Renaissance Art

Mrs. Stalcup

WORLD HISTORY

Europe in the 1500s

Florence circa 1500

Venice circa 1500

Rome 1400-1500

What is the Renaissance?• The Renaissance was understood as a historical age in

Europe that followed the Middle Ages, from approximately the 14th through the 16th Centuries.

• The Italian Renaissance of the 15th Century represented a reconnection of the west with classical antiquity, the absorption of knowledge (particularly mathematics), a focus on the importance of living well in the present (Renaissance humanism), and an explosion of the spread of knowledge brought on by the advent of printing. In addition, the creation of new techniques in art, poetry, and architecture led in turn to a radical change in the style and substance of the arts and letters. The Italian Renaissance was often labeled as the beginning of the MODERN AGE, or the EARLY MODERN PERIOD.

What does the word ‘Renaissance’ mean?

• Renaissance can refer to this rebirth of classical learning and knowledge or to the ensuing rebirth of European culture.

When did the Renaissance begin?

• The Renaissance has no set starting point or place; it happened gradually in different places at different times. Likewise, there is not a definite date or place marking the end of the Middle Ages. The start of the Renaissance is almost universally ascribed to Central Italy, however, especially the city of Florence.

Florence circa 1500

When?

• Another option for the starting point of the Renaissance is the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453. It was a turning point in warfare as cannon and gunpowder became central. In addition, Byzantine-Greek scholars fled west to Rome bringing renewed interest in the Greek and Roman heritage, and it perhaps represented the end of the old religious order in Europe.

Who’s who in Renaissance Art

• Throughout the 15th century, artists studied the natural world in order to perfect their understanding of such subjects as anatomy and perspective. Among the many great artists of this period were Jan van Eyck, Hans Holbein the Younger, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, Hieronymus Bosch (pronounced Boss), Albrecht Dürer, Giovanni Bellini, Titian Pronunciation[tish-uhn], Filippo Brunelleschi, Donatello, Masaccio, Sandro Botticelli, Raphael, Michelangelo Buonarroti, and Leonardo da Vinci.

Jan van Eyck• (c. 1385 – 1441) was a 15th century

Flemish painter and is considered one of the great painters of the late Middle Ages. It is a common misconception, that he created oil painting, but it is true that he achieved, or perfected, new and remarkable effects using this technique.

• He often signed and dated his paintings on their frames, then considered an integral part of the work (the two were often painted together). However, in the celebrated Arnolfini Portrait (London, National Gallery), He inscribed on the (pictorial) back wall above the convex mirror "Johannes de Eyck fuit hic 1434" (Jan van Eyck was here, 1434). The subject of this painting is a puzzle for scholars, but in recent years a number of popular interpretations have been ruled out. This is not a painted marriage certificate, or the record of a betrothal. The woman is not pregnant, as the hand-gesture of lifting the dress recurs in contemporary renditions of the (virgin) St. Catherine.

Hans Holbein the Younger

• (c. 1497–1543) was a German/British artist who painted in the Northern Renaissance style and was born in Augsburg, Bavaria circa 1497. He first learned painting from his father. Later he went with his brother Ambrosius Holbein to Basel where he met many scholars, among them the Dutch humanist Erasmus. He was asked by Erasmus to illustrate his satires. He also illustrated other books, and contributed to Martin Luther's translation of the Bible. Like his father, he designed stained glass windows and painted portraits. The Reformation made it difficult for him to support himself as an artist in Basel and he set out for London in 1526. Erasmus furnished him with a letter of introduction addressed to the English statesman and author Sir Thomas More. He painted many portraits at the court of Henry VIII. While there he designed state robes for the king.

Pieter Brueghel the Elder• (c.1525 – September 9, 1569) was a

Flemish Renaissance painter and printmaker known for his landscapes and peasant scenes (Genre Painting).

• He specialized in landscapes populated by peasants. He is often credited as being the first Western painter to paint landscapes for their own sake, rather than as a backdrop to a religious allegory.

• Attention to the life and manners of peasants was rare in the arts in his time. His earthy, unsentimental but vivid depiction of the rituals of village life—including agriculture, hunts, meals, festivals, dances, and games—are unique windows on a vanished folk culture and a prime source of iconographic evidence about both physical and social aspects of 16th century life. For example, the painting Netherlandish Proverbs illustrates dozens of then-contemporary aphorisms, while Children's Games shows the variety of amusements enjoyed by young people. His winter landscapes of 1565 are taken as corroborative evidence of the severity of winters during the Little ice age.

