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BEAUTY, SCIENCE, AND SPIRIT IN
ITALIAN ART
THE HIGH RENAISSANCE AND MANNERISM
TEXT PAGES 612-661
THE HIGH RENAISSANCE
1. What dates are generally accepted as the span of the High Renaissance?
1500-1600.
2. Name four artists who were most closely associated with the High
Renaissance:
a. Leonardo da Vinci
b. Raphael
c. Michelangelo
d. Titian
3. According to Leonardo, what was the major purpose of his scientific
investigations?
To discover the laws underlying the processes and flux of nature.
What two elements did Leonardo consider to be the heart of painting?
a. Modeling with light and shadow.
b. Expressing emotional states.
4. What compositional devices did Leonardo use in The Virgin of the Rocks (FIG.
22-1) to knit the figures together?
a. Pyramidal grouping of the figures.
b. Light simultaneously reveals and veils the forms, immersing them in a
layer of atmosphere that exists between them and the viewer’s eye.
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5. Define the following terms and be sure you understand how their meaning
related to art:
cartoon
A full-size preliminary drawing.
desegno
“Drawing” in Italian, closer to “design” in meaning, representing an artist’s
conceptualization and intention.
sfumato
A smokelike haziness that subtly softens outlines in painting.
6. What two fifteenth-century trends does Leonardo synthesize in The Last
Supper (FIG. 22-3)?
a. Classical influence in terms of motifs and naturalistic representation.
b. The use of perspective to create a convincing pictorial illusion.
7. Who was Julius II and why was he important for the history of art?
Fond of serving in battle, Pope Julius II reigned from 1503-1513. He was a
major art patron and commissioned a new design for St. Peter’s basilica, the
construction of his tomb, the painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, and the
decoration of his papal apartments.
8. How much of the building of the new St. Peter's was completed during
Bramante's lifetime?
Not beyond the building of the crossing piers and the lower choir walls.
9. Briefly describe four aspects of the sculptural appearance of Bramante's
Tempietto.
a. Lower level directly inspired by Roman round temples.
b. Resembles a sculptured reliquary.
c. The dome, drum, and base bear a logical and harmonious relationship to
each other and to the whole.
d. Rhythmical play of light and shadow in the columns and balustrade.
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10. The architect Palladio praised Bramante’s Tempietto as the first building
which had brought back “the good and beautiful architecture” of antiquity.
This comment, like Michelangelo’s belief that the artist must reveal the
higher truths nidden in nature comes from the Humanist revival of the
teachings of the Greek philosopher Plato.
.
11. To what extent did Michelangelo utilize the mathematical procedures used
by other Renaissance sculptors to achieve harmonious proportion?
He believed measure and proportion should be kept “in the eyes,” that the
artist could judge pleasing proportions, and that the artist’s authority was
bound only to his idea. He used a style of vast, expressive strength
conveyed through complex and erratic forms.
12. What is meant by the term terribilita?
The sublime shadowed by the awesome and the fearful.
13. List three figures that Michelangelo is believed to have created for the
tomb of Julius II.
a. Moses
b. Bound Slave
c. “Unfinished Captive”
(Intro-15)
What are the two slaves thought to represent?
They do not as such represent an abstract concept, but they embody powerful emotional
states associated with oppression.
14. Briefly describe the iconography of the Sistine Chapel ceiling.
The Creation, Fall, and Redemption of humanity. As visitors enter the chapel and walk
toward the chapel, they review, in reverse order, the history of the fall of humankind.
Old Testament prophets and pagan sibyls who foretell the coming of Christ are shown
with depictions of conflicts between good and evil and between the energy of youth and
wisdom of age. The style can be seen in the Creation of Adam, which is shown not in the
traditional representation but in a humanistic interpretation that uses classical imagery
and techniques, but which does not obscure the Christian message.
