The High Renaissance: Bramante,
Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael
Links:
The High Renaissance Link:
http://arthistory.about.com/cs/arthistory10one/a/high_ren.htm
http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/bio/l/leonardo/biograph.html (Leonardo da Vinci)
http://instruct.westvalley.edu/grisham/1b_italhiren.html (Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael)
The High Renaissance is a flowering of all that went before in the 15th century. The
artists, of whom the most famous are Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael, depended on
the work of all the artists who had gone before them, but they built on that in such a way
that they almost exhausted all the possibilities inherent in it. The period of the High
Renaissance began in about 1495 and ended in about 1527 with the beginning of
Mannerism. During the first quarter of the 16th century, artistic patronage in Italy centered
around the Papal Court. Therefore, most paintings were religious in nature.
During the 16th century a major change took place in painting media. Oil paint began to take
the place of tempera. This allowed more flexibility in the paint for a variety of reasons. Oil
paint is slower drying, which allowed more versatility and blendability. This allowed artists
to experiment more with the effects of light.
Their work marks a complete divide, but also a bridge between past and the art of the next
century and the Baroque period. It is both classical and anti-classical. It uses classical
elements but brings into art an expression of individuality not dared by earlier artists. Thanks
to these three artists, the status of the artist changed from that of a laborer to that of scientist,
thinker, philosopher and man of genius (thus the term Renaissance Man).
Leonardo daVinci
Leonardo da Vinci was born in 1452, only seven years after Botticelli, but 23 years before
Michelangelo. Therefore he is solidly in the quattrocento (15th Century), but different from all
other artists who were his contemporaries in Florence. He was dead in 1519 when the High
Renaissance was going full strength. His contributions to that period we still see today.
Leonardo was an illegitimate child of Ser Pietro, a notary of Florence, and a woman named
Caterina in the town of Vinci about 20 miles from Florence. Leonardo was taken in by Ser
Pietro and his wife as their own child.
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Leonardo was left-handed, a characteristic that marked him as being different, but only one of
many which made him exceptional. He developed a written text that went from left to right,
backwards. A mirror is needed to read his writing. This helped him protect his ideas from
others being able to read them at a glance. He filled thousands of pages of notes with
observations and drawings of everything from accurate botanical observations to flood waters
in motion to intricate anatomical drawings of the human body.
At the age of sixty Leonardo drew a self-portrait. Vasari, the biographer of artists of his time
and place, wrote of him that he was handsome, charming, a brilliant conversationalist, and had
"an indescribable grace in every effortless act and deed. His talent was so rare that he
mastered any subject to which he turned his attention. Extraordinary strength and remarkable
facility were here combined. He had a mind of regal boldness and magnanimous daring... He
was a man of high spirits, generous in all his actions."
Leonardo was an original thinker and a true scientist, drawing his conclusions from the world
he observed around him. Leonardo's mind was free from all constraining authorities from the
past, including Aristotle and Plato, and he rarely made reference to antiquity in his notes.
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He filled notebooks with drawings and notes. He dissected the human body and made
anatomical drawings, hypothetical flying machines, weapons, and the action of water, which
he studied to help him understand air currents for flight.
As far as we know, Leonardo never designed a building that was built, but he made sketches
which may have been influenced by Alberti, whom he knew in Florence, and in turn
Leonardo's influence may have then been felt on Bramante in Milan, probably showing up in
the design Bramante made for St. Peter's.
His few architectural sketches show an organic type of structure with the central plan that
architects considered ideal. He broke away from the flat plane that dominated architecture of
his day to dream of a more three dimensional type of architecture which shows a total organic
organization. Even though his designs are probably for churches, Leonardo himself was not
religious in any conventional sense. He asked "Why are we supposed to worship the Son,
when all the churches are dedicated to the Mother?"
Leonardo was apprenticed to Verrochio around 1470 and soon was entrusted with painting
parts of Verrochio's commissions. He was admitted as a master to the painter's guild in
Florence. Even in his early works a new quality is present that separates him from the artists
of the fifteenth century.
He thought painters should use diffused light like that at sunrise or sunset and recommended
that they set up a studio in a courtyard in which all the walls are painted black, with a sheet of
linen stretched above to prevent harsh cast shadows. This misty quality is called sfmato, an
Italian term meaning misty, soft and mellow.
Leonardo modeled with light and shade in the manner first practiced by Masaccio, but without
that artist's harsh modeling. He conceived of the world as a dark place into which light reveals
form, acting on darkness but never entirely replacing it. The interplay of dark and light which
often resembles stage lighting is called chiaroscuro. The Baroque artist Caravaggio took this
concept with its dramatic lighting as his stylistic trait.
