Renaissance Art

Byzantine mosaic in Sicily Late 12 th century Wilton Diptych Medieval Art

The Effects of Good Government Ambrogio Lorenzetti, 1338

Art during the Hundred Years War

Early Renaissance Art What was different in the Renaissance: – Realism – Perspective – Classical (pagan) themes – Geometrical arrangement of figures – Light and shadowing (chiaroscuro) – Softening of edges (sfumato) – Backgrounds – Artist able to live from commissions

Lived First great painter of the Quattrocento period of the Italian Renaissance Considered the greatest painter of his generation Noted for his skill at: – Recreating lifelike figures and movements – Creating a convincing sense of three-dimensionality by utilizing linear perspective Masaccio Masaccio Self-Portrait

Masaccio Realism and expression – The Expulsion from Paradise

Perspective Masaccio 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 to the right 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

Masaccio Perspective – The Tribute Money – Size of people diminishes with distance – Use of light, shadow and drama

Masaccio Perspective (cont.) – The Holy Trinity with the Virgin and St. John – Geometry – Inscription: “What you are, I once was; what I am, you will become.”

Perspective

Sandro Botticelli Self Portrait from Adoration of the Magi, c 1475, Tempera on panel Lived Belonged to the Florentine school under the patronage of Lorenzo de’ Medici One of the greatest artists of the “golden age” of the Italian Renaissance His reputation as an artist suffered until the late 19 th century Best known works are: – The Birth of Venus – Primavera

Pagan themes – La Primavera – The Birth of Venus Attempt to depict perfect beauty Sandro Botticelli

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

Botticelli, Sandro, The Birth of Venus c Tempera on canvas, x cm, Uffizi, Florence

The Individual Botticelli 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 backdrop. The forms are defined by a dark outline.

Classical Pose Birth of Venus Medici Venus (1 st century AD)

Leonardo da Vinci Self Portrait, c 1510, Red chalk on paper Lived Educated in the studio of the renowned Florentine painter Verrocchio The ideal Renaissance Man, who was considered an expert: – Painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer.

Broad knowledge about many things in different fields Deep knowledge of skill in one area Able to link areas and create new knowledge Why were there so many Renaissance men during the Renaissance? – Lack of boundaries between disciplines – Knowledge was just knowledge Renaissance Man

Madonna of the Rocks – Geometrical arrangement of figures – Chiaroscuro – Sfumato – Foreshortening – Background treatments – Artists live on commissions Da Vinci – Early Life

Last Supper – Used new fresco method – Built into the room's end Light from the side with the window Door cut below During WWII a bomb hit the monastery Destroyed by erosion Da Vinci - Milan

Da Vinci “Among all the studies and reasoning, Light chiefly delights the beholder; and among the great features of mathematics the certainty of its demonstrations is what preeminently tends to elevate the mind of the investigator. Perspective, therefore must be preferred to all the discourses and systems of human learning.” – Leonardo da Vinci

Acclaimed as the greatest painting in history Thought to be a portrait of Lisa Gherardini The expression of the woman, composition, subtle modeling and atmospheric illusionism all contribute to the continued fascination of the painting Da Vinci – Mona Lisa Da Vinci, The Mona Lisa c Oil on poplar, 77 x 53 cm, The Louvre, Paris

Da Vinci - Science "'Those [artists] who are enamored of practice without science,' Leonardo explained, 'are like sailors who board a ship without rudder and compass, never having any certainty as to whither they go.'" – Isacoff, Stuart, Temperament, Vintage Books, 2001, p. 85.

Da Vinci’s Notebooks Coded – Read R L with a mirror Scientific illustration – Used science to support art

Da Vinci – Military

Da Vinci – Aeronautics

Da Vinci – Anatomy

Da Vinci – Technology Machines Hydraulics Vehicles on land Architecture Scientific method

“Those sciences are vain and filled with errors which are not borne of experiment, the mother of all certainty.” Leonardo da Vinci Da Vinci - Science

Only 17 paintings Notebooks Drawings of unfinished works Diverted rivers to prevent flooding Principles of turbine Cartography Submarine Flying machine Parachute …And much more…. Da Vinci – Legacy

Michelangelo Buonarroti Lived Considered a contender for the title of the archetypal Renaissance man, along with Da Vinci The attempts of subsequent artists to imitate Michelangelo's impassioned and highly personal style resulted in Mannerism, the next major movement in Western art after the High Renaissance.

