Art History IIInstructor Dustin M Price

What did we cover last time?

- Painting in Florence after Masaccio

- Fra Filippo Lippi, Portrait of a Woman and Man

- Frederico da Montefeltro

- Urbino

- Piero Della Fransesca , Battista Sforza and Frederico da Montefeltro

- Pietro Vannucci nicknamed Perugino, The delivery of the Keys to St. Peter

- Neoplatonism

- Sandro Botticelli, Primavera and Birth of Venus

Sixteenth Century Art in Italy

-The artistic revolution of the Early Renaissance matured to what is now known as the High Renaissance

- High Renaissance in Italy is thought by many to be the climax of Italian Renaissance art. It is also considered as a sort of natural evolution of Italian Humanism

- The High Renaissance period is usually taken to begin in the 1490s, with Leonardo's fresco of the Last Supper in Milan and the death of Lorenzo de' Medici in Florence, and to have ended in 1527 with the sacking of Rome by the troops of Charles V

- Artists that would characterize the High Renaissance include Raphael, Michelangelo, da Vinci, Titian, and Tintoretto (to name just a few)

Sixteenth Century Art in Italy

- Again, art during the High Renaissance is characterized by a sense of gravity and decorum, a complex but ordered relationship of individual parts to the whole, and an emulation of the principles artists saw in ancient Classical art.

- Two important developments affected the arts in Italy during the High Renaissance.

1)Technically, the use of Tempera gave way to Oil.

1)Economically, commissions from private sources increased so that artists no longer depended exclusively on the patronage of the Church, court, or civic associations.

Three Great Artists of the Early 16th Century

-Florence became so well renowned for its culture and artistic tradition that a large number of young artists moved there

- Young artists studied the artwork of previous Masters that could be easily seen all over Florence, like Masaccio and his amazing Brancacci Chapel paintings

- Artist Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael – all leading artists of the High Renaissance began their career’s in Florence (though they soon moved on)

- Lets begin with Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519)

-Was 12 or 13 when he and his family moved to Florence from Vinci

- Was an apprentice of the painter and sculptor Verrochio

- After a few years on his own he moved to Milan to work for the Sforza family

-In Milan he spent much of his time on Military and civil projects

- While there he did create an alterpiece for the chapel in the church of San Francesco Grande now known as The Virgin of the Rocks 1485 (after next slide)

Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519)

-To assure their dominance in the painting (oil on wood panel, transferred to canvas) Vinci draws attention to their forms with chiaroscuro

-This painting is an excellent example of the use of sfumato

- Sfumato: (from Italian sfumare, “to tone down” or “to evaporate like smoke”), in painting or drawing, the fine shading that produces soft, imperceptible transitions between colors and tones. It is used most often in connection with the work of Leonardo da Vinci and his followers, who made subtle gradations, without lines or borders, from light to dark areas; the technique was used for a highly illusionistic rendering of facial features and for atmospheric effect

-Very rarely finished anything he started

Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519)

-The Mona Lisa

- After returning to Florence in 1500 after the defeat of his patron Leudovicio Sforza by the French da Vinci soon started perhaps the most famous painting in the world, the Mona Lisa

- It is not quite certain who the portrait is actually of, some scholars believe it may have been 24 year old Lisa Gherarrdini del Giocondo the wife of a wealthy merchant

- Many elements about this painting add to its mystery, there is no jewelry, it displays more of the torso than usual in these type of Italian portraits, and of course her expression

Lets watch a short video on the painting, followed by a video of people interacting with it

Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519)

-What specifically do I want you to remember about the Mona Lisa?

- Her expression is incredibly revolutionary, in its expressive complexity, and sense of psychological presence we see the “human face” not some sort of masklike detachment so prevalent in Renaissance portraiture.

- Was carried around by da Vinci for the rest of his life

- The exact model is unknown

- utilizes sfumato

- considers more of the sitter (half-length) than other paintings of the time

- had the edges cut off so as to fit into a smaller frame by one of its owners

Raphael, Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (1483 –1520)

- Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect, celebrated for the perfection and grace of his paintings and drawings. Together with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period.

-Raphael was enormously productive, running an unusually large workshop, and despite his death at thirty-seven, a large body of his work remains.

- from Urbino where his father was a court painter

- Raphael studied under Perugino

- Very influenced by da Vinci and Michelangelo both his contemporaries

- He and Michelangelo were rivals

Raphael, Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (1483 –1520)

- After coming to Florence from Urbino in 1505, he became popular by selling his smaller paintings of the Virgin Mary and child (left)

- At the same time he was also working on portraits of rich Florentine patrons (after next slide)

- Raphael left Florence in about 1508 for Rome

- Pope Julius II put him to work immediately decorating rooms in the papal apts

- He also commissioned Raphael to paint some of his most famous works for the papal library