high renaissance post
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High Renaissance Art
Leonardo, Virgin of the Rocks• Visionary, mystical feeling• No traditional haloes• Tradition of mountain opening up miraculously to
shelter the Holy Family• Water running is a symbol of baptism• Ivy in background symbolizes fidelity and
continuity• Angel Uriel’s expression: to whom is it directed?• Unusual pattern of hands, forms a cross of Jesus’
head?• Chiaroscuro, sfumato, atmospheric perspective• Botanist’s and geologist’s attention to the
foreground plants and the mysterious setting of the mist-shrouded cave
High Renaissance Art
Leonardo, Last Supper• Only remaining work in situ, painted on a
wall of the monks’ dining room• Oil, tempera, fresco technique on a damp
wall made the fresco flake• Captures the moment when Christ says,
“One of you will betray me”• Christ appears calm amid the storm of
animated gestures• Various psychological portraits in the
reactions of the apostles: surprise, anger, fear, denial, etc.
• Rhythmic groupings of three, Christ at center in open-armed pose of serene acceptance
• Perspective beams of the ceiling, floor and tapestries on walls point to Christ
• Fictional space advances real space of room
• Pyramidical shape of Christ’s body, a favorite High Renaissance form
• Subtle halo of the rounded pediment above his head
• Three windows symbolize the Trinity
• Judas obscured by darkness falls back, clutching his bag of coins
High Renaissance Art
Leonardo, Mona Lisa• Pyramid form with hands at base• She is not smiling, but gives the illusion• Psychological insight, coupled with enticing
inaccessibility• Aerial perspective: she sits in a window box
with a fantasy background• Picture cut down later on three sides, we see
only the base of the columns in the window box or balcony
• 26 or 27 years old, likely the wife of a Florentine silk merchant, Francesco del Giocondo
• ¾ view, more of the body shown, gentle contrapposto suggested
• Unity of figure and landscape
High Renaissance ArchitectureBramante, Tempietto, Rome• Circular shrine, spot where Saint Peter
crucified• Cylindrical shape, dome ribbed on outside• Proportions simple, harmonious, unified• Alternating masses and voids• No exterior decoration• Circle as a symbol of the perfection of the
world, used in the Pantheon• Combination of humanist ideas of pagan and
Christian background• Underground crypt symbolizes the
underworld where Saint Peter’s cross was planted
• Main body is a temple, looking like a tabernacle
• Upper body represents the Church triumphant
Bramante, Saint Peter’s, Rome• Greek cross, four sides equal• Exact hemisphere of a dome,
planned like the Pantheon• Bell towers frame main dome;
drum added for height• Interior: coupled pilasters, one
giant story as in Sant’Andrea• Never finished according to
Bramante’s plan• Smaller domes accent main dome
High Renaissance Architecture
Sangallo, Palazzo Farnese, Rome• Broad front, huge rectangle• “Kneeling” windows suspended from a
stringcourse• Second floor alternating triangular with
circular pediments• Heavy cornice tops building• Strongly articulated stringcourses define
horizontal stories• Rusticated doorway and corners• Projecting window casements give a solid
feel to the façade• First floor has a darker color, indicating a
solid firm base
High Renaissance ArtMichelangelo, David• Terribilità• First colossal nude since the ancient world• Challenging figure: calm, tense, concentrating
on the enemy• Optimum vantage point is from the front and
below, not meant to be seen from the back• Slight contrapposto• Monumentality, simplicity• Undercutting of brow, piercing eyes• Sense of alertness, awareness• Holds slingshot over shoulder, rock in hand• Placed in front of city hall of Florence• Came to symbolize victorious Florence against
larger enemies
Michelangelo, Sistine Ceiling, Rome
• 4 years to paint, 300 figures, no two of which are in the same pose; 70 feet from floor
• Nine main episodes from the book of Genesis, opening book of the Bible
• Done at the behest of Pope Julius II
Michelangelo, Creation of Adam• Fourth scene on the vault of the
Sistine Ceiling• Monumental forms, solid figures• God creates Adam in “his image and
likeness”• Center: two hands do not touch,
there is a distance between them• God the Father is awesome in his
power of love, his kindness to create• Adam modeled on an ancient Roman
river god• Two great forms: Adam as earth and
God as sky• Essentially separate units
Michelangelo, Moses• Designed for the tomb of Pope
Julius II• Central piece, although meant
to be placed on the second floor of the original tomb
• Meant to be seen from a low angle
• Awe-inspiring, majestic, solid• Julius as an enlightened
lawgiver, as was Moses• Same face as God the Father
on the Sistine Ceiling• Few negative spaces• Tense coiled feeling
High Renaissance Art
Raphael, Madonna in the Meadow
• Triangular composition echoing Leonardo
• Atmospheric perspective, sun-drenched landscape
• Clear, ordered and deceptively simple composition, but poses complex
• Tenderness and love expressed• Graceful, tender expressions• Strong diagonals control
composition
Raphael, Galatea
• Galatea pursued by Polyphemus
• Galatea’s head turns left, arms right, hips left, legs frontal
• Triangular compositional elements
• Twisting bodies seem natural but are highly complex
• Suggests wheeling movement and spontaneity
High Renaissance Art
Raphael, School of Athens• Painted for Pope Julius II’s library/study• Greek philosophers of ancient world in muted conversation• No dominant colors, weaving of various hues• Clear, open piazza-like structure• Perspective points to two central figures under a barrel vault that resembles Saint
Peter’s by Bramante• Plato and Aristotle in center as greatest of philosophers• Plato has Leonardo’s features• Plato points up revealing his philosophy of another ideal world• Aristotle points outward to indicate that this material world is the only world• Bramante as Euclid, balding, in lower right• Raphael second from the far right, among the scientists, mathematicians and
astronomers• Michelangelo, as Heraclitus, composing a sonnet in the front foreground painted in
his own style
High Renaissance Art
Michelangelo, Tomb of Giuliano de’Medici• Lying atop a sarcophagus, two figures of
Day and Night • Night: female, restless, tense, between
the legs is an owl (symbolic of night, watchfulness), she rests on a mask
• Day: twisted, looking over his shoulder, massive muscularity
• Giuliano: a heroic type, classical, dressed in Roman armor, idealized, not an actual portrait
• Neoplatonic ideals expressed in vigorous Giuliano and more contemplative Lorenzo
Giuliano’s Tomb Lorenzo’s Tomb
High Renaissance Art
Michelangelo, Last Judgment
• Beginnings of Mannerism seen here: distortion of the figures, elongation• Apollo-like Christ comes to bring the saved to heaven and condemn the lost
to Hell• No weighing of souls, he passes judgment with a movement of his hands• Christ defiantly swings away the evil souls, gently lifts the blessed• He is surrounded by the martyrs and saints of the church• On the skin held by Saint Bartholomew is a self-portrait of Michelangelo• Charon ferries the damned into Hell at bottom right• A serpent wrapped around his torso, Minos awaits to place the damned• Twisting, complex, and convoluted composition• Composition organized in horizontal layers
High Renaissance Art
Michelangelo, Saint Peter’s, Rome • Many architects worked on Saint Peter’s before
Michelangelo• Respected Bramante’s plan, and revived
portions of it• Used a double dome as at Florence• One hundred feet taller than the dome of
Florence Cathedral• Building has monumental pilasters and columns
that extend from the ground to the roof without interruption
• Enormous windows make interior light• Surmounted by a lantern• After Michelangelo’s death, the building was
completed by Giacomo della Porta, who redesigned the dome to make it more pointed instead of round
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