The Artistic RenaissanceEarly Renaissance:

Focus – “imitation of nature” = naturalism!!!

- Realism in composition

- Perspective

- Classical and biblical scenes

- Human form and emotion

Notable artists: Massacio Brunelleschi

Botticelli Francesca

Donatello Gozzoli

Comparing Classical, Medieval, and Renaissance Art

Classical Art: Characteristics• Idealized/”perfect”

figures• Bodies look “in

motion,” often nude, or in togas

• Faces are bland/calm / no emotion

• Little background / sense of perspective

• Subject: heroic figures, gods/goddesses

Medieval Art: Characteristics• Subject – mostly

religious• Visual “education”

of illiterate Christians

• Flat, 2-D figures, no emotion, stiff poses, clothed

• Important figures – large / center

• No background / perspective

• Vibrant colors, background – one color

Renaissance Art: Characteristics• Subjects – both

religious and non-religious

• Bodies – idealized, in motion, nude or clothed.

• Famous religious individuals and regular people doing regular tasks

• Faces show emotions • Emphasis on realism,

perspective (3-D), colors respond to light

• Detailed background

Massacio: The Expulsion of Adam and Eve

Brancacci Chapel,(fresco), Florence (1425)

Massacio. The Tribute Money fresco. Florence (1420s)

A Perspective Diagram

Benozzo Gozzoli. The Procession of the Magi. Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence,

(1459-1460)

The Procession of the Magi (details – Artist’s self-portrait)

Boticelli, Primavera (Allegory of Spring), 1482. Florence

Boticelli, The Birth of Venus, 1485.

Boticelli. The Adoration of the Magi. Florence.1475.

Piero della Francesca. Portraits of the Duke and Duchess of Urbino, 1467-1472.

Link to KhanAcademy’s Smarthistory analysis of this painting

Donatello

David (c.1430-1440) and St.Mark (1411-1413)

Brunelleschi

Duomo’s domeFlorence

Brunelleschi, Santo Spirito, Florence, Italy,1441-1481.

The Artistic High Renaissance (1480-1520)

• From Florence to ROME!• Mastery of scientific observation • Idealization of realistic portrayal

NOTABLE ARTISTS:Leonardo da Vinci

RaphaelMichelangelo

Leonardo da VinciThe Last Supper (1498)

The Last Supper: Details

The Last Supper (details)

The Vetruvian Man (c. 1490) and Mona Lisa (1503-1517)

RaphaelThe Colonna Madonna (1508)

Raphael The School of Athens (1509)

The School of Athens (details)Plato (da Vinci) and Aristotle (Michelangelo)

The School of Athens (Details) Raphael self-portrait

The School of Athens: Who is who?

According to Michael Lahanas in his book The School of Athens, “Who is Who?” Puzzle   they are usually identified as follows:

1: Zeno of Citium 2: Epicurus 3: Federico II of Mantua 4: Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius or Anaximander or Empedocles 5: Averroes 6: Pythagoras 7: Alcibiades or Alexander the Great? 8: Antisthenes or Xenophon 9: Hypatia (Francesco Maria della Rovere) 10: Aeschines or Xenophon 11: Parmenides 12: Socrates 13: Heraclitus (Michelangelo) 14: Plato (Leonardo da Vinci) 15: Aristotle 16: Diogenes 17: Plotinus or Michelangelo 18: Euclid or Archimedes with students (Bramante) 19: Zoroaster 20: Ptolemy R: Apelles (Raphael) 21: Protogenes (Il Sodoma, Perugino, or Timoteo Viti)

Michelangelo’s David (1501-1504)

The Sistine Chapel, Vatican (1508-1512)

Sistine Chapel, The Creation of Adam

Sistine Chapel: The Last Judgement

Dome, St.Peter’s Cathedral

Northern Renaissance• Cultural revival in Northern Europe (The

Holy Roman Empire, England, the Low Countries (Flanders)

• “Devotional” art and scenes from everyday life.

• Attention to details!!!

• Some northern artists studied in Italy

Jan van Eyck, Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride (1434)

Link to KhanAcademy’s Smarthistory analysis of this painting

Albrecht Durer, Adoration of the Magi (1504) and The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1498)

Pieter Brueghel (the elder)Peasant Wedding (1567)

The Hunters in the Snow (1565)

Renaissance art as reflection of European society and politics

Duke of Montefeltro and His Son (c.1475) by

Pedro Berruguete or (and) Justus van Gent

Albrecht Durer, Portrait of Katharina (1505)

Moneychanger and His Wife (1514) by Quinten Massys

The Massacre of the Innocents (1566)

“Internet of the Day” – Gutenberg’s Printing Press