The Renaissance
Stepping out of the Dark Ages by the light
of the past
Important Concepts
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Humanism: The reading and understanding
of writings and ideals of the classical past.
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Rhetoric, poetry, history, politics and philosophy
Individualism: Renaissance emphasized
the experience of the individual.
Virtu: Excellence or Virtue displayed in:
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Speech, art, politics, warfare, elsewhere
Giotto (1266-1336)
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Father or
Renaissance
Painting.
Used technique of
chiaroscuro to
create illusion of
Depth and greater
realism.
Marriage at Cana
Changes in Art
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Painting
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Sculptures
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Not only religious themes
3-D
Not only religious themes
Idealized forms
Architecture
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Moved away from Gothic to more classical
rounded arches and square angles.
Andrea Mantegna.
The Lamentation over the Dead Christ. C. 1490
Optics, Perspective, Mirror Image
of Baptistery
Perspective
Vanishing Point
Horizon
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Leonardo da Vinci (14521519) typified the
Renaissance man – painter,
sculptor, engineer, musician
and scientist.
Leonardo da Vinci
Da Vinci’s handwriting
Handwriting “translated”
Leonardo da Vinci
Mona Lisa (1505)
Face of Leonardo
Raphael (1483-1520)
Master of grace,
style and theory
and technique.
All represented
here in School of
Athens.
School of Athens (1510)
Raphael
Immediately before his death,
Raphael set his sights on heaven and
painted possibly his most beautiful
work, this heavenly face of Jesus.
Raphael died of a fever on his 37th
birthday, which was on a Good
Friday. The fever may have been
from overwork, and he died after ten
days of high temperatures. He died
by his unfinished painting, The
Transfiguration. His best pupil, Giulio
Romano, finished the painting.
The Transfiguration (1520)
Michelangelo (1475-1564)
Universal man.
Produced masterpieces
in architecture,
sculpture and painting.
Michelangelo was perhaps the greatest
painter and sculptor of all time. He was a
prodigy by age 15. He believed that
genius came not from careful planning but
divine inspiration. He only worked when
inspired, and then would work in a frenzy.
Michelangelo
Sistine Chapel
ceiling
•The Sistine Chapel is the
pictorial culmination of the
Renaissance.
•At 10,000 square feet and
taking four years to complete,
it chronicles Creation to the
Last Judgment.
•More than 343 figures not
only tell the story, but add up
to a unified, rhythmically
pleasing composition.
Michelangelo
•In April 1508,
Michelangelo was
summoned to Rome
by the Pope.
•Julius II had a job
for him: painting
twelve figures of
apostles and some
decorations on the
ceiling of the Sistine
Chapel.
Sistine Chapel (1510)
•Buonarroti
Michelangelo, who
had always regarded
himself as a sculptor,
would now have to
perfect the art of
fresco.
The creation of Adam and the Fall of Man and the
Expulsion from the Garden of Eden
1508-1512
The Sistine Chapel is the pictorial culmination of the Renaissance. At 10,000 square
feet and taking four years to complete, it chronicles Creation to the Last Judgment.
More than 343 figures (Michelangelo estimated 400+) not only tell the story, but
add up to a unified, rhythmically pleasing composition.
Michelangelo
The project was
physically and
emotionally torturous
for Michelangelo.
Michelangelo recounts
its effect on him with
these words:
"After four tortured
years, more than 400
over life-sized figures,
I felt as old and as
weary as Jeremiah. I
was only 37, yet
friends did not
recognize the old man
I had become.“
Sistine Chapel
Michelangelo
Sistine Chapel
Michelangelo
David (Marble)
1501-1504
video on david
Michelangel
o
Piet`a
1498-1499
Marble
Step #1
Step #4
The
Process
From models…
Step #5
Step #2
…to quarry Step #3
…to final “coloring”
So what did he carve with?
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Basic:
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Hammer
Chisels
Michelangelo even
designed clothes!
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Michelangelo designed
the Papal guard at the
Vatican, that is still
used today….
…maybe he should
have stuck with
painting and sculpture!
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Gothic.
Architecture:
Renaissance.
Scholars
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Middle ages: sought to know good and
practice it.
Renaissance: sought practical results and
did not judge things by religious
standards.
All scholars were active politicians in their
cities.
Major Scholars
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Leonardo Bruni (1370-1444): Civic humanist
served as chancellor of Florence. First to
use the term humanism.
Lorenzo Valla (1407-1457) Among many
achievements proved that the Donation of
Constantine, which gave cast lands to
papacy, was a forgery
Machiavelli (1469-1527): Wrote
The Prince. Emphasized Expediency
over morality.
End of Italian Renaissance
Northern Renaissance
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Outside of Italy the Renaissance
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Took its form from religion
Was less influenced by the Classics
Was marked by Christian Humanism
Advances in the Northern Renaissance led
to many significant world events:
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The Reformation
Exploration
Art of the Northern Renaissance
The Northern Renaissance was more an
improvement on medieval art than a return
to classical forms. Northern artists loved
details.
Jan van Eyck (b. before 1395 -1441) was a
Flemish painter who perfected the newly
developed technique of oil painting. His
Wedding shows the characteristic medieval
attention to detail and bright colors.
Apparently women used to wear pillows to
their weddings, believing it would improve
their chances of becoming pregnant.