In 1481 or 2 he was invited to come to Milan by Duke Ludovico Sforza to serve in many
different capacities. At the Duke’s court, Leonardo played the lute, which he made himself out
of silver in the shape of a horse's head, sang excellently, made toys and decorative items for
the amusement of the Duke and his court, and worked at engineering projects.
In application for this job Leonardo wrote a remarkable vita which he sent to the Duke
outlining all the clever things he could do, including hydraulic and military engineering, but
hardly mentioned painting.
The Virgin of the Rocks
From this period in Milan come two paintings of the Madonna and Christ Child with John the
Baptist and an angel. Both have a dark and gloomy background with mountains and rocks
inspired by the Italian Alps. The openings may represent the cave of the Nativity, as well as
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the cave of the Sepulcher. The figures are arranged compositionally in pyramidical form, as
was common during the early Renaissance. This arrangement creates a feel of stability in the
composition. The painting was done as the central panel of the altarpiece for the chapel for
the Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception. Eventually a second version was painted
after the first version was sold to a private collector. The painting seems to draw on the
legendary meeting between the baby Jesus and John the Baptist during the flight into Egypt.
Both versions are the source of much debate and controversy for a number of reasons. Some
even speculate that the hand gestures in the composition are actually sign language, which
was a secrete way for Leonardo to include his initials in the painting, since signing paintings
was not permitted during this time. The second version of the composition is currently in the
National Gallery in London.
Virgin of the rocks above left: Louvre version, right National Gallery of London version
Last Supper
At Milan Leonardo painted his famous version of the last supper in the refractory or dining
room of the monastery of Santa Maria della Grazie . Fresco was not a medium that Leonardo
was comfortable with, so he experimented with it. He needed a medium that he could change,
that could express the subtleties of light and shade and emotion that he needed. Traditionally,
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the main elements were worked out to scale in a drawing called a cartoon, and then transferred
to the plaster wall. In the Last Supper, he first tried to waterproof the plaster wall, and then
painted in combinations of oil and tempera. The paint began to disintegrate soon after he was
finished with.
The painting suffered many alterations. One of the first was a doorway cut through the bottom
part. It was overpainted several times but the restorers could never match the original
subtleties of color, light and shade. During the French invasion of Italy in Napoleon's time,
troops used the room as a stable. Then in World War II the room was bombed. The painting
was sandbagged and saved, but the room was opened up to rain and weather.
The subject is the gathering of Christ and the disciples just before Passover. Leonardo
presents the table at the front of a room across the picture plane with Christ and the disciples
facing outward toward the viewer. Here Leonardo uses one of the main compositional devices
of the early Renaissance, one-point perspective, but instead of trying to make it work with the
space of the room, which would have required an extremely low horizon line, he created an
idealized space with the vanishing point exactly in the middle of the painting behind Christ's
head. All the orthogonals in the painting point to this spot. Above Christ's head is the only
curved line in the room, an arched window, substituting for a halo. Two windows flank the
central window, suggesting the Holy Trinity.
Whereas other paintings of the Last Supper show the breaking of bread and consecration of
wine, or Christ instituting the Holy Eucharist or the first Mass, the central ceremony of the
Roman Catholic Church, Leonardo chose another moment in the same story. Here he presents
the moment at which Christ announces that one of the disciples will betray him. The
announcement sends shock waves through the gathering. The disciples gather in groups of
three. Each figure is a distinct personality and reacts in a specific way.
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It was customary to represent Judas isolated on the other side of the table, as Castagno did.
Leonardo uses more subtle means. He is the figure with his arm on the table, clutching a
money bag. His face is in shadow.
Disciples from left to right are Bartholomew, Andrew, Philip, Judas, Peter, John, then
Thomas, Matthew, Phillip, all listed on sketches Leonardo made, then perhaps Thaddeus,
Simon and James. This link will clearly identify the individual characters.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leonardo_da_Vinci_(1452-1519)__The_Last_Supper_(1495-1498).jpg
Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa, 1503-05. Louvre Museum .
This piece is thought to be a portrait of Lisa di Antonio Maria Gherardini, wife of an
important Florentine citizen, Francisco Giocondo. In France, where this painting hangs in the
Louvre, it is still known as La Giocanda. "Mona" is a contraction of the Italian words ma
donna or "my lady."
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According to Vasari, Leonardo spent three years working on this painting, finishing it in 1505.
It is painted in oil on a panel of poplar wood. Many questions linger about this painting: Why
was it painted? Why was it never given to the woman who posed for it, or to her husband?
Why did Leonardo keep this painting all his life, even taking it to France, where he died?
