Artists

• Renaissance painters, sculptors, and architects drew inspiration from the classical Greek and Roman artists rather than their medieval predecessors

• Artists used the technique of linear perspective to represent the three dimensions of real life on flat, two dimensional surfaces

Difference in Painting

MedievalRenaissance (The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne by da

Vinci, 1510)

Difference in Painting

Renaissance (Pope Julius II by Raphael)

Medieval

I. Self-Portrait -- da Vinci, 1512

1452 - 1519

� Artist

� Sculptor

� Architect

� Scientist

� Engineer

� Inventor

Leonardo, the Artist:From hisNotebooks of over 5000

pages (1508-1519)

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

• A great artist, but more than any other person of his age, personified the idea of the “Renaissance man”– Someone of broad

interests who is accomplished in both the arts and sciences

Mona Lisa uses light and shadow and perspective to make the figures fully human, enigmatic, and mysterious

The Last Supper captures the emotions of each of Jesus’ disciples at the exact moment of their learning one will betray

Him

The Last Supper - da Vinci, 1498& Geometry

horizontal

vert

ical

Perspective!

The Last Supper - da Vinci, 1498

Leonardo da Vinci

da Vinci’s study of the proportions of the human body da Vinci’s plans for a helicopter

Leonardo, the Scientist (Biology):Pages from his Notebook

� An example of the humanist desire to unlock the secrets of nature.

Leonardo, the Scientist (Anatomy):

Pages from his Notebook

Giotto di Bondone (1266-1337)

• Overcame the obstacle of flat forms by skillfully contrasting light and shadow to create an illusion of depth that made human figures look solid and round

“The Mourning of Christ,” painted c.1305

Masaccio (Tomassco Guidi) (1401-1428)

• Used atmospheric perspective to show objects receding into a background and to make figures appear round and truly three dimensional

Trinity 1425-28 Fresco

El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos) (1541-1614)

• Used severe colors and elongated features to express Spanish religious zeal in powerful and emotional paintings

The Burial of Count Orgaz conveys the Catholic spirit of

communion among God, saints, and humans

Sculptors

• Sculptors depicted their subjects in natural poses that reflected the actual workings of human muscles rather than the awkward and rigid poses often found in earlier sculptures

II. Michelangelo Buonorrati

� 1475 – 1564

� He represented the body in three dimensions of sculpture.

Michelangelo Buonarotti (1475-1564)

• Considered himself a sculptor first and painted with a sculptor’s eye

• Made the muscular masculine figure his ideal beauty

Michelangelo’s David and Moses show dramatic and

emotional postures and expressions

� David

� MichelangeloBuonarotti

� 1504

� Marble

� The Pieta

� MichelangeloBuonarroti

� 1499

� marble

The Popes as Patrons of the Arts

The Sistine Chapel

Michelangelo Buonarroti

1508 - 1512

Sistine Chapel

Michelangelo’s frescos covering the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican are perhaps the single greatest

achievement in Renaissance art

The Sistine Chapel Details

The Creation

of the Heavens

III. Donatello (Donato di Niccoli di Betto) (1386-1466)

• Traveled to Rome to study the classics of antiquity

• Employed models and created studies of anatomy and the human body

Donatello’s David was the first nude statue of the Renaissance and is known for its

grace, proportionality, and balance

IV. Raffaello Sanzio (1483-1520)

Self-Portrait, 1506 Portrait of the Artist with a Friend, 1518

Raphael Sanzio (1483-1520)

• Excelled in composition and use of soft colors

St. George Fighting the Dragon, 1505

Raphael is famous for his warm, pious, and graceful Madonnas such as The

Small Cowper Madonna, c. 1505

Raphael’s Madonnas (1)

Sistine Madonna Cowpepper Madonna

The School at Athens by Raphael

The School of Athens – Raphael, 1510 -11 One point perspective.

All of the important Greek philosophers and thinkers are included all of the great personalities of the Seven Liberal Arts!

A great variety of poses. Located in the papal apartments library. Raphael worked on this commission

simultaneously as Michelangelo was doing the Sistine Chapel.

No Christian themes here.

Aristotle:looks to thisearth [thehere and

now].

Plato:looks to theheavens [or

the IDEALrealm].

The School of Athens – Raphael, details

The School at Athens, with lines to

show perspective

The School of Athens – Raphael, 1510 -11

Raphael

Da Vinci

Michelangelo

Portrait of Pope Julius II by Raphael, 1511-1512

� More concerned with politics than with theology.

� The “Warrior Pope.”

� Great patron of Renaissance artists, especially Raphael & Michelangelo.

� Died in 1513

Birth of Venus – Botticelli, 1485

An attempt to depict perfect beauty.