Arts of the Renaissance

Preface: Arts of the Middle Ages

Most of the art that was created in the Middle Ages was funded by the Church, and made for public spaces

Stained glass artistry came with the large and high cathedral windows of Gothic Architecture

Most of the visual art, as with writing, was created by monks (Fra)

Conscripted labor performed the heaviest and most dangerous tasks in building the monuments of the age, although skilled stone masons were highly valued

Needlework was largely the province of women, often nuns, or high-born women and their ladies

By the late (High) Middle Ages, there was a concerted effort to marry faith and reason, in a movement called Scholasticism

Sant' Apollinare Nuovo:interior, detail of N. wall of nave showing mosaic of the Three Magi, ca. first quarter of 6th century Ravenna, Italy

CimabueThe Santa Trinita

Madonna

c1260/80 Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Simone Martini

Christ Discovered in the Temple

1342Liverpool, The Walker

Art Gallery.

Chartres Cathedralexterior, view from SE. showing towers of West front (begun mid-12th century; N.spire added 1507-1514)

Guillaume Dufay c. 1400-1474

Ave Regina Cœlorum The antiphon, Ave Regina Caelorum, is sung as the concluding antiphon in the The Liturgy of the Hours from the Presentation of the Lord until Holy Thursday. It was originally sung for None for the Feast of the Assumption. The author is unknown. The earliest plainchant manuscript stems from the 12th century.

Held in very high esteem by his contemporaries and regarded by modern experts as probably the greatest composer of the 15th century. His harmonies and melodies prefigure Renaissance composition.

DUFAYGREGORIAN

.

RENAISSANCE is a period during the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries characterized by a revival of interest in the works of classical Greece and Rome, by a sharp increase in secular values, and by vigorous urban life. Both the forms and values of antiquity are held in highest esteem

Characteristics of Renaissance ArtArt as Philosophy: Symbol, structure, and color are used to more realistically portray the temporal world.

Individualistic: Artistic styles vary widely, with much variation.

Classical: Classical themes and symbols of Antiquity often appear.

Realism: Portrays real people, as they are, but most often with an effort to describe their maximum or true potential . Linear perspective and anatomy are studied, as a means to achieve realism.

Emphasis on IndividualismEmphasis on IndividualismBatista Sforza & Federico de Montefeltre: The

Duke & Dutchess of Urbino Piero della Francesca, 1465-1466

Jan van Eyck

Portrait of a Man 1433

Jan van Eyck

Arnolfini Portrait

1434

QuickTime™ and aPhoto - JPEG decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Perspective

“What you are, I once was; what I

am, you will become.”

The Trinity Masaccio

1427

Ginevra de Benci Leonardo da Vinci 1474/1478

Chiaroscuro

Sfumato

'without lines or borders, in the manner of smoke'.

LEON BATTISTA ALBERTI 1404-1472

The Dreyfus Madonna with the

PomegranateLeonardo da Vinci

1469

Italian Renaissance

Frequently artists were patronized by the religious leaders of the time; Italian Renaissance art is often characterized by religious themes

Frescoes: paintings done on fresh, wet plaster with water-based pigments. (Example: Sistine Chapel)

Centered in Florence

Monumental Architecture

Early Renaissance

Concern with naturalistic settings and modelingPrivate commissions allow secular as well as religious worksClassical forms and themesLaws of linear perspective appliedOil painting allows detail and depthProduced largely by contract w/patron

Filippo Brunelleschi 1377 - 14361377 - 1436

Cuppolo of St. Maria del Fioreuppolo of St. Maria del FioreThe Cathedral of San LorenzoThe Cathedral of San Lorenzo

Filippo Brunelleschi 1377 - 14361377 - 1436

Used ribs for support

Interior Architecture

Domes

Il Duomo St. Peter’s St. Paul’s US capital (Florence) (Rome) (London) (Washington)

BotticelliBirth of Venus 1485

BotticelliThe Mystic

Nativity 1501

BotticelliThe Mystic

Nativity, detail 1501

Broad knowledge about many things in different fields.

Deep knowledge/skill in one area.

Able to link information from different areas/disciplines and create new knowledge.

The Greek ideal of the “well-rounded man” was at the heart of Renaissance education.

