Graphic Art in Germany: the
Development of Printmaking
MICHEL WOLGEMUT (German),
"Tarvisium," page from the so-called
Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493. Woodcut,
approx. 1’2” x 9”
Woodcut - relief printmaking process
Engraving hatching & crosshatching technique probably
invented by Schongauer
MARTIN SCHONGAUER (German
ca. 1430-1491), Saint Anthony
Tormented by Demons, ca.
1480–1490. Engraving, approx.
1’ 1" x 11". Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York
Intaglio printing is what is used for U.S. currency. The process begins with
an engraving, both of the portrait and of the fine line detail surrounding the
bill. This is painstakingly produced by a master engraver on steel plates.
These plates are the actual plates used during the printing process. Ink is
applied to the plates. The plates are then wiped clean, leaving only ink in the
grooves. Paper is pressed to the plate with enormous pressure by a printing
press, transferring the ink to the paper. The pressure causes the paper to be
embossed with the ink, giving the ink a raised feel that other printing
techniques cannot duplicate.
Albrecht Durer, Adam and Eve,
engraving, 1504, 9 3/4 x 7 1/2 in
Humanism and the Allure of
Antiquity:
15th Century Italian Art
French Gothic
Quatrefoil frame
FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI
(Italian), Sacrifice of Isaac,
competition panel for east
doors, baptistery of
Florence Cathedral,
Florence, Italy, 1401–1402.
Gilded bronze relief, 1’ 9” x
1’ 5”. Museo Nazionale del
Bargello, Florence.
LORENZO GHIBERTI
(Italian 1378-1455),
Sacrifice of Isaac, winning
competition panel for east
doors, baptistery of
Florence Cathedral,
Florence, Italy, 1401–1402.
Gilded bronze relief, 1’ 9” x
1’ 5”. Museo Nazionale del
Bargello, Florence.
Compare Ghiberti’s Sacrifice of Isaac ( left) with Brunelleschi’s (right). Which one
won the competition? Which one is more active and naturalistic?
Ghiberti’s self portrait
On the “Gates of Paradise”
LORENZO GHIBERTI, second pair of
doors (“Gates of Paradise”),
baptistery, Florence Cathedral,
Florence, Italy, 1425–1452. Gilded
bronze relief, approx. 17’ high.
Modern copy, ca. 1980. Original
panels in Museo dell’Opera del
Duomo, Florence.
LORENZO GHIBERTI, Isaac and His Sons, east doors (“Gates of Paradise”),
baptistery, Florence Cathedral, Florence, Italy, 1425–1452. Gilded bronze relief,
approx. 2’ 7 1/2” x 2’ 7 1/2”. Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Florence.
DONATELLO (Italian ca.1386-1466), Feast of Herod, from the baptismal font of
Siena Cathedral, Siena, Italy, ca. 1425. Gilded bronze relief, approx. 1’ 11” x 1’
11”. The picture as a window on the world - Perspectival illusionism, the
“rationalization of sight.” “Mathematical truth and formal beauty conjoined in the
minds of Renaissance artists.”
Roman portrait of
Emperor Macrinus. 3rd C
C.E.
NANNI DI BANCO (13801421), Four Crowned Saints,
San Michele, Florence, Italy,
ca. 1408–1414. Marble,
figures approx. life-size.
Modern copy in exterior
niche. Original sculpture in
museum on second floor of
San Michele.
San Michele, Florence Italy, street view showing
Renaissance sculptures of patron saints of Florentine guilds
Compare (left) 13th century statues from the façade of Reims (Gothic)
Cathedral in France, with (right) Nanni di Banco’s early 15th century
Renaissance architectural sculpture, San Michele, Florence. Does the Nanni
show more interaction among the figures?
POLYKLEITOS Doryphoros,
Greek, ca.450-40 B.C., marble,
life size, source of
contrapposto (weight shift)
DONATELLO, Saint Mark, San Michele,
Florence, Italy, 1411–1413. Marble, approx. 7’
9” high. Modern copy in exterior niche. Original
sculpture in museum on second floor of San
Michele.