Lived in the Medici palace Studied anatomy Several pieces for the Medici tombs, etc. Commissions by Medici

Michelangelo The Pietá St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City Only piece signed by Michelangelo

Michelangelo – David

Return to Rome Worked on tomb for Julius II Sistine Chapel

Michelangelo – Legacy World’s greatest sculptor – See the figure inside the stone and remove excess Painter – Mannerism Poet Architect Engineer

Lived Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition Together with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period. Raphael

Raphael – School of Athens

The Madonna of the Meadow C Using Leonardo’s pyramidal composition for subjects of the Holy Family Raphael

Saint George and the Dragon For the court of Urbino Louvre, Paris Raphael

Transfiguration Last piece by Raphael, left unfinished at his death Raphael

Refinement Exemplar of the Renaissance Expertise: – Artist, archeologist, writer, philosopher, teacher Legacy of Raphael

Mannerism ( )

The Changing Role of the Artist Giorgio Vasari’s Lives of the Artists, He believed that the artist was no longer just a member of a crafts guild. The artist was an equal in the courts of Europe with scholars, poets, and humanists. Therefore, the artist should be recognized and rewarded for his unique artistic technique [maneria].

Background Late Renaissance [Pre-Baroque]. Art was at an impasse after the perfection and harmony of the Renaissance. Antithetical to the principles of the High Renaissance. From the Italian de maneria. – A work of art done in the artist’s characteristic “touch” or recognizable “manner.” First used by the German art historian, Heinrich Wölfflin in the early 20c. Influenced by Michelangelo’s later works.

Michelangelo’s “Last Judgment” (Sistine Chapel)

Michelangelo’s “Last Judgment” (Sistine Chapel – left side)

Michelangelo’s “Last Judgment” (Sistine Chapel – right side)

Features of Mannerism 1.Replace Harmony with Dissonance & Discord 2.Replace Reason with Emotion 3.Replace Reality with Imagination 4.Create Instability instead of Equilibrium 5.Bodies are Distored 6.Colours are Lurid 7.Pictorial Space is Crowded 8.A Void in the Centre 9.Hanging Figures

1. Replace Harmony With Dissonance & Discord “Susanna & the Elders” Alessandro Allori Twisted bodies or “weight shift” [contrapposto]

2. Replace Reason with Emotion “Pietà” by Rosso Fiorentino

“Pietà” by El Greco

3. Replace Reality with Imagination “The Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine” Parmigianino

“Charity” Andrea del Sarto 1518 An allegory of the French royal family.

4. Create Instability Instead of Equilibrium “The Rape of Helene” Francesco Primaticcio

5. Bodies Are Distorted “Christ in Agony on the Cross” El Greco 1600s. An attempt to express the religious tensions of the times.

“Adoration of the Name of Jesus” El Greco

Philip II of Spain in “Adoration of the Name of Jesus”

“The Baptism of Christ” El Greco

“Portrait of a Cardinal” El Greco 1600

“St. Jerome” by El Greco

6. Colors are Lurid “The Tempest” Giorgione 1510

Caravaggio,The Calling of St. Matthew , Oil on Canvas

El Greco View of Toledo 1597 Oil on Canvas

7. Pictorial Space is Crowded “Madonna with the Long Neck” Parmagianino

Jacopo Pontormo, Joseph in Egypt ; Oil on wood

Tintoretto The Last Supper 1594

8. A Void in the Center “Bacchus & Ariadne” Titian ? ?

Giorgione Pastoral Concert ? ?

9. Hanging Figures Tintoretto The Annunciation

“Moses Drawing Water form the Rock” Jacopo Tintoretto 1577