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The Italian Renaissance
15.1 – The Emergence of the Italian Renaissance
The School of Athens. Raphael. 1509-11. Vatican Palace. Rome, Italy.
The Italian Renaissance
• What comes to mind when you think of the Renaissance?
What do you know about the great artists Leonardo da Vinci,
Michelangelo, and Raphael?
• By the beginning of the 15th century, there was a revival of
interest in the classical art and literature of ancient Greece and
Rome.
• This began in Italy, and scholars and artists began to turn to
non-religious subject matter for inspiration.
• The period of time in which these events took place is called
the Renaissance. The word means “rebirth” and refers to the
renewed interest in the classical creations that inspired it.
The Emergence of the Italian
Renaissance
• The 15th century was a time of great growth and discovery,
Commerce spread, wealth increased, knowledge multiplied,
and the arts flourished.
• In Italy, a number of cities grew to become important trading
and industrial centers. Among these was Florence, which rose
to become the capital of the cloth trade and boasted of having
the richest banking house in Europe.
• The Medici Family, who controlled this banking empire,
became generous patrons of the fine arts.
Influences that Shaped the
Renaissance
• During this period, artists and scholars
developed an interest in the art and literature
of ancient Greece and Rome.
• This interest in the classics was called
humanism. Humanists – the scholars who
promoted humanism – embraced the GrecoRoman belief that each individual has
dignity and worth.
• Artists greatly admired the lifelike
appearance of classical works and longed to
capture the same quality in their own works.
• They turned to studying nature and the
surviving classical sculptures in an effort to
make their artworks look more realistic.
The Discuss Thrower.
Classical Roman
Sculpture.
The Invention of the
Printing Press
• In the middle of the 15th century, a
German printer named Johannes
Gutenberg perfected the printing press,
an invention that ranks as one of the
most important contributions of the
Renaissance.
• Within years, thousands of presses were
in operation in Europe, and hundreds of
books were printed from these presses.
• This mass-production capability made
available to great numbers of readers the
works of ancient Greek and Roman
writers, religious books, and volumes of
poetry and prose.
Example of a Renaissance
Printing Press
Masaccio (1401-1428)
• In Florence, the wealthy and better educated citizens grew in
number and began to show a lively interest in the arts.
• They began to make Florence the artistic capital of Italy.
• It was in Florence that a carefree young painter known as Masaccio
(ma-saht-chee-oh) brought about a revolution in art equal to that
brought by Giotto.
• Regarded as the first important artist of the Italian Renaissance. He
took the innovations of Giotto and developed them further to
produce a style that became the trademark of the Renaissance. It
was a style that owed a great deal to the fresco technique that
continued to be popular throughout Italy.
The Holy Trinity
Masaccio
c. 1428
Fresco. Florence Italy .
•
One of Masaccio’s greatest works is a fresco located
in the church of Santa Maria Novella, entitled The
Holy Trinity.
•
Like Giotto before him, he ignored unnecessary
detail and focused his attention on mass and depth.
•
He wanted his figures to look solid and real, so he
modeled them in light and shadow. To show that
some of these figures were different distances from
the viewer he overlapped them.
•
Within the small chapel space that he creates he
places the Holy Trinity, St. John the Baptist, and the
Virgin Mary.
•
On either side of the chapel he added two members
of the family that commissioned him to make the
painting. These figures are larger than those behind
them which creates the illusion of real space when
actually it is painted on a flat wall.
Discovery of Linear
Perspective
•
Shortly before Masaccio painted The Holy Trinity,
and architect named Flippo Brunelleschi made a
discovery known as, linear perspective, a graphic
system that showed artists how to create the
illusion of depth and volume on a flat surface.
•
Based on geometric principles, this system enabled
artists to paint figures and objects so that they
seem to move deeper into a work rather than
across it.
•
Slanting the horizontal lines of the buildings and
other objects in the picture makes them appear to
recede into space.
•
If these lines are lengthened they will eventually
meet at a point along the horizon line representing
the eye level. This point at which these lines meet
is called the vanishing point.
The Tribute Money
Masaccio
c. 1427
Fresco.
Florence, Italy.
• Not too long after finishing The Holy Trinity, Masaccio began working on
a number of large frescoes in another church in Florence.
• In it he grouped 3 scenes to tell a story from the life of St. Peter. In the
center Christ tells St.Peter that he will fine a coin in the mouth of a fish
with which to pay a tax collector.
• The tax collector is shown at Christ’s left with his back to you.
• At the left side of the picture you see St. Peter again, kneeling to remove
the coin from the mouth of the fish.
• Finally, at the right, St. Peter firmly places the coin in the tax collector’s
hand.
Aerial Perspective
• As in his earlier painting The Holy Trinity, Masaccio wanted to create a
picture that would look true to life.
