The Renaissance in Italy

Features of the Renaissance What does the word mean? Secular and scientific values (spirit of adventure)

Still very Christian in attitude Transition from:

Medieval to modern world religious control to lay control Fragmented to unified New attitudes towards learning Focus on HUMAN experience in the here and now

Humanism

Defn: To celebrate the dignity of mankind. The study of Latin and Greek classics and of Church fathers for their own sake. Education for its own sake, to aid the individual, not to come to a closer understanding of God Francesco Petrarch: Letters to the

Ancient Dead (The father of Italian humanism)

The Growth of the Italian City State

Trade with east = powerful city states Venice, Milan, Florence, Naples Wealth led to Patron families to support

education and the arts Ex: Florence: The Medici’s

A new secular spirit

Material instead of eternal world Pope Julius II tore down the old St. Peters

basilica (Michelangelo the dome) Machiavelli The Prince: No need to be

guided by a pre-determined code of behavior Safer to be feared than loved “Ruthless political expediency” (ends justify

means)

New Techniques and skills

Oil paints Chiaroscuro (light and shade) Linear perspective Frescoes Realism / Detail

Important Renaissance Artists Michelangelo : Pieta, David, Sistine

Chapel Leonardo DaVinci: Mona Lisa, inventor,

dissection of corpses Raphael: Madonna's, School of Athens Botticelli: The Birth of Venus, Adoration of

the Magi Brunelleschi: The Cathedral of Florence,

Linear perspective

Art Form Characteristics

Renaissance Artwork

Realism and Expression Perspective Classicism Emphasis on Individualism Geometrical Arrangement of

Figures Light & Shadowing/Softening

Edges Artists as

Personalities/Celebrities

Medieval Artwork

Religious subject matter Important figures are shown as

larger than others around them Figures look stiff with little

sense of movement Fully clothed Faces were serious and

showed little emotion. Flat and two-dimensional Backgrounds were one color.

The Vocation of Peter and Andrew (Duccio)

The Birth of VenusBotticelli

Mona Lisa and anatomy sketchesLeonardo DaVinci

The Pieta and Moses at the tomb of Pope Julius II

Michaelangelo, The David

Creation (Mike, Sistene Chapel)

The School of Athens (Raphael)

The Northern Renaissance Differences: Deeply concerned with

religion (groundwork for reformation) Called for a return to an earlier simple Christian faith

Northern Artists: work on a smaller scale more landscapes etc…

Jan Van Eyck (Arnolfini)