It is a landmark in the history of portraiture, becoming the standard for all later portraits. It is
included all of both arms, which was unusual in portraiture, and gives a larger, grander effect.
It is an aristocratic painting, showing the soft idle hands of a woman in a station above manual
labor. She radiates confidence and serenity. She is sitting on a veranda against a rugged
mountainous landscape. Originally the figure was flanked by columns, missing today. The
landscape shows mist, a river, crags, and rises to the level of the eyes.
In his old age, Leonardo was invited by Francis I, King of France, to live near him in a small
chateau. Leonardo took the Mona Lisa with him. It was purchased, probably from his estate
after his death, by the King. In the seventeenth century it was at Versailles, and then kept by
Napoleon in his bedroom. It passed into the collections of the Louvre, where it remains.
Vitruvian man
Leonardo’s Vitruvian Man was a study based on observation of the ideal human male
proportions. Leonardo illustrated these proportions as described in the writings of first
century Roman architect Vitruvius. Vitruvius wrote ten volumes called De architectura
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(On Architecture). In his writings, Vitruvius described the measurable proportions of the
human form. A summary of some of the measurements are listed below.
 The length of a man's outspread arms is equal to his height.
 The distance from the top of the head to the bottom of the chin is one-eighth of a
man's height.
 The maximum width of the shoulders is a quarter of a man's height.
 The distance from the elbow to the tip of the hand is one-fifth of a man's height.
 The distance from the elbow to the armpit is one-eighth of a man's height, or equal
to the head.
 The distance from the bottom of the chin to the nose is one-third of the length of
the head.
 The length of the ear is one-third of the length of the face.
St. Peters Basilica
The original building, now called “Old St. Peter’s” was built by the Emperor Constantine in
the 4th century A.D. as a marker for the grave of the apostle Peter, who is considered to be the
first bishop of Rome and the first Pope. When it was built, it was one of the largest buildings
in the world, and was built in the form of a Latin cross. It was built using a combination of
architectural elements that had evolved throughout history such as a pylon gate, colonnaded
courtyard, basilica and other elements used in Roman Forums.
During the early 16th century, Pope Julius II decided to demolish the basilica which was in a
state of disrepair. The Pope chose Donato d’ Angelo Bramante (1444-1514) to design the
new basilica. Bramante chose a central-plan (all of the elements radiating from a central
point) in the form of a Greek cross. Each of the four arms of the cross terminated at an apse
and the form is a series of interlocking crosses. (see image below)
In 1513 and 1514 respectively, the Pope and Bramante died. Several other plans were created
which include works by Antonio da Sangallo Raphael and eventually Michelangelo.
Michelangelo incorporated elements of Bramante’s original design into the form that we see
today.
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Rapahael
http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/bio/r/raphael/biograph.html (Raphael on the web)
Raphael Sanzio was born in Urbino in 1483 into a circle of literary, philosophic and
artistic culture and cosmopolitan elegance. His father was Giovanni Santi, a mediocre
painter. Both father and son seem to have had access to the court of Federigo da
Montefeltro and to his Ducal Palace where they could see the art of Piero della Francesca,
Botticelli, Uccello, Melozzo , and painting from abroad including the Spaniard Alonso
Berruguete and the Netherlander Justus van Ghent. The countryside in Urbino was a
magnificent mountain landscape filled with color and light.
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Raphael was apprenticed to Perugino in Perugia and quickly picked up his master's style. He
painted on many of Perugino's commissions, and even on his own compositions, such as the
Marriage of the Virgin, he simply borrowed his master's idea and made it his own.
Sometime in 1505 Raphael settled in Florence. The market there was ready for him, and in
three years he had produced 17 paintings of the Madonnas and the Holy Family, in addition to
portraits and other major commissions.
After visiting Florence, Raphael began to absorb influences from paintings he saw there by
Leonardo. This portrait of Maddalena Doni (below) reminds us of Leonardo's Mona Lisa,
which would have just been finished, and no doubt that prototype was important to the Doni
family as well as to Raphael, who uses the same ample forms and oval forms, although he
uses an Umbrian landscape background instead of the dramatic Alpine scene that Leonardo
used, and the horizon line is lower. Thus he immediately began to fit into the new artistic
atmosphere that was to become the High Renaissance. This influence of Florence on the
young artist shows his adaptability and his dependence on others for his style, which he
nevertheless made his own.
Left: Raphael, portrait of Maddalena Doni, 1506, Oil on Wood
Although we don't know the reason for Raphael's trip to Rome, it was probably at the
instigation of his compatriot Bramante. His style soon appealed to the Pope, who stopped the
work of other artists and turned over the official decorations of the Vatican apartments (the
Stanze) to Raphael and his High Renaissance classicism. This was one of the largest
commissions of the time.