Leonardo da Vinci The “Renaissance Man”

Leonardo da Vinci Self Portrait 1512

Sculptor

Architect

Engineer

Inventor

Artist

Scientist

Leonardo da Vinci Vitruvian

Man

Leonardo da Vinci

The Last Supper 1498 (prior to restoration)

Leonardo da Vinci

The Last Supper 1498 (restored)

da Vinci Mona Lisa 1503-4

A Macaroni MonaA Macaroni Mona

A Picasso MonaA Picasso Mona An Andy Warhol MonaAn Andy Warhol Mona

A “Mona”ca A “Mona”ca LewinskyLewinsky

High Renaissance

Proportion, harmony, and balance strived forIntense study of the human figure allows fully resolved compositionSuperb depictions of reality, as underlying structures studied Idealization of nature

Michelangelo Buonorrati

1475 – 1564

The Pieta

1499,

Marble

David

1504, Marble

The Sistine Chapel

1508-12

Fresco

The Sistine Chapel, detail “The Creation of the Heavens” 1508-12 Fresco

The Sistine Chapel, detail “The Creation of Man” 1508-12 Fresco

MichelangeloPortrait of

Michelangelo

RaphaelSchool of Athens 1510-11

Raphael

Da Vinci

Michelangelo

Averroes

Hypatia

Pythagoras

AristotleAristotle::looks to thislooks to thisearth [theearth [thehere andhere and

now].now].

PlatoPlato::looks to thelooks to theheavens [or heavens [or

the IDEALthe IDEALrealm].realm].

Raphael Baldassare Castiglione

1514-15

Raphael

Portrait of Pope Julius II

1512-13

Raphael

Pope Leo X with Cardinal Giulio deMedici and Luigi De Rossi

1518-19

Raphael

Sistine Madonna Cowpepper Madonna

Raphael

Madonna della Sedia Alba Madonna

Bacchanalof the

Andrians Titian,

c. 1522-25

Venus of Urbino – Titian, 1558

Northern Renaissance

Oil paint. Jan van Eyck was one of the first to use them.

Masters of painting detail.

Some of the works are deeply religious, but often patrons were merchants or town officials, so secular paintings of portraits and everyday life also developed.

Jan van Eyck

The Virgin with Chancellor Rodin 1435

Jan van Eyck

The Crucifixion

and

The Last Judgment

1420-5

Rogier van der Weyden (1399-1464) The Deposition (details) 1435

Quentin Massys (1465-1530)

Belonged to the humanist circle in Antwerp that included Erasmus.Influenced by da Vinci.Thomas More called him “the renovator of the old art.The Ugly Dutchess, 1525-1530

The Moneylender & His Wife Massys 1514The Moneylender & His Wife Massys 1514

Albrecht Dürer 1471-1528

Self Portrait in Fur-Collared

Robe 1500

Albrecht Dürer

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

woodcut 1498

Albrecht Dürer

The Last Supperwoodcut 1510

Hans Holbein, the

Younger

The Family of Burgomaster

Meyer Adoring the Virgin and

Child

Hans Holbein, the Younger

Jean de Dinteville and

Georges de Selve ('The

Ambassadors')1533

Hieronymus

Bosch 1450-1516

The Garden of Earthy Delights

1500

Hieronymus

Bosch

The Garden of Earthy Delights,

Detail1500

Pieter Bruegel The Harvesters, 1565

Pieter Bruegel Tower of Babel 1563

Pieter Bruegel The Beggars 1568

Pieter Bruegel The Triumph of Death 1562

Pieter Bruegel Hunters in the Snow 1565

Renaissance Writers

Chaucer

Made use of the English vernacular in his book The Canterbury Tales. Tells the stories of people traveling to Thomas a Becket's grave in Canterbury. It is important because the book allows us to see the spectrum of classes in England during the fifteenth century.

HumanismThe spirit of the Renaissance is reflected in Humanism, an intellectual movement initiated by secular men of letters during the fifteenth century. Humanism focused on developing the full potential of man. This included not only traditional virtues of love and honor but also virtues such as judgment, prudence and eloquence. The effect of Humanism was to inspire men to move away from the values and views of the Medieval Period, bringing about new thought and creations.

Humanism

Human nature is the primary study (as opposed to the Medieval focus of religion)Emphasized the Dignity of Man, and his potential to master nature, over the medieval values of penitence and forgiveness.Looked to the rebirth of the human spirit and wisdom gained over time.

