Any of the
work the students would like to view is available on the Art Hooks link from
Social Studies web page or by going through Yahoo.com to Arts and
humanities/Art History/Periods and Movements/Renaissance
RENAISSANCE ART AND
ARCHITECTURE
Beginning in
1300 art experienced a drastic shift in representation. Byzantine and Medieval art had stressed the
world beyond man, the world of God.
Those artists purposely denied realistic images in favor of mystical and
mysterious forms. They wanted to depict
Heaven. Renaissance artists wanted to
depict Earth and the world of man.
Renaissance art was deeply influenced by the writings and
lectures of the Humanist scholars and philosophers. Some of the most significant humanist ideals that impacted art
were
Ü An emphasis on education
Ü An emphasis on knowledge of antiquity
Ü A belief in the potential of man to improve
himself and excel
Ü A belief in civic responsibility and moral duty
These ideals were
expressed in the art of the time by
Ü An increased popularity of subjects from classical
history.
Ü An increased interest in depicting current events
Ü An increased concern with the observation of
nature and perspectives
Ü An increased concern with anatomy and an accurate
portrayal of the human body, including the nude body.
Ü A revival of portraiture, including
self-portraiture.
Ü An expansion of patronage in civic and religious
art commissions.
GIOTTO DI BONDONE
(ca. 1266 – 1337)
§
Father of Western
pictorial art
§
Naturalistic
approach based on observation
§
Stressed the pre-eminence
of sight for gaining knowledge of the world == laid the foundation for
empirical science
§
Human figures are
solid, sculptural and project into the light producing shadows.
Padua, 1305-1306
3 fresco cycles cover the wall – Life of Virgin, Life of
Christ, and the Passion Cycle.
The Lamentation of Christ
§
Enthusiasm for Roman
bodily form
§
Greatness lies in
his extreme versatility and depth
Bronze; commissioned by the Medici
1428-1432
v first free-standing nude since antiquity
v David was the symbol of the independent Florentine
republic
v Revives contrapposto nd copies the sensuous lines
of several famous classical Greek statues
Wood
1454-1455
Depicting
depth on a two dimensional surface had been toyed with over the centuries, but
Brunelleschi’s discovery of linear perspective gave artist’s a way to create
distance in a mathematical and precise manner.
1. Linear perspective – determine
mathematically the size of rendered objects to correlate them with the visual
recession into space.
Determine a horizon
line
Draw
orthogonals
This creates a structural
grid that organizes the image and determines the size of objects within the
image’s illusionistic space. Also
creates the technique of foreshortening.
2.
Aerial/Atmospheric
Perspective – an optical phenomena; it exploits the principle that the farther
back the object is in space, the blurrier, less detailed, and bluer it appears.
Renaissance
artists thought of the picture plane as a transparent window through which the
observer’s look to see into a constructed world.
This
rediscovery of perspective reflects the emergence of science itself, which is,
simply put the mathematical ordering of our observation of the physical world.
The use of linear perspective in particular correlates with
the revival of Platonism. Plato in many of his writings said that measure is the basis of beauty.
MASACCIO (1401 – 1428)
§
Further
development of bodily form through modeling
§
Play
of light across the figures creating shadows
§
Light
source is more definitely indicated
§
Greater
sense of depth due to the shadows
§
Figures
are in front of a landscape rather than confined on stage.
§
Liked
to use linear perspective and takes the first step toward illusionistic
painting.
1425, fresco
v odd
choice of subjects
v three
scenes in one painting – narrative
v light
source seems to come from the right
v circular
depth with Christ at the center
Santa Maria Nouvella, Florence
1428, fresco
v great
example of linear perspective
v vanishing
point at the foot of the cross – forces us to look down at the tomb and up at
the cross
v statement
is “man moves from death to resurrection”
v upper
part of the painting appears to recede into a deep vault, whereas the lower
tomb seems to project out.
PAOLO UCCELLO (1397 – 1474)
Battle of San
Romano – fresco, 1445
Commissioned
by the Medici Family to celebrate the victory of Florence over Siena.
Interesting note about
this painting is the perspective play and the foreshortening. Also the Medici oranges
SANDRO BOTTICELLI (1444 –
1510)
§
Represents the
romantic and lyrical in Renaissance art.