The first room Raphael painted was the Sala della Segnatura, named after the highest papal
tribunal for signing documents. Here Raphael was commissioned to depict what was then
considered to be the four branches of human learning and knowledge: theology, philosophy,
poetry and law. He bricked over the preexisting frescoes and began his own. These were to set
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forth the new ideals of Julius' reign and to provide a new amplitude and harmony of space and
form.
Above: Raphael, (1483-1520) School of Athens 1509-11, fresco, Stanza della Segnatura,
Vatican , Rome .
By the time Raphael started this fresco he had evolved a masterly figure style which coincides
with the Sistine Ceiling frescoes that Michelangelo was painting nearby. The piece shows
many of the great thinkers of the ancient world. It is tempting to believe the story that
Raphael's friend and compatriot Bramante slipped him into the Sistine chapel to see the
ceiling for himself, and that he was overwhelmed by Michelangelo’s giant figures, Raphael
included in his fresco, among the figures of philosophers and mathematicians in this painting,
a portrait of the brooding Michelangelo seated by a block in the foreground, as Raphael must
have seen him often. Instead of the flowing robes the other figures wear, Michelangelo is
shown dressed as a sixteenth-century stone cutter in a lavender shirt , and is depicted in the
type of pose Michelangelo used in the figures of his ceiling as well as with the force of
Michelangelo’s form Michelangelo is intended to be Heraclitus, the Greek philosopher. This
figure did not appear in Raphael’s sketches or cartoons for the fresco and must have been a
tribute painted after the ceiling was opened to the Public in 1511. Michelangelo’s sculpture is
also recalled in the painted statues of Apollo and Minerva in the niches above the figures.
The architectural setting seems to be based on the new church of St. Peter’s which was being
built by Bramante. Great barrel vaults create a vast perspective space in the ideal way that
Leonardo had set up in the Last Supper.
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Raphael painted Plato and Aristotle in the center. Plato points upward to heaven, the realm
where ideas radiate to their embodiment in earthly form, and Aristotle points downward to the
Earth as his source for the observation of reality. Leonardo’s likeness was used for the image
of Plato.
Diogenes sprawls on the steps. At the lower left Pythagoras demonstrates his proportion
system on a slate. At the extreme right Ptolemy contemplates a celestial globe held before
him, and just to the left Euclid bends down to describe a circle on another slate. This is a
portrait of Bramante. Just behind Ptolemy are Raphael and Sodoma (the artist whose work
Raphael covered up when he took over the Vatican decorations.
Above: Raphael, The Sistine Madonna, 1513-1514
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Above: Raphael, Pope Julius II, ca. 1512, oil on wood, National Gallery, London.
In February 1513, Pope Julius II died and the College of Cardinals elected Giovanni de'
Medici (named Leo X) the new Pope. He was the son of the great Lorenzo de’ Medici. Within
a few years, probably in 1517, he had selected Raphael as his principal painter. The Papal
court took on a new festive air. Leo was easy going and luxury loving, and he was surrounded
with artists, poets, philosophers, musicians, dancers, animal tamers, and clowns. Even pagan
deities were invoked at court ceremonies.
Raphael died at the young age of 37, but he made an indelible mark on the world of art. This
was due in part to the creative way he organized his studio, which allowed him to take many
commissions. Raphael utilized many skilled assistants, whom he assigned various tasks; this
allowed him to work on the more critical elements in the commissions. He is interred in the
Pantheon in Rome.
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Below, Raphael, The Transfiguration 1516-1520.
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Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564)
To read Michelangelo’s Biography and see many of his works follow this link:
http://www.wga.hu/bio/m/michelan/biograph.html
Michelangelo Buonarroti was born in the village of Caprese in the Florentine territory. His
father was a petty bureaucrat, who in later life, relied heavily on handouts from Michelangelo.
His mother died when he was a small child. He grew up in Florence and began his art
training, ironically, against the will of his father. At age 13 his training in painting began in
the studio of Ghirlandaio. Michelangelo’s father was able to convince the master to pay them
for Michelangelo’s training. This was very uncommon in the apprenticeship program as the
apprentice generally paid for their training. Michelangelo’s sculptural training was under
Bertoldo di Giovanni, a pupil of Donatello’s. While Michelangelo was skilled in painting,
engineering and poetry, he always considered himself first and foremost, a sculptor.
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At a young age, very early in his training, Michelangelo was invited to live in the house of
Lorenzo (the Magnificent) de Medici, head of the Medici banking family. The Medici family
was the most powerful family in Florence. While living in the Medici household, he was
exposed to numerous schools of philosophy, art, and artists. Lorenzo had an extensive
collection of classical sculpture, which Michelangelo studied and, from which he, taught
himself to carve marble.