15. Characterize Michelangelo's style in painting and sculpture with four adjectives or
phrases.
a. Figures are sharply outlined against the neutral architectural setting, rather than
forming atmospheric “picture windows”.
b. Reclining and twisting positions of the figures.
c. Heavy musculature.
d. Straight architectural axes (such as in Leonardo’s compositions) are replaced by
diagonals and curves.
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16. What was the effect of the color revealed during the restoration of the Sistine ceiling?
The coloring is vivid and bright, in marked contrast to the dark and smoky appearance of
the formerly soot-and-grime-covered ceiling.
17. Name the four general themes Raphael used for his paintings in the Stanza
della Segnatura.
a.
Theology
b. Law
c.
Poetry
d. Philosophy
18. Who are the two central figures represented in Raphael's School of Athens
(FIG. 22-17), and what aspects of philosophy does each represent?
Plato and Aristotle. Plato points to heaven, the source of his inspiration,
while Aristotle points towards earth, from which his observations of reality
sprang. Plato represents the mysteries that transcend this world, and
Aristotle represents nature and human affairs.
19. List three characteristics of Raphael's style as seen in the Madonna of the
Meadows (FIG. 22-19).
a. Subtle chiaroscuro.
b. Prefers clarity to obscurity, using lighter tonalities even with the dusky
modeling of Leonardo.
c. Substantial figures in a pyramidal arrangement, like Leonardo’s Madonna
of the Rocks.
20. On the death of Julius II, a son of Lorenzo de' Medici was elected as Pope
Leo X, and he became Raphael’s patron.
21. The papal banker, Agostino Chigi, commissioned Raphael to decorate his
villa with scenes from:
Classical mythology.
How does the central figure of the Galatea scene (FIG 22-20) differ from
Botticeli’s Venus (FIG. 21-27)?
Galatea’s body is supple, strong, and vigorously in motion, contrasting
with Venus, who is delicate, hovering, and almost dematerialized.
22. Describe briefly the iconography of the tombs of Lorenzo and Giuliano de'
Medici.
It was planned to show the soul’s ascent through the levels of the Neo-platonic universe.
The lowest level, represented by the (uncompleted) river gods, would have signified the
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underworld of brute matter, the source of evil. The two statues on the sarcophagi
symbolize the realm of time, the human world, in the form of Night (the woman) and
Day (the man).
What, according to the Neo-Platonic interpretation, are the tombs thought to symbolize?
The dukes’ likenesses appear at the apex of the tombs, transcending worldly existence,
depicted not as individual portraits but as overall human forms.
23. Who designed the Palazzo Farnese (FIGS. 22-23 and 22-24)?
Antonio da Sangallo the Younger.
How does the Farnese Palace differ from the Palazzo Medici Riccardi (FIG
21-20)?
The window-casements are not flush with the wall, as at the Palazzo Medici
Riccardi, but project from it, so the façade is a spatially active threedimensional mass. The centralizing feature of the second-story balcony
emphasizes the central axis and brings the design’s horizontal and vertical
forces into harmony.
24. What scene did Pope Paul III commission Michelangelo to paint on the altar wall of the
Sistine Chapel?
The Last Judgment.
25. With what urban project did Michelangelo enter the field of city planning?
The reorganization of the Capitoline Hill in Rome.
What limitations did he have to cope with?
Two existing buildings, the medieval Palazzo dei Senatori (Palace of the
Senators) and the 15th century Palazzo dei Conservatori (Palace of the
Conservators), the two buildings forming an 80-degree angle.
What geometric shape did he utilize to relate the various elements to one
another?
A trapezoid.
26. Describe the changes Michelangelo made in Bramante's original designs for
St. Peter's.
a. In the plan:
He reduced the original plan of a number of interlocking crosses to a
compact domed Greek cross inscribed in a square.
b. In the elevation:
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He fronted it with a double-columned portico and designed the
architectural sculpturing to extend up from the ground through the attic
stories and into the dome.
