Notes for the Units Renaissance to Baroque Art
Renaissance Art and style – 1400-1520
Renaissance= “rebirth” – revived interest in the classical cultures- the veneration of
classical antiquity as a model
Although religion continued to occupy a primary position in the lives of Europeans, there
exists a growing concern with the natural world, the individual, and humanity’s worldly
existence
Medieval man- focus on salvation (man= corrupt and feeble of will)
vs.
Renaissance man- nature and relations among human beings became more interesting
than theological questions (man who thinks can overcome original sin)- meaning of
things no longer only religious, never possible in Medieval world!
HUMANISM- code of conduct, theory of education, scholarly discipline (a way of
thinking about the world!!!)
- human values as the focus, NOT religion’s other-worldly values
- Looked to the classical past (Greek and Roman texts) as a model for living
- cult of fame
Early Renaissance Art
Small break throughs in making realistic, illusionistic art like the ancients
Artwork example
Masaccio. The Holy Trinity. 1425. 21' 10 1/2" x 10' 5".
High Renaissance ArtHigh Renaissance Art characteristics:
– Self confident humanism and admiration of classical art
– Sense of stability and order - “BALANCE & HARMONY”
– Perspective, anatomy, light, space is all unified
– Brighter colors than early Renaissance
– More drama, a greater focus on emotion and psychology than early
Renaissance
– Artist is educated, art is recognized as having a theoretical basis
– Genius reserved for men, women excluded
Leonardo Da Vinci
- Inventor and scientist as well as artist
- Sfumato
- Interested in psychology
Artwork Example
Leonardo da Vinci. The Last Supper. c. 1495–1498. 14' 5" x 28' 1/4". Milan, Italy
Michelangelo
- human form is his focus
- energy in reserve!- always choosing the moment (in the story being depicted) right
before the action was about to happen
- thought of himself as sculptor first
Example Artwork
Michelangelo Buonarroti. David. 1501–1504. Height 14' 3".
Michelangelo Buonarroti. The Sistine Chapel. 1508–1512. Rome, built 1475-81,
painted 1508-12, end wall, 1536-44 www.vatican.va for virtual tour
Art outside of Italy:
Northern Ren art= observable reality, intuitive sense of space and atmosphere
- sharp focus
- sparkling clarity of detail- supreme realism
- focus on appearances themselves, bright colored surfaces of things
touched by light
- OIL medium
- deep intense colors
- more religious subject matter
- iconography
- ordinary interiors populated with ordinary objects that might bear
spiritual significance
- North continues to stay close to Gothic style (unlike in Italy)
Example artwork
Robert Campin, Merode Altarpiece (Triptych of the Annunciation) oil on wood panel,
25” x 24”, 1425-28
Northern Renaissance Recap:
1. New oil medium
2. Attempt to create space
3. Realism in figures
4. Rich colors
5. Focus on surface splendor
6. Symbolism/iconography
Baroque Art – 1600-1700
Style (Italian Version)
– Realism without idealism
– Light as a physical presence, not spiritual- and strong light/dark contrasts
– Open compositions
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Diagonal movement
Loose technique
Rich colors
Theatricality
Dynamic! (Not calm and rational)
Example artwork
Gianlorenzo Bernini. David. 1623. marble, life size.
Baroque Art in France
This is an art style that is mainly classical in spirit because of the king’s taste!
- Louis XIV (1643-1715) becomes an absolute ruler
- French Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture is founded in 1648-meant to aid
artists, improve social status, regularize instruction, centralize product (really for the
king)
Example artwork
Nicolas Poussin, Funeral of Phocian, oil, 4’ x 5’, 1655
Northern Europe and Spain during the Baroque era
- political and religious upheaval in Northern Europe and Spain
- The Reformation (Protestant) and Counter Reformation (Catholic)
- Protestant art moves away from religious imagery and new subjects are explored
(landscape, portraits, still life, genre, etc.)
Baroque Art of Flanders- also known as Flemish Art
Flanders= South of the Netherlands- Belgium and No. France
It is Catholic
The art style follows Italian Baroque
Example artwork
Peter Paul Rubens. The Raising of the Cross. 1610–1611.15' 2" x 11' 2".
- Italian influence = the heroic nudes, the dramatic light, the diagonal
composition, intense emotions
- Flemish influence= rich colors, surface realism, minute attention to texture and
forms
- broke down the barriers between the north and the south and made the Baroque
an international style
Netherlands/Dutch Baroque Art
Protestant- after much struggle to free themselves from Spain, they become the Dutch
Republic (United Provinces of the Netherlands)- not ruled by a monarchy but republican
- churches swept clean of images
- Dutch painters found patrons in the (upper) middle class- rarely the Church or RoyaltyAND the lower to regular middle class!
- Dutch liked portraits, landscapes, still life, etc.- NO angels, saints, deities!
Example artwork
Jan Vermeer. The Girl with the Red Hat. c. 1665–1666.9" x 7 1/16".
Spanish Baroque Art
The country is Catholic
The art style follows the Italian Baroque style
Example artwork
Diego Velázquez. The Maids of Honor (Las Meninas). 1656.10' 5" x 9'.
Rococo Art - 1700’s
- refined (free from what is vulgar or uncouth), fanciful, playful style, focused on
the carefree aristocratic life and on lighthearted romance rather than heroic battles
or religious figures; they also revolve heavily around nature and exterior settings.
- begins in France in at the end of Louis XIV’s reign (replaces his reserved classicism and
is really associated with the reign of Louis XV- 1720’s-1770’s)
- patron is the wealthy (mainly French)
- complex, sensuous themes (love among the rich)- erotic suggestiveness
- pastel colors
- delicately curving forms
- dainty figures
- lighthearted mood
- delicate and painterly brushstrokes
- a reaction against the formality and rigidity of 17th c. court life
Example artwork
Jean Honoré Fragonard. The Swing. 1767. 31 7/8" x 25 1/4".
- a first rate colorist
- a typical “intrigue” picture (intrigue= crafty plot or secret and illicit love affair)
- a young man arranges for an unsuspecting old bishops to swing the young man’s
sweetheart higher and higher
- young man (and the work’s patron) admires her from a strategic position!
- she kicks her shoe off flirtatiously at the statue of Cupid with his fingers to his
lips
- landscape is like Watteaus’s- perfumed park setting!- like a stage set
- glowing pastel colors
- soft light
- sensuality! Erotic suggestiveness