Hieronymus Bosch (pronounced as Boss in Dutch)

• (c. 1450 – August, 1516) was a prolific Dutch painter of the 15th and 16th centuries. Many of his works depict sin and human moral failings. Bosch used images of demons, half-human animals and machines to evoke fear and confusion to portray the evil of man. The works contain complex, highly original, imaginative, and dense use of symbolic figures and iconography, some of which was obscure even in his own time. He is said to have been an inspiration to the Surrealist movement in the 20th century.

• Born to a family of Dutch and German painters, he spent most of his life in 's-Hertogenbosch, a flourishing city in fifteenth century Brabant, in the south of the present-day Netherlands. In 1463, some 4000 houses in the town were destroyed by a catastrophic fire, which the then (approximately) 13-year-old may have witnessed. This might have been a contributing factor to his obsession with Hell. He became a popular painter and even received commissions from abroad. In 1488 he joined the Brotherhood of Our Lady, an archconservative religious group of some 40 influential citizens of Hertogenbosch and some 7000 'outer-members' from all over Europe.

Albrecht Dürer

• (May 21, 1471 – April 6, 1528) [1] was a German painter, printmaker, mathematician, and, with Rembrandt and Goya, the greatest creator of old master prints. Born and died in Nuremberg, Germany, he is best known for his prints often done in series, including the Apocalypse (1498) and his two series on the passion of Christ, the Great Passion (1498–1510) and the Little Passion (1510–1511). He is best known individual engravings include Knight, Death, and the Devil (1513), Saint Jerome in his Study (1514) and Melencolia I (1514), which has been the subject of the most analysis and speculation. With his Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1497–1498), from the Apocalypse series, it is his most iconic image, followed by his "Rhinoceros" and his numerous painted self-portraits.

Giovanni Bellini

• (c. 1430-1516) was a Venetian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of his family of painters. He is considered to have revolutionized Venetian painting, moving it towards a more sensuous and colouristic style. Through the use of clear, slow-drying oil paints, he created deep, rich tints and detailed shadings. His sumptuous coloring and fluent, atmospheric landscapes had a great effect on the Venetian painting school, especially on his pupils Giorgione and Titian... he painted his first female nude when he was about 85 years old.

Titian Pronunciation[tish-uhn]

• (c. 1488-90 – August 27, 1576) He was the leader of the 16th-century Venetian school of the Italian Renaissance. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, in the Cadore territory, near Belluno (Veneto), in Italy, and died in Venice. During his lifetime he was often called Da Cadore, taken from the place of his birth. The color titian is derived from the artist's frequent use of brownish orange.

• Recognised by his contemporaries as "the sun amidst small stars", he was one of the most versatile of Italian painters, equally adept with portraits and landscapes (two genres that first brought him fame), mythological and religious subjects. Had he died at the age of 40, he would still have to be regarded as one of the most influential artists of his time. But he lived on for half a century, changing his manner so drastically that some critics refuse to believe that his early and later pieces could have been produced by the same man.[1] What unites the two parts of his career is his deep interest in colour. His later works may not sing with vivid, luminous tints as his early pieces do, yet their loose brushwork and subtlety of polychromatic modulations have no precedents in the history of Western art.

• It took him two years (1516-18) to complete the great fresco of Assunta, whose dynamic three-tier composition and gorgeous color scheme established him as the greatest Italian painter north of Rome.

Filippo Brunelleschi• (1377 – April 15, 1446) • A great Florentine architect of the Italian

Renaissance.• Goldsmith in a Florentine workshop • interest in mathematics led him to architecture.• In 1418, a competition was announced for

proposals on how to bridge the central crossing of the cathedral in Florence (Santa Maria del Fiore). His bid was backed by the then less important family, the Medici, who stood to benefit hugely from the completion of the dome. His design, which offered to build the cupola in circular cone-shaped courses of brickwork forming two shells - one light outer shell - and the main shell (the scaffold) so thick that it contains a closed circle without a framework of scaffolding, won the competition, and in 1423 he was put in complete charge of the Duomo's building works. The internal dome is made with 16 ribs to take the pressure off the dome. As well, the dome is made of brick with the herring bone style to take additional stress off the dome.

• Its completion took most of his life. The main structure was finished by 1434. The dome was only completed with a lantern in 1461 by Michelozzo. Andrea del Verrocchio added the gilt copper ball in 1496. The church's dedication took place on 25 March 1436, accompanied by a grand ceremony; music for the occasion, the motet Nuper rosarum flores, was written by Guillaume Dufay.

Donatello

• (1386 – December 13, 1466) was a famous Florentine artist and sculptor of the early Renaissance.

