BELL RINGER – 9/17
 m.socrative.com

– Room 38178 OR Bell Ringer Card
QUESTION: Short Answer
 The
word “Renaissance” translates to...
 If
you know the answer, put what you know.
 If you’re not sure, take a guess. Today, as long as you
HAVE an answer, you’ll get the points 
I do NOT have your binder grades added up or in the gradebook yet. They HAVE all
been checked, the scores just need to be tallied. With my surgery and the
conference yesterday I just haven’t gotten to them yet. You will DEFINITELY have
them by the end of the week – sorry for the delay! Most of them were GREAT!
INTRODUCTION TO THE RENAISSANCE
INTRODUCTION TO THE RENAISSANCE

Renaissance = “rebirth”

Rebirth of our understanding of ourselves as
social and creative beings

Florence, the crucible of the Italian
Renaissance, was called the “New Athens”
 Liberal
arts were first redefined as art – not “craft”
as they were in the Middle Ages
INTRODUCTION TO THE RENAISSANCE

Arts became an essential part of learning

Artists, architects, composers, and writers
gained confidence from their new status and
from the technical mastery they were achieving

It seemed possible to surpass the works of the
classical world
INTRODUCTION TO THE RENAISSANCE

Renaissance describes a new sense of self and
self-awareness

Where and how the Renaissance began, and
what specifically it was, is as difficult as
answering the question of where and how it
ended – if it ended at all!
INTRODUCTION TO THE RENAISSANCE

The rebirth of ideas began in the 1400s after
centuries of stagnation

In Italy, there was a new spirit of inquiry and
understanding – the classical world of Greece
and Rome again became the inspiration for a
superior civilization
INTRODUCTION TO THE RENAISSANCE

The Renaissance was really 3 periods, each
with its own circumstances and characteristics
 Early
Renaissance – in Florence
 High Renaissance – in Rome and Venice
 Late Renaissance – occurred outside Italy in the
northern European states.
THE EARLY RENAISSANCE

Florence, Italy

Men and women felt they had found kindred spirits
in the Greeks and Romans

The Greeks gave an idealized model of humankind
that could be expressed in painting and sculpture

Ideas of nobility, intellect, and physical perfection
led to new conceptions of what constituted beauty
ANTIQUITY

Scholars pursued an understanding of classical art and architecture

They became enamored with measuring things

Scientific curiosity and concern for detail led to a fascination with
anatomy

Scientific investigation led to a new system of mechanical
perspective

All this measuring and codifying produced a set of rules for
proportion and balance

Unity, form, and perfect proportion were codified as a set of laws
THE PAPAL STATES

Papal States: large area of central Italy


Middle of 15th century
The Renaissance popes expended great time,
wealth, and energy in consolidating the Papal
States
Often included diplomacy and war
 Filled papal offices with loyal relatives


The Renaissance popes were great patrons of
Renaissance artists and ideas
THE PAPAL STATES

Benefits from the Renaissance popes were
mostly in worldly realms as opposed to spiritual

Vatican Library: filled with priceless
manuscripts, brought major scholars to Rome,
and supported research

Rome became one of the most beautiful cities
of the world
Painting
EARLY RENAISSANCE ART
EARLY RENAISSANCE PAINTING
CHARACTERISTICS

Highly realistic linear perspective

Treated paintings as a window into space

Paintings will appear deep

Painters used realistic light, shadow, and, most of
all, human anatomy

Desire to depict the beauty of nature and human
form
MASACCIO (MAH-ZAH-COH)

1401-1429 (died of malaria)

Employs deep space and rational perspective in his
figures


Fresco: technique of painting on a moist, plaster surface
with colors ground up in water


Was one of the first to give us perspective
Common throughout the Renaissance (along with some
tempera panels)
Summoned in 1425 to create a series of frescoes for
the Brancacci Chapel of the Church of Santa Maria del
Carmine in Florence (religion supporting the arts)
MASACCIO

