The Italian Renaissance:
Art
Medieval Art

Fusion of different styles


Roman ideas (techniques of
sculpture lost)
Christian ideas





Church richest, most powerful
institution in Medieval world
Had the money to support artists
throughout Medieval period
Northern European “Barbarian”
artistic tradition (Celtic, Germanic)
Byzantine (iconography)
Much of the non-religious
medieval art is lost to us

No concept of preserving art
outside of church
Medieval Art: Religious Themes
 St. Francis’ Rule Approved
 Giotto (1288-92?)
 Tempera (egg yolk mixed
with pigment) on wood and
ground gold
 Questions
 Glowing head?
 Realistic?
 Depth perception?
Medieval Art: Religious Themes
 The Crucifixion
 Giotto (1305)
 Tempera on wood and
ground gold.
 Questions
 Realism?
 Glowing heads?
 Depth?
Characteristics of Italian Renaissance Art

1. Bright colors & oil
paints (change in
material used)

2. Focus on realism
 Natural poses were
life-like, realistic
(like the GREEKS!)
 Showed personality
& emotion in the
art
Expulsion from
the Garden
Masaccio
1427
First nudes since
classical times
3.
Perspective
(Della Pittura –
Alberti)
 Use of perspective
(horizon line,
vanishing point)
 Shadowing created
illusion of depth
 Made items in
background smaller
Lamentation Over the Dead Christ, Andre Mantegna (1481)
Notes
…Realistic?
…Perspective?
Perspective!
Betrothal
of the Virgin
Raphael
1504
Compare & Contrast Perspective
4. Classicism
Obvious Greco-Roman
influence
Individualism (free standing
figures)
Symmetry/Balance
Statue of Habacuc
Donatello (1423-25)
School of Athens - Raphael
5. Emphasis on Individualism
Batista Sforza & Federico de Montefeltre: The Duke &
Duchess of Urbino (Piero della Francesca, 1465-1466)
6. Geometrical Arrangement of Figures
 The Dreyfus
Madonna
with the
Pomegranate
 Leonardo da
Vinci (1469)
 The figure as
architecture!
Raphael’s Canagiani Madonna, 1507
Cosimo de Medici
1389-1464
Medici bank = base of power
Took over Florence, 1433
Patron to Brunelleschi, others
Lorenzo
the Magnificent
1449-1492
Grandson of Cosimo
Ruled Florence, 1469 to death
Patron to Da Vinci,
Michelangelo, Botticelli
Adoration of the Magi
Entire Medici
family shown
Who are
the “magi”?
Who is in far
right, looking
at viewers?
Brunelleschi’s Dome
Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1436)


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Won competition to
design dome for new
Cathedral in Florence
Before starting, he
travelled around Italy for
inspiration
Used the ancient Romans’
architectural concepts
Parthenon, in Rome
 Used ribs to support
dome

Brunelleschi – Architect
Built lightweight inner
dome, then exterior dome
of wind resistant material
Dimensions: 137 feet across
Weight: 40,785 tons containing
over four million bricks
Time to construct: 16 years
Dome
Comparisons
Il Duomo
(Florence)
St. Peter’s
(Rome)
St. Paul’s
(London)
US Capitol
(Washington)
Renaissance Religious Themes
Madonna and Child
Madonna and Child, Fra Filippo Lippi 1406-1469
Emotion of face -she looks like a real mother - tired, worn down
Leonardo da Vinci
“Self portrait”
“Study of Hands”
“Study of the Gradations
of shadows”
“Vitruvian Man”
Parachute
Notebook page
(written backwards!)
Helicopter
Leonardo, the Inventor:
Pages from his Notebook
Machine gun
Tank
Helicopter
Leonardo, the Scientist (Biology):
Pages from his
Notebook
An example of
the humanist
desire to unlock
the secrets of
nature.
Leonardo, the Scientist (Anatomy):
from his Notebook
Mona
Lisa
Lisa di Antonio
Maria Gherandini
“Mona” - Italian
version of
‘Madonna’ or ‘my
lady’
A Macaroni Mona
Mona Lisa – da Vinci, 1503-4
A Picasso Mona
An Andy Warhol Mona
Mona Lisa OR da Vinci??
The
Last
Supper
 Original, now
What original might
have looked like 
vertical
The Last Supper - da Vinci, 1498
horizontal
Perspective!
A Da Vinci “Code”:
St. John or Mary Magdalene?
Michelangelo
The Pieta
David
15c
What
a
difference
a
century
makes!
16c
The Sistine Chapel
The Sistine Chapel Details
The
Creation
of the
Heavens
The Sistine Chapel Details
Creation of Man
The Sistine Chapel Details
The Last Judgment
The End