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15th CENTURY ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
Comparing the styles…
15th Century Italian Renaissance
NORTHERN
ITALIAN
Realism through excessive details
Realism through mathematics and
linear perspective
Intentional references to Gothic
Architecture
Intentional references to Classical
Architecture and figure studies
Intuitive Perspective
Linear Perspective
Great art in the form of Oil Paints,
Altarpieces and smaller paintings
Great art in the form of Frescoes and
larger Temperas
Van Der Goes, Van Eyck, Van Der
Weyden, Campin
Masaccio, Donatello, Ghiberti,
Brunelleschi, Botticelli
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Brancacci Chapel, Florence
15th Century Italian Renaissance
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Brancacci Chapel, Florence
15th Century Italian Renaissance
Masaccio, Tribute Money, Brancacci Chapel, Florence, Italy, ca. 1427.
Masaccio presented this narrative in three episodes within the fresco. In the center, Christ, surrounded by his
disciples, tells St. Peter to retrieve the coin from the fish, while the tax collector stands in the foreground, his back
to spectators and hand extended, awaiting payment. At the left, in the middle distance, St. Peter extracts the coin
from the fish’s mouth, and at the right, he thrusts the coin into the tax collector’s hand.
Masaccio realized most of the figures not through generalized modeling with a flat neutral light lacking an
identifiable source but by a light coming from a specific source outside the picture.
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Masaccio
Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden, Brancacci
Chapel, Florence, Italy, ca 1425
This was painted in an awkwardly narrow space at the entrance
to the Brancacci Chapel. It displays the representational
innovations of Tribute Money. For example, the sharply slanted
light from an outside source creates deep relief, with lights
placed alongside darks, and acts as a strong unifying agent.
Masaccio also presented the figures moving with structural
accuracy and with substantial bodily weight. Further, the hazy,
atmospheric background specifies no locale but suggests a
space around and beyond the figures. Adam’s feet, clearly in
contact with the ground, mark the human presence on earth,
and the cry issuing from Eve’s mouth voices her anguish.
The angel does not force them physically from Eden, rather,
they stumble on blindly, driven by the angel’s will and their own
despair. The composition is starkly simple, its message
incomparably eloquent.
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Masaccio, Holy Trinity
Santa Maria Novella, Florence, Italy
ca 1428
Masaccio’s fresco embodies two principal Renaissance
interests--realism based on observation and the application
of mathematics in the new science of perspective. The
composition is painted on two levels of unequal height.
In the coffered barrel-vaulted chapel reminiscent of a
Roman triumphal arch, the Virgin Mary and St. John appear
on either side of the crucified Christ. God the Father
emerges from behind Christ, supporting the arms of the
cross. The Dove of the Holy Spirit hovers between God and
Christ. Also included are portraits of the donors of the
painting, who kneel in front of the pilasters.
Below the altar-- a masonry insert in the depicted
composition--the artist painted a tomb containing a skeleton.
An Italian inscription above the skeleton reminds spectators
that “I was once what you are, and what I am you will
become.”
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Baptistry of San Giovanni,
Florence, Italy, ca 1059
This is the building that
Brunelleschi and Ghiberti
were asked to design bronze
reliefs for. They each
illustrated the story of
Abraham and Isaac.
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Brunelleschi’s
Sacrifice of Isaac
Ghiberti’s
Sacrifice of Isaac
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Lorenzo Ghiberti
”Gates of Paradise”,
baptistery, Florence Cathedral
1425-1452
Ghiberti, who demonstrated his interest in
perspective in his Sacrifice of Isaac,
embraced Donatello’s innovations. Ghiberti’
s enthusiasm for a unified system for
representing space is particularly evident in
his famous east doors.
Michelangelo later declared these as “so
beautiful that they would do well for the
gates of Paradise.”
Each of the panels contains a relief set in
plain moldings and depicts a scene from
the Old Testament. The complete gilding of
the reliefs creates an effect of great
splendor and elegance.
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Lorenzo Ghiberti
Isaac and his sons
(”Gates of Paradise”), baptistery,
Florence Cathedral, Florence
1425-1452
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Filippo Brunelleschi
dome of Florence Cathedral
Florence, Italy
1420-1436
Brunelleschi’s broad knowledge of Roman
construction principles and his analytical and
inventive mind permitted him to solve an
engineering problem that no other 15th-century
architect could have solved. The challenge was the
design and construction of a dome for the huge
crossing of the unfinished Florence Cathedral.
The space to be spanned was much too wide to
permit construction with the aid of traditional
wooden centering. Nor was it possible [because of
the crossing plan] to support the dome with
buttressed walls.
In 1420, officials overseeing cathedral projects
awarded Brunelleschi and Ghiberti a joint
commission. Ghiberti later abandoned the project
and left it to his associates.