In 1492, Lorenzo died and Michelangelo traveled to Venice and Bologna where he no doubt
saw and was influenced by the work of Jacopo della Quercia
http://www.wga.hu/bio/q/quercia/biograph.html
During this period the Medici family was forced to leave Florence when a charismatic,
powerful preacher named Savanarola gained power over the city and saw the Medici family as
heretics. Ironically, Savanarola was eventually burned at the stake for heresy in 1498.
Michelangelo eventually made the journey to Rome where he executed on of his first major
large scale marble sculptures. This piece called the Pietà, for which he was commissioned at
age 24 by a French cardinal was to be installed as a tomb monument in St. Peter’s. The piece
shows the Virgin holding the dead Jesus after he has been taken from the cross. This was a
subject/scene common in Northern Europe but not in Rome. The piece was sculpted from a
block of high quality Carrera marble, which Michelangelo himself selected from the quarry in
Central Italy. This was a practice the artist continued throughout his career, since he not only
had specific qualities he looked for in marble, but also felt it was important because he
envisioned the figures already existing within the block and his job as a sculptor was to set
them free.
Michelangelo, Pietà c. 1500. Marble, 5’8 ½” St. Peter’s , Vatican, Rome.
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The composition is the usual Renaissance pyramidical arrangement, however, many
irregularities exist in the scene. For example, Jesus is far too small when compared to the
Virgin. Michelangelo’s disregard for scale appears to have been partially because he intended
the audience to view the piece up close so they could look into the face of the Virgin and
Jesus. The calm serenity of the scene appears to echo the Virgin and Child scene that was so
common in Rome. That would have helped to create a different scale/proportion between the
figures. Another discrepancy is that the Virgin is far too young for that period of her life.
Many feel that this is to signify her perpetual virginity. Across the sash worn by the Virgin,
Michelangelo carved his name after anonymously appearing in a crowd and hearing people
attribute the piece to another artist.
When viewing the sculpture today one must do so behind bullet proof glass, which makes it
very difficult to photograph and doesn’t allow for close up viewing. This is due to an attack
on the piece in 1972 by a demented viewer, Laslo Toth, with a geologists pick.
http://saintpetersbasilica.org/Altars/Pieta/Pieta.htm
David
In 1501 Michelangelo accepted a commission for what would become one of the great works
of his career. The city of Florence commissioned a statue of the Biblical hero David. This
figure was to stand as a symbol of the city of the Florentine Republic. The commission was
given to Michelangelo and he began work on the massive block of marble called “The Giant”
which was left over from an earlier aborted commission. Michelangelo drew on classical
sculpture which he was so familiar with for the pose. It is in the classical contrapposto –
weight shift position. Unlike earlier versions, Michelangelo chose to depict the moment when
David watched and prepared for the approaching Goliath. The artist showed tension in the
muscles and concern in the face of the young hero as his advisory, a seasoned soldier,
approached to kill him. Florence identified with this challenge as they had just done battle
with Milan, Siena, and Pisa. The piece was originally set at eye level in the square next to
Palazzo Vecchio, which was the seat of Florentine government. Today the 14’ 3” original is
located in Galleria dell’ Accademia, in Florence and a replica is located in Piazza della
Signoria next to Palazzo Vecchio.
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Above: Left, Michelangelo, David, 1501-1504, Marble, 14’3”. Galleria Dell’ Accademia,
Florence. Right: Detail of the right hand holding the rock that was used to kill Goliath.
Moses
In 1505, Michelangelo was called upon to sculpt figures and design the tomb of Pope Julius II
which was still incomplete when Julius died in 1513. The design for the structure was to have
over forty statues and reliefs in both bronze and marble. The tomb was placed on hold and
eventually scaled back for a variety of reasons. The figure of Moses was the only figure
completed from the original design and the Pope was eventually buried in another location.
The figure (pictured below) shows a clam meditative, Moses who had just received the Ten
Commandments. An oddity of the figure is that he appears to have horns, which is attributed
to a mistranslation of the Hebrew word for light or karan ohr (rays of light) coming from his
head. The word keren can means horn.
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Michelangelo. Moses. Ca. 1513-1515.Marble. 7’8 1/2” Rome.
The Sistine Chapel
One of the most challenging commissions of Michelangelo’s career was the painting of the
ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (pictured below) at the Vatican in Rome. The chapel takes its
name from Pope Sixtus IV, Pope Julius II uncle who had the chapel built in the proportions of
the Temple of Solomon between 1477 and 1482. It is from this location that the College of
Cardinals convenes to select a new pope. They signal the awaiting public through smoke
rising from a chimney. White smoke rises if a new pope is agreed upon and black if none has
been selected.
