Major Artistic Developments on the Art of the 15th Century

The Italian Renaissance

Learning Objectives

The art of the Italian Renaissance was influential throughout Europe for centuries.

Cardinal Takeaways

Central Points

• The Florence schoolhouse of painting became the ascendant fashion during the Renaissance. Renaissance artworks depicted more secular subject area affair than previous creative movements.
• Michelangelo, da Vinci, and Rafael are among the best known painters of the High Renaissance.
• The High Renaissance was followed by the Mannerist motion, known for elongated figures.

Key Terms

• fresco: A type of wall painting in which color pigments are mixed with water and practical to wet plaster. As the plaster and pigments dry, they fuse together and the painting becomes a part of the wall itself.
• Mannerism: A style of art developed at the end of the High Renaissance, characterized past the deliberate distortion and exaggeration of perspective, especially the elongation of figures.

The Renaissance began during the 14th century and remained the dominate mode in Italy, and in much of Europe, until the 16th century. The term "renaissance" was developed during the 19th century in order to describe this menstruation of time and its accompanying creative mode. However, people who were living during the Renaissance did see themselves every bit different from their Medieval predecessors. Through a variety of texts that survive, we know that people living during the Renaissance saw themselves as different largely because they were deliberately trying to imitate the Ancients in fine art and architecture.

Florence and the Renaissance

When you hear the term "Renaissance" and moving-picture show a style of art, y'all are probably picturing the Renaissance style that was developed in Florence, which became the dominate way of art during the Renaissance. During the Centre Ages and the Renaissance, Italy was divided into a number of unlike city states. Each city country had its own regime, culture, economy, and artistic style. At that place were many different styles of fine art and architecture that were developed in Italian republic during the Renaissance. Siena, which was a political ally of French republic, for case, retained a Gothic element to its art for much of the Renaissance.

Certain conditions aided the evolution of the Renaissance way in Florence during this fourth dimension catamenia. In the 15th century, Florence became a major mercantile center. The product of textile drove their economy and a merchant class emerged. Humanism, which had developed during the 14th century, remained an of import intellectual movement that impacted art production besides.

Early Renaissance

During the Early Renaissance, artists began to reject the Byzantine style of religious painting and strove to create realism in their depiction of the homo form and space. This aim toward realism began with Cimabue and Giotto, and reached its tiptop in the art of the "Perfect" artists, such as Andrea Mantegna and Paolo Uccello, who created works that employed 1 bespeak perspective and played with perspective for their educated, fine art knowledgeable viewer.

During the Early on Renaissance we as well meet important developments in subject matter, in improver to style. While organized religion was an important element in the daily life of people living during the Renaissance, and remained a driving cistron behind artistic product, nosotros besides encounter a new avenue open to panting—mythological subject field matter. Many scholars point to Botticelli'due south Nativity of Venus equally the very first panel painting of a mythological scene. While the tradition itself likely arose from cassone painting, which typically featured scenes from mythology and romantic texts, the development of mythological panel painting would open a world for artistic patronage, product, and themes.

Birth of Venus: Botticelli's Birth of Venus was among the most of import works of the early Renaissance.

High Renaissance

The period known as the High Renaissance represents the culmination of the goals of the Early on Renaissance, namely the realistic representation of figures in infinite rendered with apparent move and in an appropriately decorous style. The most well known artists from this phase are Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, and Michelangelo. Their paintings and frescoes are amid the most widely known works of art in the world. Da Vinci's Last Supper, Raphael's The School of Athens and Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel Ceiling paintings are the masterpieces of this period and embody the elements of the Loftier Renaissance.

Marriage of the Virgin, by Raphael: The painting depicts a marriage ceremony between Mary and Joseph.

