Giotto: Death of Christ, Fresco c. 1306

Giotto. Meeting at the Golden Gate. 1304-1306. Fresco. Capella degli Scrovegni, Padua, Italy.

The Tribute Money, Masaccio, c. 1427, fresco

Expulsion of Adam and Eveby Masaccio1422-26

Doryphorus,(Spear Carrier)Greek Approx 400 BC

Michelangelo David, c. 1501-1504, MarbleHeight 410 cm (13 1/2 ft) Accademia delle Belle Arti, Florence

Renaissance = Rebirth

Humanism

Donatello, David, c. 1444-46Bronze Height 158 cmMuseo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence

Michelangelo David, c. 1501-1504, MarbleHeight 410 cm (13 1/2 ft) Accademia delle Belle Arti, Florence

•First life-size bronze statue since antiquity•first nude statue since antiquity•Contrapposto•Youthful grace and dignity•Nudity= vulnerability. This is emphasized by his helmet and greaves (leg armor)•Statue became a symbol of Florentine Liberty against Visconti of Milan

PerspectiveOne of the most significant discoveries in the history of art was "perspective" --the method for creating the illusion of depth on a flat surface. Perspective became the foundation of European painting for the next 500 years. Linear perspective created the optical effect of objects receding into the distance through lines that appeared to converge at a single point in the picture, known as the vanishing point. Painters also reduced the size of objects and muted colors or blurred detail as objects got further away.The vaulted arch in the painting below by Masaccio is a perfect illustration of the linear perspective that he pioneered. Masaccio painted this scene so that all the sightlines converge on a single point, just as we would see the lines painted on a straight road getting smaller as the road recedes into the distance.

The Holy Trinity, Masaccio, c 1420, fresco

Pyramid Composition

Rigid profile portraits and the grouping of figures on a horizontal grid in the picture's foreground gave way to a more three-dimensional "pyramid configuration." The triangular massing of volumes around a painting's central axis gives a painting great compositional stability and is one of the keys to the symmetry that Renaissance artists strove for in their work. The painting to the right by Leonardo shows the broadening of the triangular composition into three dimensions making a weighty pyramid with a base formed by the spatial positioning of the four figures and an apex at the face of the Virgin.

The Virgin of the Rocks, Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1485, oil on wood panel

Use of Light and ShadowChiaroscuro, which means "light-and-dark" in Italian, was discovered by Masaccio and referred to the new technique for modeling forms in painting by which lighter parts seemed to emerge from darker areas, producing the illusion of rounded, sculptural relief on a flat surface. The drawing below by Leonardo da Vinci illustrates the way that chiaroscuro is used to give form to a three-dimensional body through the relationship of light and shadow. The forms no longer stand abruptly side by side as they did in the works of previous artists where the figures were simply drawn and painted, but now seem unified in a single lighted space.

The Virgin and Child, St. Anne and the Infant St. John (detail),Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1498, charcoal heightened with white on brown paper

Oil PaintingOil paint on panel or canvas became the medium of choice during the Renaissance. With this method, minerals and plants were ground fine, then mixed with turpentine and oil to be applied as oil paint. A greater range of rich colors with smooth gradations of tone permitted painters to represent textures and simulate three-dimensional form. Oil paint dried more slowly than the tempera paints used earlier, and allowed the artists more freedom to blend colors to achieve various effects.

 

Botticelli, Sandro The Cestello Annunciation c. 1489Tempera on panel 150 x 156 cmUffizi, Florence

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Leonardo da VinciThe Annunciation

c. 1472-1475Oil and tempera on panel

38 1/4 x 84 5/8 in. (98 x 217 cm)

Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Albreckt Durer, late 15th-early 16th centuryThe Draftsman and the model: turning linear perspective into a scientific technique

Botticelli, Sandro, Adoration of the Magi Tempera on panel 111 x 134 cm Uffizi, Florence

Botticelli having already secured the patronage of the Medici whose portraits (according to Vasari) appear in the picture.

Botticelli, Sandro The Birth of Venus c. 1485 Tempera on canvas 172.5 x 278.5 cm (67 7/8 x 109 5/8 in.) Uffizi, Florence

Botticelli's two most famous paintings were possibly for Lorenzo de' Medici. They are the Primavera (c1478) and the Birth of Venus (c1483), both in the Uffizi. These are mythologies that embody the moral Neoplatonic ideas that were then fashionable in the Medici circles.

The IndividualPure visual poetry, Botticelli’s paintings are stylistically unique. There is a deliberate denial of rational spatial construction and no attempt to model solid-looking figures; instead the figures float on the forward plane of the picture against a decorative landscape backdro. The forms are defined by a dark outline.

Botticelli, Sandro Primavera (detail) c. 1482

Tempera on wood203 x 314 cm Galleria degli

Uffizi, Florenc

3 Graces of Poetry, Music, DramaNature = goddess of spring (Flora)

Leonardo da Vinci The Last Supper 1498 Tempera on plaster 460 x 880 cm (15 x 29 ft.)Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie (Refectory), Milan

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Raphael The School of Athens 1510-11 FrescoVatican, Stanza della Segnatura, Rome

Emperor Charles V at MühlbergBy Titain1548 Oil on canvas, 332 x 279 cmMuseo del Prado, Madrid

Michelangelo

Pieta c. 1498-99 Marble 174 x 195 cm (5 3/4 x 6 ft) Basilica of St Peter, Vatican

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Leonardo da VinciMona LisaDetailc. 1503-4Oil on wood77 x 53 cm (30 x 20 5/8 in.)Musee du Louvre, Paris

Subtle ExpressionEmotionPersonalityMysteryIndividuality

Knowledge of Anatomy

Anatomically CorrectCelebration of the IndividualRealisticVolumeShapeEmotionContrapposto

GiottoFlorentine, probably 1266 - 1337

Madonna and Child, probably 1320/1330tempera on panel, 85.5 x 62 cm (33 5/8 x 24 3/8 in.)

DonatelloThe Penitent Magdalenec. 1453-55Wood with Polychromy and GoldHeight 188 cmMuseo dell'Opera del Duomo, Florence