Download SLIDE 1 - Leonardo da Vinci, Ginevra de` Benci

High Renaissance 1
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SLIDE - Leonardo da Vinci, Self-Portrait.
The 16th century - Age of social, intellectual and religious growth transformed culture.
Printing press caused an explosion in the number of books available,
It spread new ideas and increased literacy.
Travel was more common, so art became less “regional”, more international.
More private commissions were available to artists
Rising middle class & upper-middle class
Artists were less dependent on the patronage of the Church or royalty
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16 century patrons valued good artists highly & rewarded them well
High social status - some became international celebrities.
Respected artists had some power - could accept or reject commissions.
High Renaissance – “Classical Phase” of the Renaissance
Very late 1400’s – 1527, when Rome was sacked in 1527 by Charles V
Artists looked back to the works of Classical Greece and Rome
Tempera mostly replaced by oil paint - beautiful glow, and lasts better.
3 Great Artists of the High Renaissance: Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael.
Leonardo da Vinci was from the Tuscan village of Vinci
Moved to Florence at age 12 or 13, where he was
*apprenticed to the painter/sculptor Verocchio until Leonardo was about 24.
He left many projects unfinished - often eager to move on to some new task.
Very handsome, charming, outgoing. Gracious manners, good sense of humor.
Interested in: architecture, math, anatomy, poetry, literature, geology, botony, hydraulics.
Active mind – ALWAYS thinking, inventing
Recorded everything in his notebooks.
Suspicious – coded things, “Mirror writing”.
DISSECTED CADAVERS – prohibited by the church.
His artworks are very limited in number, he rarely finished anything
Maybe he had ADD, or just an intense curiosity?
He was more interested in experimenting than doing what was proven to work.
Vegetarian. Known homosexual – jailed for it once.
SLIDE - Leonardo da Vinci, Ginevra de’ Benci.
1474. Oil on wood. 15 ¼ ” x 14 ½ ”
The only painting by Leonardo that is currently in the United States – National Gallery
Ginevra was a daughter of a rich Florentine banker.
Her eyes command attention - no eyelashes.
*Eyes done in layer after layer of transparent paint - they glow.
*Leonardo believed they are the window to the soul.
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SLIDE - Leonardo da Vinci, The Last Supper.
Wall painting in Monastery of Santa Maria delle Frazie, Milan, Italy.
1495 - 1498. Oil and tempera on plaster. 13’ 9” x 29’ 10”.
Always experimenting and many ended in failure.
Called his “greatest failure” - began to flake off the wall shortly after it was finished.
Probably enjoyed creating his own version of a tired theme.
On a dining hall wall, in a monastery.
Designed the scene so that it would look like a continuation of the dining hall.
Christ in the center, 1 pt. perspective vanishing point above his head.
No halo - uses light from window.
All apostles on same side of table - jammed together.
Highlights the drama. Vivid expressions of human emotions.
Just announced betrayal - flurry of activity in disbelief.
Arranged in groups of 3. At Jesus’ side - John, Judas, Peter (John look as if faint).
Judas (in blue/green) leans away Christ. In the shadows.
Has an expression of anger & defiance, clutching moneybag
QUESTIONS: Mary Magdalene or John the Baptist?
Whose hand holds the knife - Peter???
Leonardo spend long periods just staring at the painting when he was working
Angered the Prior of the monastery, who complained to the Duke of Milan.
Leonardo defended himself saying “Men of genius sometimes produce the
most when they do not seem to be working at all”. Duke agreed.
Told the prior that he was having trouble finding a model for Judas
Said he’d use the Prior’s head if he kept giving him trouble!
Very damaged - bad repairs, a door was cut into it, colors faded.
When Napoleon’s army swept through, they used dining hall used as barracks Soldiers amused themselves by throwing boots at Judas.
Protected with sandbags during WW2
Survived bombings, but developed a white fungus took 2 years to clean.
SLIDE - Leonardo, The Virgin & Child with St. Anne. 1505 - 1507.
Charcoal with white chalk on brown paper. 4’ 6” x 3’ 3”.
Was thought to be a cartoon (drawing) for a major painting.
Now think it is a finished work in itself, a gift artists often made in 16th century.
Virgin Mary sits on her mother’s knee (St. Anne). She turns to the right to hold Jesus,
Jesus reaches for his cousin, John the Baptist.
Figures strongly modeled with chiaroscuro (Italian for light-dark).
Visual unity.
Tender expressions.
SLIDE - Leonardo, Virgin of the Rocks.
1485. Oil on wood. 6’ 3” x 3’ 7”.
Madonna, Christ child, John the Baptist, & an angel.
Strange landscape, diffused lighting.
Pyramidal arrangement of figures. All make a hand gesture of some sort. Tender.
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SLIDE - Leonardo, The Mona Lisa.