Mannerism

Loftier Renaissance painting evolved into Mannerism in Florence. Mannerist artists, who consciously rebelled against the principles of High Renaissance, tended to represent elongated figures in illogical spaces. Modern scholarship has recognized the capacity of Mannerist art to convey stiff, often religious, emotion where the High Renaissance failed to do and then. Some of the main artists of this period are Pontormo, Bronzino, Rosso Fiorentino, Parmigianino and Raphael'south educatee, Giulio Romano.

Art and Patronage

The Medici family used their vast fortune to control the Florentine political organization and sponsor a serial of artistic accomplishments.

Learning Objectives

Hash out the human relationship between art, patronage, and politics during the Renaissance

Key Takeaways

Central Points

• Although the Renaissance was underway before the Medici family came to ability in Florence, their patronage and political back up of the arts helped catalyze the Renaissance into a fully fledged cultural movement.
• The Medici wealth and influence initially derived from the textile trade guided by the guild of the Arte della Lana; through fiscal superiority, the Medici dominated their city's government.
• Medici patronage was responsible for the bulk of Florentine art during their reign, as artists generally only made their works when they received commissions in accelerate.
• Although none of the Medici themselves were scientists, the family is well known to have been the patrons of the famous Galileo Galilei, who tutored multiple generations of Medici children.

Key Terms

• Lorenzo de' Medici: An Italian statesman and de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic, who was one of the most powerful and enthusiastic patrons of the Renaissance.
• patronage: The support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on some other, peculiarly in the arts.

Overview

It has long been a matter of debate why the Renaissance began in Florence, and not elsewhere in Italy. Scholars accept noted several features unique to Florentine cultural life that may take caused such a cultural movement. Many take emphasized the function played past the Medici, a banking family and later ducal ruling firm, in patronizing and stimulating the arts. Lorenzo de' Medici (1449–1492) was the catalyst for an enormous amount of arts patronage, encouraging his countrymen to commission works from the leading artists of Florence, including Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli, and Michelangelo Buonarroti. Works by Neri di Bicci, Botticelli, da Vinci, and Filippino Lippi had been commissioned additionally by the convent di San Donato agli Scopeti of the Augustinians order in Florence.

The Medici Business firm Patronage

The House of Medici was an Italian banking family, political dynasty, and later purple house that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici in the Commonwealth of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. Their wealth and influence initially derived from the textile trade guided by the order of the Arte della Lana. Similar other signore families, they dominated their city's regime, they were able to bring Florence under their family's power, and they created an environment where fine art and Humanism could flourish. They, forth with other families of Italy, such as the Visconti and Sforza of Milan, the Este of Ferrara, and the Gonzaga of Mantua, fostered and inspired the birth of the Italian Renaissance.

The biggest accomplishments of the Medici were in the sponsorship of art and architecture, mainly early and Loftier Renaissance fine art and architecture. The Medici were responsible for the majority of Florentine art during their reign. Their money was significant because during this menstruation, artists generally simply made their works when they received commissions in advance. Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici, the outset patron of the arts in the family, aided Masaccio and commissioned Brunelleschi for the reconstruction of the Basilica of San Lorenzo, Florence, in 1419. Cosimo the Elder's notable artistic associates were Donatello and Fra Angelico. The almost significant addition to the listing over the years was Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564), who produced work for a number of Medici, offset with Lorenzo the Magnificent, who was said to be extremely fond of the young Michelangelo, inviting him to study the family unit drove of antiquarian sculpture. Lorenzo also served as patron of Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) for 7 years. Indeed, Lorenzo was an artist in his own correct, and an author of poetry and song; his support of the arts and letters is seen equally a loftier point in Medici patronage.

The Medici House: Medici family unit members placed allegorically in the entourage of a king from the Three Wise Men in the Tuscan countryside in a Benozzo Gozzoli fresco, c. 1459.

