Renaissance Art Keywords Humanism a philosophical and cultural

Renaissance Art

Keywords • • Humanism: a philosophical and cultural movement that spread through Europe in the 15 th and early 16 th centuries. Quattrocento: del italiano, siglo XV. Cinquecento: del italiano, principios siglo XVI. Barrel vault: bóveda de cañón, en la techumbre traslación longitudinal de un arco de medio punto. Dome: cúpula, bóveda de media esfera para cubrir el edificio. Round arches: arcos de medio punto, fundamental en el arte clásico y renacentista. Reliefs: relieves, escultura adosada al muro. Free-standing sculptures: escultura de bulto redondo, no están adosadas al muro como los relieves. • • • Realistic (sculpture), inspirada en la realidad. Idealistic (sculpture), inspirada en ideal. Neoplatonism: neoplatonismo, filosofía importante en Renacimiento. Tympanum: tímpano, imagen principal en la fachada del templo. Linear perspective: perspectiva lineal. Chiaroscuro: contraste de luces y sombras, perspectiva aérea. Black outlines: líneas negras que dibujan la silueta de los personajes. Background landscapes: paisajes, refiere al fondo de las pinturas. Foregound: primer plano. 2

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Historical context • • • In the 15 th century (Quattrocento) in Florence, 16 th century in Rome (Cinquecento). Renaissannce art broke with the traditions of the Middle Ages. Its main centre of interest was the human being. Renaissance was inspired by the cultural inheritance of Antiquity. They found inspiration in the classical world (Greece and Rome), they looked for the ideal form of beauty and also for harmony and proportion. Patrons (wealthy noblemen and burgers) apprecieted art and supported artists (Medicis, Sforza, Popes). Architects, sculptors and painters were no longer anonymous, they were artists who signed their work. 4

• Humanism was the philosophical and cultural movement that spread all across Europe in the 15 th and early 16 th centuries. • Anthropocentric viewpoint, the human intelligence was key to understanding the universe, although humanism was deeply christian. • According to humanists, our use of reason and experience advanced our knowledge. • It was also important a new science, they were prepared to question everything. • Finally, the printing press was important to spread humanism. 5

Architecture • Religious and civil buildings adapted to human needs. Renaissance architects looked for symmetry and proportion using classical features: rounded arches, barrel vaults, pediments, domes and columns. • Renaissance architects broke with the Middle Ages and looked back to Antiquity. • Urbanism was also important as they looked for another model of city. • Quattrocento: Bruneleschi. Alberti. • Cinquecento: Bramante, Michelangelo, Palladio 6

Brunelleschi, Ospedale degli innocenti, 1419 -1451, a very classical building with round arches, barrel vaults, pediments and columns. It should be also emphasized proportions and symmetry in this horizontal building. 7

The Dome of Florence Cathedral, Brunelleschi, 1436. The dome is a masterpiece of beauty and engineering, a pioneering construction for its time, and in many ways remains unmatched. As a master of illusions, Brunelleschi was known in Florence to have made people believe in things that did not exist. The construction of its dome sparked years of debate on what was the “magic trick” that provided the result that lay in front of everyone, i. e. , how the octagonal dome was able to stand! 8

Santa María Novella by Alberti, the upper facade was constructed to the design of Alberti. It was a challenging task, as the lower level already had three doorways and six Gothic niches containing tombs and employing the polychrome marble typical of Florentine churches. The design also incorporates an ocular window which was already in place. Alberti introduced Classical features around the portico and spread the polychromy over the entire facade in a manner which includes Classical proportions and elements such as pilasters, cornices and a pediment in the Classical style, ornamented with a sunburst in tesserae, rather than sculpture. 9

Renaissance Palazzi: The Palazzo consisted of a 3 -4 storey housing which had rusticated ground floor and standard understated windows on two refined upper floor and they were finished with elaborate cornice. The architects studied for a common harmony of design since they believed architecture was an art form. They building did not have pilasters or columns but instead it had pediments which were triangular in shape and alternating in regular patterns. Palazzo Farnese, 1514, Sangallo Palazzo Medici Riccardi, 1444, Michelozzo Palazzo Rucellai, 1456, Alberti Palazzo Pitti, 1458, Bruneleschi 10

Tempietto at San Pietro in Montorio, 1502 Roma, Donato Bramante Small church known as the Tempietto in San Pietro in Montorio, on the site where Saint Peter was said to have been crucified. 11

Villa Rotonda (Villa Capra), Andrea Palladio, 1566 -71 Designed by Andrea Palladio, the Villa Capra, known also as La Rotonda, would become one of the most recognizable buildings of the Renaissance. It is a building that consciously recalls ancient Roman classical models but its innovative design had an impact for future generations of architects in Italy and abroad. Palladio was able to design a serene, sophisticated construction by emphasizing balance, visual clarity, and uniformity. The design of the building is completely symmetrical; it presents a square plan with identical porticoes projecting from each of the façades. At the center of the building, a dome emerges over a central, circular hall. Palladio was concerned with harmony and mathematical consonance and used the square and the circle as essential, yet elegant forms. 12