Detail: note expressionism of face and body
DONATELLO, Prophet Habbakuk (Zuccone), from the
campanile of Florence Cathedral, Florence, Italy, 1423–
1425. Marble, approx. 6’ 5” high. Museo dell’Opera del
Duomo, Florence.
Compare the expressive realism of (left) Donatello’s Prophet Habbakuk
with (right) ancient Roman portrait sculpture of Cato the Elder
MASACCIO (1401-1428, 27 years), Tribute Money, Brancacci Chapel, Santa Maria
del Carmine, Florence, Italy, ca. 1427. Fresco, 8’ 1” x 19’ 7”. What “tricks” of
illusion are evident in this fresco?
Detail from Masaccio’s
Tribute Money, 1427
Detail of Betrayal of Christ, fresco by
Giotto, c. 1305–06; in the Arena Chapel,
Padua, Italy
Compare Masaccio and Giotto
Tourists studying Masaccio’s frescos in Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence
Compare Adam & Eve
from 1432 Ghent
Altarpiece by Jan Van
Eyck in oil paint with
fresco by Masaccio
(right) MASACCIO, Expulsion of Adam and Eve from
Eden, Brancacci Chapel, Santa Maria del Carmine,
Florence, Italy, ca. 1425. Fresco, 7’ x 2’ 11”.
Masaccio’s Expulsion of Adam and Eve (1425-6) before and after
restoration in the 1980s
“The works made before his [Masaccio’s] day
can be said to be painted, while his are living,
real, and natural.”
- Vasari, Lives of the Most Eminent Painters,
Sculptors, and Architects, 1550
Perspectival scheme
MASACCIO, Holy Trinity, Santa Maria Novella,
Florence, Italy, ca. 1428. Fresco, 21’ x 10’ 5”.
Brunelleschi’s (losing) competition panel
for the doors of cathedral Baptistery,
1401-2
FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI,
dome of Florence Cathedral (view
from the south), Florence, Italy,
1420–1436.
Compare the Pantheon, Rome (left and center) begun in 27 BCE, completely
rebuilt c.118–128 CE, with (right) the Florence Cathedral with Brunelleschi’s
dome, 1420-1436
Interior of Florence Cathedral showing imposing (140 ft) width beneath
the dome, and (right) cutaway view of dome by Brunelleschi
Cutaway view of dome of
Florence Cathedral
Images of ancient Roman
Pantheon in cross section
FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI, facade
of the Pazzi Chapel, Santa
Croce, Florence, Italy, begun ca.
1440. Compare with Pantheon,
Roman architectural source,
above
FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI, plan of the Pazzi Chapel, Santa Croce, Florence,
Italy.
Glazed terracotta medallions
represent the Four Evangelists
and 12 Apostles.
FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI, interior
of the Pazzi Chapel (view facing
northeast), Santa Croce,
Florence, Italy, begun ca. 1440.
Compare heavy ancient Roman
Cornices that were Michelozzo’s
model
MICHELOZZO DI BARTOLOMMEO,
facade of the Palazzo MediciRiccardi, Florence, Italy, begun
1445.
MICHELOZZO DI BARTOLOMMEO, interior court of the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi,
Florence, Italy, begun 1445.
Perspective study
by Uccello
PAOLO UCCELLO, Battle of San Romano, ca. 1455. Tempera on wood, approx. 6’ x
10’ 5”. National Gallery, London.
Praxiteles, Hermes and Infant
Dionysus, Marble, Greek
4th century
DONATELLO, David, late 1420s – late 1450s. Bronze,
5’ 2 1/4” high. Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence,
the Palazzo Medici courtyard. First freestanding nude
since antiquity. David was the symbol of the Florentine
Republic. Contrapposto. Compare Praxiteles and
Donatello
SANDRO BOTTICELLI (1444-1510), Birth of Venus, ca. 1482. Tempera on canvas,
approx. 5’ 8” x 9’ 1”. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.
SANDRO BOTTICELLI,
Portrait of a Youth, early
1480s. Tempera on panel, 1’
4” x 1’. National Gallery of
Art, Washington (Andrew W.
Mellon Collection).
