The Artistic Renaissance
Early Renaissance:
Focus – “imitation of nature” = naturalism!!!
- Realism in composition
- Perspective (+chiaroscuro, oil on canvas,
pyramid configuration, and “sfumato”)
- Classical and biblical scenes
- Human form and emotion
Notable artists: Massacio
Botticelli
Donatello
Brunelleschi
Francesca
Gozzoli
Comparing Classical, Medieval,
and Renaissance Art
Classical Art: Characteristics
• Idealized/”perfect”
figures
• Bodies look “in
motion,” often nude,
or in togas
• Faces are
bland/calm / no
emotion
• Little background /
sense of perspective
• Subject: heroic
figures,
gods/goddesses
Medieval Art: Characteristics
• Subject – mostly
religious
• Visual
“education” of
illiterate
Christians
• Flat, 2-D figures,
no emotion, stiff
poses, clothed
• Important figures
– large / center
• No background /
perspective
• Vibrant colors,
background –
one color
Renaissance Art: Characteristics
• Subjects – both
religious and nonreligious
• Bodies – idealized, in
motion, nude or
clothed.
• Famous religious
individuals and regular
people doing regular
tasks
• Faces show emotions
• Emphasis on realism,
perspective (3-D),
colors respond to light
• Detailed background
Massacio:
The Expulsion of Adam and Eve
Brancacci Chapel,(fresco),
Florence (1425)
Massacio. The Tribute Money
fresco. Florence (1420s)
A Perspective Diagram
Benozzo Gozzoli. The Procession of the
Magi. Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Florence,
(1459-1460)
The Procession of the Magi (details
– Artist’s self-portrait)
Boticelli, Primavera (Allegory of
Spring), 1482. Florence
Boticelli, The Birth of Venus, 1485.
Boticelli. The Adoration of the Magi.
Florence.1475.
Piero della Francesca. Portraits of the Duke
and Duchess of Urbino, 1467-1472.
Link to KhanAcademy’s Smarthistory analysis of this painting
Donatello
David (c.1430-1440) and St.Mark (1411-1413)
Brunelleschi
Duomo’s dome
Florence
Brunelleschi, Santo Spirito,
Florence, Italy,1441-1481.
The Artistic High Renaissance
(1480-1520)
• From Florence to ROME (and Milan)!
• Mastery of scientific observation
• Idealization of realistic portrayal
NOTABLE ARTISTS:
Leonardo da Vinci
Raphael
Michelangelo
Leonardo da Vinci
The Last Supper (1498)
The Last Supper: Details
The Last Supper (details)
The Vetruvian Man (c. 1490) and Mona
Lisa (1503-1517)
Raphael
The Colonna Madonna (1508)
Raphael
The School of Athens (1509)
The School of Athens (details)
Plato (da Vinci) and Aristotle (Michelangelo)
The School of Athens (Details)
Raphael self-portrait
The School of Athens: Who is who?
According to Michael Lahanas in his book The School of Athens, “Who is Who?”
Puzzle they are usually identified as follows:
1: Zeno of Citium 2: Epicurus 3: Federico II of Mantua 4: Anicius Manlius Severinus
Boethius or Anaximander or Empedocles 5: Averroes 6: Pythagoras 7: Alcibiades or
Alexander the Great? 8: Antisthenes or Xenophon 9: Hypatia (Francesco Maria della
Rovere) 10: Aeschines or Xenophon 11: Parmenides 12: Socrates 13: Heraclitus
(Michelangelo) 14: Plato (Leonardo da Vinci) 15: Aristotle 16: Diogenes 17: Plotinus
or Michelangelo 18: Euclid or Archimedes with students (Bramante) 19: Zoroaster
20: Ptolemy R: Apelles (Raphael) 21: Protogenes (Il Sodoma, Perugino, or Timoteo
Viti)
Michelangelo’s David (1501-1504)
The Sistine Chapel, Vatican
(1508-1512)
Sistine Chapel,
The Creation of Adam
Sistine Chapel: The Last Judgement
Dome, St.Peter’s Cathedral
Northern Renaissance
• Cultural revival in Northern Europe (The
Holy Roman Empire, England, the Low
Countries (Flanders)
• “Devotional” art and scenes from everyday
life.
• Attention to details!!!
• Some northern artists studied in Italy
Jan van Eyck, Giovanni Arnolfini
and His Bride (1434)
Link to KhanAcademy’s Smarthistory analysis of this painting
Albrecht Durer, Adoration of the Magi (1504) and
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1498)
Pieter Brueghel (the elder)
Peasant Wedding (1567)
The Hunters in the Snow (1565)
Renaissance art as reflection of
European society and politics
Duke of Montefeltro and
His Son (c.1475) by
Pedro Berruguete or (and)
Justus van Gent
Albrecht Durer, Portrait of
Katharina (1505)
Moneychanger and His Wife (1514)
by Quinten Massys
The Massacre of the Innocents (1566)
“Internet of the Day” – Gutenberg’s
Printing Press