§
Deeply influenced by
Petrarch’s sonnets and love poetry
v Profile poses used until 1470, then gradual shift
to ¾ and then full pose.
v Women rarely if ever portrayed except in profile
because indecent for a woman to meet a man’s eye.
v Master of line, in particular outline
§
Worked for the
Sforza family in Mila
§
Intrigued with
perspective and changing horizon lines
§
Foreshortening
Architect and sculptor;
he is most known for the Duomo (dome) of the Florence Cathedral.
The dome when finished
was the largest such dome in the world at that time. The architects previously had constructed the cathedral with an
area to be spanned by a dome that proved to be too large for conventional
methods. Brunelleschi had to invent a
new method of creating a dome. Usually
a dome was built over wood centering.
This wooden skeleton would allow the mortar of the actual dome to be
supported as it dried. No where in the
area of Florence could wood be found large enough to construct a skeleton to
support the dome of the Florence Cathedral.
Plus the dome was going to take such a long time to be constructed that
any wood used for support would have warped and thus caused the dome to
collapse.
Brunelleschi constructed
eight pointed arches held together by nine concentric circles of internal wood
and stone. He used a herringbone or cross hatch design for his brick work to
lock the areas between the ribs or arches.
By using pointed arches and cross-hatch brick work, Brunelleschi was
able to change the normal thrust and pressure of the dome upon itself, so he
did not need any wood centering or scaffolding. The dome was constructed with no interior support whatsoever and
is a miracle of engineering.
Certainly
the most well-known art of the period is the work of the three great masters of
the High Renaissance, Leonardo de Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo. Their art epitomizes humanist ideals and
brings to a climax many of the earlier stylistic innovations for which the
Renaissance is noted – chiaroscuro and aerial perspective especially. Julius
II, the warrior pope, will become the greatest patron of these three artists
and the center of the art world will thus move from Florence to Rome during
this time period.
LEONARDO DA VINCI (1452 – 1519)
§
In depth exploration
of optics; wanted to discover the laws underlying the processes and flux of
nature
§
Constantly
experimenting with new techniques
§
Enhanced study of
anatomy
§
Very interested in
capturing subtle emotions
§
Known for his use of
chiaroscura
§
Aerial perspective
almost smoky – sfumato
1485; oil on wood, transferred to canvas
Louvre
v Figures are formed into a pyramid for stability of
composition
v The figures actually sit in the
environment and in fact
seem
to emerge from it because of aerial perspective.
v No distinct shape outline for the figures; they
appear due to the juxtaposition of light and shade, chiaroscuro
v Gestures of the figures tie them together and
present a mood of quiet tenderness.
1495-98; fresco
refectory of Santa Maria della Grazia in Milan
*****the scene is unique
because it comes from Matthew 26:21 when Jesus says to his disciples, “One of
you is about to betray me.” Leonardo
sought to show each disciples emotional reaction. Each disciple is a study unto himself.
*****Christ is the focal
point – emotianlly and psychologically; in two-dimensions and three dimensions.
1503 – 1505
oil on wood, Louvre
her smile actually
results from Leonardo’s love of mystery created by chiaorscuro and aerial
perspective. Adjusted the light and
blurred the precise planes of her face to achieve his smoky sfumato, thus
rendering the facial expression hard to determine.
MICHELANGEL BUONARROTI (1475 –
1564)
§
Did not believe in
perfect measure as his guide
§
Believed his own
eye/mind could decipher true beauty (Platonic)
§
First artist to
assert an artist’s right to self-expression
§
The human form was
his idea of the greatest beauty
§
Sculptural.
1501-1504; Marble
Florence
v Portrayed before the battle rather than after
v Pent-up emotion
v Turn of the head breaks the frontal plane and
involves the viewer
v Huge hands and head
1508; fresco
Rome
v Sculpture in paint
v Expressive representation of the human body
v Human body was the manifestation of the human soul
v Humanistic representation
RAPHAEL (1483 –1520)
§
Linear perspective
§
Combined most of the
elements of High Renaissance art without the emotionality of Michelangelo or
the experimentation of Leonardo, so created a large amount of work.
1510-1511; fresco
Rome
v One of four frescos done to decorate the pope’s
library; they were to sum up Western Learning – theology, law, poetry, and
philosophy
v Represents philosophy
v Mood is calm self-assurance and natural dignity
VENETIANS
BELLINI
TITIAN
Color –
create color through a totally new interpretation of light.
FLEMISH
JAN VAN EYCK
Miniaturist;
very involved with symbolic representations in art.
GERMAN
ALBRECHT DURER
Master
engraving; the Leonardo of the North
ENGLISH
Hans Holbein
Portrait
painter for Henry VII and VIII