Transcript High Renaissance

High Renaissance
AWN 3M1
High Renaissance
• 1500 to 1580
• Centered on Papal Rome, Florence and Venice
High Renaissance
• 1500 to 1580
• Centered on Papal Rome, Florence and Venice
Role of Artists
-humanist attitude means artists now depicting: nude figures, portraits &
landscapes
-women excluded in art as well as politics; barred from studios (nudes)
-versatility of artists very important: painters, sculptors, printmaking etc
-also expected to know science of perspective, geometry,botany, anatomy &
geology
-great artists expected to plan cities, fortifications, water systems, weapons etc.
-advances in art, especially perspective, related to exploration of actual space,
theories of astronomers (map used by Columbus produced in Renaissance Florence)
Leonardo Da Vinci
The term “Renaissance Man”
was coined to describe the vast
knowledge such as he
possessed
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci
(April 15, 1452 – May 2, 1519) was an
Italian polymath: painter, sculptor,
architect, musician, scientist,
mathematician, engineer, inventor,
anatomist, geologist, cartographer,
botanist and writer.
Distance from the sun to the earth and the size of the moon
Plans for a Mausoleum
*Study of Grotesque Heads Leonardo da Vinci 1490
Studies for the Heads of Two Soldiers
Leonardo da Vinci
The Seagod Neptune Commanding his Quadriga of Horses Leonardo da Vinci charcoal
(owned by Queen Elizabeth II, Royal Library, Windsor Castle)
*Study of Proportions (Vitruvius Man)
Leonardo Da Vinci
c. 1487*
Pen and Ink
13.5” x 9 5/8”
In 1481, Leonardo was nearly 30, when the Vatican asked Lorenzo Medici to send the
best Florentine painters to Rome to decorate the new Sistine Chapel. All the
strongest were sent, including Botticelli, but Leonardo was excluded. He was
considered to be unreliable because he often didn’t finish his assignments.
Adoration of the Magi
-had to pay for supplies himself and had to finish in 30 months or forfeit painting and
pay
-did not finish
-greatly admired by his peers such as Raphael and Botticelli
-triangular composition
-incorporates opposites: young vs old
*The Adoration of the Magi Leonardo da Vinci 1481-82
-in 1491 receives commission for a painting for dining room in small
church in Milan
-worked slowly on composition
*The Last Supper (after cleaning) Leonardo da Vinci 1498*
The Last Supper
-how to capture the moment?
-figures are represented in a more natural manner
-show their inner thoughts
-for past 100 years or so figures had always been in straight line across canvas, he
divides them into 5 groups (4 of 3 and Christ)
-experimented with media: mixed oils and tempera directly onto wall (didn’t work)
Leonardo was responsible for adding the gold sphere to Duomo 16 ft diameter
a major technological feat
Leonardo leaves Florence and goes to Milan
-becomes interested in protecting the city: fortifications & weapons
*did not finish
The Virgin and Child with St. Anne Leonardo da Vinci 1510
Leonardo becomes obsessed with birds & flight – straps wings onto assistants
Da Vinci Flying Machine (Glider) Leonardo da Vinci *this is the
first plane design in history capable of flight
Notebooks: 20 volumes survive with hundreds of pages
current value aprx 30 million for one book
Helicoptor design
Leonardo da Vinci
Parachute
-starts to look at bats
One theory is that maybe his handwriting was
backwards because he was left handed and
figured out how to pull, instead of pushing,ink
*Mona Lisa
1503*
Leonardo da Vinci
Sfumato – technique
where sharp edges
are blurred by
blending colours so
edges of eyes and
mouth are in dark
shadows
Corpse dissections
-1514 charged Church officials charged him with Necromancy (worshipping the dead) and
he was forced to stop
Leonardo was a vegetarian – wrote “that one should not let the body
become a tomb for other animals; an inn of the dead”
Cataclysmic Deluge Striking a Town
Leonardo da Vinci charcoal on paper
-ends up in France to live until his death
Self Portrait Leonardo da Vinci 1512