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Filippo Brunelleschi
dome of Florence Cathedral
Florence, Italy
1420-1436
Brunelleschi not only discarded traditional
building methods and devised new ones, but he
also invented much of the machinery necessary
for the job.
Although he might have preferred the
hemispheric shape of Roman domes,
Brunelleschi raised the center of his dome which
is inherently more stable because it reduces the
outward thrust around the dome’s base.
To minimize the structure’s weight, he designed a
relatively thin double shell--the first in history-around a skeleton of 24 ribs. The eight most
important are visible on the exterior. The
structure is anchored at the top with a heavy
lantern, built after his death but from his design.
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Climbing the stairs inside the Duomo
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Filippo Brunelleschi
dome of Florence Cathedral
Florence, Italy
1420-1436
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Note the people on the lantern!
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Applying Roman Mathematical Logic
Filippo Brunelleschi
west facade of the Pazzi Chapel
Florence, Italy begun ca. 1440
The chapel that was the Pazzi family’s gift to the
church of Santa Croce in Florence presented
Brunelleschi with the opportunity to explore this
interest in a structure much better suited to such
a design than a basilican church.
The chapel was not completed until the 1460s,
long after Brunelleschi’s death, and thus the
exterior does not reflect Brunelleschi’s original
design. The narthex
(the entrance hall leading to the nave of a
church.) seems to have been added as an
afterthought, perhaps by the sculptor-architect
Giuliano da Maiano.
It is suggested that the local chapter of
Franciscan monks who held meetings in the
chapel needed the expansion.
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Applying Roman Mathematical Logic
Filippo Brunelleschi
west facade of the Pazzi Chapel
Florence, Italy begun ca. 1440
This chapel was the Pazzi family’s gift to the
church of Santa Croce in Florence. The artist is
Filippo Brunelleschi, who began to design this
chapel in 1440 and it was not completed until
after his death.
The interior trim is in gray stone or pietra serena
(serene stone). Medallions with glazed terracotta
are featured on the inside representing the Four
Evangelista and decorated wall panels represent
the Twelve Apostles.
Brunelleschi used this opportunity to create a
structure more suited to a compact and selfcontained “central floor plan” as seen in the
Pantheon. He used a basic unit that allowed him
to construct a balanced, harmonious, and
regularly proportioned space.
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Applying Roman Mathematical Logic
Plan and section of the Pazzi Chapel, Florence
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Donatello, David 1428-1432
The Medici family commissioned Donatello to create
this bronze statue for the Palazzo Medici courtyard.
This was the first freestanding nude statue
created since ancient times.
This statue portrays the biblical David, the young
slayer of Goliath and the symbol of the independent
Florentine republic. David possesses the relaxed
classical contrapposto stance and the proportions
and beauty of Greek Praxitelean gods.
The Medici family chose the subject of David,
perhaps because they had seen Donatello’s previous
statue of David which is located in the center of
political activity in Florence. This shows that the
Medici family identified themselves with Florence,
and the prosperity of the city.
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Donatello, David 1428-1432
15th Century Italian Renaissance
Leon Battista Alberti
Palazzo Rucellai, c.1450 CE.
Palazzo Rucellai is a palatial 15th-century
townhouse on the Via della Vigna Nuova in
Florence. The Rucellai Palace is believed by
most scholars to have been designed by Alberti
between 1446 and 1451 and executed, at least
in part, by Bernardo Rossellino. Its facade was
one of the first to proclaim the new ideas of
Renaissance architecture based on the use of
pilasters and entablatures in proportional
relationship to each other.
The ground floor was for business (the Rucellai
family were powerful bankers) and was flanked
by benches running along the street facade. The
second story was the main formal reception floor
and the third story the private family and
sleeping quarters. A fourth "hidden" floor under
the roof was for servants; because it had almost
no windows, it was quite dark inside.
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Leon Battista Alberti
Palazzo Rucellai, c.1450 CE.
The overall horizontality of this façade is called
“trabeated” architecture, which Alberti thought
was most fitting for the homes of nobility. Each
bay also decreases in height from the bottom to
top. On each bay, Alberti used engaged
columns, to visually support the entablature. On
the first bay, they use the Tuscan order. On the
second and third bays, Alberti used smaller
stones to give the feeling of lightness, which is
enhanced by the rounded arches of the
windows, a typically Roman feature. Both of
these bays also have pilasters, although on the
second bay they are of the Ionic order, and on
the third they’re Corinthian. Alberti’s overriding
concern with balance and proportion is evident in
his symmetrical treatment of the palace’s facade.
The use of the three classical orders to indicate
upward progression was inspired by the
Colosseum at Rome.
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Sandro Botticelli
Portrait of a Youth, early 1480s
This full face portrait was created by Botticelli
in the last decade of the fifteenth century.
Italian painters adopted the 3/4 and full face
views believing that such poses increased
information available to viewers about the
subject’s appearance.
