Why does the Renaissance Occur?

• Rediscovery of Classical Greece and Rome• Dante’s publication of the Divine Comedy in

the Italian vulgate• Guttenberg’s invention of the printing press

What effect does it have?

• Development of artistic formulas• Study of optics-single point perspective, three-

dimensional techniques• Emphasis on human anatomy and proportion• Commemoration of the individual• Greater exploration of those capabilities-

engineering

Agnolo Bronzino, Portrait of Eleanor of Toledo and her Son, Giovanni de Medici, Florence,

1544-45

Filippo Brunelleschi, Florence Cathedral Dome, 1420-36

• Lantern• Cupola• Drum

Baptistery of Saint John

Filippo Brunelleschi, Sacrifice of Isaac, 1401-02Lorenzo Ghiberti, Sacrifice of Isaac, 1401-02

Lorenzo Ghiberti, Sacrifice of Isaac,

1401-02

• use of the Classical nude as a model-1st since antiquity

• Interest in depth-fore, middle, and background

• Foreshortening of figures

• Very emotionally charged representation of the story

• Contest shows a new concept of religious art commissions

Andrea Pisano, Life of John the Baptist, South Doors, Baptistery of San Giovanni, Florence,

1330-36

Ghiberti, Gates of Paradise, 1424-52

• Gilded panels of Old Testament scenes

• Flat grounds and backdrops are abandoned in favor of spatial illusion

Ghiberti, Gates of Paradise Detail, 1424-52

• Increasing interest in Linear perspective and spatial arrangement of objects

• Single-point perspective, orthogonal converge toward a vanishing point

• Developing study of optics

• Classical setting

Donatello, David, 1428-32• Commissioned and owned by the

Medici family for their courtyard• symbol of Florence-represents

their history as the smaller victor over larger city-states

• first freestanding male nude bronze since antiquity

• Highly idealized state of nudity-youthful and androgynous

Polykleitos,Doryphoros,

450 BCGreece

Massaccio, Holy Trinity, 1428

• Monumental use of one-point perspective: coffered barrel vault

• Structures composition in triangular form

• Focus on mortality and salvation• “I was once what you are, and

what I am you will become”

Massaccio, Tribute Money, 1427• Brancacci Chapel, Santa Maria del Carmine• Gesture suggests emotion• Illusion of depth: one point perspective, color saturation,

chiaroscuro

Sandro Botticelli, Birth of Venus, 1482

Aphrodite of Melos, 150 BCEAphrodite of Knidos, 350 BCE

Bernardo Rossellino,Tomb of Leonardo Bruni, 1445-50•Leonardo Bruni, Humanist scholar and chancellor of Florence from 1427-44•Iconography places the figure in classical Rome-•One single Christian element-Virgin and Child in the tondo•Glorification of an individual-was given a state funeral in the ancient Roman customs•Revives the Roman virtues of honoring human achievement

Leon Battista Alberti, Sant’Andrea, Mantua, Italy, 1470•Commissioned by the Marquis of Mantua•Housed a relic of the Blood of Christ•Regulations: 1. must accommodate masses of pilgrims 2. must allow visitors to see the altar at mass 3. Must be cost effective•Set up on a system of proportions-the module-basic unit of measurement

•Incorporates two elements from antiquity: triumphal arch and temple pediment•Coffered, barrel-vaulted arch on facade

Andrea Mantegna, Ceiling of the Camera degli Sposi, 1474

•Image is perceived “di sotto in su”-seen from beneath•Foreshortened putti in oculus

•“Trempe l’oeil” painting: “fools the eye”

•Reminiscent of Classical Roman interiors

Second style wall painting, Roman, 2nd-3rd century ad

Perugino, Christ delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to St. Peter, 1481-83

Piero della Francesca, Portraits of Battista Sforza and Federico da Montefeltro, Florence, ca. 1474

The 15th century in Northern Europe

Paintings of Several Parts!

Triptych Polyptych

Jan (and Hubert)

Van Eyck, Ghent

AltarpieceFlanders, 1432

Jodocus Byd and Isabel Borluut

Atmospheric Perspective

• Atmospheric interference with visual perception causes loss of contrast, detail and sharp focus. It tends to make objects seem to take on a blue-gray color as they move farther away.

Jan van Eyck,Man in a Red

Turban,Flemish, 1433

Oil vs. Tempera

Robert Campin, The Merode Altarpiece, Flanders, 1425-28

Jan van Eyck,Giovanni Arnolfini

and His Bride,Flanders,

1434

Claus Sluter, Well of Moses, Dijon, France, 1395-1406

Jean Fouquet, Étienne Chevalier and Saint Stephen, Melun Altarpiece, France, ca. 1450

Limbourg Brothers, Les Tres Riches Heures du Jean, Duc de Berry,

France, 1411-16

The Very Rich Hours of John, the Duke of Berry

February

February

Apr. May

Oct. Nov.

Martin Schongauer,St. Anthony Tormented by Demons, Germany,

1480-90

• Engraving• Printmaking

Antonio del Pollaiuolo, Battle of the Ten Nudes, Florence, 1465

Printmaking -- Woodcut

• The design is cut into a wood block leaving the raised surfaces to be inked and print.

Printmaking -- Engraving

• Lines are cut into a copper plate with a burin. Ink is forced down into the grooves and the surface is wiped clean. It is then run through a press.