Transcript Renaissance Art

Renaissance Art
Mrs. Stalcup
WORLD HISTORY
Europe in the 1500s
Florence circa 1500
Venice circa 1500
Rome 1400-1500
What is the Renaissance?
• The Renaissance was understood as a historical age in
Europe that followed the Middle Ages, from
approximately the 14th through the 16th Centuries.
• The Italian Renaissance of the 15th Century represented
a reconnection of the west with classical antiquity, the
absorption of knowledge (particularly mathematics), a
focus on the importance of living well in the present
(Renaissance humanism), and an explosion of the
spread of knowledge brought on by the advent of
printing. In addition, the creation of new techniques in
art, poetry, and architecture led in turn to a radical
change in the style and substance of the arts and letters.
The Italian Renaissance was often labeled as the
beginning of the MODERN AGE, or the EARLY
MODERN PERIOD.
What does the word ‘Renaissance’
mean?
• Renaissance can refer to this rebirth of
classical learning and knowledge or to the
ensuing rebirth of European culture.
When did the Renaissance begin?
• The Renaissance has no set starting point
or place; it happened gradually in different
places at different times. Likewise, there is
not a definite date or place marking the
end of the Middle Ages. The start of the
Renaissance is almost universally
ascribed to Central Italy, however,
especially the city of Florence.
Florence circa 1500
When?
• Another option for the starting point of the
Renaissance is the fall of Constantinople
to the Turks in 1453. It was a turning point
in warfare as cannon and gunpowder
became central. In addition, ByzantineGreek scholars fled west to Rome bringing
renewed interest in the Greek and Roman
heritage, and it perhaps represented the
end of the old religious order in Europe.
Who’s who in Renaissance Art
• Throughout the 15th century, artists studied the
natural world in order to perfect their
understanding of such subjects as anatomy and
perspective. Among the many great artists of this
period were Jan van Eyck, Hans Holbein the
Younger, Pieter Brueghel the Elder, Hieronymus
Bosch (pronounced Boss), Albrecht Dürer,
Giovanni Bellini, Titian Pronunciation[tish-uhn],
Filippo Brunelleschi, Donatello, Masaccio, Sandro
Botticelli, Raphael, Michelangelo Buonarroti, and
Leonardo da Vinci.
Jan van Eyck
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(c. 1385 – 1441) was a 15th century
Flemish painter and is considered one of
the great painters of the late Middle Ages.
It is a common misconception, that he
created oil painting, but it is true that he
achieved, or perfected, new and
remarkable effects using this technique.
He often signed and dated his paintings
on their frames, then considered an
integral part of the work (the two were
often painted together). However, in the
celebrated Arnolfini Portrait (London,
National Gallery), He inscribed on the
(pictorial) back wall above the convex
mirror "Johannes de Eyck fuit hic
1434" (Jan van Eyck was here, 1434).
The subject of this painting is a puzzle for
scholars, but in recent years a number of
popular interpretations have been ruled
out. This is not a painted marriage
certificate, or the record of a betrothal.
The woman is not pregnant, as the handgesture of lifting the dress recurs in
contemporary renditions of the (virgin) St.
Catherine.
Hans Holbein the Younger
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(c. 1497–1543) was a German/British
artist who painted in the Northern
Renaissance style and was born in
Augsburg, Bavaria circa 1497. He first
learned painting from his father. Later
he went with his brother Ambrosius
Holbein to Basel where he met many
scholars, among them the Dutch
humanist Erasmus. He was asked by
Erasmus to illustrate his satires. He
also illustrated other books, and
contributed to Martin Luther's
translation of the Bible. Like his father,
he designed stained glass windows
and painted portraits. The Reformation
made it difficult for him to support
himself as an artist in Basel and he set
out for London in 1526. Erasmus
furnished him with a letter of
introduction addressed to the English
statesman and author Sir Thomas
More. He painted many portraits at the
court of Henry VIII. While there he
designed state robes for the king.
Pieter Brueghel the Elder
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(c.1525 – September 9, 1569) was a
Flemish Renaissance painter and
printmaker known for his landscapes and
peasant scenes (Genre Painting).
He specialized in landscapes populated
by peasants. He is often credited as being
the first Western painter to paint
landscapes for their own sake, rather than
as a backdrop to a religious allegory.
Attention to the life and manners of
peasants was rare in the arts in his time.
His earthy, unsentimental but vivid
depiction of the rituals of village life—
including agriculture, hunts, meals,
festivals, dances, and games—are unique
windows on a vanished folk culture and a
prime source of iconographic evidence
about both physical and social aspects of
16th century life. For example, the
painting Netherlandish Proverbs illustrates
dozens of then-contemporary aphorisms,
while Children's Games shows the variety
of amusements enjoyed by young people.
His winter landscapes of 1565 are taken
as corroborative evidence of the severity
of winters during the Little ice age.