27. What were the major formative influences on Bellini’s style of painting?
The International Style; his father Jacopo, a student of Gentile da Fabriano;
Andrea Mantegna (his brother-in-law); Antonello da Messina; and Flemish
painting.
28. What major characteristics found in Bellini’s San Zaccaria Altarpiece (FIG.
22-31) distinguishes it from the similar subject portrayed by Piero della
Francesca in his Brera Altarpiece (FIG. 21-50)?
Color and light are harmoniously balanced, softer and more luminous than
Francesca; outlines dissolve in light and shadow. The effect is more glowing
than the clarity of Francesca.
29. What concerns distinguish the art of Venice from that of Florence and
Rome?
Venice
Florence and Rome
a. Main instrument was color
a. Main instrument was sculpturesque
form
b. Disegno (drawing and design)
b. Colorito
c. The poetry of the senses, delighting in nature’s beauty and the pleasures
of humanity
d. More esoteric, intellectual themes
30. What does the term “poesia” mean in reference to Venetian painting?
Painting meant to operate in a manner similar to poetry.
Name a work that exemplifies this approach:
Pastoral Symphony, Giorgione da Castelfranco.
31. Briefly describe three aspects of Giorgione's style.
a. Soft forms in dense shadows.
b. Enigmatic theme in a rich, abundant landscape.
c. Soft, smoky, full female figures are poetic personifications of nature’s
abundance.
33. The most outstanding feature of Titian’s Assumption of the Virgin (FIG. 2235) is: his ability to convey light through dazzling color.
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34. What characteristics of Titian's Madonna of the Pesaro Family (FIG. 22-36) are
typical of High Renaissance painting?
a. The massing of monumental figures, singly and in groups within a
weighty and majestic architecture.
b. He uses perspective lines, inclination
of figures, and directional lines of gaze
and gesture to focus the composition.
What features of the work are not typical of the High Renaissance?
a. He did not compose a horizontal and symmetrical arrangement, but
rather placed the figures on a steep diagonal.
b. The composition is built on
movement rather than rest.
35. Which of Titian's paintings established the compositional essentials for the
representation of the female nude in much of later Western art?
Venus of Orbino.
36. Identify Isabella d’Este and explain the role she played as a patron off artists:
One of the most powerful women during the Renaissance, daughter of the
duke of Ferrara, she married the marquis of Mantua and was instrumental in
developing the Mantuan court into an important center of art and learning.
She was a patron of Titian, Leonardo, and Mantegna, and was an avid art
collector.
37. For what reason was the term “proto-baroque” applied to the work of
Correggio at Parma?
His illusionistic ceiling perspectives became the permanent tenants of
Baroque churches in later centuries. He also anticipated later Baroque
compositional devices in his religious panels.
MANNERISM
1. Name three Mannerist painters.
a. Jacopo da Pontormo b. Parmigianno
c. Bronzino
When did the Mannerist style emerge?
During the 16th century in Italy.
2. List five of the characteristics of Mannerist painting that can be called
"anti-Classical" and that distinguish the Mannerist from the High
Renaissance style.
a. Mannerists consciously reveal the artifice of their art.
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b.
c.
d.
e.
Imbalanced compositions.
Unusual complexities, both visual and conceptual.
Ambiguous space.
A focus on themes of courtly grace and cultured sophistication.
3. List three characteristics that Sofonisba Anguissola’s Portrait of the Artist’s
Sisters and Brother (FIG. 22-46) shares with other Mannerists portraits like
those by Bronzino:
a. Figures placed against the front plane, blocking the space.
b. Contours are strong and sculptural.
c. A focus on heads and hands, considered to be the carriers of grace.
List one feature that is uniquely hers:
a. Informality with relaxed poses and expressions.
4. Which Italian Mannerist sculptor most strongly influenced the development
of French Renaissance art at Fontainebleau?
Benvenuto Cellini.
5. Which Mannerist sculptor developed the compositional device of the spiral?
Giovanni da Bologna.