In architecture, the Medici are responsible for some notable features of Florence, including the Uffizi Gallery, the Boboli Gardens, the Belvedere, the Medici Chapel, and the Palazzo Medici. Later, in Rome, the Medici Popes continued in the family tradition by patronizing artists in Rome. Pope Leo X would importantly commission works from Raphael. Pope Cloudless VII commissioned Michelangelo to paint the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel just before the pontiff'southward expiry in 1534. Eleanor of Toledo, princess of Spain and wife of Cosimo I the Dandy, purchased the Pitti Palace from Buonaccorso Pitti in 1550. Cosimo in turn patronized Vasari, who erected the Uffizi Gallery in 1560 and founded the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno ("Academy of the Arts of Drawing") in 1563. Marie de' Medici, widow of Henry Four of France and mother of Louis 13, is the subject of a commissioned wheel of paintings known as the Marie de' Medici bike, painted for the Luxembourg Palace past court painter Peter Paul Rubens in 1622–1623.

Although none of the Medici themselves were scientists, the family is well known to accept been the patrons of the famous Galileo Galilei, who tutored multiple generations of Medici children and was an important figurehead for his patron'south quest for ability. Galileo'south patronage was somewhen abandoned by Ferdinando 2 when the Inquisition accused Galileo of heresy. However, the Medici family did afford the scientist a safe haven for many years. Galileo named the four largest moons of Jupiter after four Medici children he tutored, although the names Galileo used are not the names currently used.

Leonardo da Vinci

While Leonardo da Vinci is admired as a scientist, an academic, and an inventor, he is most famous for his achievements as the painter of several Renaissance masterpieces.

Learning Objectives

Describe the works of Leonardo da Vinci that demonstrate his most innovative techniques as an artist

Key Takeaways

Key Points

• Amongst the qualities that make da Vinci's work unique are the innovative techniques that he used in laying on the paint, his detailed knowledge of anatomy, his innovative utilize of the human grade in figurative composition, and his use of sfumato.
• Among the well-nigh famous works created past da Vinci is the small portrait titled the Mona Lisa, known for the elusive smile on the woman's face, brought virtually by the fact that da Vinci subtly shadowed the corners of the mouth and eyes and so that the exact nature of the smiling cannot be adamant.
• Despite his famous paintings, da Vinci was non a prolific painter; he was a prolific draftsman, keeping journals total of modest sketches and detailed drawings recording all manner of things that interested him.

Key Terms

• sfumato: In painting, the application of subtle layers of translucent pigment and so that in that location is no visible transition between colors, tones, and ofttimes objects.

While Leonardo da Vinci is greatly admired as a scientist, an academic, and an inventor, he is most famous for his achievements as the painter of several Renaissance masterpieces. His paintings were groundbreaking for a multifariousness of reasons and his works have been imitated by students and discussed at peachy length by connoisseurs and critics.

Amongst the qualities that make da Vinci'south work unique are the innovative techniques that he used in laying on the paint, his detailed knowledge of beefcake, his utilise of the human form in figurative composition, and his utilize of sfumato. All of these qualities are nowadays in his about historic works, the Mona Lisa, The Concluding Supper, and the Virgin of the Rocks.

The Virgin of the Rocks, Leonardo da Vinci, 1483–1486: This painting shows the Madonna and Child Jesus with the infant John the Baptist and an angel, in a rocky setting.

The Last Supper

Da Vinci'due south most celebrated painting of the 1490s is The Concluding Supper, which was painted for the refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria della Grazie in Milan. The painting depicts the last meal shared by Jesus and the 12 Apostles where he announces that i of the them volition beguile him. When finished, the painting was acclaimed every bit a masterpiece of pattern. This piece of work demonstrates something that da Vinci did very well: taking a very traditional discipline matter, such as the Concluding Supper, and completely re-inventing it.

Prior to this moment in fine art history, every representation of the Terminal Supper followed the aforementioned visual tradition: Jesus and the Apostles seated at a tabular array. Judas is placed on the opposite side of the table of anybody else and is effortlessly identified past the viewer. When da Vinci painted The Terminal Supper he placed Judas on the same side of the tabular array equally Christ and the Apostles, who are shown reacting to Jesus as he announces that one of them will betray him. They are depicted equally alarmed, upset, and trying to make up one's mind who will commit the act. The viewer also has to make up one's mind which effigy is Judas, who will betray Christ. By depicting the scene in this mode, da Vinci has infused psychology into the work.

