Renaissance Art Architecture The Rebirth of Classical Ideas

Renaissance Art & Architecture The Rebirth of Classical Ideas

Background & Phases • 1050 – 1350 – Population growth – Economic development – City – states • 1200 – late 1500 s – Artistic achievement Bellini: Sacra Conversazione

Intellectual Development • Humanism: Glorify Human Form & Potential • Revival of classical antiquity • Individualism • Secular focus Titian: Assumption of the Virgin

Renaissance Italy • City-States • Power People – Medici (F) – Este (Ferrara) – Sforza (M) – Doge (V) – Pope (PS)

Florence • • Commerce / Trade Banking: Medici Textile Patronage

Renaissance Art: Techniques • Religious >> Secular subjects • Realistic • Perspective • Movement • Symmetry • Proportion Ghirlandiao: Adoration of the Shepherds

Medieval v. Renaissance • Medieval – Flat – Religious – Static • Renaissance – 3 -D – Secular / Human focus – Movement Ghirlandaio: Angel Appearing to Zacharias

Giotto de Bondone: The Mourning of Christ • Florentine School * Fresco * Individuals

Massaccio: Tribute Money • Florentine School * Perspective * Realism

Sandro Botticelli: Madonna of the Magnificat • Expression Botticelli Face Emotional • Double focal points: Crown + Book

Major Artists: Ninja Turtles! Raphael – Michelangelo – Donatello – Leonardo

Raphael: Pope Leo X with Two Cardinals 1518 • Vatican Murals Commissioned by Pope Julius II • Leo X = Julius II successor • Focal Point = Face

Raphael: The School of Athens • • • In the Vatican: Stanza della Signatura Blending of Greek + Renaissance Symmetry Perspective Depth Light

Leonardo da Vinci • Renaissance Man – Multi-talented – Anatomy, mechanics, art, astronomy, weaponry… • China?

Leonardo: The Last Supper • Fresco * Symmetry * Individual Expression

Leonardo: Mona Lisa • Symmetry • “Sfumato” – Blur – Blend – Mystery • The Grin

Leonardo’s Notebooks • Vetruvian Man • Anatomy advances painting & sculpture

Michelangelo: Sistine Chapel • M = sculptor, painter, architect • Commissioned by Pope Julius II 1508 • Scaffold, personally completed • Old & New Testament reflects the Renaissance Era

Renaissance Sculpture • Classical Realism • Free standing • Marble & Bronze • Full body, busts & reliefs

Humanism & Individuality • Individuality portrayed in details

Ghiberti’s Doors - Florence • 1423, Florentine, he was only 23! • Bronze cast + gilding • 20 yrs N doors • 25 yrs E doors • “Creation” • Realism

Donatello’s David • Free standing nude • Proportion of human form • 5’ tall, After beating Goliath

Michelangelo’s David • • Marble 16’ tall Details As David decides to battle Goliath • Classical style, details

Renaissance Architecture • • Columns Arch Dome Harmony via proportion • The Circle is key • Math!

Church & Architecture • RCC builds to draw people • Tells the Biblical narrative • Visual & Symbolic

Church Architecture: Florence • Santa Maria del Fiore begun 1294 by Arnolfo di Cambio, died 1302 • Began cupola (cup shaped dome)

Church Architecture: Florence • Filippo Brunelleschi, 1418 figured out how to complete… ever decreasing circles with ribs to bear weight • Scaffolding upwards

Church Architecture: St. Peter’s • Michelangelo hired by Pope Paul III in 1546… worked until death in 1564 • Inside St. Peter’s: – High Altar – Nave Ceiling • Roman arches – Under Dome • Single dome with arch support

Church Architecture: Bramante’s Tempietto • Renaissance “Greatest Architect” • Commissioned by K+Q of Spain: Ferdinand & Isabella • St. Peter’s death site • Doric columns + Roman dome, 15’ diameter

Renaissance Writers Voice of Humanism Dante Alighieri – Petrarch – Boccaccio - Castiglione

Renaissance Writers • Dante 1265 -1321 – Divine Comedy Allegory – Vernacular • Petrarch 1304 -1374 – Sonnets in Italian • Boccaccio 1313 -1375 – Decameron = Plague • Castiglione 1478 -1529 – The Courtier = model

Northern Renaissance • Began in Flanders >> Holland • Erasmus 1466 -1536: reconcile Christian character w/ Humanism… Colloquies, Adages, new Bible A. Dűrer – Hans Holbein (Young) – van Eyck

Northern Renaissance • Dűrer (G) 1471 -1528 – Woodcuts – Mass Marketing • Holbein the Younger (G) 1497 -1543 – Portraits, Henry VIII – Expressions • Van Eyck (Flem) 13901441 – Oil Paint developer – Realism possible

English Renaissance: Elizabethan Era • G. Chaucer – Canterbury Tales: Vernacular • Sir Th. More – Utopia: Ideal place of virtue • Spenser – Faerie Queen: Ode • Marlowe = plays • Shakespeare – Comedy, tragedy, morality

Renaissance Impact • Genius of humanity all at once… why? • Changed art & architecture forever • Individualism drives future thought