Hieronymus Bosch
(pronounced as Boss in Dutch)
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(c. 1450 – August, 1516) was a prolific Dutch painter
of the 15th and 16th centuries. Many of his works
depict sin and human moral failings. Bosch used
images of demons, half-human animals and machines
to evoke fear and confusion to portray the evil of man.
The works contain complex, highly original,
imaginative, and dense use of symbolic figures and
iconography, some of which was obscure even in his
own time. He is said to have been an inspiration to the
Surrealist movement in the 20th century.
Born to a family of Dutch and German painters, he
spent most of his life in 's-Hertogenbosch, a
flourishing city in fifteenth century Brabant, in the
south of the present-day Netherlands. In 1463, some
4000 houses in the town were destroyed by a
catastrophic fire, which the then (approximately) 13year-old may have witnessed. This might have been a
contributing factor to his obsession with Hell. He
became a popular painter and even received
commissions from abroad. In 1488 he joined the
Brotherhood of Our Lady, an archconservative
religious group of some 40 influential citizens of
Hertogenbosch and some 7000 'outer-members' from
all over Europe.
Albrecht Dürer
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(May 21, 1471 – April 6, 1528) [1] was a
German painter, printmaker,
mathematician, and, with Rembrandt and
Goya, the greatest creator of old master
prints. Born and died in Nuremberg,
Germany, he is best known for his prints
often done in series, including the
Apocalypse (1498) and his two series on
the passion of Christ, the Great Passion
(1498–1510) and the Little Passion
(1510–1511). He is best known individual
engravings include Knight, Death, and
the Devil (1513), Saint Jerome in his
Study (1514) and Melencolia I (1514),
which has been the subject of the most
analysis and speculation. With his Four
Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1497–
1498), from the Apocalypse series, it is
his most iconic image, followed by his
"Rhinoceros" and his numerous painted
self-portraits.
Giovanni Bellini
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(c. 1430-1516) was a Venetian
Renaissance painter, probably the
best known of his family of
painters. He is considered to have
revolutionized Venetian painting,
moving it towards a more
sensuous and colouristic style.
Through the use of clear, slowdrying oil paints, he created deep,
rich tints and detailed shadings.
His sumptuous coloring and fluent,
atmospheric landscapes had a
great effect on the Venetian
painting school, especially on his
pupils Giorgione and Titian... he
painted his first female nude when
he was about 85 years old.
Titian
Pronunciation[tish-uhn]
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(c. 1488-90 – August 27, 1576) He was the leader
of the 16th-century Venetian school of the Italian
Renaissance. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, in
the Cadore territory, near Belluno (Veneto), in Italy,
and died in Venice. During his lifetime he was often
called Da Cadore, taken from the place of his birth.
The color titian is derived from the artist's frequent
use of brownish orange.
Recognised by his contemporaries as "the sun
amidst small stars", he was one of the most
versatile of Italian painters, equally adept with
portraits and landscapes (two genres that first
brought him fame), mythological and religious
subjects. Had he died at the age of 40, he would
still have to be regarded as one of the most
influential artists of his time. But he lived on for half
a century, changing his manner so drastically that
some critics refuse to believe that his early and
later pieces could have been produced by the
same man.[1] What unites the two parts of his
career is his deep interest in colour. His later works
may not sing with vivid, luminous tints as his early
pieces do, yet their loose brushwork and subtlety of
polychromatic modulations have no precedents in
the history of Western art.
It took him two years (1516-18) to complete the
great fresco of Assunta, whose dynamic three-tier
composition and gorgeous color scheme
established him as the greatest Italian painter north
of Rome.
Filippo Brunelleschi
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(1377 – April 15, 1446)
A great Florentine architect of the Italian
Renaissance.
Goldsmith in a Florentine workshop
interest in mathematics led him to architecture.
In 1418, a competition was announced for proposals
on how to bridge the central crossing of the
cathedral in Florence (Santa Maria del Fiore). His
bid was backed by the then less important family,
the Medici, who stood to benefit hugely from the
completion of the dome. His design, which offered to
build the cupola in circular cone-shaped courses of
brickwork forming two shells - one light outer shell and the main shell (the scaffold) so thick that it
contains a closed circle without a framework of
scaffolding, won the competition, and in 1423 he
was put in complete charge of the Duomo's building
works. The internal dome is made with 16 ribs to
take the pressure off the dome. As well, the dome is
made of brick with the herring bone style to take
additional stress off the dome.
Its completion took most of his life. The main
structure was finished by 1434. The dome was only
completed with a lantern in 1461 by Michelozzo.
Andrea del Verrocchio added the gilt copper ball in
1496. The church's dedication took place on 25
March 1436, accompanied by a grand ceremony;
music for the occasion, the motet Nuper rosarum
flores, was written by Guillaume Dufay.
Donatello
• (1386 – December 13, 1466) was a
famous Florentine artist and sculptor
of the early Renaissance.