6. Describe at least four features of the Palazzo del Te (FIG. 22-49) that are
"irregular" from the point of view of Renaissance architectural practice.
a. The facades, where the divergences from architectural convention are so
pronounced they constitute a parody of classical style.
b. The keystones seem to have not fully settled or seem to be slipping from
the arches.
c. Keystones placed over pediments over the rectangular niches, where no
arches exist.
d. The Tuscan columns carry incongruously narrow architraves.
LATER 16th CENTURY ARCHITECTURE
1. The mother church of the Jesuit order, whose design would be highly
influential, was built in Rome between 1568 and 1584. It combined
influences from a variety of sources. Identify the sources of the following:
Scroll buttresses that unite upper and lower stories:
Alberti’s Santa Maria Novella, Florence.
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Classical pediment:
Alberti’s and Andrea Palladio’s works.
Paired pilasters:
Michelangelo’s design for Saint Peter’s.
Plan:
Alberti’s Sant’Andrea in Mantua.
LATER 16th CENTURY VENETIAN ART AND ARCHITECTURE
1. Tintoretto aspired to combine the color of Titian with the drawing of
Michelangelo.
2. What devices does Tintoretto use to identify Christ in his version of The Last
Supper (FIG. 22-52)?
The light flaring out of the darkness; He sits above and beyond the
converging perspective lines.
How did Leonardo identify him (FIG. 22-3)?
As the center of the picture and the convergence point of the perspective
lines.
3. List two characteristics of Tintoretto’s painting style that point toward the
Baroque style:
a. Dynamic perspectives.
b. Dramatic chiaroscuro.
4. Veronese's favorite subjects were
a.
Splendid pageantry
b. Majestic classical architecture.
To what aspects of his paintings did the Holy Office of the Inquisition object?
The Holy Office accused Veronese of impiety for painting creatures such as
dogs and clowns so close to the Lord.
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5. What is the difference in the type of illusion created by Veronese in The
Triumph of Venice (FIG. 22-54) and that created by Correggio in The
Assumption of the Virgin for the dome of Parma Cathedral (FIG. 22-41)?
Veronese’s perspective is not projected directly up from below. Rather, it is
a projection of the scene at a 45-degree angle to the spectator.
6. The state Library of San Marco in Venice (FIG. 22-55) was designed by
Jacopo Sansovino.
.
What featrure of the building seems to have been modeled after the Roman
Colosseum? The relatively plain ground-story arcade has Tuscan-style
columns attached to arch-supporting piers.
What decorative scheme was used for the second story? Ionic.
How did the treatment of the roofline differ from traditional practice? A
balustrade, interrupted by statue-bearing pedestals, replaces the
traditional straight cornice.
In what ways does the library hamonize with the older Doge’s Palace
opposite it? The almost identical spacing of the lower arcades, the rich
and ornamental treatment of the second stories (including their
balustrades) and the dissolution of the rooflines.
7. What was most signiificant about Palladio’s writings? His books had wideranging influence on generations of architects throughout Europe, and his
influence outside Italy, most significantly in England the colonial America,
was stronger and more lasting than any other architect.
8. What geometric forms did Palladio use to create the basic structure of the
Villa Rotonda (FIG. 22-56)? A circle (the central dome-covered rotunda)
inscribed in a square (the building does not have the usual wings of
secondary buildings).
9. Describe the device Palladio used for the facade of San Giorgio Maggiore
(FIG. 22-58) to integrate the high central nave and low aisles. He
superimposed a tall, narrow classical porch on a low broad one.
10. In what ways does Palladio’s architectural style differ from Mannerist
architecture? The play of shadow across the building’s surfaces, its
reflection in the water, and its gleaming white against sea and sky create a
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colorful effect, prefiguring the Baroque. The interior lacks the ambiguity of
the façade and evokes the High Renaissance. Wall decorations are
“correctly” profiled in the classical style.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. How did the status of the visual artist change in the High Renaissance?
