Transcript Gardner`s Art Through the Ages, 12e

Gardner’s Art Through the
Ages, 12e
Chapter 22
Beauty, Science, and Spirit in Italian Art:
The High Renaissance and Mannerism
Part 1
Rome with Renaissance and Baroque
Monuments
The High Renaissance
• The 15th century developments (cinquecento)in Italy
matured during the 16th century. The art of those
most closely associated with this period – Leonardo,
Raphael, Michelangelo, and Titian – exhibits an
astounding mastery, both technical and aesthetic.
• The myth of the divinely inspired creative genius –
which arose during the Renaissance – is still with us
today.
• Increasingly individuals and oligarchs, rather than
corporate groups, sponsored works of art. Patrician
merchants and bankers, popes and princes,
supported the arts as a means of glorifying
themselves and their families.
Leonardo da Vinci
• Leonardo da Vinci: inventor, naturalist, and painter of the soul.
• Leonardo’s great ambition in his painting, as well as in his
scientific endeavors, was to discover the laws underlying the
processes and flux of nature. With this in mind, he also studied the
human body and contributed immeasurably to knowledge of
physiology and psychology.
• Leonardo has often been described as the archetype of the
Renaissance man, a man whose unquenchable curiosity was
equaled only by his powers of invention. He is widely considered
to be one of the greatest painters of all time and perhaps the most
diversely talented person ever to have lived. Leonardo's vision of
the world is essentially logical rather than mysterious, and the
empirical methods he employed were unusual for his time.
During his first sojourn in Milan,
Leonardo painted Virgin of the
Rocks as the central panel of an
altarpiece. The painting builds
upon Masaccio’s understanding
of chiaroscuro, the subtle play of
light and dark. Modeling with
light and shadow and expressing
emotional states were, for
Leonardo, the heart of painting.
LEONARDO DA VINCI, Virgin
of the Rocks, ca. 1485. Oil on
wood (transferred to canvas),
approx. 6’ 3” x 3’ 7”. Louvre,
LEONARDO DA VINCI, cartoon
for Virgin and Child with Saint
Anne and the Infant Saint John, ca.
1505–1507. Charcoal heightened
with white on brown paper, approx.
4’ 6” x 3’ 3”. National Gallery,
London.
The Last Supper
The Last Supper specifically portrays the reaction given by each apostle when Jesus
said one of them would betray him. All twelve apostles have different reactions to the
news, with various degrees of anger and shock. From left to right:
•Bartholomew, James, and Andrew form a group of three, all are surprised.
•Judas, Peter, and John form another group of three. Judas is wearing green and blue
and is in shadow, looking rather withdrawn and taken aback by the sudden revelation of
his plan. He is clutching a small bag, perhaps signifying the silver given to him as
payment to betray Jesus, or perhaps a reference to his role within the 12 disciples as
treasurer.[ He is the only person to have his elbow on the table. Peter looks angry and is
holding a knife pointed away from Christ, perhaps foreshadowing his violent reaction in
Gethsemane during Jesus' arrest. The youngest apostle, John, appears to swoon.
•Thomas, James the Greater and Philip are the next group of three. Thomas is clearly
upset; James the Greater looks stunned, with his arms in the air. Meanwhile, Philip
appears to be requesting some explanation.
•Matthew, Jude and Simon are the final group of three. Both Jude Thaddeus and
Matthew are turned toward Simon, perhaps to find out if he has any answer.
•The painting contains several references to the number 3, which represents the
Christian belief in the Holy Trinity. The Apostles are seated in groupings of three; there
are three windows behind Jesus; and the shape of Jesus' figure resembles a triangle.
LEONARDO DA VINCI, Last Supper (uncleaned), ca. 1495–1498.
Fresco (oil and tempera on plaster), 29’ 10” x 13’ 9”.
LEONARDO DA VINCI, Last Supper (cleaned), ca. 1495–1498. Fresco (oil and
tempera on plaster), 29’ 10” x 13’ 9”. Refectory, Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan.
The painting is a half-length
portrait and depicts a woman
whose facial expression is often
described as enigmatic. The
ambiguity of the sitter's
expression, the monumentality
of the half-figure composition,
and the subtle modeling of
forms and atmospheric
illusionism were novel qualities
that have contributed to the
painting's continuing
fascination.
LEONARDO DA VINCI, Mona
Lisa, ca. 1503–1505. Oil on
wood, approx. 2’ 6” x 1’ 9”.
Louvre, Paris.
The Vitruvian Man is a
world-renowned drawing
created by Leonardo da Vinci
around the year 1487. It is
accompanied by notes based
on the work of the famed
architect, Vitruvies. The
drawing, which is in pen and
ink on paper, depicts a male
figure in two superimposed
positions with his arms and
legs apart and simultaneously
inscribed in a circle and
square. The drawing and text
are sometimes called the
Canon of Proportion.
Leonardo’s investigations in
anatomy epitomize the scientific
spirit of the renaissance. He
originated a method of scientific
illustration, especially cutaway
and exploded views.
LEONARDO DA VINCI,
Embryo in the Womb, ca.
1510. Pen and ink on paper.
Royal Library, Windsor
Castle.
BRAMANTE
• Donato Bramante’s career began in Milan, but it was in
Rome that he achieved his greatest accomplishments
during the high Renaissance.
• Bramante's vision for St Peter's, a centralized Greek cross
plan that symbolized sublime perfection for him and his
generation, was fundamentally altered by the extension of
the nave after his death in 1514. Bramante's plan envisaged
four great chapels filling the corner spaces between the
equal transepts, each one capped with a smaller dome
surrounding the great dome over the crossing.
• One of Bramante's earliest commissions, the "Tempietto"
is one of the most harmonious buildings of the
Renaissance. It is meant to mark the traditional spot of St.
Peter's martyrdom.
DONATO D’ANGELO BRAMANTE, plan for the new Saint Peter’s,
the Vatican, Rome, Italy, 1505.
CHRISTOFORO FOPPA CARADOSSO, medal showing Bramante’s design for the
new Saint Peter’s, 1506. British Museum, London.
The Tempietto is almost a
piece of sculpture, for it has
little architectonic use. The
building absorbed much of
Brunelleschi's style.
Perfectly proportioned, it is
composed of slender Tuscan
columns, a Doric entablature
modeled after the ancient
Theater of Marcellus, and a
dome.
DONATO D’ANGELO
BRAMANTE,
Tempietto, San Pietro in
Montorio, Rome, Italy,
1502(?).