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1503 - 1505. Oil on wood. 2’ 6” x 1’ 9”.
Probably most famous painting EVER.
Worked on it 16 years - He liked it so much, kept it with him for the rest of his life.
May be 24-year old Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo The wife of a prominent merchant from Florence.
No jewelry, not even a ring. Plucked eyebrows, shaved forehead - stylish.
Solid pyramid form – against unfinished mountains in background.
Mysterious…Gentle smile - enigmatic, but no accompanying warmth in her eyes.
Bold, flirtatious gaze - straight at viewer.
Is she sad? Does she mock us?
Is she a self-portrait of Leonardo himself??? Facial features match up.
SFUMATO - smoky, hazy. Soft, smoky look. Blurry contours. Unifies the picture.
Read excerpts, Becoming Mona Lisa
Michelangelo – Self Portrait
Michelangelo Buonarroti. Born in a small Tuscan town, grew up in Florence.
His mother died when he was young. Had a stormy relationship with his father.
Dad didn’t want him to be an artist, fought – dad beat him over it.
(until Michelangelo became rich)
Michelangelo had a fiery temper, suspicious nature.
Difficult - lots of disagreements with other artists, patrons, etc.
Apprenticed to Ghirlandaio, who taught him fresco painting.
Then joined the household of Lorenzo the Magnificent, head of the Medici family.
There he studied sculpture under people who had studied with Donatello.
Studied the Medici collection of classical statues.
Like Boticelli, he was later influenced by a fanatically religious monk - Savonarola.
Can see the worry in his Michelangelo’s late works (Last Judgment)
Probably homosexual – most art historians agree that he was.
Wrote moving letters to a man, Tomaso, & woman, Vitoria.
No evidence of any sex life, if he was gay, he was quiet about it.
Passion for the male form hints at it, though.
SLIDE - Michelangelo, Pieta. Old St. Peter’s, Vatican, Rome. 1500. Marble.
Height 5’ 9”.
“Pieta” is a portrait of Mary holding the body of Christ. Means “pity” in Italian.
Commissioned by a French cardinal for a tomb monument in Old St. Peter’s basilica.
Michelangelo felt he could “see” figure trapped in marble,
He just needed to “set it free”.
Proportions and ages distorted –
Virgin looks very young – too young to have a son Jesus’ age
Her body larger than Christ’s (have to support his).
This inconsistency doesn’t matter –
Sweet expression, human emotion, and finely modeled forms much more noticeable.
People doubted the young sculptor could have created so fine a work - sneaked into the
Church at night to sign it - caved name on Mary’s sash.
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SLIDE - Michelangelo, David. 1501 - 1504. Marble. 13’ 5” high.
Commissioned by Florence Cath. building committee - This piece made his reputation.
Was supposed to be placed high atop a buttress on the Florence cathedral.
Was so admired, placed it in a city square instead.
Took 4 days on tree-trunk rollers to move from his workshop to the square.
Carved from a block of marble damaged by another sculptor.
Athletic, idealistic youthful David - Can see every muscle, veins.
Classical influence, heroic, even divine - pose like the Scraper.
Face & hands overly large.
Slightly Hellenistic in moodiness, looking off toward something else.
Not the triumphant hero with Goliath’s head under his feet, but stares into empty space.
Looks as if preparing himself for new dangers that lie ahead.
Still holding slingshot used on Goliath.
Compare to Donatello’s David.
David represents the power of right over might
Represents Florence, had recently fought off forces of Milan, Siena, Pisa.
SLIDE - Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel Ceiling. Vatican City, Rome.
1508 - 1512. Fresco. Approx. 128’ x 45’.
Michelangelo was creating a tomb for Pope Julius, but called away to do this.
Looked impossible to paint & Michelangelo protested. Didn’t WANT it.
His pride wounded too, ceilings not important as wall paintings
(Plus Boticelli & others already did walls – he wanted to sculpt)
Why paint something so high, above heads?
He considered himself a sculptor, not a painter
Eventually, Michelangelo gave in to the stubborn Pope.
Had to build a scaffolding to get up there, 68’ above floor.
Refused assistants, did it alone, leaning backwards to paint on wet plaster.
Dripped on him. Curved vaults difficult to paint. Took 4 years.
Major Theme: History of Christianity. Themes of good & evil.
Michelangelo’s design - Pope told him to paint whatever he wanted.
Illusionistic marble architecture, setting for more than 300 figures.
Stories of the Creation, Flood, Fall & Redemption of Humanity, are main narratives.
Begins over the altar, finished near the chapel’s entrance.
Creation of Adam is most famous - moment Adam receives spark of life.
Ancestors of Christ fill triangular areas above the windows,
ox skull above each point - a motif from ancient Roman paintings & reliefs.
Ignudi (heroic figures of nude young men) seated on painted cornice projections,
They hold sashes attached to gold medallions, which contain biblical scenes.
Putti sculptures (Trompe l’oeil) on the pilasters
Bronze nudes flanking ram heads at the triangles and spandrels;
Triangles above the lunettes - ancestors of Christ.
Main focus is the human figure - beautiful in itself, but also as the home for the soul.
Figures are sculptural, look as if carved, like reliefs.
Little clothing or ornamentation.
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DETAIL - Prophet & Sibyl
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DETAIL - Creation of Adam
Is the woman under God’s arm Eve, or the Virgin Mary (with Christ child at her knee?)
God’s other finger is pointing at the baby, might be Jesus.
Heavy muscle structure characteristic of Michelangelo’s style.
DETAIL - Drunkenness of Noah
Noah asleep and mocked by his sons.
Chosen by God to outlive the Flood, & ensure the survival and redemption of mankind.
Drunk not on overdose of wine, but represents the human loss of spiritual memory
The sons stripped and ridiculed him. Noah's devotion and piety pacifies the Father;
for his sake God has decided to redeem mankind.
**CLEANED IN 1989.
SLIDE - Michelangelo, The Last Judgment, Sistine Chapel altar wall.
Vatican City, Rome. 1534 - 1541.
Commissioned by Pope Clement 7th (pope1523-1534) shortly before his death.
At center - powerful figure of Christ - raises one hand
Motions for the figures on the right side to be plunged down
Towards Charon and Minos, the Judge of the Underworld.
Other hand is drawing up the chosen people on the left.
Good & bad people NOT neatly separated.
Virgin Mary on left, shrinking away - not equal to her son.
Saints surround him. People huddle together, beg for mercy.
Figure floating in the lower right with his head in his hand,
Suffering an inner torment, similar to that of the artist himself:
Despair, remorse, fear of physical and spiritual annihilation.
Below, Right, - group of the damned being sucked down into hell.
Like descriptions in Dante's Inferno – which Michelangelo knew.
Charon rows his boat across river.
Left: People sucked from their graves.
The painting is a turning point in the history of art.
DETAIL – Michelangelo’s self portrait as a flayed skin.
The artist's self-portrait appears in the Last Judgment: in the flayed skin
Saint Bartholomew holds it in his left-hand.
Bartholomew was s martyr who was skinned alive - he holds his own skin.
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DETAIL - Minos, the Judge of the Underworld
Minos’ face was modeled after the Pope's Master of Ceremonies
The MC often complained to the Pope about the nudity of the painted figures.
Said "It was a most dishonest act in such a respectable place to have painted
so many naked figures immodestly revealing their shameful parts, that it was not a
work for a papal chapel but for a bathhouse or house of ill-fame."
Michelangelo took his revenge on him by giving Minos his face With a huge serpent coiled around his legs, in a crowd of devils.
Bits of drapery were added to the nude figures after Michelangelo’s death.
SLIDE - Michelangelo, Moses. Rome. 1513 - 1515. Marble. 8’ 4” tall.
Was commissioned by Pope Julius II for his tomb,
Though Julius was never actually buried there.
The sculpture went to the church of San Pietro in Rome instead.
The tomb was supposed to be a huge freestanding rectangular structure With dozens of statues & reliefs in bronze & marble (see slide)
But Julius halted the project – needed $ to work on St. Peter’s Cathedral instead.
Michelangelo left for Florence to work on something else.
This was originally planned to part of a group of 7 other statues.
Seated, holds the tablets with 10 commandments. Has the horns (mistranslation).
Moses appears wise, but capable of great fury. Seems about to rise up off his seat.
So powerful and realistic - Legend says that first time Pope Julius saw it,
He struck it with his cane, and demanded that it speak.
Looks almost Hellenistic in its impact – more emotional than a Classical piece.
SLIDE - Michelangelo, Medici Tomb.
Florence. 1519 - 1534. Marble. Central figure is 5’ 11” high.
After Julius II died, Michelangelo served the Medici popes, Leo 10th & Clement 7th.
They didn’t let him finish Julius’ tomb either.
He designed & built the Medici Family funerary chapel, in Florence.
He created 2 tombs inside, this is Giuliano de Medici’s (a duke).
Never finished - We don’t know how it was meant to look.
Figure in niche is Giuliano, wears Roman emperor’s armor.
Not a true portrait - idealized.
Head turned, toward statue of Virgin.
Don’t know for sure who the other 2 figures are, or what they mean.
May represent “time”, and therefore the human life cycle:
Night (female), & Day (male),
Dawn and Evening on the opposite side across the room, on other tomb.
Look tense, unresting.
Hellenistic appearance, twisting bodies.
Masks below Night – represents nightmares?
Female has odd, lumpy breast - model with breast cancer?
Michelangelo lived until age 89. Immensely creative right up until he died.
Some thought he must be a descendant of some super race of beings.
