Art History | Medieval + Italian and Northern Renaissance
Resources
Khan Academy → http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/
Metropolitan Museum of Art → Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/
Medieval Period (Middle Ages)
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Roughly 500 – 1500 – Fall of Rome until Renaissance
Terms reflect early historical view of an age of decline between two golden eras.
Actually an age of complexity, richness and innovation that gave rise to modern Europe.
Shaped by relationships developed in demise of Roman authority – especially Northern
(Germanic) leaders and the Catholic Church.
Periods within this era:
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527 – 867 Early Byzantine, rule of Justinian
750 – 900 Carolingian period, Rule of Charlemagne
900 – 1000 Ottonian period, Otto I creates Holy Roman Empire
11th and 12th centuries, Romanesque style, Crusades and pilgrimages
mid-12th – 15th centuries, Gothic style, monarchy, growth of cities
Byzantine
Term derives from Greek colony, Byzantium, which was the eastern part of Roman Empire from 330
CE, when Constantine declared Constantinople the capital, until the Ottoman invasion in 1453.
Justinian I (527 – 565): Extensive building program (Hagia Sophia), codified and reformed Roman law
Ecclesiastical works of art, San Vitale mosaic program, portraiture and propaganda
Flat surfaces, heavy outlines, almond eyes, gold inlay
Romanesque
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“In the Roman style”
Use of arches, barrel vaults, thick masonry walls
Pilgrimages to see relics and icons
Bayeux Tapestry
Gothic
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Abbot Suger (St. Denis)
Soaring height – towers and spires
Rib vaults
Rose window (stained glass)
Flying buttresses
Early Renaissance in Italy (C. 1400-1500)
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Flat space, Byzantine influence
Religious scenes with Madonna and Child or Saints as major focus
Egg tempera on wood
Extensive use of gold backgrounds (to be seen in candlelit churches)
Masters
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Cimabue
Giotto di Bondone (Arena Chapel)
Masaccio
Filippo Brunelleschi (Dome of Florence Cathedral – Duomo)
High Renaissance in Italy (C. 1500-1520)
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Rebirth of classical art and literature
Measured proportions
Balance
Ideal beauty
Religious and mythological scenes
Heroic male nudes
Formal portraits
Underlying anatomical structure: great period of scientific discovery
Use of perspective
Masters
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Donatello
Michelangelo Buonarroti
Leonardo de Vinci
Raphael
Titian
Mannerism (1520-1600)
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Elongation and distortion of forms
Emotion over reason
Imagination superior to reality
Artificial
Masters
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Parmigianino
Bronzino
Pontormo
The Renaissance in the North
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Develop use of oil paints
Extreme detail
Emotional
Folding, polyptychs and altarpieces
Elements of realism
Masters
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Limbourg Brothers
Robert Campin
Jan van Eyck
Rogier van der Weyden
Albrecht Dürer
Hans Holbein
Heironymous Bosch
Peter Bruegel
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El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos) – Greek working in Spain