High Renaissance 1495 1520 Leonardo da Vinci 1452

High Renaissance 1495 -1520

Leonardo da Vinci • 1452 -1519 • Left-handed (often wrote backwards), illegitimate, self-taught genius • Painter, draftsman, sculptor, architect, engineer, scientist, astronomer, geologist, botanist, inventor • “Renaissance Man” • Never completed a building, sculptures are all gone, only about 17 paintings • Interested in science and observation • Paintings-religious subjects and portraits • Leads us into the High Renaissance

Is it a: Flying saucer? Vacuum cleaner? Tank? Robot? Is it an: Implement of torture? Giant crossbow? Water wheel? Exercycle?

The later London version--Notice any differences? Madonna of the Rocks Leonardo da Vinci • 1483, oil on wood, now at the Louvre in Paris • Mary with baby John; Jesus giving a blessing while angel Gabriel looks on • A later version of this painting was made by Leonardo and now hangs in London • Chiaroscuro (dark and light study) • Sfumato (hazy, smoky atmosphere…. all lines disappear) • Pyramid composition • Strong observation of nature

Studies for Paintings Madonna and Child with St. Anne c. 1499, oil on wood (cartoon substitutes infant St. John for the lamb; Shows less movement than painting)

The Last Supper, 1495 -1498 • • fresco in Milan experimental techniques deteriorating plaster Apostles are reacting to the news of the betrayal Judas is isolated, in shadows triangular composition

Ginevra de' Benci Leonardo da Vinci c. 1474/1478 oil on wood The only painting in the United States by da Vinci Here at the National Gallery in Washington, DC Ginevra at age 16, right before her wedding Painting has been cut by about one third. May have included her hands at one time.

Mona Lisa La Joconde • • c. 1505 -13 oil on wood sfumato enigmatic-- alluring and aloof • Leonardo had musicians playing while painting…is she enjoying the concert? • Is La Joconde smiling at her portrait painter or at her own joke?

Art in Rome • Cultural capital moves from Florence to Rome • 1494 --Medici family flees Florence • Two great Renaissance popes • Julius II • Leo X • 1527, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, sacked Rome

Renaissance Popes Julius II, 1511 -12 by Raphael The warrior pope; Michelangelo’s tormentor Leo X, c. 1518, by Raphael Son of the great Lorenzo de Medici Strong supporter of the arts

Michelangelo Buonarotti • 1475 -1564 • Architect, painter, sculptor, writer • Studied under the patronage of Lorenzo de Medici at age 15 • Thought of himself mainly as a sculptor • Style formed in Florence but worked mainly in Rome • Under contract to Julius II and his heirs • “tortured genius” Moses • Giorgio Vasari wrote: “The man who bears the palm of all the ages, transcending and eclipsing all the rest, is the divine M. Buonarroti, who is supreme not in one art only but in all three at once. ” What image did he have of himself? Joseph cradling a dying Christ or the skinned St. Bartholomew-- o ts i a rtr S p f l e

Pieta “Pity” • • • Michelangelo 1498 -99, marble Only signed piece by Michelangelo In the Vatican Large Mary; her robes form the base of a pyramid The Lacöon Group had just been unearthed…do you see any similarities?

David • Michelangelo • 1501 -04, marble • Created for Palazzo Vecchio in Florence • How does it compare to the classical sculpture, Apollo Belvedere, 350 BCE, just unearthed and owned by Pope Julius II? • How does it compare to Donatello’s David, created 50 years prior?

Projected Tomb of Julius II • Never finished • Was to include over 40 figures • Julius yanked him from the project to paint the Sistine Chapel

Tomb Sculptures • The Bound Slave, 1513 -15, marble • “Boboli Captive, ” c. 1530 -34, marble • Figures emerging from the marble block

Moses, Tomb Sculpture • 1513 -15, marble • The only finished stature on the tomb • Julius is represented by Moses…. driven, unrelenting, forceful… ”il papa terribile” • Moses had rays of light, not horns…. mistranslation of Old Testament

Sistine Chapel Ceiling The Vatican • 1508 -12, fresco • Barrel-vaulted ceilings rise 68’ above floor • Geometric forms • Three levels to suggest the union of the soul with God: lowest = unenlightened man middle= Old Testament prophets and pagan sibyls; ignudi highest= God and creation

Delphic Sybil • 1509, fresco • Sistine Chapel • Acts as gobetween with God and mortals • Ignudi in the background is in the form of an angel; helps bridge the gap between physical and spiritual

The Creation of Adam • Michelangelo, 1511, fresco • Sistine Chapel • Creation in reverse; Eve is waiting in the wings along with unborn humanity

Last Judgment • Sistine Chapel • 1534 -41, fresco • A Classical twist on the foreboding Gothic theme • St. Bartholomew was skinned alive for his beliefs

Raphael • 1483 -1520 • Worked in Rome • Classical style of High Renaissance • Primarily a painter • Born and died on Good Friday • Thought to have died due to excessive love making

School of Athens • 1509 -11, fresco IDEAL vs REAL Raphael Heraclitus (Michelangelo) Apollo God of poetry Plato Pythagoras (Leonardo) Athena, goddess of reason Aristotle Euclid (Bramante)