Unfortunately, this masterpiece of the Renaissance began to deteriorate immediately after da Vinci finished painting, due largely to the painting technique that he had called. Instead of using the technique of fresco, da Vinci had used tempera over a ground that was mainly gesso in an attempt to bring the subtle effects of oil paint to fresco. His new technique was not successful, and resulted in a surface that was subject to mold and flaking.

The Terminal Supper: Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper, although much deteriorated, demonstrates the painter's mastery of the human class in figurative composition.

Mona Lisa

Among the works created by da Vinci in the 16th century is the minor portrait known as the Mona Lisa, or La Gioconda, "the laughing i." In the present era it is arguably the most famous painting in the earth. Its fame rests, in particular, on the elusive grinning on the woman'south face—its mysterious quality brought about perchance by the fact that the artist has subtly shadowed the corners of the rima oris and optics so that the verbal nature of the smile cannot exist determined.

The shadowy quality for which the work is renowned came to be called sfumato, the application of subtle layers of translucent paint so that there is no visible transition betwixt colors, tones, and ofttimes objects. Other characteristics found in this work are the unadorned clothes, in which the eyes and easily take no competition from other details; the dramatic landscape background, in which the world seems to be in a state of flux; the subdued coloring; and the extremely smooth nature of the painterly technique, employing oils, just applied much like tempera and blended on the surface and so that the brushstrokes are indistinguishable. And once more, da Vinci is innovating upon a type of painting here. Portraits were very common in the Renaissance. However, portraits of women were always in profile, which was seen as proper and modest. Here, da Vinci present a portrait of a woman who not but faces the viewer but follows them with her eyes.

Mona Lisa: In the Mona Lisa, da Vinci incorporates his sfumato technique to create a shadowy quality.

Virgin and Kid with St. Anne

In the painting Virgin and Kid with St. Anne, da Vinci's composition once again picks up the theme of figures in a landscape. What makes this painting unusual is that there are two obliquely set figures superimposed. Mary is seated on the knee of her mother, St. Anne. She leans forward to restrain the Christ Child as he plays roughly with a lamb, the sign of his ain impending sacrifice. This painting influenced many contemporaries, including Michelangelo, Raphael, and Andrea del Sarto. The trends in its limerick were adopted in particular by the Venetian painters Tintoretto and Veronese.

Virgin and Child with Saint Anne: Virgin and Child with St. Anne (c. 1510) by Leonardo da Vinci, Louvre Museum.

Michelangelo

Michelangelo was a 16th century Florentine artist renowned for his masterpieces in sculpture, painting, and architectural design.

Learning Objectives

Talk over Michelangelo's achievements in sculpture, painting, and architecture

Key Takeaways

Key Points

• Michelangelo created his colossal marble statue, the David, out of a single block of marble, which established his prominence as a sculptor of extraordinary technical skill and force of symbolic imagination.
• In painting, Michelangelo is renowned for the ceiling and The Last Judgement of the Sistine Chapel, where he depicted a complex scheme representing Creation, the Downfall of Man, the Salvation of Human being, and the Genealogy of Christ.
• Michelangelo'southward master contribution to Saint Peter's Basilica was the use of a Greek Cross form and an external masonry of massive proportions, with every corner filled in past a stairwell or small vestry. The effect is a continuous wall-surface that appears fractured or folded at different angles.

Key Terms

• contrapposto: The standing position of a homo figure where most of the weight is placed on one pes, and the other leg is relaxed.  The consequence of contrapposto in art makes figures await very naturalistic.
• Sistine Chapel: The best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace.

Michelangelo was a 16th century Florentine artist renowned for his masterpieces in sculpture, painting, and architectural design. His almost well known works are the David, the Concluding Judgment, and the Basilica of Saint Peter's in the Vatican.

