antiquity first nude statue since antiquity Contrapposto Youthful grace and dignity Nudity= vulnerability. This is emphasized by his helmet and greaves (leg armor) Statue became a symbol of Florentine Liberty against Visconti of Milan

Perspective One of the most significant discoveries in the history of art was "perspective" --the method for creating the illusion of depth on a flat surface. Perspective became the foundation of European painting for the next 500 years. Linear perspective created the optical effect of objects receding into the distance through lines that appeared to converge at a single point in the picture, known as the vanishing point. Painters also reduced the size of objects and muted colors or blurred detail as objects got further away.The vaulted arch in the painting below by Masaccio is a perfect illustration of the linear perspective that he pioneered. Masaccio painted this scene so that all the sightlines converge on a single point, just as we would see the lines painted on a straight road getting smaller as the road recedes into the distance. The Holy Trinity, Masaccio, c 1420, fresco

Pyramid Composition Rigid profile portraits and the grouping of figures on a horizontal grid in the picture's foreground gave way to a more three-dimensional "pyramid configuration." The triangular massing of volumes around a painting's central axis gives a painting great compositional stability and is one of the keys to the symmetry that Renaissance artists strove for in their work. The painting to the right by Leonardo shows the broadening of the triangular composition into three dimensions making a weighty pyramid with a base formed by the spatial positioning of the four figures and an apex at the face of the Virgin. The Virgin of the Rocks, Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1485, oil on wood panel

Use of Light and Shadow Chiaroscuro, which means "light-and-dark" in Italian, was discovered by Masaccio and referred to the new technique for modeling forms in painting by which lighter parts seemed to emerge from darker areas, producing the illusion of rounded, sculptural relief on a flat surface. The drawing below by Leonardo da Vinci illustrates the way that chiaroscuro is used to give form to a three-dimensional body through the relationship of light and shadow. The forms no longer stand abruptly side by side as they did in the works of previous artists where the figures were simply drawn and painted, but now seem unified in a single lighted space. The Virgin and Child, St. Anne and the Infant St. John (detail), Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1498, charcoal heightened with white on brown paper

Oil Painting Oil paint on panel or canvas became the medium of choice during the Renaissance. With this method, minerals and plants were ground fine, then mixed with turpentine and oil to be applied as oil paint. A greater range of rich colors with smooth gradations of tone permitted painters to represent textures and simulate three-dimensional form. Oil paint dried more slowly than the tempera paints used earlier, and allowed the artists more freedom to blend colors to achieve various effects.

Botticelli, Sandro The Cestello Annunciation c Tempera on panel 150 x 156 cm Uffizi, Florence

Leonardo da Vinci The Annunciation c Oil and tempera on panel 38 1/4 x 84 5/8 in. (98 x 217 cm) Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Albreckt Durer, late 15th-early 16th century The Draftsman and the model: turning linear perspective into a scientific technique

Botticelli, Sandro, Adoration of the Magi Tempera on panel 111 x 134 cm Uffizi, Florence Botticelli having already secured the patronage of the Medici whose portraits (according to Vasari) appear in the picture.

Botticelli, Sandro The Birth of Venus c Tempera on canvas x cm (67 7/8 x 109 5/8 in.) Uffizi, Florence Botticelli's two most famous paintings were possibly for Lorenzo de' Medici. They are the Primavera (c1478) and the Birth of Venus (c1483), both in the Uffizi. These are mythologies that embody the moral Neoplatonic ideas that were then fashionable in the Medici circles.

The Individual Pure visual poetry, Botticelli’s paintings are stylistically unique. There is a deliberate denial of rational spatial construction and no attempt to model solid-looking figures; instead the figures float on the forward plane of the picture against a decorative landscape backdro. The forms are defined by a dark outline.

Botticelli, Sandro Primavera (detail) c Tempera on wood 203 x 314 cm Galleria degli Uffizi, Florenc 3 Graces of Poetry, Music, Drama Nature = goddess of spring (Flora)

Leonardo da Vinci The Last Supper 1498 Tempera on plaster 460 x 880 cm (15 x 29 ft.) Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie (Refectory), Milan

Raphael The School of Athens FrescoVatican, Stanza della Segnatura, Rome

Emperor Charles V at Mühlberg By Titain 1548 Oil on canvas, 332 x 279 cm Museo del Prado, Madrid

Michelangelo Pieta c Marble 174 x 195 cm (5 3/4 x 6 ft) Basilica of St Peter, Vatican

Leonardo da Vinci Mona Lisa Detail c Oil on wood 77 x 53 cm (30 x 20 5/8 in.) Musee du Louvre, Paris Subtle Expression Emotion Personality Mystery Individuality

Knowledge of Anatomy Anatomically Correct Celebration of the Individual Realistic Volume Shape Emotion Contrapposto Giotto Florentine, probably Madonna and Child, probably 1320/1330 tempera on panel, 85.5 x 62 cm (33 5/8 x 24 3/8 in.)

Donatello The Penitent Magdalene c Wood with Polychromy and Gold Height 188 cm Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Florence