Deep perspective is used to create dramatic
contrasts – gives solidity to the figures and
unifies the paintings

Figures are strong, detailed, and very human

Compositions carefully hold the parts of the
painting subordinate to the whole.
MASACCIO – THE HOLY TRINITY
MASACCIO – THE HOLY TRINITY

Full frontal, single vanishing point
perspective

Things get smaller as they approach
the vanishing point

Precise anatomical detail and
accuracy

Places the crucified Christ at the
center


Similar to medieval artwork
The barrel vault recedes dramatically
creating deep space, as if we were
gazing up into 3-dimensional space
FRA ANGELICO (AHN-JAY-LEE-KOH)

1400-1455

Became an accomplished painter before taking
vows in the Dominican Order

Numerous works

Took things one step further than Massacio
FRA ANGELICO - ANNUNCIATION
FRA ANGELICO - ANNUNCIATION

An Angel comes
to Mary

Divides the
canvas into
thirds

The arches
occupy twothirds of the
work

The rest is the
receding arcade
FRA ANGELICO - ANNUNCIATION

The Angel’s
words are
printed to
appear to come
out of his mouth

Mary’s response
is written upside
down so that it
must be read
from Mary
toward the angel
FRA ANGELICO - ANNUNCIATION

Angelico’s figures
are 3D, though
only slightly

Highlight and
shadow contrasts
are minimum, but
there

Deep space –
arcade recedes to
a vanishing point
on an imagined
horizon
LATE 15TH CENTURY

The essences of new art were well known and well
established, and it was now time for further
exploration in other avenues

Lyrical expression, more poetic than anything thus
far


Up to this point EVERYTHING was done for the church
Botticelli – 1445-1510
The first major Renaissance artist to venture back into
the stories of the Greek and Roman Gods
 Our first “secular” artist

BOTTICELLI – LA PRIMAVERA
BOTTICELLI – LA PRIMAVERA

Unconcerned
with deep
space

Forms emerge
through outline

Subjects carry
their own
emotion:
contemplation,
sadness or
happiness
BOTTICELLI – LA PRIMAVERA

Human, but
mythical

Anatomically
quite simple, but
realistic

Little detailed
musculature


Mostly covered
by clothing
3D figures, but
seem to be
floating in space
BOTTICELLI – THE BIRTH OF VENUS
BOTTICELLI – THE BIRTH OF VENUS

Depicts the
mythical birth
of Venus
from the sea

Symbolizes
the birth of
beauty in the
minds of
humankind
with ideas
fertilized by
divinity
BOTTICELLI – THE BIRTH OF VENUS

Weight
seems to be
suspended
not in or even
on the shell,
rather held in
place almost
magically by
unseen
forces

Wind god
blows her to
shore
BOTTICELLI – THE BIRTH OF VENUS

Some deep
space

Realistic
anatomy,
muscular
details

Realistic light
and shading
SCULPTURE AND ARCHITECTURE
EARLY RENAISSANCE ART
SCULPTURE

Freestanding sculpture is dominant

Scientific inquiry and an interest in anatomy are reflected


The nude, full of character and charged with energy,
reappears for the first time since ancient times


Obsessed with measuring things – new rules for proportion
As you saw in Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus”
Human form was approached layer by layer, through an
understanding of its skeletal and muscular framework

Even when clothed, sculpture revealed the body under the
surface
DONATELLO

1386-1466

Saw life and reality in terms much different from
his predecessors and contemporaries

Was fascinated by the optical qualities of form and
by the intense inner life of his subjects

Amazingly dramatic and forceful works
DONATELLO’S DAVID

The first freestanding nude since
ancient times

His most famous work!