What was the reason for this?
2. Compare the compositions of The Last Supper by Leonardo (FIG. 22-3),
Andrea del Casatagno (FIG. 21-37) and Dirk Bouts (FIG. 20-9) from the
point of view of style, handling of space and form, and dramatic impact.
3. Why is Bramante's Tempietto often referred to as the first High Renaissance
building? What are the basic qualities that distinguish it from a typical
Early Renaissance building? Do you feel that the building reflects a
religious attitude that is different from the Medieval one? If so, what is the
difference? How is it expressed?
4. How does the iconography of the Stanza della Segnatura relate to the ideals
of the High Renaissance?
5. Compare Raphael's Galatea (FIG. 22-20) with Botticelli's Birth of Venus (FIG.
21-32); note the differences in the handling of space and the representation
of the bodies. What are the sources for the two subjects?
6. Compare Michelangelo's David (FIG. 22-9) with Polykleitos' Doryphoros (FIG.
5-38) and Donatello’s David (FIG. 21-23) from the stylistic point of view.
What similarities do you see? what differences? What distinguishes
Michelangelo's David as a High Renaissance figure?
7. Choose a composition representative of each of the following: Raphael,
Leonardo, and Michelangelo, and decide in what ways they are stylistically
related and in what ways they differ. Do you think the differences relate to
the personalities of the artists? Are the similarities helpful in allowing us to
make any generalizations about High Renaissance style?
8.Compare Palladio's San Giorgio Maggiore (FIGS. 22-58 and 22-59) with Sant'
Andrea in Mantua byAlberti (FIGS. 21-41 to 21-43). What differences do
you see in the articulation of the facades and the interiors? Note also the
degree of plasticity of the surfaces.
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9. Compare Bronzino's Venus, Cupid, Folly, and Time (FIG. 22-44) with
Giorgione's (and/or Titian's) Pastoral Symphony (FIG. 22-33). Note the poses
of the figures, the settings, and the compositions. What do you think were
the major concerns of each artist? How do these works reflect the different
styles preferred by artists of Venice and those of Florence?
10. In what ways are the styles of the Early Renaissance in Florence, the High
Renaissance in Rome, Mannerism in Florence, and the Late Renaissance in
Venice typified in the portraits by Botticelli (FIG. 21-28), Raphael (FIG. 2221), Bronzino (FIG. 22-45), and Titian (FIG. 22-39)?
11. Compare Piero’s Brera Altarpiece (FIG. 21-50), Andrea del Sarto’s Madonnaof
the Harpies (FIG. 22-40) with Bellini's San Zaccaria Altarpiece (FIG. 22-31), and
Parmigianino's Madonna with the Long Neck (FIG. 22-43); consider the
handling of space, the logic (or lack of it) of the compositions, and the
treatment of the figures, including placement and proportions. What
emotional effect does each artist create? Which painting do you like best?
Why?
12. Compare the facade designs of Antonio da Sangallo's Farnese Palace (FIG.
22-23), Alberti's Palazzo Rucellai (FIG. 21-33)), Michelangelo's Museo
Capitolino (FIG 22-27), and Giulio Romano's Palazzo del Te (FIGS. 22-49)
and Sansovino’s State Library (FIG. 22-55). Which building seems to be the
most monumental? Why?
LOOKING CAREFULLY AND ANALYZING
Write at least a page comparing Leonardo’s Mona Lisa (FIG. 22-4) with
Ghirlandaio’s Portrait of Giovanna Tornobouni (FIG. 21-31). Use the terms hue,
line, mass, and chiaroscuro. Here are some questions that might help you with
your analysis, but do not be limited by them. What changes had Leonardo
made in the pose, the handling of light and the handling of detail? Consider
the placement of the figures, the definition of form, and the emotional effect
achieved by each artist in creating a portrait. Which do you like better ? Why?
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