1. Renaissance through Contemporary Core Content 4.1
ART HISTORY
Renaissance
through Contemporary
Core Content 4.1

2. Renaissance Period 1400-1600 Reconciles Christian faith and reason.
Promotes ‘rebirth’ of the classical ideal (of ancient Greece and Rome)
Allows new freedom of thought.
Humanism – emphasis on intellect, education, the importance of the thinking breathing human being!

3. Renaissance
Artists begin to blend religious and secular (non-religious) subjects
Artists developed linear perspective that created a greater look of space/depth
Key artists: Michelangelo, da Vinci, Donatello, Raphael (The Ninja Turtles)

4. Michelangelo He was a sculptor, painter, architect
He preferred sculpting
Famous sculptures: Pieta (Mary holding dying Jesus), David
Famous Paintings: the frescos of the Sistine Chapel
He blended religion and Humanistic elements in his works

5. Michelangelo

6. Pieta

7. Michelangelo - David

8. Sistine Chapel

9. Leonardo da Vinci
Painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, inventor, mathematician, astronomer… the Renaissance Man
Famous paintings: Mona Lisa, Last Supper
Use of sfumato

10. da Vinci

11. The Baroque Period Rejects the limits of the previous styles
Restores the power of monarchy and church.
Art is characterized by excess, ornamentation, contrasts, energy, tensions
Artists used dramatic lighting that created a spotlight effect on their subjects – chiaroscuro or tenebroso

12. The Baroque Period
Chiaroscuro – use of light and shade to create a 3-D effect
Tenebroso – Italian meaning “in a dark manner”. Artists used contrast of theatrical lighting against dark shadows in their work
Subjects included both religious and secular pieces – rise in personal portraits and landscapes in the Netherlands

13. Rembrandt van Rijn Dutch painter Master of chiaroscuro
Painted over 65 self-portraits
Subjects had ‘light’ on face and dark background

14. Rembrandt van Rijn

15. Caravaggio
Led a rebellious life. Prone to drinking and fights… carried over into artwork.
The church often refused his paintings because they were too violent or showed saints behaving as common people (ex Jesus in a Roman bar)
Master of tenebroso

16. Caravaggio’s work

17. Neo-Classical Period
Reacts to the excesses of the monarchy and the ornamentation of the Baroque
Returns to order, reason and structural clarity (of the Classic Greek and Roman styles – hence the name ‘Neo-Classicism’)
Artists incorporated clean, clear lines in both painting and architecture – composers similarly placed emphasis on clear prominent melody lines…

18. Jaques-Louis David French painter
Painted the aristocracy and then Napoleon during the Revolution
Depicted Napoleon in best manner – brave, and regal – art used as propaganda to depict strong leader
Subjects are simple with clear lines, very orderly appearance

19. Jaques-Louis David

20. Thomas Jefferson American President
Traveled through Europe and brought back architecture of Greece and Rome
Blended styles for formal government buildings – known as Federalist Style
Very orderly, symmetrical, dignified
Roman arches, Greek pediments
Monticello – TJ’s home
Farmington home in Louisville

21. Thomas Jefferson Monticello – Jefferson’s home
Used triangular Greek pediment, Roman arches and dome structure
Orderly, clear lines, logic of design apparent

22. Thomas Jefferson influence

23. Romantic Period
Revolts against neo-classical order and reason
Returns to nature/imagination: freedom, emotion, sentimentality, interest in the exotic and the supernatural
Romantics painted emotional scenes with loose brush strokes and brilliant color
Paintings became more personal, emotional
Scenes were more dynamic and interesting than in real life hence “Romanticising” them

24. Francisco Goya
Spanish Romantic artist – went through 3 ‘phases’ of artwork
Royal painter – earned a respectable living painting the Spanish royal family
Political Commentary – He witnessed Napoleon’s troops invade Spain and painted the harsh reality of warfare
Mental Illness (Black Period) – he drew nightmarish, monster-like figures – some on the walls of his home.

25. Goya -- Royal Family

26. Goya – Politics

27. John Constable British Romantic painter
Concerned with forces of nature so painted landscapes
Had the incredible ability to capture the warmth of sunlight, the coldness in shadows and the motion of clouds
His strong brush strokes and interest on the effects of light paved the way for the Impressionists

28. John Constable

29. John Constable

30. Realism
Speaks the truth. Finds beauty in the commonplace (everyday scenes).
Focuses on the Industrial revolution and the conditions of the working class
Moved away from royalty as subject matter and painted peasants, working men and women
Found the ordinary to be interesting

31. Gustave Courbet Painted everyday workers – very controversial
His “The Stone Breakers” and Burial at Ornans” were reviled – who would want a painting of people working or at a funeral !?

32. Gustave Courbet - Realism

33. Eduard Manet He transitioned between Realism and Impressionism
He went from crisp clean lines to blurred edges
His subjects remained common – people on a picnic or waiting for a train

34. Eduard Manet

35. Impressionism 1850-1920 Started as a rebellion against Realism
Artists tried to capture a moment in time - a snapshot (Camera invented at this time)
Tried to show the effects of light and atmospheric conditions
Often painted the same scene at different times of the day to capture the colors
Were the first artists to paint outside because of the inventions of portable easels and paint in tubes

36. Claude Monet Quintessential impressionist
Known for ‘waterlily’ series, Japanese Bridge
Painted haystacks, Rouen Cathedral repeatedly but with differing color schemes

37. Claude Monet

38. Waterlilies - Monet

39. Mary Cassatt American, female painter
Studied in France with Degas, Monet, Manet, etc – The ‘great’ impressionists
Her subjects usually included domestic scenes of women and children
Used soft pastel colors or bright, happy hues in her work
Influenced by Japanese work in using dark outlines of subjects

40. Mary Cassatt

41. Auguste Rodin Impressionist sculptor Tried to capture a moment in time
Sculpted movement and action in his figures
Created ‘fragmentary’ sculptures at the end of his career

42. Auguste Rodin

43. Auguste Rodin