FRA ANGELICO (c.1400-1455), Annunciation, San Marco, Florence, Italy, ca. 1440–
1445. Fresco, 7’ 1” x 10’ 6”. Inscription reads: “As you venerate, while passing before
it, this figure of the intact Virgin, beware lest you omit to say a Hail Mary.”
Compare frescos:
(top), GHIRLANDAIO
Birth of the Virgin, 1485–
1490.
(below) FRA ANGELICO,
Annunciation, 1440-45
FRA FILIPPO LIPPI, Madonna and
Child with Angels, ca. 1455.
Tempera on wood, approx. 3’ x 2’
1”. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.
Compare the degree of humanization of the Madonna since Giotto,
the “father of Western painting.” What caused the difference?
GIOTTO DI BONDONE, Madonna
Enthroned, ca. 1310. Tempera on wood,
10’ 8” x 6’ 8”. Galleria degli Uffizi,
Florence.
FRA FILIPPO LIPPI, Madonna and Child
with Angels, ca. 1455. Tempera on wood,
approx. 3’ x 2’ 1”. Galleria degli Uffizi,
Florence.
PERUGINO, Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to Saint Peter, Sistine Chapel, Vatican,
Rome, Italy, 1481–1483. Fresco, 11’ 5 1/2” x 18’ 8 1/2”.
Know meaning & spelling of terms: “linear perspective,” “atmospheric perspective”
Arch of Constantine, Rome, stone,
c. 84' w x 24' d x 69' h, late Empire
period, 312-315 A.D.
Old Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rome, built by
the first Christian emperor, Constantine,
over the Roman Circus of Nero, begun in
324 CE. Building of the “new” Saint Peter’s
began in the mid-15th century and was
completed in 1615
Geometric symmetry
Leon Batista Alberti, west facade of Sant’ Andrea, Mantua, Italy, designed ca.
1470. combined Roman triumphal arch and temple front. Facade disregards the
dimensions of the church behind it. Primary value was purely visual proportion
and relationship with the small square in front.
Leon Battista Alberti, Interior hall of Sant’ Andrea, Mantua, Italy,
designed without the traditional side aisles of the traditional Christian
basilica plan. This break with tradition was extremely influential in late
Renaissance and Baroque church design.
Andrea Mantegna, interior of the Camera degli Sposi (Room of the Newlyweds),
Palazzo Ducale, Mantua, Italy, 1474. Fresco. Commissioned by Ludovico Gonzaga
Comparison for Mantegna’s Camera degli Sposi: Roman frescos from Pompeii, Italy, 1st
century CE, preserved because of the eruption of nearby Vesuvius volcano in 79 CE
Trompe l’oeil
(deceives the eye)
Andrea
Mantegna,
ceiling of the
Camera degli
Sposi (Room of
the Newlyweds),
Palazzo
Ducale,Mantua,
Italy, 1474.
Fresco, 8’ 9” in
diameter. The
first to create a
view from below.
ANDREA MANTEGNA,
Saint James Led to
Martyrdom, Ovetari Chapel,
Church of the Eremitani
(largely destroyed, l944),
Padua, Italy, ca. 1455.
Fresco, 10’ 9” wide.
ANDREA MANTEGNA, Dead Christ, ca. 1501. Tempera on canvas, 2’ 2 3/4” x 2’ 7
7/8”. Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan.
“engraver’s line”
PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA, Finding of the True Cross and Proving of the True
Cross, San Francesco, Arezzo, Italy, ca. 1455. Fresco, 11’ 8 3/8” x 6’ 4”.
Girolamo Savonarola, portrait painted by Fra Bartolomeo, c. 1498, wood, 47 x 31
cm, Florence, Museo di San Marco. Italian Dominican priest-dictator of Florence
from 1494 until his execution in 1498. Denounced humanism and encouraged the
“bonfire of the vanities” for citizens to burn their classical texts, scientific
treatises, and philosophical publications.
LUCA SIGNORELLI, Damned Cast into Hell, San Brizio Chapel, Orvieto Cathedral,
Orvieto, Italy, 1499–1504. Fresco, approx. 23’ wide.