Italian%20Renaissance%20Art

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Italian Renaissance Art

• Renaissance artists were motivated by the idea
  of progress. To them the artist was like a
  scientist . . .to experiment with solutions to
  problems. . . . To make a science of painting.
• Instant Art History

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Early Renaissancebased in Florence
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Giotto (c.1266-1337) Lamentation over Christ (c.
1305-06) Figures appear in 3-D, rather than
flat, and possess bulk, movement expression
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The Adoration Of the Magi (1304-06)
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Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378-1455) Gates of
Paradise (1425-52) Doors to the Baptistery in
the Florence Cathedral. Depict scenes from
the Old Testament. Named the Gates of
Paradise by Michelangelo
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Detail from the Gates of Paradise - The Story of
Joseph
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Masaccio (1401-28) St. Peter distributing Alms
the Death of Ananias (1425-26)
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The Tribute Money (c. 1427) - painted figures as
linear columns. Also important is his
three-dimensional portrayal of the human figure.
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This is Masaccios masterpiece, The Holy Trinity
(1427), probably his last work, since he died the
next year at the age of 28. The other great work
of Massacio is The Explusion of Adam and Eve
from the Garden of Eden (which I dont have
a slide of.)
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Another example of perspective is Mantegnas The
Dead Christ (c. 1506) which uses foreshortening,
giving the impression of a 3-D body on a flat
surface.
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Donatello (1386-1466) David (1425) The first free
standing sculpture since ancient Greek Roman
sculpture (and hes naked too! Get over it!)
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Detail of Donatellos David
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Sandro Botticelli (c. 1445 - 1510)

• Two famous works
• Primavera (c. 1482)
• The Birth of Venus (c. 1485)
• Notice that the subject of these works is not
  religion, but mythological figures

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An example of Renaissance architecture - the
dome of the Florence Cathedral, designed
by Filippo Brunelleschi. (1377? - 1446) He lost
out to Ghiberti in the competition to design
the Baptistery doors. Doing the dome was
his consulation prize. He was also a painter, who
introduced perspective to art.
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The High Renaissance(1490-1530)Still based in
Florence, but the center was gradually moving to
Rome
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Leonardo di Vinci(1452-1519)

• A master of many things (thats why hes called a
  Renaissance Man)

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Virgin Child with St. Anne (1510)
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The Last Supper
(1495-98) Each figure has distinctive
psychological character. It is located in the
church of Santa Maris delle Grazie. A door was
cut thru the painting after Leonardos death. (No
respect for art!)
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The Mona Lisa (Actually its called La Gioconda
and was done in 1507.) It uses a
technique called sfumato (like smoke) in which
different areas of color and form are merged
together (IAH) And why does she have that stupid
smile?
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Leonardo was one of the first artists to actually
study human anatomy by dissecting human bodies.
His notebooks reveal his sketches from his
studies. These sketches show the muscle structure
of an adult male. (And Leonardo got in trouble
with the Church be- cause it did not support the
violation of a dead person. Leo had to steal
the corpses.)
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Leonardos famous study showing proportions.
Notice the geometric designs. To protect his
work, he wrote his notes backward, so they have
to be read in a mirror.
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Michelangelo Buonarroti(1475-1564)

• Like Leonardo, another Renaissance Man, who was
  not just a sculptor, but also a painter (and he
  also wrote poetry and was an architect.)

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The Pieta (c. 1498-99)
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Michelangelos version of David (1501-04) - its
carved from a solid block of marble, 18 feet in
height. As compared to Donatellos version, this
one is much more detailed (notice how buff he is!)
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A detail of Michel- angelos David (theres more
info on this in the video
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Michelangelos masterpiece is the Sistine Chapel
ceiling, done between 1508 and 1512, by order of
Pope Julius II. Michelangelo was working on the
Popes tomb (before he was even dead!) and did
not want to do the ceiling. He argued that he
was a sculptor, not a painter, but Julius
insisted. Michelangelo suspended work on the
tomb (and its massive sculpture of Moses) to
paint the ceiling.Here are four views of the
ceiling, moving from the left side to the right.
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Perhaps the most famous panel from the ceiling -
God giving life to Adam.
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The Last Judgement, from the altar of the Sistine
Chapel (painted after the ceiling) The central
figure is Christ. Notice the size and
distortion of proportion.)
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Ghirlandaio An Old Man and his
Grandson (1480) This is a good example of
how Renaissance art reflected the pursuit of
realism - the old man is shown realistically,
warts and all.
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Raphael (1438-1520) The favorite subject of
Raphael was Madonnas. This example is
called Madonna Child Enthroned, with
Saints (1504-05)
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Raphaels School of Athens
(1510-11)
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Eventually, Raphael moved on to portraiture.
This is Pope Leo X (the Medici Pope) with two
Cardinals (1518)
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Titian (1477-1576)

• Titian is considered the last of the Italian
  Renaissance artists (maybe because he lived to be
  99 years old!)
• He was a High Renaissance artist of the Venetian
  School. His two famous works are Venus and
  Adonis (c. 1555) and the Rape of Europa
  (1559-62). Notice, again, the use of
  mythological figures, not religious.

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Venus and Adonis
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And thats some examples of Italian Renaissance
art

• Later we will check out the Northern Renaissance
  artists, and there arent as many of them.