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Pope Julius II (sometimes called Papa Terrible or the Terrible Pope for various reasons)
suspended work on his tomb to have Michelangelo paint the ceiling. Michelangelo reluctantly
accepted the commission. At one point he even suggested that the Pope have Raphael paint it
because he was more qualified, since Michelangelo was a sculptor not a painter. It is well
documented that the two had many disputes over the painting and its pace. However,
Michelangelo accepted the commission and completed it in only four years. While the Pope
originally wanted scenes from the New Testament, Michelangelo convinced him to show
scenes from the Old Testament, therefore, the Crucifixion isn’t shown anywhere on the
ceiling. The ceiling is divided into several panels telling these Old Testament tales. The
center panel shows the story of Genesis, others tell the story of Noah, Moses, David and
several others.
One complication of painting the ceiling was its size and placement, the 128’X45’ expanse
sits at a height of 70’ from the floor. This required the artist to create special scaffolding from
which to work. This height also required the figures to be a massive size so they would be
visible from the floor. The fact that the ceiling is curved not flat also created perspective
problems. Another issue with the ceiling is that, obviously, it is overhead, which required the
artist to spend hours with his head tilted back and his arms holding a bush overhead.
Documents show that Michelangelo didn’t lay on his back while painting as was incorrectly
reported by some historians.
Michelangelo. The Creation of Adam. 1508-1512. Sistine Chapel ceiling. Vatican, Rome.
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Left Half of the ceiling.
In 1980 a controversial decision was made to clean the ceiling. Experts realized that the
ceiling needed some restoration and removal of the centuries of grime that had accumulated.
What historians found was that the Artist had been far more concerned with color than was
realized. Once the grime was removed the colors were much more vibrant than anyone had
imagined. (see image below)
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Tombs of the Medici Popes
When Leo X ascended to the Papacy (Son of Lorenzo de’ Medici), he sent Michelangelo back
to Florence to work on projects for the Medici family. One such project was the massive tomb
in New Sacristy (Medici Chapel) in the church of San Lorenzo in Florence. This complex
was to contain the tomb of Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino, his brother Giuliano, Duke of Nemours.
The Tombs depicted the two Medici’s as active men dressed in armor. Beneath the image of
Giuliano are male and female figures. The female figure is intended to represent night, while
the male figure is intended to represent day. Below is a link to view the tombs.
http://www.museumsinflorence.com/musei/Medici_chapels.html
Another Medici project Michelangelo undertook was to design the Vestibule of the Laurentian
Library. This was located adjacent to San Lorenzo. This work was done concurrent with the
Medici Tombs and was the idea of the Cardinal Giulio de Medici. Michelangelo used the
work of Brunelleschi as inspiration for the design. In 1534, Michelangelo returned to Rome
where he remained. Both, the Medici chapel and the library were unfinished but he was
involved in their completion from Rome.
Upon his return to Rome in 1534, Michelangelo would again be called upon to create a fresco
on the wall in the Sistine Chapel. At this point he was in his early 60’s. The subject this time
would be the Last Judgment, it would be on the 48’ high end wall of the chapel. This painting
was very controversial because of the amount of nudity it depicted. Michelangelo depicted a
very gruesome scene that included a self-portrait as the flayed skin of Saint Bartholomew. It
is said that when the Pope saw the painting, he fell to his knees and begged God for
forgiveness of his sins.
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Michelangelo. The Last Judgment. Fresco, Sistine Chapel, Vatican.
Detail from the Last Judgment by Michelangelo showing his self-portrait in the skin of St.
Bartholomew.
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Mannerism
The term Mannerism comes from the Italian word maniera meaning style or manner. This
period of art began roughly with the death of Raphael, or the end of the High Renaissance
(about 1520) when artists began to imitate elements of the style of the great Renaissance
masters rather than working directly from nature. It ended in the 17th century with the
beginning of the Baroque era. Artists often experimented with intricate, erotic compositions.
Michelangelo and Titian were often the inspiration for the work of artists from this period.
Antonio Allegri Da Correggio (1489-1534) was a painter of whom not much is known from
his early life. He developed his style during the period classified as Mannerism. Influence on
his work can be seen from Leonardo, Raphael and the masers of Venice. His most wellknown work is in the form of illusionistic fresco paintings, particularly those in the cathedral
in Parma (pictured below). It creates depth through the use of perspective and foreshortening
of the human form. Through his understanding of these principles and the use of atmospheric
perspective, the dome appears to become nonexistent. This is due in part to his use of soft,
smoky modeling which he adopted from Leonardo called sfumato.