Divine Michelangelo - Because his talent & accomplishments were so great.
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SLIDE - Raphael, Self portrait:
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Rafaello Santi. Born near Urbino, went to Florence in 1504.
Father was a painter. Studied with Perugino (Christ handing keys to St. Peter)
Some young painters would be intimidated in the shadow of Leonardo or Michelangelo.
But not Raphael, learned well, hard worker, & easygoing
(unlike Leonardo or Michelangelo – with their big egos)
Charming, handsome, sweet, friendly. Very much loved & respected. Died quite young.
Raphael - Madonna & Child Paintings.
Early 1500’s. Oil on panel.
His Madonna & Child paintings were immensely popular – did at least 17 of them.
Perugino’s sweet & devout style rubbed off on Raphael.
Probably studied Leonardo’s work too - used similar monumental shapes, idealized faces.
Figure-enhancing draperies & rich colors like Leonardo.
His forms are solid, yet still soft-looking. Very “pretty”. Beautiful simplicity.
Triangular or pyramidal compositions.
SLIDE - Raphael, Philosophy - School of Athens. 1509 - 1511. Fresco.
Vatican Palace, Rome. Approx. 19’ x 27’.
Worked for Pope Julius II, decorating the papal apartments – important comission
He was trying to explain the concept of western learning - a Renaissance perspective
Raphael painted the “4 Branches of Knowledge” in the lunettes of four walls
This one is Philosophy, painted in the Papal library. (religion, poetry, and law)
Barrel vaulted room, framed by an arch.
Had to arrange the figures carefully to make good use of the space.
They are serene, idealized. Foreshortened, and contrapposto poses.
The trompe l’oeil arch is excellent. Looks like New St. Peter’s (which was being built)
Above, in niches, are sculptures of: Left - Apollo (Arts - poetry, music, painting, sculpt)
Right - Minerva (wisdom & mechanical arts.)
Greek philosophers Plato & Aristotle are silhouetted against sky (natural world).
*Plato (left) holds his book Timateus (explanation of the universe).
Looks like Leonardo. Leonardo’s hand gesture.
Points to heaven as his source of inspiration
*Aristotle carries his book, Nichomachean Ethics.
Palm is down, gets inspiration from observing the natural world.
Ancient philosophers, (men interested in ultimate mysteries) stand on Plato’s side.
Scientists, mathematicians (philosophers of nature & humanity) on Aristotle’s side.
Monumental scene of calm dignity, grandeur, and intellectual presence.
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Modeled some figures after people he knew.
Socrates – greenish yellow toga, with beard, in back left
Heraclitus, philosopher, looks like Michelangelo,
Michelangelo was currently working on the Sistine chapel
Not far from where Raphael was painting this.
Alone on the LL, writing or composing poetry.
Euclid, inscribing on a slate, LR, modeled after friend & architect Bramante.
Pythagoras – LL writing, helper holds up a scale. Link between geom. & music.
Raphael put his own face 2nd figure from the front group at the far right
Zoroaster - front view, - holds a celestial sphere.
Ptolemy - back view, - holds an earth sphere
SLIDE - Raphael, Galatea.
Sala di Galatea. Villa Farnesia, Rome, Italy. Fresco. 1513.
Painted for a wealthy banker friend, for his palace, with scenes of Classical mythology.
This one possibly based on poem Metamorphoses, by Roman poet Ovid.
Pagan narrative - passionate, playful.
The nymph, Galatea is fleeing from the Cyclops Polyphemus, her former lover
(he’s in another panel, we don’t see him here).
She rides away on a seashell pulled by dolphins.
Fantastic creatures, half man and half fish & nymphs & cupids, are gathered around her.
Lively & cheerful, lots of action - almost Hellenistic.
Intricate composition. Graceful & windblown.
SLIDE - Raphael, Pope Leo X with Cardinals.
1518. Oil on panel. Approx. 5’ 1” x 3’ 11”.
Medici popes came to power, tended to abuse the power –
Spent $ on luxuries, and promoted the Medici family over everything else.
Pope Leo X was one of his Medici patrons, successor of Julius 2.
Shows the pope as a great collector of books (built Medici Library in Florence.)
Pope main ambition - to promote Medici family.
Evident in this portrait (actually a group portrait) –
Cousin Giulio, and Luigi, another relative. Both were made cardinals.
Beautiful brocade & velvet clothing, velvet chair,
Pope reading a rich-looking illuminated manuscript with a magnifying glass.
Polished brass knob on chair.
Variety of textures - (almost Flemish, like Van Eyck, attention to surface detail.
Raphael died in 1520 at age 37, from an illness, and is buried in the Pantheon in Rome.
Pantheon originally a classical temple to the Roman Gods, then
converted to a Christian chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary
What better place to bury the painter who created so many beautiful Virgin paintings?