Medieval & Renaissance Art:

A Comparison

Medieval and Renaissance ArtMedieval

1. No expressions onfaces

2. Stiff and unrealistic poses

Renaissance

1. Faces are filled with emotion and expression

2. Human poses are lifelike and realistic

Medieval and Renaissance ArtMedieval

3. European art was the property of the Church – often religious themes, individuals were not important—paintings not signed

4. Tempura paints were used – dried too quickly to correct mistakes

Renaissance

3. Artists take credit for their work and become famous; also portraits are done of people

4. Oil paints were used – lets artists work slowly, create new colors, and obtain more lifelike effects

Medieval and Renaissance ArtMedieval

5. The Church forbids displaying the naked human body

6. There is no balance, proportion, or perspective – pictures are “flat” and two dimensional because the most important spiritual figures in the painting are larger than the less important ones.

Renaissance

5. Like the Greeks and Romans, artists study anatomy to portray humans realistically

6. Artists create proportion with the illusion of depth and distance on the flat surface—called linear perspective. They also use new shading devices called sfumato and chiarascuro; they use geometry to achieve balance.

Medieval and Renaissance Art

Medieval

7. Halos and gold backgrounds symbolized residents of heaven and the holy atmosphere of heaven

Renaissance

7. Portrayed naturalistic landscapes of this world and saints lived in the same world as ordinary people

1. Realism & Expression� Expulsion from the Garden

� Masaccio� 1427

� First nudes sinceclassical times.

SAINT DEMETRIUS OF SALONICA.

High Middle Ages

End of 14th century

Before

Masaccio’s “Trinity”

The first known painting

to applyBrunelleschi’s

system of linear

perspective.

Church of Santa Maria

Novella,Florence

Before

2. Perspective

Perspective!Perspective!Perspective!

Perspective!Perspective!

First use of linear

perspective!

Perspective!Perspective!

� The Trinity� Masaccio� 1427

What you are, I once was; what I am, you will

become.

Progression of the Use of Perspective

1280’s 1480’s1380’s

Perspective!

Betrothal

of the Virgin

Raphael1504

3. Classicism and Realism

� Greco-Roman influence.

� Secularism.� Humanism.� Individualism

free standing figures.

� Symmetry/Balance

The “Classical Pose”Medici “Venus” (1c)

Birth of Venus – Botticelli, 1485

An attempt to depict perfect beauty.

Examples of Humanism and Realism in Renaissance Art

Botticelli's Birth of Venus Rembrandt’s The AnatomyLesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp

Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel

Da Vinci’sVitruvian Man

Examples of Humanism and Realism in Renaissance Art

4. Emphasis on Individualism� Batista Sforza & Federico de Montefeltre:

The Duke & Dutchess of Urbino� Piero della Francesca, 1465-1466.

� Vitruvian Man

� Leonardo daVinci

� 1492

TheL’uomo

universale

5. Geometrical Arrangement of Figures

� The Dreyfus Madonna with the Pomegranate

� Leonardo da Vinci

� 1469� The figure as

architecture!

Raphael’s Canagiani Madonna, 1507

6. Light & Shadowing/Softening Edges

Chiaroscuro

Sfumato

Leonardo da Vinci

described sfumato

as "without lines or borders,

in the manner of smoke or beyond

the focus plane."

Famous works by Italian Renaissance Artists

Michelangelo

Leonardo Raphael

Donatello

The Renaissance “Man”� Broad knowledge about many

things in different fields.� Deep knowledge/skill in one

area.� Able to link information from

different areas/disciplines and create new knowledge.

� The Greek ideal of the “well-rounded man” was at the heart of Renaissance education.� Artist

� Sculptor� Architect� Scientist� Engineer� Inventor

1452 - 1519

Leonardo da Vinci,

� The Virgin of the Rocks

� Leonardo daVinci

� 1483-1486

Leonardo, the Artist:From his Notebook of over 5000 pages

(1508-1519)

Leonardo Da Vinci

Why is Mona Lisa so famous?

Mona Lisa (La Giocande)Oil on wood panel

Fun Fact! Notice her lack of eyebrows! Women during this period would shave them off! It was considered fashionable to do so!

The Last Supper

Gospel Book of Bernward ofHildesheim, c. 1016

German

Leonardo da Vinci, “Last Supper”

Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan, Italy

“Last Supper” Perspective

horizontal

vert

ical

Perspective!

The Last Supper - da Vinci, 1498

The Last Supper - da Vinci, 1498

& Geometry

Refractory

Convent of Santa

Maria delle

Grazie

Milan

� Detail of Jesus

� The Last Supper

� Leonardo da Vinci

� 1498

Deterioration

Leonardo Da Vinci

The Last SupperTempera and mixed media on Plaster

Leonardo, the Sculptor

� An Equestrian Statue

� 1516-1518

Leonardo, the Architect:Pages from his Notebook

� Study of a central church.

� 1488

Leonardo, the Architect:Pages from his Notebook

� Plan of the city of Imola, 1502.

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

Leonardo, the Inventor:

Pages from his Notebook

A study of siege defenses.

Studies of water-lifting devices.

Leonardo, the Engineer: Pages from his

Notebook

King David

Above: Gospel Book of Philip the FairRight: Vivian Bible

� David by Donatello� 1430� First free-form bronze

since Roman times!

The Liberation of Sculpture

David

Verrocchio

1473 - 1475

� David� Michelangel

oBuonarotti

� 1504� Marble

Michelangelo’s Detail

15c

16c

What

a

difference

a

century

makes!

� The Pieta

� MichelangeloBuonarroti

� 1499

� marble

The Popes as Patrons of the Arts

The Sistine Chapel

Michelangelo Buonarroti

1508 - 1512

Film Clip

The Sistine Chapel’s Ceiling

Michelangelo Buonarroti1508 - 1512

The Sistine Chapel Details

The Creation

of the Heavens

The Sistine Chapel Details

Creation of Man

The Sistine Chapel Details

The Fall from Grace

Creation

Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel

Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel

The Sistine Chapel Details

The Last Judgment

Raphael’s “School of Athens”

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.

The School of Athens – Raphael, 1510 -11

Raphael

Da Vinci

Michelangelo

Aristotle:looks to thisearth [thehere and

now].

Plato:looks to theheavens [or

the IDEALrealm].

The School of Athens – Raphael, details

Averroes

Hypatia

Pythagoras

Zoroaster

Ptolemy

Euclid

Raphael’s “School of Athens”Clockwise:Plato (Leonardo), Aristotle,Raphael,Michelangelo

Comparing ArtworkMedieval Artwork Renaissance Artwork

Raphael: The Nymph Galatea 1512-1514