Art in the Renaissance 1400 1600 Overview ItalianEarly

Art in the Renaissance 1400 – 1600

Overview • Italian/Early 1400 -1490 • Italian/High 1500 -1600 • Northern/Late 1500 -1600 • one can argue about dates: 1300 – 1520 1400 – 1600

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Renaissance • 1 st period to name itself and say nasty things about earlier times: “Gothic” & “Dark Ages” • Term means “Rebirth” • Looking back to Classical culture – Ancient Greece and Rome • Names! Artists known by name – 1 st contemporary art historian (1550); Individuality celebrated in this era

Renaissance • Church is still the biggest power structure • Beginning of banking • Private fortunes & power • Starts in Italy – specifically Florence

The Return of Humanism Man loves himself once again

from Pico della Mirandola's Oration on the Dignity of Man (1486). . . I feel that I have come to some understanding of why man is the most fortunate of living things and, consequently, deserving of all admiration; of what may be the condition in the hierarchy of beings assigned to him, which draws upon him the envy, not of the brutes alone, but of the astral beings and of the very intelligences which dwell beyond the confines of the world. see also p. 190

Donatello, David, 1432 p. 203

Donatello, David, 1432 Tuscan hat p. 203

Style of helmet & art symbolic reference to other Italian city-states Donatello, David, 1432 Goliath’s head detail Love of texture

Donatello, David, 1432 1 st free-standing, life size nude sculpture since antiquity! • contrapposto; but not just an imitation of past models • for private collection • David = underdog = Florence • Goliath = giant = Milan & other central Italian cities in league against Florence

Donatello, David, 1432 Inscription: “The victor is whoever defends the fatherland. God crushes the wrath of an enormous foe. Behold - a boy overcame a great tyrant! Conquer, O citizens! Kingdoms fall through luxury, cities rise through virtues. Behold the neck of pride, severed by the hand of humility. ” p. 203

An earlier Donatello David (c. 1410)

CONFIDENCE REDISCOVERED! p. 193 -197 Florence Cathedral Brunelleschi dome

Florence Cathedral Brunelleschi dome inside view

Tower designed by Giotto, 1334

View of Duomo from Pitti Palace (across the river)

Uffizzi View from the Duomo Pitti Palace

Pazzi Chapel Post & lintel returns; GEOMETRY

Pazzi Chapel p. 198

Pitti Palace

By the numbers: 2: 1 3: 1 4: 1 Alberti (façade architect), Santa Maria Novella, Florence, 1470 not in text

p. 202

1 st use of linear perspective Masaccio Trinity 1427 -28 Fresco 21' 10 1/2" x 10' 4 Santa Maria Novella, Florence not in text

p. 199 Masaccio, Tribute Money, c. 1427

Tribute Money, detail Note use of chiaroscuro (light and dark shading) to create volume in the clothes.

p. 195 -196 Ghiberti, Lorenzo The Gates of Paradise 1425 -52 Bronze with gilding

p. 195196 Ghiberti, Lorenzo The Gates of Paradise 1425 -52 Bronze with gilding

Ghiberti, Lorenzo The Gates of Paradise 1425 -52 Bronze with gilding

Ghiberti, Lorenzo The Gates of Paradise 1425 -52 Bronze with gilding

Ghiberti, Lorenzo Detail from the Gates of Paradise The story of Joseph 1425 -52 Bronze with gilding 80 x 80 cm Baptistery, Florence not in text

BOTTICELLI, Sandro The birth of Venus c. 1485, Tempera on canvas (67 7/8 x 109 5/8 in. ) NOT IN TEXT

BOTTICELLI, Sandro Primavera c. 1482. Tempera on wood 203 x 314 cm p. 199

BOTTICELLI, Sandro Primavera c. 1482. Tempera on wood 203 x 314 cm

BOTTICELLI, Sandro Venus and Mars NOT BIBLICAL! c. 1485. Egg tempera and oil on poplar 69 x 173. 5 cm not in text

KEY IMAGE PERIOD: PLACE: Early Renaissance Florence ARTIST: Donatello TITLE: David DATE: 1432 p. 203

KEY IMAGE p. 199 PERIOD: ARTIST: Renaissance Botticelli TITLE: La Primavera (Birth of Spring)

KEY IMAGE Pazzi Chapel p. 198

Summary – Italian Renaissance • POLITICS – Italian city-states; power from money • EARLY RENAISSANCE – Florence • HIGH RENAISSANCE – • ART – Classical ideals revived • IDEAS – Humanism returns • MUSIC –