Above: Gorreggio,
assumption of the Virgin, dome fresco of Parma Cathedral, Parma, Italy, 1526-1530.
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As a style Mannerism can be characterized by several traits which you will notice as we
continue in this section. Those traits are: crowded compositions, lack of a strong focal point,
bright, clashing colors and ambiguous space, which appears to create imbalance in the
compositions. Other traits include: Pagan subjects, elaborate, learned and intricate allegories,
frequent use of the human figure as subject matter, and the portrayal of the aristocratic as
aloof or unapproachable.
A Good example of the characteristics of mannerism can be seen in the painting, Madonna
With the Long Neck (pictured below), by the artist Parmigianino (1503-1540). It is easy to
see where the subject gets the name since the neck is grossly exaggerated to create an elegant
curve. This scene also shows the characteristic crowded composition with its ambiguous space
on the right side of the composition. The piece is 52”X85”, and was painted between 15351540 in oil on wood. It is in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. Follow this link for his
biography: http://www.wga.hu/bio/p/parmigia/biograph.html
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Aristocrats often commissioned portraits of themselves and their family members. The
painter nicknamed for his dark complexion, Bronzino, was a painter who became known for
such subject matter. http://www.wga.hu/bio/b/bronzino/biograph.html
Below: Bronzino, Eleanor of Toledo, 1544-45; Oil on wood; Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy
Aristocratic portrait painting became very popular during this period. While the wealthy aloof
attitude was the norm for their portrayal, one artist broke that standard and began painting in a
more relaxed pose. That painter was Italian Sofonisba Anguissola (1527-1625). She tried to
create more of an informal intimacy in her portraiture, often using group portraiture of
children or parents with their children, as seen below. Another thing that made her so unique
was that she was a woman in a man’s world. Female painters were extremely rare, as they
were not given the same opportunities as men. However she achieved high status as the court
painter for the King of Spain.
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Sofonisba Anguissola, Family Portrait, Minerva, Amilcare and Asdrubale Anguissola, 1557.
Mannerist Sculpture
In addition to painting, Mannerists’ also worked in sculpture and architecture. The influence
of Italian art extended well beyond its borders and drew artists to Italy. French sculptor Jean
De Boulogne, known in Italy as Govanni da Bologna (1529-1608) was what some considered
an important link between the work of Michelangelo and the Baroque master Bernini. A great
example of his work is a spiraling group of figures called, Abduction of the Sabine women
(below). This piece is based on the early Roman story of Roman soldiers abducting the
mothers and daughters of a neighboring town, the Sabines, to take as their wives and populate
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one of their newly created cities. This was the first large scale group sculpture to be created
since classical antiquity. The piece is made to be viewed by walking completely around it. It
shows his awareness of classical sculpture, and the influence it had on him.
Giovanni da Bologna, Abduction of the Sabine Women, Piazza della Signoria, Florence, Italy,
1583. Marble, 13’ 6” high.
Mannerist Architecture
While the mannerist style of paintings and sculpture reflected the great masters that lived
before, like Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, mannerist architecture did not reflect
architecture previously done. Instead of stability and symmetry like classic architecture, they
chose to create tension and imbalance. Like the picture below, the keystone in the arch is
proportionally to big compared to the rest of the stones and it pops out of the building as if it
were just too big and ready to fall out.
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Palazzo del Te, Mantua Italy
As pictured above and below, the one of the prime examples of Mannerist Architecture is the
Palazzo del Te designed by Giulio Romano.
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Palazzo del Te, Mantua, Italy
Another architectural marvel that became famous during this time was in the city of
Venice, Italy. Venice has a long and rich history. Its location was chosen because it was
considered defensible due to its lagoons and canals, which made it hard for an army to attack
in force. It was also used as a staging area for Christian forces during the Crusades. It
became a city of architectural wonder and was a center for art and music in Northern Italy for
many centuries. Founders chose the ancient Roman “pagan” god Venus to be the symbol to
represent the spirit of Venice. Venus was the Roman god for love, and the Venetians thought
of their city as being a symbol for Romanticism.
One of the buildings constructed during this period was, La Zecca (pictured below)
built by Jacopo Sansovino. This building was a mint built with the intention of looking like a
fortress to show the superiority and the progress of the city of Venice.
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Libreria Marciana, La Zecca (the mint) Venice, Italy
An architect to emerge from Venice who had a big impact on the style of architecture was
Andrea Palladio. He was the chief architect of Venice after Sansovino’s death, and went to the
city of Rome to study. He incorporated Ancient Roman architecture into private homes (as
pictured below).