• His greatest achievement of his classic period is the bronze David, which is currently located at the Bargello in Florence. At the time of its creation, it was the first free-standing nude statue since ancient times. Conceived fully in the round and independent of any architectural surroundings, it was the first major work of Renaissance sculpture.

Masaccio• (December 21, 1401,

San Giovanni Valdarmo, Italy – autumn 1428, Rome), was an important painter of frescoes during the early Italian Renaissance, whose works are the first monument of Humanism.

• His name is a humorous version of Tommaso, meaning "big", "clumsy" or "messy" Tom, possibly given because of his disorganised lifestyle and lax personal hygiene.

• In 1424 the "duo preciso e noto" ("well and known duo") of he and Masolino was commissioned by the powerful and rich Felice Brancacci to execute a cycle of frescoes for the Brancacci Chapel in the church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence. Theme of the frescoes of the little chapel was to be the "Histories of St. Peter". The genius of this artist shows clearly in the fresco "Resurrection of the Son of Theophilus" in the same chapel. He painted a pavement in perspective, framed by large buildings to obtain a depth of field, a three-dimensional space, in which the figures are placed proportionate to the perspective. In this he was a pioneer in applying the newly discovered rules of perspective.

Sandro Botticelli• (March 1, 1445 – May 17, 1510) was an

Italian painter of the Florentine school during the Early Renaissance.

• Painted The Birth of Venus: a revived Venus Pudica for a new view of pagan Antiquity (Uffizi, Florence)

• INTERESTING FACTS:• This artist’s name surfaced in popular culture

in connection with the 2003 bestselling novel The Da Vinci Code. In the popular TV sitcom Frasier, he is mentioned along with other notable artists. In the episode To Tell the Truth, Niles compliments Roz's baby pictures by declaring "[he] himself couldn't have painted a more perfect angel."

• He is also mentioned in Anne Rice's novel "Blood and Gold". He is seen to hold a number of conversations with the story's main character Marius. He is also mentioned along with his painting "the Birth of Venus" later on in the book.

• There is an episode of The Simpsons where Homer daydreams about an attractive new female co-worker by picturing her as the goddess Venus in his painting The Birth of Venus.

Raphael

• (April 6, 1483 – April 6, 1520), born in Urbino, Italy, was a master painter and architect of the Florentine school in the Italian High Renaissance, celebrated for the perfection and grace of his paintings.

• After his arrival in Rome, he devoted his efforts to the great Vatican projects, although he still painted portraits of his two main patrons, the popes Julius II and his successor Leo X, the latter portrait considered one of his finest.

Michelangelo Buonarroti• (March 6, 1475 – February 18, 1564),

This artist was an Italian Renaissance sculptor, painter, architect and poet. Despite making few forays beyond the arts, his versatility in the disciplines he took up was of such a high order that he is often considered a contender for the title of the archetypal Renaissance man, along with his rival and fellow Florentine Leonardo da Vinci.

• His output in every field during his long life was prodigious; when the sheer volume of correspondence, sketches and reminiscences that survive is also taken into account, he is the best-documented artist of the 16th century. Two of his best-known works, the Pietà and the David, were sculpted in his late twenties to early thirties. Despite his low opinion of painting, He also created two of the most influential fresco paintings in the history of Western art: the scenes from Genesis on the ceiling and The Last Judgement on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel in Rome.

Leonardo da Vinci• (April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519) This artist was an

Italian polymath: architect, anatomist, sculptor, engineer, inventor, mathematician, musician, and painter. He has been described as the archetype of the "Renaissance man", a man infinitely curious and equally inventive. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest painters of all time and a universal genius.

• He is famous for his realistic paintings, such as the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, as well as for influential drawings such as the Vitruvian Man. He conceived of ideas vastly ahead of his own time, notably conceptually inventing a helicopter, a tank, the use of concentrated solar power, a calculator, a rudimentary theory of plate tectonics, the double hull, and many others. Relatively few of his designs were constructed or were feasible during his lifetime; modern scientific approaches to metallurgy and engineering were only in their infancy during the Renaissance. In addition, he greatly advanced the state of knowledge in the fields of anatomy, astronomy, civil engineering, optics, and the study of water (hydrodynamics). Of his works, only a few paintings survive, together with his notebooks (scattered among various collections) containing drawings, scientific diagrams and notes.

Leonardo da Vinci

A Closer Look…

• Renaissance Art - A closer look…

Works Cited

Glencoe Text

University of Florida notes

Artwork and Text. Wikipedia

www.historyteacher.net/APEuroCourse/PowerpointPresent/RenaissanceArt.ppt