Humanism in Art
UNIT 2: RENAISSANCE EUROPE
LEQ:
How did
humanism
influence
Renaissance
art and
distinguish it
from Medieval
art?
Drill:
What is
humanism?
The Harvesters
Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1565
Differences in Art
MEDIEVAL PERIOD
RENAISSANCE PERIOD
1. Stressed world beyond everyday
life
1. Created realistic scenes and images =
Realism
2. Mostly religious
2. Used linear perspective = added depth;
3D feel
3. Served a purpose (reminders of
importance of God)
4. Flat in appearance, lacked realism;
figures were not proportionate
5. Egg tempera based paint
3. Depicted everyday life; focus on nature
and beauty
4. Use of light and shadows
5. Oil based paint
•a very early example of
Renaissance painting,
containing many of the
characteristics of
paintings from the
Middle Ages
•the pairs of saints and
angels around the upper
border of the painting
are smaller than the
Madonna and child in
the center
•this is called hieratic
scale, which means
making the most
important figures in a
work of art larger than
less important figures
Madonna and
Child in Glory
Jacopa di Cione, 1360-65
•Compare the
background in this
painting to the
background in the
painting they just saw
•artists in the
Renaissance were less
interested in heaven and
much more interested in
what the world around
them looked like
•Did this artist use
Hieratic scale? Where
are the figures in this
painting? Do their
surroundings look true
to life? Why or why not?
Miraculous Mass of St. Martin of
Tours
Franconian School, 1440
•Do these figures wear
halos?
•Describe the landscape
surrounding these figures.
• Is the landscape heavenly
or earthly?
•In this painting, the holy
family of the Madonna
and baby Jesus with St.
John live in the same
world as ordinary people.
•Oil paint allowed artists
to build up layers of paint
that light could shine
through, and allowed
artists to represent light in
a more believable way
Madonna and Child with
St. John
Guiliano Bugiardini, 1510
•Examine the
buildings in the
background
carefully.
Do they look true to
life? Why or why
not.
•Mathematical
formulas that
allowed artists to
represent space in
paintings in a very
believable way
were invented
during the
Renaissance. We
call this accurate
perspective.
Adoration of the Shepherds
Giovanni Agostino da Lodi, 1510
• this painting
was made
later in the
• Renaissance
than any of the
others
• for the first
time in art
history
ordinary
people also
became
worthy
subjects for
works of art
Bean Eater
Annibale Carracci, 15821583