the beginning of modern painting - sarah...
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The beginning of modern painting
Western Europe
EasternEurope
Deësis Mosaic (Hagia Sophia)
Rediscovery of the art and literature of Greece and Rome
Reproduce forms of nature realistically
Aided with new technological knowledge, achieved new heights in portraiture, landscape, and mythological and religious paintings
Transition from paint on wood panels and fresco on plaster walls to oil on stretched canvas and use of perspective, depth, light, and shadow
Prestige reached its peak during High Renaissance (1500-1520)
Oil on stretched canvas
Oil became the medium of choice during Renaissance
A greater range of colors (vivid and bright) and textures possible
Perspective – depth and realism
Linear perspective created optical effect of objects receding in the distance through lines that appear to converge at a single point- the vanishing point
The Use of light and shadow
Pyramid Configuration
More three dimensional, pyramid configuration
Classical themes seen in Renaissance Art – Greek, Roman, and Biblical figures
Masaccio (1401-28) Founder of early Renaissance painting- became cornerstone of
European painting for six centuries
First since Giotto to paint the human figure not as a linear column, in the Gothic style, but as a real human being
Mastery of perspective and use of single, constant source of light casting accurate shadows
Masaccio, “The Tribute Money”
Did for sculpture what Masaccio did for painting
His “David” was the first life-size, free standing nude sculpture since the Classical period
Carved figures and drapes them realistically
Throwback to Byzantine art
Use of nudity epitomized the Renaissance
“Birth of Venus” marks the rebirth of Classical mythology
In the 16th century artistic leadership spread from Florence to Rome and Venice
Work of the high Renaissance fused Renaissance discoveries like composition, ideal proportions, and perspective
Prototype of the Renaissance Man – came nearer to achieving this ideal than anyone before or since
Universally admired for his handsome appearance, intellect, and charm
His “ personal beauty could not be exaggerated,”
“whose every movement was grace itself, and whose abilities were so extraordinary that he could readily solve every difficulty”
Leonardo could “sing divinely” and “his charming conversation won all hearts”
Created that concept of the artist-genius
He constantly stressed the intellectual aspects of art and creativity
Transformed the artist’s public status into, as he put it a “Lord and God”
Less than 20 completed works by Da Vinci survive
Evidence of Da Vinci’s imagination is found in the thousands of pages of sketches and ideas in his notebooks
His interests and expertise encompassed anatomy, engineering, astronomy, mathematics, natural history, music, sculpture, architecture, and painting
He anticipated many of the major discoveries and inventions of succeeding centuries
His sketches of the growth of a fetus in the womb were so accurate they could teach embryology to medical students today!
Lorenzo the Magnificent took Michelangelo to his Florentine court at the age of 15, where the budding artist lived like a son
He did more than anyone to elevate the status of the artist
Believed creativity was divinely inspired
He refused to train apprentices or allow anyone to watch him work
Architect, sculptor, painter, poet, and engineer
Michelangelo felt like the sculptor was the most godlike of all artists
“liberating the figure from the marble that imprisons it”
He used one solid block of marble for his sculptors
MICHELANGELO, DAVID (1504)
Note David’s
contrapposto stance, a
common feature of
Greco-Roman
sculpture
PATRONAGEThe Moses statue
was
commissioned by
Pope Julius II, an
enthusiastic
patron of the arts.
Pope Julius just asked for a few vines on a blue background to spruce up the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
Michelangelo gave him more than 340 human figures representing the origin and fall of man
Most ambitious artistic undertaking of the Renaissance
Accomplished in less than four years without assistance
SISTINE CHAPEL (VATICAN CITY, ROME)
St. Bartholomew, a martyr who was flayed alive, holds his skin with a grotesque self portrait of Michelangelo
“so gentle and so charitable that even the animals loved him”
Completed frescoes at the Vatican the same year Michelangelo finished the Sistine chapel
Borrowed pyramidal composition and shadow work from Leonardo and full-bodied, dynamic figures from Michelangelo
RAPHAEL, THE SCHOOL OF ATHENS, (1510)
Raphael painted
several portraits of
females during his
career.
Venetian
Used strong colors as main expressive device
First covered canvas with red and then painted on top of that
Established oil on canvas as a typical medium
After his wife died, his paintings became more monochromatic
CLASSICALSymmetry
Proportion
Domes
Columns
St. Peter’s Basilica (Vatican
City)
Rome
Copied Roman style and proportion. Revived elements like the rounded arch, concrete construction, domed rotunda, portico, barrel vault, and column
Rules
Based work on theories. Alberti formulated aesthetic rules that were widely followed. Architects thought of themselves more as scholars than builders
Reason
Reason replaced mystical approach of the Middle Ages. Grounded in science, math, and engineering
‘Rithmetic
Depended on arithmetic to produce beauty and harmony. Such as 2:1 ratio nave twice as high as width of church
Alberti (1404-72)
wrote the first systematic guide to perspective and provided sculptors with rules for ideal human proportions
Basilica of Santa Maria Novella
Brunelleschi (1377-1446)
Father of modern engineering
Discovered mathematical perspective
Championed the central-plan church design that replaced medieval basilica
Alone was capable of constructing a dome for the Florence Cathedral, 8th Wonder of the World
Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore
(the Duomo) in Florence 1436
Pazzi Chapel, 1440-61 Florence
Bramante (1444-1514)
Built the Tempietto in Rome in 1502
Site where St. Peter was crucified
Expressed the Renaissance ideals of order, simplicity, and harmonious proportions
Palladio (1508-90)
Known for his villas and palaces
Wrote influential Four Books on Architecture
Neoclassical revivalists like Thomas Jefferson and Christopher Wren (St. Paul’s in London) use his rulebook as a guide
The Villa Rotunda incorporated Greek and Roman details
Villa Rotunda- Vicenza