Sculpture: David

In 1504, Michelangelo was deputed to create a colossal marble statue portraying David as a symbol of Florentine freedom. The subsequent masterpiece, David, established the artist'southward prominence equally a sculptor of boggling technical skill and strength of symbolic imagination. David was created out of a single marble cake, and stands larger than life, equally it was originally intended to beautify the Florence Cathedral. The work differs from previous representations in that the Biblical hero is non depicted with the head of the slain Goliath, every bit he is in Donatello's and Verrocchio's statues; both had represented the hero standing victorious over the head of Goliath. No before Florentine artist had omitted the giant altogether. Instead of actualization victorious over a foe, David's face looks tense and ready for combat. The tendons in his neck stand up out tautly, his brow is furrowed, and his eyes seem to focus intently on something in the distance. Veins bulge out of his lowered correct hand, only his body is in a relaxed contrapposto pose, and he carries his sling casually thrown over his left shoulder. In the Renaissance, contrapposto poses were thought of as a distinctive feature of antiquarian sculpture.

The David by Michelangelo, 1504: Michelangelo'due south David stands in contrapposto pose.

The sculpture was intended to be placed on the exterior of the Duomo, and has go one of the near recognized works of Renaissance sculpture.

Painting: The Last Judgement

In painting, Michelangelo is renowned for his work in the Sistine Chapel. He was originally commissioned to paint tromp-fifty'oeil coffers after the original ceiling adult a cleft. Michelangelo lobbied for a different and more complex scheme, representing Creation, the Downfall of Man, the Promise of Salvation through the prophets, and the Genealogy of Christ. The work is part of a larger scheme of decoration within the chapel that represents much of the doctrine of the Catholic Church.

The composition eventually contained over 300 figures, and had at its center 9 episodes from the Book of Genesis, divided into three groups: God's Creation of the Earth, God'southward Creation of Humankind, and their fall from God'southward grace, and lastly, the state of Humanity as represented by Noah and his family. Twelve men and women who prophesied the coming of the Jesus are painted on the pendentives supporting the ceiling. Among the most famous paintings on the ceiling are The Creation of Adam, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the Great Alluvion, the Prophet Isaiah and the Cumaean Sibyl. The ancestors of Christ  are painted around the windows.

The fresco of The Last Judgment on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel was deputed past Pope Cloudless VII, and Michelangelo labored on the project from 1536–1541. The work is located on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel, which is not a traditional placement for the subject. Typically, terminal judgement scenes were placed on the exit wall of churches as a way to remind the viewer of eternal punishments as they left worship. The Last Judgment is a depiction of the second coming of Christ and the apocalypse; where the souls of humanity rise and are assigned to their various fates, as judged by Christ, surrounded by the Saints. In contrast to the earlier figures Michelangelo painted on the ceiling, the figures in The Concluding Judgement are heavily muscled and are in much more than bogus poses, demonstrating how this piece of work is in the Mannerist style.

In this work Michelangelo has rejected the orderly depiction of the concluding judgement as established past Medieval tradition in favor of a swirling scene of chaos every bit each soul is judged. When the painting was revealed it was heavily criticized for its inclusion of classical imagery as well as for the amount of nude figures in somewhat suggestive poses. The ill reception that the work received may exist tied to the Counter Reformation and the Council of Trent, which atomic number 82 to a preference for more conservative religious art devoid of classical references. Although a number of figures were made more modest with the improver of drapery, the changes were not made until after the expiry of Michelangelo, demonstrating the respect and adoration that was afforded to him during his lifetime.

The Terminal Sentence: The fresco of The Concluding Judgment on the chantry wall of the Sistine Chapel was commissioned by Pope Clement VII. Michelangelo worked on the projection from 1534–1541.

