Characteristics of Renaissance Art

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Characteristics of Renaissance Art
Fra Angelico, The Annunciation, 1437-46
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Interest in All Things Classical

• The Renaissance is primarily known as a rebirth
  of Classical Greek and Roman art, architecture
  and literary technique.

In Botticellis La Primavera (c. 1482), the
figures are all Greek gods and goddesses.
3
Interest in the Human Body

• Artists showed an interest in correct human
  anatomy and in showing off the nude figure.
• They saw the body as a thing of beauty, not
  something to be hidden.
• Leonardo da Vinci worked with doctors to dissect
  cadavers, filling his notebooks with drawings and
  measurements.

Drawing of a womans torso from the notebooks of
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
4
Perspective

• Through perspective, artists created the illusion
  of a three-dimensional world on a two-dimensional
  surface like a piece of paper, a canvas or a
  wall.
• The eye of the viewer is guided through the
  picture to the focal point, also called the
  vanishing point.

Perugino, The Delivery of the Keys, 1481-2
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Pyramidal Configuration
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Modeling

• Artists used what is called modeling to make
  figures look three-dimensional or rounded.
• The effect is achieved through the use of color
  and shadow.

Mantegna, Lamentation over the Dead Christ, 1490
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Proto-Renaissance Art
Medieval Art Italo-Byzantine Madonna and Child,
13th century
Proto-Renaissance Art Duccio, Madonna and Child
with Angels, c. 1282-1307
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Duccio

• Duccio dominated the art scene of Siena,
  Florences rival artistic center, in the early
  14th century.
• Notice that he still paints in the medieval and
  Byzantine style.
• But the work is still innovative because the
  figures begin to show weight, solidity and
  emotion.

Duccios Maestà Altarpiece, 1308-1311, Siena,
Italy
9
Giotto

• Giotto was a Florentine painter and architect.
• Significant to the Renaissance Masaccio, Raphael
  and Michelangelo all studied his work.
• Found simple solutions to problems of
  representing space and volume and cut narrative
  scenes down to their dramatic core.

Giotto, Frescoes in the Arena Chapel, Padua,
1303-6
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Giotto

• This is one of the most well-known of Giottos
  frescoes.
• The sweep of Judas cloak draws your eye to his
  and Jesus faces, where the central action of the
  scene lies.
• The whole drama of the event is captured in the
  exchange of glances between Jesus and Judas.

Scenes from the Life of Christ Scene 15 The
Arrest of Christ (Kiss of Judas), Arena Chapel,
1304-6
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Early Renaissance Art
Proto-Renaissance Art Duccio, Madonna and Child
with Angels, c. 1282-1307
Early Renaissance Art Masaccio, Madonna del
Solletico, c. 1426
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Masaccio

• First great painter of the Italian Renaissance.
• Inspired by Brunelleschi and Donatello.
• Mastered perspective to create the illusion of
  three-dimensionality.

Masaccio, Frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel,
Florence, Italy, 1426-82
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Masaccio

• This fresco is considered to be one of Masaccios
  masterpieces.
• Masaccios work is characterized by strong
  emotion, solid figures, and an understanding of
  light and shadow.
• This work was the first nude depicted in painting
  since the Fall of Rome.

The Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, Brancacci
Chapel, 1426-7
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Donatello

• Donatello worked primarily as a sculptor, usually
  in bronze or marble.
• Donatello was not a cultured intellectual and
  often demanded artistic freedom from his patrons.
• Donatello was interested in showing realistic
  human anatomy and the spirit of the individual in
  his works.

Donatello, St. Mary Magdalene, carving in wood,
c. 1457
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Donatello

• This statue was commissioned by Cosimo de
  Medici.
• It was the first, life-sized, nude sculpture
  created since the Fall of Rome.
• The pose in which David stands is typical of
  Renaissance figures. It is called contrapposto.

David, bronze, c. 1430
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Brunelleschi

• Brunelleschi was both a sculptor and an
  architect.
• He designed and completed the dome for the
  unfinished Gothic cathedral in Florence.
• This dome was the first created since Classical
  times.

Dome of the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (Il
Duomo), 1420-36
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Later High Renaissance Art
High Renaissance Art Raphael, The Alba Madonna,
c. 1510
Early Renaissance Art Masaccio, Madonna del
Solletico, c. 1426
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Study these two sculptures
Christ Carrying the Cross, Michelangelo, 1521
David, Andrea Verrocchio, 1437-5
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Cire Perdue Casting
Ghiberti, Doors of Paradise, Panel Abraham and
Isaac, Gilt bronze, 1452
Donatello, David, bronze, c. 1430
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Carrara Marble
Carrara Quarry
Michelangelo, David, Carrara marble, 1504
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Study these two paintings
Fra Carnevale, The Birth of the Virgin, 1467
Jan van Eyck, The Madonna of Chancellor Rolin,
mid-1400s
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Egg Tempera
Ground ultramarine pigment
Mortar and Pestle
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Oil Painting
Linseed Oil the not-so-secret ingredient for oil
painting
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Fresco Painting
The triangle-shaped wedges are called pendentives.
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Fresco Painting
Preparatory Sketch
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Fresco Painting
This is a cartoon for the unfinished Michelangelo
painting Epifania (another name for the
Adoration). It was drawn in black chalk on 26
sheets of paper and measures over 2 meters tall.
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Fresco Painting
This is a sinopia by Simone Martini for a fresco
at the Palace of the Popes in Avignon, France.
c.1341
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Fresco Painting
The line formed by the giornata can be seen along
the arm, head and back of this figure from the
Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo.