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The Renaissance
The Renaissance
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1400’s.
The beginning of Modern Painting.
A time of rediscovery in Rome.
Art and literature were again brought to
the forefront as were scientific studies of
the body and natural world.
• As skills increased, the prestige of the
artist soared.
The Renaissance
• Several major breakthroughs in painting
made new styles a possibility.
• 1) Creation of oil paints. A mineral was
ground then mixed with oil and turpentine.
A greater range of colors was now
available. Also oil paint does not dry
quickly allowing the artist to make changes
to his work.
Oil Paints
The Renaissance
• 2)Perspective- One of the most significant
discoveries in the history of art was the
method for creating the illusion of depth on
a flat surface, called perspective.
• Painters can reduce the size of objects,
mute the colors, or blur details to give the
appearance of objects that are receding
into the background.
Masaccio “The Tribute Money”
The Renaissance
• 3)The use of light and shadow.
• Chiaroscuro (pronounced key arrow skewr
o). Means light/dark in Italian.
• By adding shadow painters produced
portraits which looked more rounded and
realistic.
Chiaroscuro
The Renaissance
• 4) Pyramid configuration. Grouping of
figures on the horizontal was out. The
pyramid composition allows your eye to
move around the painting, the top of the
triangle being the focal point.
Da Vinci, Mona Lisa
The Renaissance
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The Early Renaissance (1400-1500)
First 3 Hall of Famers:
1. Tomasso Masaccio- painter
2. Donatello (Donato di Niccolo)- sculptor
3. Sandro Botticelli- painter.
Masaccio was nicknamed “Sloppy Tom” as
he neglected his appearance to
concentrate on his artwork.
Masaccio “Self Portrait”
Masaccio, “Virgin and Child”
Donatello
• Donatello brought a relaxed look to his
sculptures mainly through, “contrapposto”.
• Contrapposto, refers to weight being
placed on one leg.
• You can see the look here,
on Donatello’s “Mary
Magdalene”.
Donatello’s “David”
Statue of Donatello
Botticelli
• Famous for “The Birth of Venus”
Botticelli, “Primavera”
Botticelli, “Self Portrait”
The Renaissance
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The High Renaissance (1500-1520)
3 Hall of Famers:
1)Leonardo da Vinci
2)Michelangelo di Simoni
3)Raphael da Urbino
Leonardo Da Vinci
• Leonardo de sir
Piero da Vinci
• 1452-1519 (67)
• Primarily a painter,
although he had
many interests
• Only 15 paintings
have survived
including the Mona
Lisa and the Last
Supper
• Also surviving are
his journals
/sketchbook
Leonardo da Vinci
• The term “
Renaissance man”
has come to mean an
individual who
radiates wisdom.
• He was universally
admired for his
handsome
appearance, intellect
and charm.
Leonardo da Vinci
• Listen to this description by one of his
contemporaries, “His personal beauty
could not be exaggerated, this tall man
with blonde hair’s every movement was
grace itself. His abilities were so
extraordinary he could readily solve any
difficulty. As if this were not enough, he
could sing divinely and his charming
conversation won all hearts.”
Leonardo da Vinci
• He was also an avid mountain climber who
delighted in scaling great heights.
• Leonardo was also fascinated with flight.
He was often seen paying those keeping
caged birds to set them free.
• He frequently sketched wings and
designed flying contraptions which he
eventually built with hopes of flying
himself.
Flying Machine Sketch
Leonardo da Vinci
• Other inventions: A machine to move mountains,
a parachute, a helicopter, an armored tank, and
a diving bell.
• He died at age 67 in France. On his deathbed
he said he “ has offended God and mankind by
not working on his art as he should have.”
• He had so many interests he felt his studies in
some way detracted from his artwork.
Mona Lisa
Mona Lisa
• Sketch, 1499
• Done 4 years prior to
the actual painting.
• Da Vinci was known
for putting off his
work, due to his many
interests.
Mona Lisa
• Or La Gioconda. 1503-Louvre, Paris
• Historically, Mona was no one special. She
was probably the young wife of a
Florentine merchant named Giocondo.
• The portrait set the standard for
Renaissance paintings in many ways.
• It was a great example of perspective with
all lines converging on a single vanishing
point behind Mona’s head.
Mona Lisa
• The triangular or pyramid composition
established the importance of geometry in
painting.
• It diverged from the stiff, profile portraits
that had been the norm in the past,
displaying the subject in a relaxed, natural,
three-quarter pose.
Mona Lisa
• Knowledge of the anatomy is so evident in
the Mona Lisa’s hands that Leonardo had
lived in a hospital for several months,
studying skeletons and dissecting
cadavers.
• Mona Lisa fully realized the potential of oil
paints. Instead of beginning with an
outline, Leonardo used light and shadow
or chiaroscuro to model her features.
Mona’s Hands
Mona Lisa
• The reason she looks so lifelike is
because Leonardo used many layers of
the semi-transparent paint.
• What about the famous smile?
• To avoid the solemnity of most formal
portraits, Leonardo engaged musicians
and jesters to amuse his subject.
Mona Lisa
• By 1952 more than 61 versions of the
Mona Lisa had been created. From Marcel
Duchamp’s goateed version to Andy
Warhol’s silk-screens. The Mona Lisa is
the most reproduced image in all art.
Mona Lisa
The Last Supper
The Last Supper
• Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” is known as
the world’s most revered religious painting.
• Leonardo declared that the artist’s
intention should be to capture “the man
and the intention of his soul.”
• Here he revolutionized art by capturing
what was going through each figure’s
mind.
The Last Supper
• Leonardo immortalized the dramatic moment
after Christ announced one of his disciples
would betray him, with each person reacting
emotionally and asking “Lord, is it I?” through a
range of gestures and expressions.
• He is again using perspective with all diagonal
lines converging on Christ’s head, making him
the focal point of painting.
The Notebooks- Vitruvian Man
Vitruvian Man
• Depicts an image of a man showing perfect
geometric proportions.
• Ex:
• Your palm is approximately the width of your 4
fingers.
• The length of your arms outspread is equal to
your height.
• The distance from the top of your head to your
chin is approximately 1/8 your height. (Making
each person 8 “heads” tall.)
Vitruvian Man
The Notebooks
• Evidence of Leonardo’s fertile imagination
lies in the thousands of pages of sketches
and ideas in his notebooks.
• His interests and expertise encompass
anatomy, engineering, astronomy,
mathematics, natural history, music,
sculpture, architecture, and painting,
making him a very versatile genius.
The Notebooks
• Leonardo anticipated many major
discoveries and inventions of succeeding
centuries.
• Among his discoveries: central heating,
printing press, telescopes, bombs, etc.
• His illustrations of the interior workings of
the human body were so precise they
could accurately teach medical students
today.
The Notebooks
The Notebooks
The Notebooks- Self Portrait
Michelangelo
Michelangelo
• Michelangelo di
Lodovico
Buonaorrti Simoni,
1475- 1564 (88)
• Born near present
day Florence, Italy
• Sculptor, painter,
architect, poet and
engineer
• Renaissance artist
• Called one of the
greatest artists of
all time, his works
are some of the
most famous in
existence
Michelangelo
• Michelangelo’s
mother died when
he was very young,
6 years old.
• As a child
Michelangelo was
cared for by a
neighbor who’s
husband was a
stonecutter.
He grew up
interested in the
man’s work,
watching him draw
and carve into the
stone and learning
how to use a
hammer and chisel.
Michelangelo
• Michelangelo
believe that
creativity was
divinely inspired.
This elevated the
status of the artist
in society and
allowed him to
break longstanding
rules.
• Of all artists,
Michelangelo felt
the sculptor was
the most godlike,
saying that “God
himself created life
from clay.”
Michelangelo
• He described his technique as “liberating the
figure from the marble that imprisons it.”
• While other sculptors added pieces of marble to
disguise mistakes, Michelangelo always carved
his sculptures from just one block.
“Pieta”
Michelangelo
• The first work to earn him renown, carved when
he was 23, was the “Pieta” which means pity.
• The pyramid style arrangement and accurate
anatomy were derived from Leonardo Da Vinci.
• When the sculpture was unveiled a viewer
attributed the work to a more experienced
sculptor, unable to believe a youth could create
such a triumph. When Michelangelo heard he
carved his name on the ribbon across the
Virgin’s chest, the only work he ever signed.
Michelangelo
• When Michelangelo was commissioned to
paint the Sistine Chapel by Pope Julius he
was asked to paint a few vines on a blue
background, to spruce up the barnlike
ceiling of the chapel.
• What he gave him was more than 340
human figures representing the origin and
fall of man- the most ambitious artistic
undertaking of the whole Renaissance.
Michelangelo
• The fact that Michelangelo accomplished
this feat in less than 4 years, with very little
assistance is amazing.
• The physical conditions were formidable.
Nearly half the length of a football field, the
ceiling presented 10,000 square feet to be
designed.
• The roof leaked, which made the plaster
difficult to paint on.
Michelangelo
• The curved shape of the ceiling made it
hard to get the proportions of the body
correct.
• In addition, he was painting upside down
on seven-story high scaffold in a cramped
and uncomfortable position.
Heinz History Center Exhibit
Other works
Michelangelo’s tomb
• Basilica of Santa
Croce, Florence,
Italy
Raphael
• If the Renaissance artists were in a
popularity contest Raphael would beat out
even the handsome Da Vinci.
• It was said he was so kind and gentle that
even animals loved him.
• His father, a mediocre painter taught his
son the basics from an early age.
• By 17, he was considered a master.
Raphael
• At 26, he was called to Rome by the Pope
to decorate the Vatican.
• Raphael created many frescos there with
help from an army of about 50 students.
• The paintings were completed the same
year Michelangelo finished the Sistine
Chapel. (1512)
Raphael
• When he caught a fever and died at the
young age of 37, the entire court plunged
in grief.
• Raphael combined all the greatest
characteristics of the Renaissance. He
borrowed pyramidal composition and light
and shadow from Da Vinci.
• From Michelangelo he adapted dynamic
figures and the contrapposto pose.
Raphael
Raphael- School of Athens
Raphael
• “School of Athens” 1511, was Raphael’s
masterpiece.
• It is located in the Vatican and said to
show 4 groups exemplifying certain
studies.
• From left to right: Philosophy, Poetry and
Music, Theology or Religion and Law.
Raphael
• Several artists are said to have served as
models for the image.
• Michelangelo is the man seated at the front of
the steps.
• The left central figure is said to be Da Vinci.
• The right central figure is Aristotle.
• The other figures are all important philosophers,
artists and scholars of the time. This was to be
an image of the greatest minds in Rome.
Raphael
Raphael
Raphael’s Madonna
Raphael “Cherubini”