The Renaissance

• Masaccio (ma-saht-chee-oh)

• Fra Angelico (frah ann-jay-lee-coe)

• Lorenzo Ghiberti (loh-ren-zo gee-bair-tee)

• Filippo Brunelleschi

(fee-leep-poh brew-nell-less-key)

• Paolo Uccelo (pah-oh-lo oo-chell-loh)

• Pierro della Francesca

(pee-air–oh dell-ah Fran-chess-kah)

• Donatello (doh-nah-tell-oh)• Sandro Boticelli

(sand-roe bought-tee-chel-lee)• Leonardo da Vinci

(lay-oh-nar-doe da vinn-chee)• Michaelangelo Buonarroti

(my-kel-an-jay-loe bwon-nar-roe-ti)• Raphael Sanzio (rah-fa-yell sahn-zee-oh)• Sofonisba Anguissola

(so-foe-niss-bah ahn-gue-iss-sole-ah)

The Return to Humanism

• If in the Middle Ages, people did not see themselves as important, or at the center of things, the Renaissance brought about a refocusing on humanity by the beginning of the 15th century

• Florence became the capital of cloth trade and had the richest bank

• Their was a revival of the classical aesthetics of ancient of Greek and Rome

• Gutenberg invented the printing press

• The Ancient works of the Greeks and Romans were made available in great numbers

Masaccio

• Regarded as the first important artist of the Renaissance

• Was also known as ‘Clumsy Thomas’ because he did not pay attention to his appearance despite his skill with the brush

MasaccioThe Holy Trinity.

Frescoc.1428

The Holy Trinity

• One of Masaccio’s greatest works in Santa Maria Novella in Florence

• Painted when he was just 21 years old

• Like Giotto, M ignored unnecessary detail and focused his attention on mass and depth

• Figures overlapping and modeled in light and shadow to look real

• Illusion of a small chapel makes the work more lifelike

• Inside the chapel is the Holy Trinity, St.John, and the Virgin Mary.

• The two figures who commissioned the work are found on each side

• Made good use of Filippo Brunelleschi discovery of linear perspective

Linear Perspective

• geometric system that showed artists how to create the illusion of depth on a flat surface

• Using this system, an artist is able to paint figures and objects so that they seem to move deeper into a work rather than across it.

• Slanting the lines of buildings and other objects in the picture inward makes them appear to extend back into space

• If these lines are lengthened they would eventually meet at a point along an imaginary horizontal line representing the eye level.

• The point at which these lines meet is called a vanishing point

Masaccio.The Tribute Money. Fresco. C.1427

The Tribute Money

• Shows 3 scenes; Jesus telling St. Peter about a coin, St. Peter finding the coin in the mouth of a fish, and St. Peter paying a tax collector

• Makes use of aerial or atmospheric perspective.

• This involves making distant objects bluer, lighter, and duller

• Hue, value and intensity are used to create depth

Blending ideas of Early Renaissance and Gothic

• Blend of progressive ideas of the early Renaissance and conservative ideas of the Gothic Period

• Fra Angelico and Lorenzo Ghiberti worked in this styles

Fra Angelico.The Annunciation. Fresco. C. 1440-45

Fra Angelico

• Paintings shows familiarity with Masaccio’s work

• However, unlike Masaccio, he was not greatly interested in creating depth and deep space

Lorenzo Ghiberti. The Sacrifice of Isaac. C.1401-02

Filippo Brunelleschi. The Sacrifice of Isaac. 1401-1402

• Designed the Baptistry doors for the cathedral in Florence

• His works form a unified whole in contrast with his competitor Brunelleschi, whose work could be divided into three panels

Leonardo da Vinci

• Had gracious manners, a fine sense of humor, and great physical strength

• Possessed a curiosity that drove him to explore everything

• Studied architecture, mathematics, sculpture, painting, anatomy, poetry, literature, music, geology, botany, and hydraulics

Leonardo da Vinci. The Last Supper, c.1495-98

Mona Lisa

The Last Supper

• One of Leonardo’s greatest ‘failures’

• The painting began to flake off the wall shortly after he finished it

• Shows an unusual composition which includes Judas among the apostles

Michaelangelo

• Ranked alongside Leonardo as one of the greatest artists of the Renaissance

• Gifted in many fields including sculpture, painting, and poetry

Pieta

• Depicts the Virgin holding the lifeless form of Christ

• Body is much larger than that of Christ

Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

The Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

• Commissioned by Pope Julius the II

• Finished in four years

• Toiled day and night and lay on his back on top of very high scaffolding just to finish the piece

• Food sent up to him and he only went down to sleep

• Claimed that he was never able to walk upright again after painting this ceiling

Raphael Sanzio

• Successful, wealthy, and admired in comparison to Michaelangelo

• Considered to be the artist that would best represent the Renaissance

Raphael. The Alba Madonna, c.1510

The Alba Madonna

• Shows the Virgin, Christ, and John the Baptist staring at the cross

• Gradual change from light to dark values add a feeling of roundness and mass to the shapes

• Makes use of a trapezoidal composition

Sofonisba AnguissolaDouble Portrait of a Boy and a Girl

of the Attavanti Family

Sofonisba Anguissola

• The first Italian woman to gain a world-wide reputation as an artist

• Painted portraits for the royal family at the court of Philip II of Spain