RENAISSANCE IN PAINTING
1400-1600
(pictograms to introduce the topic)
 The Middle Ages are called so because they fall
between twin peaks of artistic glory: The
Classical period and the Renaissance

In the Renaissance what was reborn was lifelike
art; a shift was from the supernatural to the
natural caused this change
RENAISSANCE
 1400-1500
– Early Renaissance
 1500-20 – High Renaissance
 1503-6 – Leonardo paints Mona Lisa
 1508-12 – Michelangelo frescoes Sistine
Chapel ceiling
 1520 – Dürer excels at printmaking
 1520-1600 – Mannerism
 1601 – Baroque begins
In the famous portrait of Mona Lisa
("Jokonda"), which was completed by
Leonardo da Vince in 1503, the image
of rich townswoman is presented as
implementation of a raised feminist
ideal, not losing thus of intimatehuman charm (the famous "Jokonda's
smile"); a relevant composition
element becomes the cosmically vast
landscape running in the cold mist.
The picture of the ingenious artist
attracted attention of the researchers
and they found out that the
composition construction of the
picture is based on the two "golden"
triangles, which are the parts of the
"pentagram".
The wide usage of the "golden" spiral is
characteristic for the art works by
Rafael, Michelangelo and other Italian
artists. The multi-figured composition
"Beating of infants" pictured by Rafael
in 1509-1510 differs by dynamism and
drama of a subject. On the preparatory
Rafael's draft it is draw the smoothly
varying line encompassing all picture.
The line starts in semantic center of
the composition, that is, in the point
where the soldier fingers are closed
around of the child ankle, and further
the line goes along the figures of the
child, of the woman pining him to
herself, of the soldier with the sword
and then along the figures of the same
group in the right part of the draft. If
we connect in natural mode all these
pieces of the curve by the dotted line,
we can get the "golden" spiral!
The "golden" spiral in Rafael's picture
"Beating of infants".
THE TOP FOUR BREAKTHROUGHS
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the change from tempera paint on wood panels and
fresco on plaster walls to oil on stretched canvas
the use of perspective (linear perspective creates the
optical effect of objects receding in the distance
through lines that appear to converge at a single
point (the vanishing point); reducing the size of
objects and muting the colors or blurring detail as
objects get farther away)
giving weight and depth to form (also, the use of
rounded shapes to create mass and volume)
the use of light and shadow (chiaroscuro), as opposed
to simply drawing lines
pyramidal composition in paintings (e.g. Mona Lisa –
the symmetrical composition builds to a climax at the
centre, where the focal point is the figure’s head)
MONA LISA BY LEONARDO DA VINCI
AS RENAISSANCE SPREAD NORTH FROM
ITALY, IT TOOK DIFFERENT FORMS
Italian Renaissance art

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Specialty: ideal beauty
Style: simplified forms,
measured proportions
Subjects: religious and
mythological scenes
Figures: heroic male nudes
Portraits: formal, reserved
Technique: fresco, tempera, oil
paintings
Emphasis: underlying
anatomical structure
Basis of art: theory
Composition: static, balanced
Northern Renaissance