• Depth is suggested by the overlapping of the figures surrounding Christ.
• With linear perspective he slanted the lines of the building to lead the
viewer’s eye deep into the picture.
• He also made distant objects look bluer, lighter, and duller, heightening the
illusion of deep space.
• This method is known as atmospheric or aerial perspective which uses
hue, value, and intensity to show distance in a painting.
• In The Holy Trinity aerial perspective was not used because the space is
limited to the interior of the chapel but in The Tribute Money, the outdoor
setting allows him to create the impression of endless space.
Masaccio’s Quest for Reality
(The Tribute Money)
• Masaccio again modeled his figures so that they seem to be as solid as a
statue. To achieve this effect, he used a strong light that strikes and lights
up some parts of his figures while leaving other parts in deep shadow.
• Then he placed these figures before a faint background. This makes them
seem not only more solid, but also much closer to you.
• The figures are quite large in relation to the rest of the picture and are
shown standing at the front of the scene rather than farther away.
• With the figures being so much larger, you can see that he was concerned
with showing how the body is put together and how it moves.
• Also notice the attention to the detail of the facial expressions on the the
apostles faces surrounding Christ. The gestures and expressions are what
you might expect from real people.
Blending Renaissance and
Gothic Ideas
• Not all Italian artists accepted the innovations made my
Masaccio. Many chose to use some of his ideas and ignore
others.
• Italian art at this time was a blend of progressive ideas of the
Early Renaissance and the conservative ideas of the Gothic
Period.
• Two artists who worked in this way were the painter Fra (or
“brother”) Angelico and the sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti
Fra Angelico
(c.1400-1455)
• Fra Angelico (frah ahn-jay-lee-koh) was described by the
people who knew him as an excellent painter and a monk of
the highest character.
• A simple, holy man, he never started a painting without first
saying a prayer.
• He also made it a practice not to retouch a try to improve a
painting once it was finished. He felt that to do so would be
to tamper with the will of God.
The Annunciation
Fra Angelico
C. 1440-45
Fresco. Florence, Italy.
• A few years after
Masaccio’s death, Fra
Angelico painted a
picture in which the
angel Gabriel
announces to Mary
that she is to be the
mother of the Savior.
• This painting shows
that he was familiar
with Masaccio’s ideas
and did not hesitate to
use some of them.
•Fra’s earlier paintings are done in the Gothic
style and filled with bright colors and figures.
In this painting, there is simplicity that
resembles the works of Masaccio.
The Annunciation
Fra Angelico
C. 1440-45
Fresco. Florence, Italy.
• Although he makes some use of perspective, it is clear that Fra
Angelico was not deeply interested in creating a illusion of deep
space in his picture.
• The figures of Mary and the angel do not overlap as do the figures
in Masaccio’s paintings. Instead, they are separated and placed
within a limited area marked off by archs. He chose not to use
modeling techniques to makes his figures look round and solid.
There is little to suggest that real people exist beneath the
garments he paints.
• There are no surprises in Fra’s paintings. The gestures and facial
expressions are easy to read. Like Gothic artists before him, he
painted religious stories that would be easily understood. The
story was more important than making his picture seem true to
life.
Lorenzo Ghiberti
(1378-1455)
•
Like Fra Angelico, Lorenzo Ghiberti combined elements of the new Renaissance style
with the earlier Gothic style.
•
A sculptor, Ghiberti is best known for the works he made for the Baptistery of the
Florence Cathedral.
•
In 1401, the Florence City Council sponsored a contest to find an artist to decorate the
north doors of the Baptistery, one of the most important buildings in the city. It was here
that children were baptized and brought into the Church.
•
The city offered a challenge to the leading artists of the day. Sculptors were asked to
create a sample relief panel in bronze. The subject for the relief was to be the sacrifice of
Isaac.
•
This subject was chosen because it seemed like a good test for an artist. It was a religious
scene of dramatic interest and it would have to include several figures in motion.
•
Ghiberti's work was chosen and he spend the next 21 years of his life completing the 28
bronze panels used on the doors of the baptistery.
The Gates of Paradise
Lorenzo Ghiberti
Gilt Bronze.
Florence, Italy.
• Ghiberti drew more heavily on new
Renaissance ideas later in his career
when he worked on a second set of
doors for the Baptistery.
• Shows scenes from the old testament.
• Introduced a greater feeling of space by
introducing the use of perspective.
• Finally he modeled his figures so that
they stand out from the surface of the
panel and seem almost fully rounded.
• When Michelangelo first saw the doors,
he said they were worthy of being the
gates to heaven.
Vocab and Quiz Review
• Renaissance
• Humanism
• Linear Perspective
• Horizon Line
• Aerial Perspective