Architecture: St. Peter'southward Basilica

Finally, although other architects were involved, Michelangelo is given credit for designing St. Peter'southward Basilica. Michelangelo'south chief contribution was the use of a symmetrical plan of a Greek Cross form and an external masonry of massive proportions, with every corner filled in by a stairwell or small vestry. The effect is of a continuous wall surface that is folded or fractured at unlike angles, lacking the right angles that usually ascertain change of direction at the corners of a building. This exterior is surrounded by a behemothic order of Corinthian pilasters all set at slightly dissimilar angles to each other, in keeping with the ever-changing angles of the wall'southward surface. Higher up them the huge cornice ripples in a continuous band, giving the appearance of keeping the whole building in a state of compression.

St. Peter's Basillica: Michelangelo designed the dome of St. Peter'southward Basilica on or before 1564, although it was unfinished when he died.

Mannerism

Mannerist artists began to reject the harmony and platonic proportions of the Renaissance in favor of irrational settings, artificial colors, unclear subject matters, and elongated forms.

Learning Objectives

Describe the Mannerist style, how it differs from the Renaissance, and reasons why it emerged.

Central Takeaways

Key Points

• Mannerism came afterward the High Renaissance and before the Baroque.
• The artists who came a generation afterwards Raphael and Michelangelo had a dilemma. They could not surpass the bully works that had already been created by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo. This is when nosotros kickoff to see Mannerism sally.
• Jacopo da Pontormo (1494–1557) represents the shift from the Renaissance to the Mannerist style.

Key Terms

• Mannerism: Style of fine art in Europe from c. 1520–1600. Mannerism came after the High Renaissance and earlier the Baroque. Non every artist painting during this period is considered a Mannerist artist.

Mannerism is the proper name given to a way of art in Europe from c. 1520–1600. Mannerism came afterward the High Renaissance and before the Baroque. Not every artist painting during this period is considered a Mannerist artist, however, and there is much debate amidst scholars over whether Mannerism should exist considered a separate movement from the High Renaissance, or a stylistic phase of the High Renaissance. Mannerism volition be treated as a split art movement here as there are many differences between the High Renaissance and the Mannerist styles.

Style

What makes a work of fine art Mannerist? First we must understand the ideals and goals of the Renaissance. During the Renaissance artists were engaging with classical antiquity in a new fashion. In addition, they developed theories on perspective, and in all ways strived to create works of fine art that were perfect, harmonious, and showed ideal depictions of the natural globe. Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo are considered the artists who reached the greatest achievements in art during the Renaissance.

The Renaissance stressed harmony and beauty and no one could create more than beautiful works than the great three artists listed in a higher place. The artists who came a generation after had a dilemma; they could not surpass the great works that had already been created by da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo. This is when nosotros starting time to meet Mannerism sally. Younger artists trying to do something new and different began to reject harmony and ideal proportions in favor of irrational settings, artificial colors, unclear subject matters, and elongated forms.

Jacopo da Pontormo

Jacopo da Pontormo (1494–1557) represents the shift from the Renaissance to the Mannerist mode. Take for case his Degradation from the Cross, an altarpiece that was painted for a chapel in the Church of Santa Felicita, Florence. The figures of Mary and Jesus appear to be a direct reference to Michelangelo'south Pieta. Although the piece of work is called a "Deposition," there is no cross. Scholars also refer to this work as the "Entombment" but at that place is no tomb. This lack of clarity on subject matter is a hallmark of Mannerist painting. In addition, the setting is irrational, almost as if it is not in this world, and the colors are far from naturalistic. This work could not have been produced past a Renaissance creative person. The Mannerist movement stresses dissimilar goals and this work of art by Pontormo demonstrates this new, and different style.

Pontormo, Deposition from the Cross, 1525-1528, Church of Santa Felicita, Florence: This piece of work of art by Pontormo demonstrates the hallmarks of the Mannerist style: unclear discipline matter, irrational setting, and artificial colors.

norrisshountwely.blogspot.com

Source: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/art-in-the-renaissance/

Share this post