• His greatest achievement of his
classic period is the bronze David,
which is currently located at the
Bargello in Florence. At the time of
its creation, it was the first freestanding nude statue since ancient
times. Conceived fully in the round
and independent of any architectural
surroundings, it was the first major
work of Renaissance sculpture.
Masaccio
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(December 21, 1401, San Giovanni
Valdarmo, Italy – autumn 1428, Rome), was
an important painter of frescoes during the
early Italian Renaissance, whose works are
the first monument of Humanism.
His name is a humorous version of
Tommaso, meaning "big", "clumsy" or
"messy" Tom, possibly given because of his
disorganised lifestyle and lax personal
hygiene.
In 1424 the "duo preciso e noto" ("well and
known duo") of he and Masolino was
commissioned by the powerful and rich
Felice Brancacci to execute a cycle of
frescoes for the Brancacci Chapel in the
church of Santa Maria del Carmine in
Florence. Theme of the frescoes of the little
chapel was to be the "Histories of St. Peter".
The genius of this artist shows clearly in the
fresco "Resurrection of the Son of
Theophilus" in the same chapel. He painted
a pavement in perspective, framed by large
buildings to obtain a depth of field, a threedimensional space, in which the figures are
placed proportionate to the perspective. In
this he was a pioneer in applying the newly
discovered rules of perspective.
Sandro Botticelli
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(March 1, 1445 – May 17, 1510) was an
Italian painter of the Florentine school during
the Early Renaissance.
Painted The Birth of Venus: a revived Venus
Pudica for a new view of pagan Antiquity
(Uffizi, Florence)
INTERESTING FACTS:
This artist’s name surfaced in popular culture
in connection with the 2003 bestselling novel
The Da Vinci Code. In the popular TV sitcom
Frasier, he is mentioned along with other
notable artists. In the episode To Tell the
Truth, Niles compliments Roz's baby pictures
by declaring "[he] himself couldn't have
painted a more perfect angel."
He is also mentioned in Anne Rice's novel
"Blood and Gold". He is seen to hold a
number of conversations with the story's
main character Marius. He is also mentioned
along with his painting "the Birth of Venus"
later on in the book.
There is an episode of The Simpsons where
Homer daydreams about an attractive new
female co-worker by picturing her as the
goddess Venus in his painting The Birth of
Venus.
Raphael
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(April 6, 1483 – April 6, 1520),
born in Urbino, Italy, was a
master painter and architect of
the Florentine school in the
Italian High Renaissance,
celebrated for the perfection
and grace of his paintings.
• After his arrival in Rome, he
devoted his efforts to the great
Vatican projects, although he
still painted portraits of his two
main patrons, the popes Julius
II and his successor Leo X, the
latter portrait considered one of
his finest.
Michelangelo Buonarroti
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(March 6, 1475 – February 18, 1564),
This artist was an Italian Renaissance
sculptor, painter, architect and poet.
Despite making few forays beyond the
arts, his versatility in the disciplines he
took up was of such a high order that
he is often considered a contender for
the title of the archetypal Renaissance
man, along with his rival and fellow
Florentine Leonardo da Vinci.
His output in every field during his long
life was prodigious; when the sheer
volume of correspondence, sketches
and reminiscences that survive is also
taken into account, he is the bestdocumented artist of the 16th century.
Two of his best-known works, the Pietà
and the David, were sculpted in his late
twenties to early thirties. Despite his
low opinion of painting, He also created
two of the most influential fresco
paintings in the history of Western art:
the scenes from Genesis on the ceiling
and The Last Judgement on the altar
wall of the Sistine Chapel in Rome.
Leonardo da Vinci
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(April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519) This artist was an
Italian polymath: architect, anatomist, sculptor,
engineer, inventor, mathematician, musician, and
painter. He has been described as the archetype of
the "Renaissance man", a man infinitely curious and
equally inventive. He is widely considered to be one
of the greatest painters of all time and a universal
genius.
He is famous for his realistic paintings, such as the
Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, as well as for
influential drawings such as the Vitruvian Man. He
conceived of ideas vastly ahead of his own time,
notably conceptually inventing a helicopter, a tank,
the use of concentrated solar power, a calculator, a
rudimentary theory of plate tectonics, the double
hull, and many others. Relatively few of his designs
were constructed or were feasible during his
lifetime; modern scientific approaches to metallurgy
and engineering were only in their infancy during the
Renaissance. In addition, he greatly advanced the
state of knowledge in the fields of anatomy,
astronomy, civil engineering, optics, and the study of
water (hydrodynamics). Of his works, only a few
paintings survive, together with his notebooks
(scattered among various collections) containing
drawings, scientific diagrams and notes.
Leonardo da Vinci
A Closer Look…
• Renaissance Art - A closer look…
Works Cited
Glencoe Text
University of Florida notes
Artwork and Text. Wikipedia
www.historyteacher.net/APEuroCourse/PowerpointPresent/RenaissanceArt.ppt