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Intense realism
Lifelike features, unflattering
honesty
Religious and domestic themes
Prosperous citizens, peasants
Reveal individual personality
Oil paintings on wood panels
Visible appearance
Observation
Complex, irregular
BOTTICELLI’S PRIMAVERA
HTTP://WWW.FLORENCEROOMS.COM/FLORENCE/FLORENCE_IMG/FLO_IMG/BOTTICELLI_PRIMAVERA.JPG
LEONARDO’S THE VITRUVIAN MAN
HTTP://WWW.GOOGLE.CA/IMGRES?Q=THE+VITRUVIAN+MAN&UM=1&HL=EN&SA=N&BIW=1280&BIH=687&TBM=ISCH&TBNID=0J-RKEECN1EGM:&IMGREFURL=HTTP://AZOTHGALLERY.COM/VITRUVIAN.HTML&DOCID=YGBOVAOKZQNDNM&IMGURL=
LEONARDO’S THE LADY WITH ERMINE +
ARTICLE
HTTP://WWW.GOOGLE.CA/SEARCH?HL=EN&CP=8&GS_ID=U&XHR=T&Q=THE+VITRUVIAN+MAN&BAV=ON.2,OR.R_GC.R_PW.R_QF.,CF.OSB&BIW=1
280&BIH=687&UM=1&IE=UTF-8&TBM=ISCH&SOURCE=OG&SA=N&TAB=WI&EI=KXHAT7
LEONARDO’S THE LAST SUPPER
HTTP://WWW.GOOGLE.CA/IMGRES?Q=THE+LAST+SUPPER&HL=EN&BIW=1280&BIH=644&GBV=2&TBM=ISCH&TBNID=0JNW0US2
FH9XGM:&IMGREFURL=HTTP://WWW.ABCGALLERY.COM/L/LEONARDO/LEONARDO4.HTML&DOCID=BBG3UOMQDXJXM&IMGURL=HTTP://WWW.
Apollo Belvedere
Michelangelo’s David (1501-04)
http://www.google.ca/imgres?q=apollo+belvedere&num=
10&hl=en&gbv=2&biw=1280&bih=644&tbm=isch&tbnid=
0pES0iF9toYHM:&imgrefurl=http://www.caitloon.com/filmstrip.
html&docid=XrXCbx3xtqg2gM&imgurl=http://www.c
http://www.google.ca/imgres?q=michelangelo+david&hl=
en&gbv=2&biw=1280&bih=644&tbm=isch&tbnid=F_Cdu
KkpjTYVM:&imgrefurl=http://smarthistory.khanacademy.or
g/Michelangelo-David.html&docid=v
MICHELANGELO’S CREATION OF ADAM
HTTP://WWW.BIBLEPICTUREGALLERY.COM/FREE/PICS/ADAM01.GIF
RAPHAEL’S MADONNA OF THE PINKS
HTTP://WWW.GOOGLE.CA/IMGRES?Q=RAPHAEL&START=51&NUM=10&UM=1&HL=EN&BIW=1280&BIH=644&TBM=ISCH&TBNID=Z
CBI6KYCZSGK5M:&IMGREFURL=HTTP://EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/MADONNA_OF_THE_PINKS&DOCID=TJ0HJOAEY5AVJM&IMGU
RL=HTTP
TITIAN’S BACCHANAL OF THE ADRIANS
HTTP://WWW.GOOGLE.CA/IMGRES?Q=TITIAN+BACCHANAL+OF+THE+ANDRIANS&UM=1&HL=EN&BIW=1280&BIH=644&TBM=ISCH
&TBNID=-PUZWNTBUTLBYM:&IMGREFURL=HTTP://ARTH335001.BLOGSPOT.COM/2010/04/TITIAN-BACCHANAL-OF-ANDRIANS-
VAN, EYCK, “ARNOLFINI WEDDING”
HTTP://WWW.GOOGLE.CA/IMGRES?Q=JAN+VAN+EYCK+ARNOLFINI+WEDDING+1434&UM=1&HL=EN&BIW=1280&BIH=644&TBM=IS
CH&TBNID=AEN-0SFVZELCBM:&IMGREFURL=HTTP://FAMOUSAFTERIDIE.WORDPRESS.COM/2011/04/05
HANS HOLBEIN’S THE FRENCH AMBASSADORS,
1533
HTTP://WWW.GOOGLE.CA/IMGRES?Q=HANS+HOLBEIN+THE+FRENCH+AMBASSADORS&UM=1&HL=EN&SA=N&BIW=1280&BIH=644&TBM=ISCH&
TBNID=R2HQCBZUZEDVZM:&IMGREFURL=HTTP://WWW.JIM3DLONG.COM/RENAISSANCE-27.
MANNERISM AND THE LATE
RENAISSANCE (1520-1600)
High Renaissance solved all problems of
representing reality and art reached a peak
of perfection and harmony So what now?
 The answer: replace harmony with
dissonance, reason with emotion, and
reality with imagination.
 Late Renaissance, or Mannerist, artists
abandoned realism based on observation of
nature.
 Straining after novelty, they exaggerated
the ideal beauty represented by
Michelangelo and Raphael, seeking
instability instead of equilibrium.

The times favored such disorder. Rome had
been sacked by the Germans and Spaniards
and the church had lost its authority during
the Reformation.
 In the High Renaissance, when times were
more stable, picture compositions were
symmetrical and weighted toward the
center. In the Late Renaissance,
compositions were oblique, with a void in
the center and figures crowded around –
often cut off by – the edge of the frame. It
was as if the world chaos and loss of a
unifying faith (“The center cannot hold,” as
W. B. Yeats later said) made paintings offbalance and diffuse.

The name “Mannerism” came form the
Italian term “di maniera”, meaning a work
of art done according to an acquired style
rather than depicting nature.
 Mannerist paintings are readily identifiable
because their style is so predictable.
Figures writhe and twist in unnecessary
contrapposto. Bodies are distorted –
generally elongated but sometimes grossly
muscular. Colors are lurid, heightening the
impression of tension, movement, and
unreal lightning.
 Notable Mannerists: Pontormo, Rosso,
Bronzino, Parmigianino, Cellini.

TINTORETTO, “THE LAST SUPPER”, 1594, S
AN
GIORGIO MAGGIORE, VENICE (DIAGONAL PERSPECTIVE, PICTURE OFF-BALANCE, USE OF LIGHT FOR
EMOTIONAL EFFECT)
HTTP://100SWALLOWS.FILES.WORDPRESS.COM/2008/02/TINTORETTO-LAST-SUPPER1591.JPG
THE LAST SUPPER THEME
Leonardo da Vinci
Tintoretto
THE SPANISH RENAISSANCE
EL GRECO (1541-1614)
Critics have disputed whether El Greco should be
considered Mannerist; some claim that he was
too idiosyncratic to be classified.
 His art manifested undeniable Mannerist
attributes, such as an unnatural light of
uncertain origin and harsh colors like strong
pink, acid green, and brilliant yellow and blue.
 His figures were distorted and elongated - their
scale variable - and the compositions full of
swirling movement. Like Mannerists, El Greco –
in his religious paintings although not his
portraits – cared little for accurately representing
the visual world. He preferred to create an
emotion-laden vision of celestial ecstasy.
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EL GRECO, “RESURRECTION”, C. 1597-1604, PRADO, MADRID (IMMENSELY LONG
BODIES, HARSH LIGHT AS IF FROM A THREATENING STORM, STRONG COLORS, TWISTED
FIGURES, SENSE OF MOVEMENT, AND INTENSE EMOTIONALISM
HTTPS://RAINDEOCAMPO.FILES.WORDPRESS.COM/2012/04/EL-GRECO-CHRISTS-RESURRECTION.JPG
REFERENCES
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Barnet, Sylvan. A Short Guide to Writing about
Art. 10th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2011. Print
Honour, Hugh and John Fleming. The Visual
Arts: A History. Revised 7th ed. Toronto: Prentice
Hall, 2010. Print
Strickland, Carol. The Annotated Mona Lisa. A
Crash Course in Art History from Prehistoric to
Post-Modern. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel
Publishing, LLC, 2007. Print