Printing  The art of printing made an immediate impact on European intellectual life and thought.  Printing from hand-carved wooden blocks had been present in the West since the 12th century and in China even before that.

Printing  What was new in the 15th century in Europe was moveable metal type.  The development of printing to moveable type was gradual, culminating between Johannes Gutenberg of Mainz played an important part in bringing the process to completion.

Printing  In 1500 there were more than 1,000 printers in Europe, who collectively had published almost 40,000 titles (between 8-10 million copies)  50% of these titles were religious – Bibles and biblical commentaries, books of devotion, and sermons.  Next in importance were the Latin and Greek classics, medieval grammars, legal handbooks, works on philosophy, and an ever-growing number of popular romances.

Artistic Renaissance  Renaissance artists sought to imitate nature in their works of art.  Naturalism - to persuade the onlookers of the reality of the object or event they were portraying.  Humans became the focus of attention, the “center and measure of all things”

1. Realism & Expression Expulsion from the Garden Masaccio 1427 First nudes since classical times. Artists studied human anatomy, measuring proportions and seeking the ideal human form. People looked solid and displayed real emotions, allowing the viewer to connect with what the depicted persons were thinking and feeling.

2. Perspective Perspective! Perspective! Perspective! Perspective! Perspective! Linear perspective is a mathematical system for creating the illusion of space and distance on a flat surface. Perspective! Perspective! The Trinity Masaccio 1427 What you are, I once was; what I am, you will become.

Perspective

Linear Perspective

3. Classicism Greco-Roman influence - Ancients Secularism – Non-religious Humanism – Greatness of Humans Individualism  free standing figures Symmetry/Balance The “Classical Pose” Medici “Venus” (1c)

4. Emphasis on Individualism Batista Sforza & Federico de Montefeltre: The Duke & Dutchess of Urbino Piero della Francesca,

5. Geometrical Arrangement of Figures The Dreyfus Madonna with the Pomegranate Leonardo da Vinci 1469 The figure as architecture!

6. Light & Shadowing/Softening Edges Chiaroscuro Sfumato Literally means 'light-dark'. In paintings the description refers to clear tonal contrasts which are often used to suggest the volume Literally means "gone up in smoke". Sfumato is where there are no harsh outlines, and it is painted with full strokes that enhance color and light. It is a blending technique.

7. Artists as Personalities/Celebrities Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects Giorgio Vasari 1550

Oil Stretched on Canvas  Prior to the Renaissance, only tempera paint on wood panels or fresco on plaster walls were available.  A greater range of rich colors with smooth tones permitted painters to represent textures and simulate 3- D forms.  Early works were still panel paintings on wood, but around the end of the 15th century canvas became more popular, as it was cheaper, easier to transport, and allowed larger works

The Last Supper (1498) Da Vinci

Marriage of The Virgin Raphael

Marriage of The Virgin Raphael

Chiaroscuro and Sfumato  Chiaroscuro – Light/Dark in Italian  Sfumato – Vanish or Shade “Up in Smoke”  Use of shadow

High Renaissance  The 15th century was a period of experimentation and technical mastery.  Italian painters had created a new artistic environment and mastered the new techniques for a scientific observation of the world.  This marked the shift to the High Renaissance.

Vitruvian Man Leonardo da Vinci Painter, Sculptor, Architect, Engineer The L’uomo universale

Leonardo da Vinci  Leonardo stressed the need to advance beyond such realism and initiated the High Renaissance’s preoccupation with the idealization of nature.  It was an attempt to generalize from realistic portrayal to an ideal form.  Leonardo carried on experimental tradition by studying everything and even dissecting human bodies in order to see precisely how nature worked.

Leonardo, the Artist The Virgin of the Rocks Leonardo da Vinci 

Mona Lisa

The Last Supper

Leonardo, the Artist: From his Notebooks of over 5000 pages ( )

Notebooks

The Last Supper - da Vinci, 1498 & Geometry

Refractory Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie Milan

horizontal vertical Perspective! The Last Supper - da Vinci, 1498

Detail of Jesus The Last Supper Leonardo da Vinci 1498 Deterioratio n

A Da Vinci “Code”: St. John or Mary Magdalene?

Leonardo, the Sculptor An Equestrian Statue 

Leonardo, the Architect: Pages from his Notebook Study of a central church. 1488

Leonardo, the Architect: Pages from his Notebook Plan of the city of Imola, 1502.

Leonardo, the Scientist (Biology): Pages from his Notebook An example of the humanist desire to unlock the secrets of nature.

Leonardo, the Scientist (Anatomy): Pages from his Notebook

Leonardo, the Inventor: Pages from his Notebook

Man Can Fly?

A study of siege defenses. Studies of water-lifting devices. Leonardo, the Engineer: Pages from his Notebook

Raffaello Sanzio ( ) Raffaello Sanzio ( ) Self-Portrait, 1506 Portrait of the Artist with a Friend, 1518

Raphael  Raphael blossomed as a painter at an early age; at 25 he was already regarded as one of Italy’s best painters. He was acclaimed for his numerous Madonna’s (portrayal of the mother of Jesus), in which he attempted to achieve an ideal of beauty far surpassing human standards.

Baldassare Castiglione by Raphael, Castiglione represented the humanist “gentleman” as a man of refinement and self-control.

Perspective!Perspective! Betrothal of the Virgin Raphael1504

Raphael’s Canagiani Madonna, 1507

Raphael’s Madonnas (1) Sistine Madonna Cowpepper Madonna

Madonna della Sedia Alba Madonna Raphael’s Madonnas (2)

The School of Athens – Raphael, One point perspective. All of the important Greek philosophers and thinkers are included  all of the great personalities of the Seven Liberal Arts! A great variety of poses. Located in the papal apartments library. Raphael worked on this commission simultaneously as Michelangelo was doing the Sistine Chapel. No Christian themes here.

The School of Athens – Raphael, Raphael Da Vinci Michelangelo

Aristotle: looks to this earth [the here and now]. Plato: looks to the heavens [or the IDEAL realm]. The School of Athens – Raphael, details

The Liberation of St. Peter by Raphael, 1514

Madonna’s Left 13 th CenturyRight Raphael

Raphael  Raphael is also well-known for his frescoes in the Vatican palace.  His School of Athens reveals a world of balance, harmony and order – basically the underlying principles of the art of the classical world of Greece and Rome.

The School of Athens

Pythagoras Socrates Plato and Aristotle

Michelangelo  Michelangelo, an accomplished painter, sculptor, and architect, was another giant of the High Renaissance.  Fiercely driven by his desire to create, Michelangelo worked with great passion and energy on a remarkable number of projects.

Michelangelo  Michelangelo was influenced by Neoplatonism, especially evident in his figures on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican.  His muscular figures depict an ideal type of human being with perfect proportions.  In good Neoplatonic fashion, their beauty is meant to be a reflection of divine beauty; the more beautiful the body, the more God-like the figure.

Sistine Chapel About a year after creating David, Pope Julius II summoned Michelangelo to Rome to work on his most famous project, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Creation of Eve Creation of Adam Separation of Light and Darkness The Last Judgment

David Michelangelo created his masterpiece David in 1504.

La Pieta 1499 Marble Sculpture

Moses

The Doge, Leonardo Loredon Berlini, 1501

Venus of Urbino – Titian, 1558

The Penitent Mary Magdalene by Titian, 1533 By the mid-16c, High Renaissance art was declining. Mannerism became more popular. This painting is a good example of this new artistic style.