Early Renaissance

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Early Renaissance 1400-1450
The Artist as Idea-maker
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• Early Renaissance began in Florence because of
  specific circumstances.
• At the beginning of the 15th C., Florence was
  threatened by Duke of Milan
• Put up defenses, including intellectual ones, to
  rally the people.
• Propaganda in the form of writing, art, music
  championed Florence as the new Athens
• Began a campaign to finish and decorate Florence
  Cathedral- opportunity for the emergence of new
  artistic talent
• Art was raised from a craft to a liberal art
  (like writing, mathematics, philosophy)- a
  necessity for a gentlemans education
• The artist became the manipulator of ideas rather
  than just a craftsman-and the artist began to be
  educated and respected.
• New style began with Ghibertis Baptistry doors.

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• Life-sized figures
• Mass and volume much more realistic than Medieval
  
• Heads based on Roman sculpture
• This time form and content are not separated like
  in Medieval

Nanni di Banco, Four Saints, c.1410-14
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• Attitude of the human body is much like classical
  antiquity
• Donatello- greatest sculptor of his time
  (1386-1466)
• Spent early years working on Cathedral
  commissions
• Brought back Contrapposto!
• In same architectural niche like Banco, but
  different feeling
• Elastic limbs, lifelike, ready for battle (right
  hand originally held a sword)
• Renaissance version of the brave Christian
  soldier but now redefined as the defender of the
  new Athens

Donatello, St. George Tabernacle, 1415-17
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• Donatello learned bronze sculpture from Ghiberti
• He ended up with a more expressive quality than
  his teacher.
• Acts as a window of reality
• Earliest example of linear perspective (invented
  by Brunelleschi)!!
• Linear perspective made art empirical- a reason
  to include as a liberal art

Donatello, Feast of Herod, 1425
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Ghiberti has learned from his student!
Ghiberti, Gates of Paradise, c.1435
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• David is based on Classical proportions and is
  symbolic of the struggle between Florence and
  Milan (David v. Goliath)
• Note Greek-like wreath on his helmet
• Not based on the Greek athletic type

Donatello, David 1425-30
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Niccolo DellArca, The Lamentation, 1485-90

• Integration of motion and emotion
• Life-sized
• Figure on the right is reminiscent of Nike of
  Samothrace (forward rush)

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• Brunelleschi created the early Renaissance,
  Architecturally
• First to study the exact measurements of ancient
  monuments
• Invented linear perspective
• Won the building of the Florence Cathedral Dome-
  created a new way of distributing weight and a
  new hoisting machine for construction

Brunelleschi, S. Lorenzo 1421-69
Commissioned by the Medici to add on to the
Romanesque building and then to redo the entire
thing Interior- order rather than Passion.
Precise and mathematical
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• New emphasis on the regular and symmetrical
• Whole design based on square units
• Ushered in the Renaissances search for order and
  uniformity
• Helped to organize the disorder of the Middle
  Ages- in art as well as language

Plan, S. Lorenzo

• Drawn to classical architecture because of its
  inflexibility
• Everything had to be the correct proportions- and
  completely integrated

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Brunelleschi, Pazzi Chapel, 1430-33

• Completely unrelated to any Gothic structure that
  came before
• Central arch that links two classical colonnades
  is an innovation

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• Surfaces are decorated
• First example of roundels- sculpture is not
  really needed like Gothic sculpture- its added
  on, but architecture now stands on its own.

Interior, Pazzi Chapel
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• Brunelleschi was rejected by his patrons because
  of his very innovative ideas- this commission was
  given to a lesser-known architect
• Very fortress-like
• Stone is in a graded sequence (smooth,
  rusticated, and rough)

Michelozzo, Palazzo Medici 1444
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• Death of Brunelleschi allowed for the rise of
  Alberti
• 1400-1472
• didnt start designing until he was OLD (40)-
  wrote a lot about Renaissance art
• This is a critique of the Medici Palace- more of
  a strict design
• Reminiscent of the Colloseum
• Dealt with how to put a classical scheme on a
  non-classical building

Alberti, Palazzo Rucellai, 1146-51
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• Alberti was able to meld classical and
  contemporary
• Triumphal arch from Rome
• Classical temple front
• Pilasters instead of columns
• Complete continuity in the interior of the
  church- the façade is a preview of the order of
  the entire interior

No clerestory, designed as one long nave w/o
transcept- reminiscent of Roman basilicas
Alberti, S. Andrea, 1470
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• New style was single-handedly launched by
  Masaccio (died at the age of 27)
• Renaissance style already established in
  sculpture and painting
• Inscription reads What you are, I once was what
  I am, you will become.
• Realm of monumental grandeur, not everyday life
• Drapery is real- figures are clothed nudes
• Shows linear perspective
• Deliberately painted to be seen from the viewers
  perspective

Masaccio, The Holy Trinity 1425
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• Fresco from the Brancacci Chapel, showing
  continuous narration
• Figures merge the weight and volume of Giotto
  with new precision of the Renaissance
• Most figures are very static and sculptural

Masaccio, The Tribute Money c. 1427
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How do we know this is Renaissance and not
Medieval?
Masaccio, Madonna Enthroned, 1426
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Duccio
Fra Angelico, The Annunciation, 1440-50
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Paolo Ucello, Battle of San Romano, 1455 (tempera
and silver foil)

• Shows preoccupation with depicting space- ground
  is very gridlike
• Ordered space in a very disordered painting

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Castagno, The Last Supper, 1445-50

• Depicts an alcove of real space- reminiscent of
  Masaccio
• Almost too ordered- imprisons and silences
  figures- uses medieval pose of Judas seperated

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• From the city of Padua (near Venice) 1431-1506
• 2nd most important painter of the early
  Renaissance
• Fresco destroyed in 1944
• Worms-eye view perspective based on viewers
  eye-level
• Devotion to classical remains-desire for accuracy
  (soldiers costumes)
• Great emotional content (fight breaking out on
  the right)

Mantegna, St.James Led to his Execution, 1455
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• Painting is set in the apse of a church
• Very gentle, diffused light
• Very spacious and calm
• Colors have rich depth
• Meditative rather than static (like medieval)

Bellini, Madonna and the Saints, 1505
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Botticelli, The Birth of Venus, 1480

• 1444-1510- Florentine-favorite of the Medici from
  the Masaccio style-stable and monumental
• Lack of concern for deep space, ornamental
• Does not follow precise anatomy- bodies are
  deflated looking, never touching the ground
• Why was mythological subjects allowed in a very
  religious society?

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• Very Flemish in nature- realism and facial detail
  but filled with emotion like the Italians

Ghirlandaio, An Old Man and his Grandson, 1480
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Perugino, The Delivery of the Keys, 1482

• Roman- a fresco from the Sistine Chapel-story of
  Peter being named the first Pope
• Very symmetrical design, vast expanse of the
  background
• Mathematically exact perspective
• Became Raphaels teacher (poor guy!)