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Art of the Italian
Renaissance
The Renaissance
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The Renaissance was a time of rebirth, revival of
learning, and renewed cultural awareness.
As the Middle Ages drew to a close, a new spirit
emerged and the focus of study shifted from
theology to humanity.
This exciting cultural movement began in Italy in
the late 1300's and ended in about 1600.
Renaissance Art
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The changes that the Renaissance precipitated
are most evident in the art of that period.
There was an evolution from the strict,
symbolic figures of the Middle Ages, to the
fluid, emotion-filled figures that gave life to
Renaissance art.
Pre-Renaissance Art
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The Byzantine art style
preceded the Renaissance.
Does the style seem warm
and inviting, or cold and
distant to you?
Pre-Renaissance Architecture
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The Romanesque
and Gothic styles
preceded the
Renaissance.
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Romanesque was
round and sturdy
Gothic was tall
and pointed up to
heaven.
Which one seems
to be a warmer,
more inviting
atmosphere? Why?
Romanesque round
arches of St Savin
Gothic rib vaults of
Durham Cathedral
Proto-Renaissance
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This period, roughly 1200 1400 A.D., is the time that
the Italian style was just
beginning to show breaks
from the Byzantine and
Gothic styles.
We see the first attempts to
display realism and greater
interest in depicting the
human form.
Byzantine v. Proto-Renaissance
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Compare a
Byzantine
painting with
one of Giotto's
paintings.
Which one
looks more
realistic?
Byzantine Art
Detail from Giotto’s
Mourning of Christ
Proto-Renaissance Art: Giotto
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Giotto di Bondone (c. 1267 - 1337) was a
Florentine painter and architect.
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He was recognized as the first artistic genius of the
Italian Renaissance.
He dealt largely in the traditional religious
subjects, but he gave these subjects an earthly, fullblooded life and force.
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A sad, remote,
inscrutable Virgin
from the 13th century
13th c. Madonna -Cimabue's
Santa Trinita Madonna
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A very human woman,
her lips parted in a
hint of a smile that
reveals the white of
her teeth.
Giotto’s Ognissanti Madonna
Early 15th Century Renaissance
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In the early 15th century,
the spirit of the Italian
Renaissance was strongest
in Florence.
One Italian family, the
Medici, bankers to all
Europe, were such
generous patrons of the
arts that it has been said
they "financed" the
Renaissance.
Early 15th Century Renaissance
Innovation: Perspective
Late Middle Ages Treatment of
Space: It Encompasses Viewer
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Artists have always
portrayed space in ways
that suit their worldview.
In the religious painting
of the late Middle Ages,
space seems to open out
from the picture plane. It
encompasses the viewer
to make him part of the
sacred events taking
place.
Early Renaissance Treatment of
Space: It Recedes from Viewer
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During the early
Renaissance, as
humanism focused
attention on man, the
viewer assumes the
active role.
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Space recedes from the
viewer's eye into the
picture plane.
The viewer himself is the
point of reference.
Late Middle Ages
Early Renaissance
Early 15th Century Renaissance
Architecture: Brunelleschi
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Filippo Brunelleschi
(1421 to 1440) was the
first architect to employ
mathematical perspective
to redefine Gothic and
Romanesque space and to
establish new rules of
proportion and symmetry.
Romanesque
Gothic
Early 15th Century
Early 15th Century Renaissance
Sculpture: Donatallo
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Donatello (13861466) created the first
free-standing statues
of the Renaissance,
independent of
architecture or
decoration.
Early 15th Century Renaissance
Artist: Masaccio
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Masaccio (1401-1428)
took up the inheritance
of Giotto, developing
his art according to the
new techniques and
methods of perspective.
Late 15th Century Renaissance
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By mid 15th century,
the Renaissance
movement had spread
throughout Europe.
However, Italy was still
at the heart of this
cultural rebirth and it
continued to produce
ingenious artists like
Mantegna, Antonella da
Messina, and Botticelli.
Late 15th Century Renaissance:
Andrea Mantegna
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Andrea Mantegna
(1431-1506) painted
heroic figures, often
using a dramatic
perspective that gives
the viewer the illusion
of looking up from
below.
Late 15th Century Renaissance:
Mantegna’s Triumph of Virtue
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This detail of
Mantegna’s The
Triumph of Virtue
(c. 1540) depicts
Athena as moral
guardian expelling
the Vices from the
garden.
Late 15th Century Renaissance:
Antonella da Messina
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Antonella da Messina
(1430-1479) made his
portraits so perfect that
they give the illusion of
life. Particularly careful
of perspective, his
painting is characterized
by strong colors and
precision of architectural
forms.
Late 15th Century Renaissance:
Sandro Botticelli
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Sandro Botticelli (1444/5-1510)
had a sophisticated understanding
of perspective, anatomy, and
humanism. His Birth of Venus (c.
1485) and Primavera (1477-78)
are often said to epitomize for
modern viewers the spirit of the
Renaissance.
The High Renaissance
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The essential feature of
High Renaissance art was its
unity. Paintings invoked
increasing dramatic force
with the human forms
becoming so life-like, they
almost seemed to be
breathing. Three artists
whose work dominated this
period were Michelangelo,
Raphael, and Leonardo da
Vinci.
The High Renaissance:
Michelangelo as Sculptor
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Michelangelo (c. 1501-1504)
preferred the chisel to the paint
brush and he has left us with such
astounding sculptures as David
and the Pieta.
The High Renaissance:
Michelangelo as Painter
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Through the insistence
of Pope Julian II,
however, Michelangelo
set the chisel aside for a
time and conceived the
world's greatest single
fresco in the walls and
ceiling of the Sistine
Chapel.
The High Renaissance: Raphael
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Raphael’s (1483-1520)
paintings reveal a soft,
poetic quality.
The High Renaissance:
Raphael’s Nymph of Galatea
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The sheer beauty of his
figures is breathtaking.
When he had finished the
Galatea, he was asked
where he had found a model
of such beauty. He replied
that he did not copy any
specific model but rather
followed “a certain idea” he
had formed in his mind.
The High Renaissance:
Raphael’s Madonna dell Granduca
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A painting like
Raphael's Madonna dell
Granduca is truly
“classical” in the sense
that it has served
countless generations as
a standard of perfection.
The High Renaissance:
Leonardo da Vinci
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Leonardo da Vinci
(1452-1519) epitomized
the Renaissance
humanistic ideal. He
wanted to know the
working of everything
he saw in nature and
filled more than 4,000
pages of notebooks with
detailed diagrams and
observations.
The High Renaissance:
Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa
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Leonardo’s The Mona
Lisa is considered the
prototype of the
Renaissance portrait.
The High Renaissance:
Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper
Before: Peeling and discolored
after years of neglect
After: The restored masterpiece was open
to visitors in May 1999.
The Madonna and Child
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"Madonna and Child" was a common subject
for artists of the Renaissance period.
Let’s compare the works of artists from three
different periods:
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Cimabue (Proto-Renaissance)
Sandro Botticelli (mid 15th century)
Leonardo da Vinci (High Renaissance)
Cimabue
Proto-Renaissance
Botticelli
Mid-15th Century
Leonardo da Vinci
High Renaissance
Discussion Questions
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In your opinion, which painting conveys the most
warmth and tenderness? What is there about the
painting that gives it that appearance?
What changes do you notice in the treatment of the
human form by these three different artists in these
three different stages of the Renaissance?
Look at the treatment of the background in each
painting. Consider the use of line, light, and space.
How do these elements vary in each painting.