Petrarch

Known for his sonnets of love, particularly to his love, Laura. His work is considered to be the "perfected" Italian sonnet.He was absorbed with the classics and introduced them to his contemporaries, championing the use of modern languages along with knowledge of the ancient ones “Father of Humanism”

The Ascent of Mount Ventoux To-day I made the ascent of the highest mountain in this region, which is not improperly called Ventosum. My only motive was the wish to see what so great an elevation had to offer. I have had the expedition in mind for many years; for, as you know, I have lived in this region from infancy, having been cast here by that fate which determines the affairs of men. Consequently the mountain, which is visible from a great distance, was ever before my eyes, and I conceived the plan of some time doing what I have at last accomplished to-day. The idea took hold upon me with especial force when, in re-reading Livy's History of Rome, yesterday, I happened upon the place where Philip of Macedon, the same who waged war against the Romans, ascended Mount Haemus in Thessaly, from whose summit he was able, it is said, to see two seas, the Adriatic and the Euxine. Whether this be true or false I have not been able to determine, for the mountain is too far away, and writers disagree. Pomponius Mela, the cosmographer - not to mention others who have spoken of this occurrence - admits its truth without hesitation; Titus Livius, on the other hand, considers it false. I, assuredly, should not have left the question long in doubt, had that mountain been as easy to explore as this one.

Pico della Mirandola and Oration on the Dignity of ManAt last the best of artisans ordained that the creature to whom He had been able to give nothing proper to himself should have joint possession of whatever had been peculiar to each of the different kinds of being. He therefore took man as a creature of indeterminate nature and, assigning him a place in the middle of the world, addressed him thus: “We have made you neither of Heaven nor of earth, neither mortal nor immortal, so that with freedom of choice and with honor, as though the maker and molder of yourself, you may fashion yourself in whatever shape you shall prefer. You shall have the power to degenerate into the lower forms of life, which are brutish. You shalt have the power out of your soul’s judgment, to be reborn into the high forms, which are divine.

O Supreme generosity of God the Father, O highest and most marvelous felicity of man! To him it is granted to have whatever he chooses, to be whatever he wills. Beast as soon as they are born bring with them from their mother’s womb all they will ever possess. Spiritual beings, either from the beginning or soon thereafter, become what they are to be for ever and ever. On man when he came into life the Father conferred the seeds of all kinds and the germs of every way of life. Whatever seeds each man cultivates will grow to maturity and bear in him their own fruit. If they be vegetative, he will be like a plant. If sensitive, he will become brutish. If rational, he will grow into a heavenly being. If intellectual, he will be an angel and the son of God.

Machiavelli

The Prince: Political satire. Develops the issue of political ethics through exploring such questions as “do the ends justify the means” and “is it safer to be feared or to be loved”?

“The Prince”That Which Concerns a Prince on the Subject of the Art of WarThe Prince ought to have no other aim or thought, nor select anything else for his study, than war and its rules and discipline; for this is the sole art that belongs to him who rules, and it is of such force that it not only upholds those who are born princes, but it often enables men to rise from a private station to that rank. And, on the contrary, it is seen that when princes have thought more of ease than of arms they have lost their states. And the first cause of your losing it is to neglect this art; and what enables you to acquire a state is to be master of the art. Francesco Sforza, though being martial, from a private person became Duke of Milan; and the sons, through avoiding the hardships and troubles of arms, from dukes became private persons. For among other evils which being unarmed brings you, it causes you to be despised, and this is one of those ignominies against which a prince ought to guard himself, as is shown later on.

Desiderus ErasmusHe reflects the humanist desire to draw on all wisdom to create new works. “Praise of Folly” is one of his best-known works. In this work he is critical of the form (but not the values) of the Church of the time.

“Those who are the the closest to these [the theologians] in happiness are generally called “the religious” or “monks”, both of which are deceiving names since for the most part they stay as far away from religion as possible and frequent every sort of place. I cannot, however, see how any life could be more gloomy than the life of these monks if I [Folly] did not assist them in many ways.”

Baroque

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Judith et Holopherne, 1598-99

Artemisia GENTILESCHI,

Judith et Holopherne,

1612-1621

Gustav KLIMT, Judith and

Holopherne 1901

Michelangelo Merisi da

Caravaggio, The Calling of

St. Matthew1599-1600