Renaissance Art

Renaissance art includes painting,

sculpture, architecture, and allied arts produced

in Europe between 1400 and 1600. The

word renaissance literally means “re-birth”

and is the French translation of the Italian

rinascita.

What is Renaissance art in Europe?

• A revival of the Classical forms originally developed by the ancient Greeks and Romans.

• An intensified interest in humanism and assertion of the importance of the individual.

The Two Principal Components of Renaissance Style

Major Artists during the Renaissance Period

Da vinci was born in 1452 in the small town of Vinci, near Florence, Italy. He had little schooling and was largely self-taught. His innovations in the field of painting influenced the course of Italian art for more than a century after his death.

Leonardo Da Vinci(1452-1915)

Leonardo da Vinci was known not only as a masterful painter but as an architect, a sculptor, an engineer, and a scientist. His pursuit of knowledge was relentless and his discoveries left lasting changes in the fields of art and science. With his sophisticated skills and love for learning, Leonardo was the quintessential Renaissance man. He painted The Last Supper between 1495 and 1497.

Raphael is considered one of the

greatest and most popular artists of all time. He was

born Raffaello Santi or Raffaello Sanzio in Urbino,

Italy on April 6,1483, and received his early training in

art from his father, the painter Giovanni Santi.

Being younger, Raphael was considered during his

time as the next master painter to inherit the fame of

Leonardo da Vinci.

Raphael(1483-1520)

Jan Van Eyck is a famous Flemish painter. He was the founder of the Ars Nova (“new art”) of the 15th century which heralded the Renaissance in northern Europe. Jan’s contemporaries were awed by his amazing technical skill and precise renderings of carefully observed detail. Those qualities explain why he was still called the King of Painters by his compatriots as late as the 16th century.

Jan Van Eyck(1309-1441)

Famous Artworks during the Renaissance Period

-by Leonardo da Vinci decorates the walls of the refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy. The figure of Christ forms the calm center of the painting, while the disciples seated to his right and left respond in agitation to his announcement that “one of you shall betray me.” The fourth figure from the left end is Judas, who betrays Christ and is shown pulling away from him in the painting.

1. The Last Supper (about 1495-1497)

Leonardo da Vinci’s world famous portrait, was the artist’s favorite painting. Although there have been many theories about the origin of the inexplicable smile on the woman’s face, it was probably just the result of Leonardo’s interest in natural chiaroscuro (the effect of light and shadow on the subject).

2. Mona Lisa (1503-1506, Louvre, Paris)

- is a marble sculpture by Michelangelo. The Pietá theme shows Christ in his mother’s lap, just after he is taken down from the cross. It is a remarkable sculptural piece where the flesh under Christ’s shoulder just above Mary’s right hand seems to be soft and pliable. It is also work of great beauty, capable of eliciting a deeply emotional response in the viewer.

3. Pietá (1497-1500)

-one of the most famous Madonna portraits of Italian Renaissance painter Raphael. Raphael studied the works of Leonardo da Vinci while in Florence and applied some of Leonardo’s techniques to his own painting. Raphael’s use of contrasting lights and darks, and the relaxed, informal pose of the Madonna illustrate Leonardo's influence on La Belle Jardinière.

4. La Belle Jardinière

-is an oil painting by Jan van Eyck. Van Eyck is credited with creating the techniques of oil painting . In this work, he created glowing, luminous effects by putting down this glazes of oil paint and slowly building up transparent layers. His work was notably naturalistic for this time.

5. Man in a Red Turban

Renaissance painting reflects the revival of interest in classical culture and a strong belief in individualism. Examples of these are the works of Masaccio. Masaccio is one of the great innovators of the Renaissance period. In the The Expulsion from Paradise, Masaccio’s Adam and Eve truly mourn. Eve’s pose, her arms attempting to hide her body, is based on a pose of characteristic of classical sculpture, the so-called Venus Pudica (modest Venus) type.

What is Renaissance painting?

Expulsion from Paradise (about 1427) is one of six frescoes, painted by Masaccio for the Brancacci Chapel in Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence, Italy. The fresco was influential for its realism, especially the simplicity and the three-dimensionality of the figures, and for the dramatic depiction of the plight of Adam and Eve.

Renaissance sculpture shows strong interest in the ancient past. An example of this is the work of Lorenzo Ghiberti. He cast two sets of bronze doors for the Florence Baptistery. These bronze doors both demonstrate his knowledge of ancient sculpture. The second set which is known as the Gates of Paradise (1425-1452) shows his mastery of the laws of scientific perspective, which had been discovered only recently during that time.

What is Renaissance sculpture?

Donatello was the greatest sculptor of the early Renaissance. He was a master stonecutter. In addition, he also had a great understanding of human behavior as shown in his work titled Mary Magdalen (1454-1455). Customarily portrayed as a beautiful young woman with lovely long hair, Donatello’s Magdalen, however, is different. His Magdalen is a semi-toothless, old woman with tangled hair almost to her feet. Donatello created this painted wooden statue of Saint Mary Magdalene in about 1455. The expressive sculpture shows the repentant Magdalene as a haggard old woman.

Submitted by: Dana Banzon

Submitted to: Sir Pat Yater Jr.