Renaissance Art
RENAISSANCE ART
THE EARLY RENAISSANCE
STATUS OF THE ARTS
• VISUAL ARTS CLASSED WITH
CRAFTS OR MECHANICAL ARTS
• “HANDIWORK” VS.
THEORETICAL BASIS
• VILLANI FIRST TO CLAIM A
PLACE FOR THEM IN LIBERAL
ARTS C. 1400
STATUS OF ARTS
• ALBERTI, ON PAINTING
• ADMISSION OF VISUAL ARTS TO
LIBERAL ARTS CHANGED
NATURE OF ARTIST’S WORK
• ARTIST A MAN OF IDEAS
RATHER THAN MANIPULATOR
OF MATERIAL
STATUS OF ARTISTS
• WORK OF ART A RECORD OF A
CREATIVE MIND
• ARTIST’S OUTLOOK ALSO
CHANGED
• IN COMPANY OF SCHOLARS
AND POETS HE OFTEN BECAME
A MAN OF LEARNING
ARTISTS & THIER ARTS
• EARLY REN. CONCERNED WITH
MASTERING TECHNIQUES TO
IMITATE NATURE & CLASSICAL
MODELS
• PERSPECTIVE, USE OF LIGHT
AND SHADOW, SCULPTURE
• MATERIALS FROM OIL PAINT TO
BRONZE
SCULPTURE
• SOUGHT TO TREAT THE HUMAN
BODY LIKE CLASSICAL
SCULPTURE
• CONTRAPPOSTO
• DONATELLO, 1386-1466, AMONG
FOUNDERS OF NEW STYLE
ARCHITECTURE
• BRUNELLESCHI - DUOMO AND
FOUNDLING HOME
ARCHITECTURE
• ALBERTI - RUCELLAI PALACE
PAINTING
• MASSACIO - LAWS OF
PERSPECTIVE (1401-1428)
• FRA ANGELICO(1387-1455)
• PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA
• UCCELLO
• BOTTICELLI (1445-1510)
HIGH RENAISSANCE
• LATE 15th-FIRST HALF 16th
• TECHNICAL PROBLEMS SOLVED
• ARTISTS COULD ASPIRE TO
TRANSCEND NATURE NOT JUST
COPY IT
• CONTEMPORANEOUS WITH
END OF DEMOCRARCY, IT WAS
THE ART OF PRINCES AND
POPES
• ROME WAS NOW THE FOCUS
THE ARTIST IN HIGH REN.
• SOVEREIGN GENIUS RATHER
THAN CRAFTSMAN
• SET APART FROM OTHER
MORTALS : “CREATIVE” &
THEREFORE DIVINE
• GRAND AMBITIONS NOT
LIMITED BY NATURE OR
CLASSICAL MODELS
• Subjective standards of truth and beauty
• Visual effectiveness
• Works immediate “classics”
HIGH REN. ARTISTS
• MICHELANGELO BUONAROTTI
(1475-1564)
• LEONARDO DA VINCI (1452-
1519)
• RAPHAEL (1483-1520)