Partially clothed – boots, helmet

Facial expression reflects a
lifelike human quality

Asymmetrical stance

Symbolizes Christ’s triumph over
Satan (David’s triumph over
Goliath)
DAVID

He stands on
Goliath’s head
DONATELLO’S DAVID

Clear muscular detail

Individual pose and emotion

Correct proportions/anatomy

Filled with action and strength
MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH

Another major breakthrough of Renaissance art
came in the discovery of principles for depicting
perspective mechanically and naturalistically

Produces a visually convincing and attractive
means of depicting objects in space

Subjects will have qualities that give them a
relationship to the distant horizon
GHIBERTI’S THE GATES OF PARADISE
East doors of the Florence Baptistery
GHIBERTI’S THE GATES OF PARADISE
GHIBERTI’S THE GATES OF PARADISE
GHIBERTI’S THE GATES OF PARADISE
GHIBERTI’S THE GATES OF PARADISE
GHIBERTI’S THE GATE’S OF PARADISE

Commissioned in 1425

Bears 10 scenes

Ghiberti freely uses each
as if it were the canvas of a
painting

Perspective is employed to
give sculpture a totally new
sense of deep space
GHIBERTI’S THE GATE’S OF PARADISE

Each panel depicts an
incident from the Old
Testament

Scenes take on
remarkable senses of
space

The Story of Jacob and
Esau -->
GHIBERTI’S THE STORY OF JACOB AND ESAU

Beautiful surfaces are
created with delicate
and careful exact detail

Receding arcades to
portray depth and
perspective

Took Ghiberti 21 years
to complete the entire
gates
ARCHITECTURE

Architects became concerned with reviving
classical models, but did so along mechanical
lines

Measured ruins of Roman buildings and translated
proportions to Renaissance buildings

Renaissance architects applied classical detail
to a wide range of forms and structures

Radical change in the outer expression of
structure

Supporting elements, (such as posts, masonry, and
arches) are hidden from view.
FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI’S
DOME OF THE CATHEDRAL OF FLORENCE

Brunelleschi spent 3
years completing a
model

Was hired after the
overall plan of the
cathedral was already
in place (and built) –
could not be changed

Plan included an
octagonal base for the
dome itself
FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI’S
DOME OF THE CATHEDRAL OF FLORENCE

Eight massive ribs,
like the spokes of an
umbrella, are
designed to admit
light into the interior

Marble lantern on top
holds it all together

Built from 1420-1436
FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI’S
DOME OF THE CATHEDRAL OF FLORENCE


• Inspired by the Pantheon 
•Pantheon’s dome is impressive
only from the inside. Its exterior
support clutters the visual
experience outside.
Rises 180 feet into
the air – apparent
from both the inside
and out
Structural
considerations are
subordinate
FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI’S
DOME OF THE CATHEDRAL OF FLORENCE

The
inside,
painted by
Bonainuto
NAME THE PAINTING & ARTIST

Part of your quizzes/tests this period will require you to
IDENITIFY specific important pieces of artwork

To prepare you for this, we will run through them often in
class before you’re ever quizzed/tested on them

A painting will appear – write down the NAME AND
ARTIST to the best of your knowledge. We will go over
the answers on the second pass. Please keep them to
yourself the first time. THIS WILL NOT BE GRADED – IT
IS PRACTICE!
ARTWORK? ARTIST?
PAINTING? ARTIST?
Artwork?
Artist?
PAINTING? ARTIST?
PAINTING? ARTIST?
ARTWORK? ARTIST?
PAINTING? ARTIST?
ANSWERS

Let’s go over the answers!
THE GATES OF PARADISE - GHIBERTI
THE HOLY TRINITY - MASSACIO
David
By Donatello
THE BIRTH OF VENICE - BOTTICELLI
LA PRIMAVERA - BOTTICELLI
THE DOME OF THE CATHEDRAL OF FLORENCE BRUNELLESCHI
ANNUNCIATION – FRA ANGELICO
CLASS ACTIVITY – CATCH UP

Complete your crossword puzzle from
Wednesday

Complete your vanishing point drawing