Post on 11-May-2015
Art AppreciationTopic IV:
Renaissance Art1420-1610
The term “renaissance” means “rebirth,” and stems from
ideas formulated by the Italian poet Petrarch. Petrarch believed that he
and his contemporaries had revived Greek and Roman ideas and
thought after a period of cultural stagnation in the Dark Ages following
the collapse of the Roman Empire. The Italian city of Florence is often
described as the cradle of the Renaissance.
The new middle classes achieved a status for themselves, and
instead of bowing to the inevitability of death and focusing on the
afterlife, they took pride in their contribution to society in this world, a
cultural shift called “humanism.” For the first time since classical
antiquity, a new naturalism appeared in art.
Religious subjects remained the most common theme, but
painting and sculpture became realistic, representing the living, visible
world rather than, as in medieval art, symbolically portraying the
heavenly realm. Painting had a convincing illusion of three dimensions,
with solid-looking figures set in a unified space. The figures have noble
proportions and features, and show believable emotions.
The Annunciation by Fra Angelico
Davidby
Donatello
St. John in the Desert
byDomenico
The Baptism of Christ
by Piero dellaFrancesca
The Hunt in the Forestby Uccello
Christ at the Column
by Antonello
Primavera by Botticelli
The Birth of Venus by Botticelli
The Lamentation over the Dead Christ by Mantegna
A Satyr Mourning over a Nymph
by Piero di Cosimo
The Last Supper by Leonardo
1970s
After restoration
Mona Lisa(La Gionconda)
byLeonardo
Davidby
Michelangelo
The Creation of Adamby Michelangelo
Laura(Portrait
of a Young
Woman)by
Giorgione
The Sleeping Venus by Giorgione
The Sistine
Madonna by
Raphael
Feast of the Gods by Bellini
Young Woman with Mirror by Bellini
Madonna of the
Harpiesby
del Sarto
Apollo and Daphne
byDossi
Venus of Urbino by Titian
After the High Renaissance in Italy there followed a period in
which painting, sculpture and architecture broke with many of the
classical conventions. The term Mannerism was later adopted to
describe both the period and its stylistic characteristics.
Mannerism began to develop in Italy around the time of
Raphael’s death in 1520. Some scholars see Mannerism as a reaction
against the classical harmony of Raphael and his High Renaissance
contemporaries such as Leonardo and Michelangelo, and others see it
as an evolution from elements in their work. It has been defined as
either an effected, decadent distortion, or an emotional refinement, of
late Renaissance ideals.
It was a courtly style, but beneath the elegance and technical
brilliance there is often an element of emotional disturbance. Tension
and drama were achieved by the use of elongated figures in
exaggerated poses, bold colors and lighting, and a dramatic distortion
of scale and perspective.
Madonna with the Long
Neckby
Parmigianino
An Allegory
with Venus and
Cupidby
Bronzino
Perseuswith the Head of Medusa
byCellini
Venus and Mars by Tintoretto
The Last Supper by Tintoretto
Apennine by
Giambologna
In the 14th and 15th centuries, artists in northern Europe—as in
Italy—began to depict the world in a more realistic way. In the 15th
century, the Northern Renaissance centered on Flanders (modern-
day Belgium and northern France) and Germany. Many scholars credit
the French king Charles V (reigned 1364-80) and the Holy Roman
Emperor Charles IV (reigned 1355-78) for the start of the Northern
Renaissance.
While Italian artists attained a greater naturalism through the
study of anatomy, perspective, and classical art, northern artists
achieved it by developing and mastering oil paint and paying precise
attention to detail. The figures in Flemish painting are often
extraordinarily lifelike—they are not the flat figures of medieval art, nor
are they idealized as in Italian Renaissance painting.
Many of the best artworks of the 15th century were altarpieces.
There were also highly detailed prints, both woodcuts and copperplate
engravings. In the 16th century, Northern Renaissance painters
instigated the genre of landscapes and anticipated genre of the still-life.
The ArnolfiniPortrait
byvan Eyck
Descent from the Cross by Van der Weyden
Virgin and Child
byFouquet
The Garden of Earthly Delightsby Bosch
Self-Portrait
byDürer
Henry, Duke of Saxony
byCranach the
Elder
Neptune and
Amphytriteby
Gossaert(Mabuse)
Portrait of Henry VIII of
Englandby
Holbein
Queen Mary I
byMor
Fall of the Rebel
Angelsby
Floris
Landscape with the Fall of Icarusby Brueghel the Elder
Tower of Babel by Brueghel
Expatriate Italians and artists trained in Italy helped spread
Mannerism to other countries in Europe throughout the 16th century.
Italian artists were employed at several foreign courts and Mannerist
influence was also spread widely by engravings.
The courts at Fontainebleau in France and Prague in Bohemia
were the most impressive settings for Mannerist art outside Italy. In
France, Mannerist artists created a distinctively elegant style—featuring
long-limbed, small-headed figures—that formed an influential current
in French art until the end of the 16th century.
In essence, it is a sophisticated, sometimes rather inbred style,
so it is not surprising that its most refined manifestations were
produced for courtly settings. The most powerful and personal
interpretation of Mannerism outside Italy, however, is that of El
Greco, who spent most of his career in Spain. Although his work is
intensely individual, his elongated figures have a stylistic kinship with
those of other artists of the time.
Pierre Quthe
byClouet
Emperor Rudolf II as Vertumnus
by Arcimboldo
View of Toledo
byEl Greco