Early Renaissance in Italy(1400’s / 15th Century)

“An explosion of creativity and learning in Europe in the 15th and 16th Centuries.”

Historical Reasons for Renaissance

• People were ready for change after 14th Century Wars, the plague, and social upheaval

• Change in Political power – the new “monarchs” exerted and expanded their authority, including spending money on art

• Emerging capitalism – trade, new credit, and exchange systems created a network of enterprising European cities

• The Pope makes Rome him home again

The birthplace of the Renaissance was Italy

The Renaissance quickly spread to other parts of Europe.

Humanism

Revival of classical learning and literature (interest in Ancient Greek and Roman cultures)

Focus on Human Beings

• education that perfected humans through the study of past models of civic and personal virtue

• value system that emphasized personal effort and responsibility

• physically and intellectually active life that was directed at a common good as well as individual nobility

Renaissance art influenced by Ancient Greek and Roman Art

Ancient Greek Sculpture

Renaissance Sculpture

Nude figures

• Renaissance artists often depicted nude figures

• The beauty of the human body

• Based on Classical Greek Art

• No shame in showing nude human figure (freedom of expression)

Donatello, David, 1432, Bronze

sculpture, 5’2”. Florence, Italy

• Donatello studied ancient sculpture in Rome

• David is a character from the Bible. In the story, he fights the giant (Goliath) and wins

• First life-sized nude sculpture since Ancient Greek and Roman times (Nude wasn’t shown in Middle Ages – considered indecent)

• Tribute to “male beauty”

• Contrapposto – the way he’s standing

The main subject matter in Renaissance Art was Religion. The main religion in Europe at that time was Christianity. Art included depictions of stories from the Bible, stories about the life of Christ and the Holy Family, etc.

Composition during the Renaissance

(Composition is the organization of the elements to form a unified whole in an artwork)

Renaissance artists carefully planned their artworks, making many sketches and plans in advance of the final work

Shapes were used as a way to organize a composition

The triangle shape is symbolic in Chrisitianity

“The holy trinity”

Engraving, a printmaking technique was invented in 15th Century

The process involves using a tool to carve lines into a metal or wood plate, adding ink,

and printing copies from the plate

Antonio Pollaiuolo, Battle of the Ten Nudes, 1465, Engraving

Visual Movement

Hatching – Technique of using a series of parallel lines to create the image

Hatching was used in Italian style engravingAntonio Pollaiuolo, Battle of the

Ten Nudes

Fresco Painting

Wall paintings / Part of the architecture

Popular Medium in Italy in Renaissance

Fresco means “Fresh” in Italian, the word refers to the process

Buon Fresco (“True Fresh”) – technique of painting on wet plaster where you have to work quickly

Masaccio, Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden, 1425, Fresco

Masaccio, Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden

Adam and Eve (first man and woman according to the Bible) stumble blindly led by angel

Expulsion – forced to leave

Eden – “Paradise”

Feeling of Despair / Deep Sadness

Strong Light and Shadow

Simple Composition with eloquent message

Fra Angelico, Annunciation, 1440 – 1445, Fresco

Painted by a monk

Series of Paintings of stories in a Monastery in Italy

Annunciation is the story of angel Gabriel telling the Virgin Mary that she will have a baby (Jesus)

Frescos illustrate a 13th Century Text

Simple and Humble Character

Fra Angelico, Annunciation

Perspective

Depicting the illusion of three-dimensional space on a flat 2-D surface

Renaissance artists discovered ways to show space that looked more real (one and two-point perspective)

Andrea Mantegna, Dead Christ, 1501, Tempera on Canvas

Andrea Mantegna, Dead Christ

Perspective / Foreshortening of the human figure

Size of feet reduced to look smaller

Overwhelming emotion

Two mourning figures on the left added later by Mantegna’s students

Mantegna’s style and sense of human emotion influenced other artists

Masaccio, Holy Trinity, 1428, Fresco

Masaccio, Holy Trinity

Masaccio leading innovator in 15th Century Art

Painting based on Observation (looking at real humans as a model)

“Calm monumental style”

Perspective – looking up and looking down at tomb of Christ

Virgin Mary on the left, St. John on Right, portraits of patrons kneeling on left and right (patron = person who gives money for art)

Classical Greek and Roman Themes in Renaissance Art

Botticelli, Birth of Venus, 1482, Tempera on Canvas

Botticelli, Birth of Venus

Venus – Roman Goddess of Love and Beauty

Zephyrus – God of Wind with his lover, Chloris

Pomona – Nymph greeting Venus with a robe

• Painting inspired by a poem by Angelo Poliziano, an Italian Humanist

• Commissioned by the Medici for the Medici family, a powerful wealthy Italian family

• From a series of paintings based on Classical themes

Italian Renaissance Architecture

Filippo Brunelleschi, Dome of Florence Cathedral, 1420 – 1436 (Florence, Italy)

Brunelleschi, Dome of Florence Cathedral

Bruneslleschi designed the dome – the building stood unfinished for almost 100 years

He devised new building methods and invented new machinery for architecture

Problem was the huge span (140 feet wide)

Brunelleschi made the dome taller and created a pointed dome / used a thin shell to support the weight

Lorenzo Ghiberti, Sacrifice of Isaac, 1401 – 1402, Gilded Bronze relief

Lorenzo Ghiberti, Sacrifice of Isaac

Relief sculpture – figures protruding from a flat background

Spatial Illusion

Won a Design Competition to design the east doors of Florence Baptistry (Part of Florence Cathedral)

Ghiberti designed 28 door panels, depicting scenes from The Old Testament of the Bible