Villa Rotunda, Vicenza, Italy, 1566, Palladio.
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Palladio’s work became so well loved that it was the inspiration for many later English
and American homes and buildings. His style was the inspiration for the designs created by
Thomas Jefferson. His style became known as Palladian Architecture.
http://www.wga.hu/bio/p/palladio/biograph.html
Mannerist Painting
Some of the key characteristics of Venetian (from the city of Venice) paintings in the
mannerist era included, rich sensuous color, Arcadian landscapes, mythological subjects and
the use of oil paint on Canvas.
Giovanni Bellini was a Venetian painter whose work spans the entire history of the
Renaissance, from the International Style through Early Renaissance to High Renaissance,
and was the founder of a Venetian Renaissance school of painting. Bellini was influenced first
by his father Jacopo and secondly by his brother-in-law Mantegna. Many of Bellini’s
paintings were religious figures set in powerful landscape scenes like in the painting St.
Jerome. (pictured below)
Giovanni Bellini, St. Jerome, 1455
A few years later Bellini style changes to a more sensuous and coloristic style, as seen in
the natural soft lighting of Venice. This change, some say, might have been due to his
introduction to the technique of oil painting. Due to this change he was considered to have
revolutionized all of Venetian painting, which we can see in examples of his favorite subjects,
the Madonna and Christ Child, for which he became well known.(Pictured below)
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Giovanni Bellini, Madonna and Christ Child, 1480
One of Bellini’s greatest achievements was the elaborate painting on the San Zaccaria
Altarpiece that shows his fully developed High Renaissance style as early 1505. (Pictured
below) It is well known for its soft shading and vibrant colors.
http://www.wga.hu/bio/b/bellini/giovanni/biograph.html
Giovanni Bellini,San Zaccria Altarpiece, 1505
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As Bellini’s influence stretched across Venice and the rest of Northern Italy, he took an
apprentice or pupil named Giorgione. However, the pupil ended up inspiring Bellini and set
the direction of Venetian painting for years to come.
Giorgione is known for the elusive poetic quality of his work and for the fact that only
very few (around six) paintings are known for certain to be his work. His most well-known
work is the Pastoral Symphony (Pictured below). The subject of this painting has triggered
intense debate among scholars for centuries. One accepted view is that the two musicians are
composing a song and that the two nudes are merely representational of the lyrics of the
musical piece. http://www.wga.hu/bio/g/giorgion/biograph.html
Giorgione, Pastoral Symphony, 1509
Giorgione was friends with and taught the most “prolific” Venetian painter, Tiziano
Vecelli or Titian, as he came to be known. Titian became the official painter of the Venetian
Republic after the death of Bellini. Titian was known as the “supreme colorist,” and for loose,
open brushwork. A prime example of this the painting style, is the Assumption of the Virgin,
which took him two years to paint. (Pictured Below) Titian had a long and very successful
career and became the most extraordinary of the great Venetian painters.
http://www.wga.hu/bio/t/tiziano/biograph.html
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Titain, Assumption of the Virgin, 1516-1518
Titian later influenced Tintoretto, another artist who aspired to emulate the drawing style
of Michelangelo and the color combinations of Titian. Tintoretto is considered to be the chief
representative of Mannerism in Venice because of his combination of styles of previous
Renaissance painters. He is also known for the largest oil painting ever painted on canvas
titled Paradise, measuring 74’X30’.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=tintoretto+paradise&view=detail&id=FEEBDCAFD2
8E295A04261D38D7CD195ED449A1D5&first=1&FORM=IDFRIR
The last of the great Venetian Renaissance masters was Paolo Veronese. He focused
mainly on pageantry and superb color set within majestic classical Architecture. During his
time, The Roman Church was practicing investigating “pagans” and those who portrayed nonChristian attributes. They wanted to convert and sanctify everyone within jurisdiction of the
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Church even if it meant torture and death. This sanctification process was called the
Inquisition. Because Veronese’s painting, “The last supper,” was highly criticized by the
inquisition for impiety, he changed the title to “Christ in the house of Levi.” (Pictured Below)
http://www.wga.hu/bio/v/veronese/biograph.html
Paolo Veronese, Christ in the house of Levi 1573
The High Renaissance was a time of rebirth and investigation in science art and
philosophy as well as architecture. Through its investigation, many long lost artistic
techniques were rediscovered. Much was gained during this time to advance art and
architecture. The period was so successful that eventually artists began to look at and copy
the style and the work of the masters of this period rather than looking further back in history
to the work of the Classical Greece and Rome. This phase became known as the Mannerist
period, because art was done in the manner of the Renaissance masters. It was a transitional
period leading into the Baroque Period.
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