Jan Van Eyck, Wedding (1434))
The
Annunciation
Jan van Eyck,
c 1434
Northern
Renaissance
•Matthias Grünewald (GROON-uh-vald)
1470-1528 was a great but mysterious
artist (experts aren’t even sure that’s his
name – many think it’s actually Mathis
Gothart.
•Different from High Renaissance idealism
and humanism, however, are Grünewald's
uses of figural distortion to portray
violence and tragedy, thin fluttering
drapery, highly contrasting areas of light
and shadow (CHIAROSCURO) “key-air-ooskur-oh”. “Key-air-oo” clear and light; “oskur-oo – means dark and obscure.
It is one of Europe’s most powerful
masterpieces.
Grünewald , Isenheim
Altarpiece (1515)
Rembrandt
The Storm on the Sea of Galilee is a
1633 painting by the Dutch master
Rembrandt van Rijn that was in the
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum prior to
being stolen on March 18 , 1990.
Self Portrait, 1658, a
masterpiece of the final style,
"the calmest and grandest of
all his portraits".
Rembrandt Harmenszoon
van Rijn (July 15, 1606 –
October 4, 1669) was a Dutch
painter and etcher. He is
generally considered one of
the greatest painters and
printmakers in European art
history and the most
important in Dutch history. His
contributions to art came in a
period that historians call the
Dutch Golden Age.
Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525 –
September 9, 1569) was a Netherlandish
Renaissance painter and printmaker known
for his landscapes and peasant scenes
Netherlandish
Proverbs, 1559,
with peasant
scenes
illustrating over
100 proverbs.
Germany
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Johannes Guttenberg
invented the printing
press, making books (and
the knowledge they
contain) accessible to a
far greater number of
people. Revolutionary!
Albrect Durer gave
realism and individuality
to the art of the woodcut.
Albrecht Dürer
(1471-1528)
•German painter, printmaker and art theorist
he is generally regarded as the greatest
German Renaissance artist.
•Dürer came from a Hungarian family of
goldsmiths, his father having settled in
Nuremberg in 1455.
•Dürer combined the Italian painter’s law of
perspective and human anatomy with the
German’s attention to detail.
•Convinced his personal life and thoughts were
as important as his art, he kept journals and
wrote books. His famous self-portraits (a first)
portray him as elegant, confident and an even
arrogant man of the world.
Dürer, Self-Portrait (1500)
Lamentation for Christ, oil, 1500-1503
France
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Many Italian artists and
scholars were hired.
Castles of the Loire Valley
and the writings of Rabelais
reflected the tastes of the
Renaissance.
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The Renaissance did
not appear in
England until th 16th
century.
Drama, which
culminated in the
age of Shakespeare
was the biggest
accomplishment of
Renaissance
England.
England
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Wealth from New
World Conquests
helped fund:
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Spain
Architecture and art.
View of Toledo (c. 1596–
1600, oil on canvas, El Greco
The Assumption of
the Virgin (1577–
1579, oil on canvas,
El Greco.
Founded as a royal palace in
1563 by King Phillip II of Spain,
El Escorial is the burial place of
several Spanish monarchs. In
addition to the burial vault, the
complex also contains a
monastery, church, school, and
library.
Christian Humanism
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Italian Humanists studied ancient writings,
languages and style.
Christian Humanists were more interested
in providing guidance for personal
behavior and faith.
This Christian work done between 14501530 led to many criticisms of the Catholic
church which eventually led to the
Reformation.
A Few Notable Figures
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Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536) A
Dutchmen and arguably the most notable
Christian Humanist.
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Translated Greek and Latin versions of the
New Testament.
Emphasized virtue, tolerance, restraint and
education. Many of his thoughts contributed
to the Reformation.
It has been said that “Erasmus laid the egg
that Luther hatched.”
Thomas More
(1478-1536)
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English Lawyer, politician and humanist.
Wrote Utopia (Greek word for nowhere)
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Mixed civic humanism with religious ideals
Described perfect society
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No war, poverty, religious intolerance or other
problems.
More was also an outspoken critic of the
church and clergy.
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Moore was put to death when he refused to
Jacques Lefevre d’Etables
(1454-1536)
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Leading French humanist.
Wrote 5 versions of the
Psalms
D’Etables expressed the view
that Holy Scripture is the only
rule of doctrine, and that
justification is by faith alone.
Set the stage for Martin
Luther.
Francesco Ximenes de Cisneros
(1436-1517)
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Led Spanish Church as
Grand Inquisitor.
Founded a University.
Produced the Complutensian
Polglot Bible
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Hebrew, Greek and Latin
versions in parallel columns.
Reformed the Spanish Clergy
before the Reformation.
Scientific Revolution at the time of
the Renaissance
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Science and Learning….
 The basis of the Scientific Revolution was also laid during this
time. But we will get to that later.
Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543) Astronomer
Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) Danish Astronomer
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) Astronomer/ Mathematician
Galileo (1564-1642) Italian Astronomer and Scientist
Francis Bacon (1561-1626) Formalized Scientific Method.
Rene Descartes (1596-1650) Mathematician and Scientist
Comparing the Italian and
Northern Renaissance
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With a Partner…
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On large Paper…
Venn Diagram Comparing the Italian
and Northern Renaissance.
Use Notes, reading, and Textbook
Pages 160-170
After considering the effects…
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Statement explaining which part of
Renaissance you think is the most
important.