Sculpture • Inspired by classical forms, it was realistic but idealised. • The most important characteristics: proportion, beauty and anatomical accurancy. Quiet movement, often representing thoughts. • Materials usually are marble and bronze. Multiple viewpoints. • Most of the sculptures represented the nude human body, but there also portraits and equestrians statues (freestanding sculpture). • Topics are religious or mythological. • Quattrocento: Ghiberti (Gates of Paradise, Donatello (David). • Cinquecento: Michelangelo (David, Moses, Pietá). 13

Gates of Paradise, 1425 Quattrocento, Ghiberti Each panel of the Gates of Paradise depicts several episodes of a biblical narrative. This panel depicts the Creation of Adam and Eve, the Fall and the Expulsion from the Paradise. In the foreground on the left God the Father raises Adam up from the earth. On the opposite side of the panel, Ghiberti represents the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise, while in the centre, God is depicted in the act of creating Eve. The ideas found in these representations did not escape the attention of Michelangelo nearly a century later. Ghiberti created volumes in these reliefs by contrasting foreground and background in this masterpiece. 14

David, Quattrocento 1440, Donatello 15

David, Cinquecento 1504, Michelangelo Neoplatonism, David is shown just before he throws the stone The face expresses contained anger Anatomy detailed David is the ideal man of the Renaissance: beautiful, strong and rational

Michelangelo, Cinquecento, early 16 th century Moses Pietá 17

Renaissance painting • • New remarkable technical discoveries. Linear perspective gave great depth to paintings. Sensation of volume by using chiaroscuro, contrast of light and dark. Paintings are painted in bright colours with black outlines. They continued to paint religious scenes, but these demonstrated the humanity of biblical figures. Portraits, landscapes and classical mythological subjects were also popular. Quattrocento: Masaccio, Mantegna, Boticcelli. Cinquecento: Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian. 18

Quattrocento, 1424 -26, Masaccio’s Holy Trinity 19

Quattrocento painting, Botticelli and Mantegna looked into perspective and composition Botticelli, 1486, The Birth of Venus and Spring Mantegna, 1480 -90, The Lamentation of Christ 20

Cinquecento. Leonardo Da Vinci The Last Supper of Leonardo da Vinci is one of the most famous paintings in the world. This artwork (mural painting) was painted between 1494 and 1498 under the government of Ludovico il Moro and represents the last "dinner" between Jesus and his disciples. Mona Lisa, oil painting on a poplar wood panel by the Italian painter, draftsman, sculptor, architect, and engineer Leonardo da Vinci, probably the world’s most-famous painting. It was painted sometime between 1503 and 1519, 21 when Leonardo was living in Florence.

Cinquecento. Michelangelo Between 1508 and 1512, under the patronage of Pope Julius II, Michelangelo painted the chapel's ceiling, a project which changed the course of Western art and is regarded as one of the major artistic accomplishments of human civilization. In a different climate after the Sack of Rome, he returned and between 1535 and 1541, painted The Last Judgment for Popes Clement VII and Paul III. The fame of Michelangelo's paintings has drawn multitudes of visitors to the chapel (Sistine Chapel). 22

Cinquecento. Raphael The School of Athens is one of the most famous frescoes by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. It was painted between 1509 and 1511 as a part of Raphael's commission to decorate the rooms in the Vatican. The picture has long been seen as "Raphael's masterpiece and the perfect embodiment of the classical spirit of the Renaissance. Madonna of the Goldfinch, tempera on wood painted in 1505/6 for Lorenzo di Bartolomeo Nasi. 23

Cinquecento. Titian was one of the greatest representatives of the Venetian School, which was characterised by the brightness and richness of its use of colour. The Venus of Urbino is an oil painting by Titian, which seems to have been begun in 1532 or 1534. It depicts a nude young woman, traditionally identified with the goddess Venus, reclining on a couch or bed in the sumptuous surroundings of a Renaissance palace. The figure's pose is based on the Dresden Venus, traditionally attributed to Giorgione but which Titian at least completed. In this depiction, Titian has domesticated Venus by moving her to an indoor setting, engaging her with the viewer, and making her sensuality explicit. 24

Cinquecento. Albrecht Dürer (21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528) was a painter, printmaker, and theorist of the German Renaissance. Born in Nuremberg, Dürer established his reputation and influence across Europe when he was still in his twenties due to his high-quality woodcut prints. He was in communication with the major Italian artists of his time, including Raphael, Giovanni Bellini and Leonardo da Vinci and from 1512 he was patronized by emperor Maximilian I. He is the 25 only European artist that can be considered in Renaissance.

Made by Francisco Javier Abades Ansián History teacher at Castilla y León (Spain) Feel free to use, study or share this presentation