These poses also permit greater exploration
of the subject’s character. This is evident in
this portrait where he is highly expressive
psychologically. He has a delicate pose, a
graceful head tilt, sidelong glance, and an
elegant hand gesture. The subject seems to
be half-musing, half-insinuating.
Botticelli merged feminine and masculine
traits to make an image of rarefied beauty.
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Sandro Botticelli, Birth of Venus, 1484-86. EARLY ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
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Sandro Botticelli, Birth of Venus, 1484-86. EARLY ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
Sandro Botticelli was one
of the best known artists
who produced works for
the Medici. He painted this
tempera on canvas for the
Medici family.
A poem on the theme of
the famous Birth of Venus
by Angelo Poliziano was
what inspired Botticelli to
create this lyrical image.
Zephyrus (the west wind)
blows Venus, born of the
sea foam and carried on a
cockle shell to her sacred
island, Cyprus. The nymph
Pomona runs to her with a
brocaded mantle.
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Comparing d’Medici’s Venus with Botticelli’s
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Sandro Botticelli, Primavera, 1482. EARLY ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
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Sandro Botticelli, Adoration of the Magi, c1475. EARLY ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
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Botticelli painted himself in the picture
as he looks back at the viewer !
Sandro Botticelli,
Adoration of the Magi, c 1475.
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Sandro Botticelli, Birth of Venus, 1481-82. EARLY ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
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Fra Angelico, Annunciation,
San Marco, Florence, Italy 1440-1445 EARLY ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
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Leon Alberti
San Andrea, 1470-76
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Leon Battista Alberti worked as an
architect from the 1450s onward, principally
in Florence, Rimini, and Mantua. As a
trained humanist and true Renaissance
man, Alberti was as accomplished as an
architect as he was a humanist, musician,
and art theorist. Alberti's many treatises on
art include Della Pittura (On Painting), De
Sculptura (On Sculpture), and De re
Aedificatoria (On Architecture). The first
treatise, Della Pittura, was a fundamental
handbook for artists, explaining the
principles behind linear perspective, which
may have been first developed by
Brunelleschi. Alberti shared Brunelleschi's
reverence for Roman architecture and was
inspired by the example of Vitruvius, the
only Roman architectural theorist whose
writings are still in existence.
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Interior and Elevation of San Andrea
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Fra Filippo Lippi
Madonna and Child with Two Angels,
c1465 CE. Tempera on wood
EARLY ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
In this painting of the Madonna and Child with
Two Angels—a variation on the Madonna
and Child Enthroned (see Giotto or Cimabue)
that artists have been painting for hundreds
of years—halos virtually disappear.
Mary's hands are clasped in prayer, and both
she and the Christ child appear lost in
thought, but otherwise the figures have
become so human that we almost feel as
though we are looking at a portrait. The
angels look especially playful, and the one in
the foreground seems like he might giggle as
he looks out at us!
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Fra Filippo Lippi
Madonna and Child with Two Angels,
c1465 CE. Tempera on wood
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The delicate swirls of transparent fabric that
move around Mary's face and shoulders are
a new decorative element that Lippi brings to
Early Renaissance painting—something that
will be important to his student, Botticelli.
However, the pictorial modeling of Mary's
form—from the bulk and solidity of her body
to the careful folds of drapery around her
lap—reveal Masaccio's influence. The
detailed backgrounds of this era are
reminiscent of those from the Early Northern
Renaissance.
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Compare the smooth skins, linear outlines and
flowing hair of Lippi’s painting to that of
Botticelli’s Annunciation (below).
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Piero della Francesca, Battista Sforza & Federico da Montefeltro
(Duke & Duchess of Urbino), 1472-1473. EARLY ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
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Andrea Mantegna, Calvary, 1457-60. EARLY ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
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Andrea Mantegna, Camera Degli Sposi, (the Gonzaga family), Mantua, Italy, 1465-74.
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Andrea Mantegna, Fresco.
Camera degli Sposi (Bridal
Chamber), Mantua, Italy.
1465-74.
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Andrea Mantegna, Lamentation Over Dead Christ, c1490. EARLY ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
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Andrea Mantegna
St. Sebastian
c1480.
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Andrea Mantegna, St. Sebastian. c1480.
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Antonio Pollaiolo, Battle of the Nudes, 1470s. EARLY ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
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Antonio Pollaiolo, Battle of the Nudes, 1470s. EARLY ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
Antonio del Pollaiolo was a
notable sculptor and painter,
but this engraving (which was
the only known one he
created) was an exceptional
piece for this century.
Like many Italian works, this
reference to Classical Greek
bodies attempts to show the
tension and balance that the
male warrior would exhibit
from various poses.
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Perugino, The Delivery of the Keys to St. Peter. Fresco, 1481–82.
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