Artists of the Italian Renaissance

The Rebirth of Europe

Medieval Art• Religious focus.• Lacked

perspective (looked two-dimensional)

• Human features were generalized.

• Architecture based on the arch, flying buttresses, etc.

New Artistic Styles• Look to Roman and

Greek influences.• Use of realistic

perspective in depicting scenes.

• Portrait painting becomes popular.

• Depiction of Renaissance ideals.

• New dignity of the individual

Early Renaissance• Florence the leader in Renaissance art

esp. in quattrocento (1400s).• The wealth of Florence meant that it had

many patrons who would pay for art projects of artists such as...

• Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472), architect of cathedrals.

• Masaccio (1401-1428) painter: nude human figures

• Giovanni Bellini (1430-1516) – Portrait of a Condottiere

• Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1574) – goldsmith and sculptor

Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337)• Considered to be the

Father of the Italian Renaissance

• Broke with linear style of Middle Ages.

• First to us chiaroscuro.

• Reputed to be a shrewd and witty character.

• Praised by the poet Dante.

Giotto - The Mourning of Christ

Giotto - The Flight into Egypt

Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446)

• Architect and one of the first architects to be associated with the Italian Renaissance.

• The first known perspective picture was made by Brunelleschi in about 1415

Brunelleschi - dome of Santa Maria del Fiore (il duomo)

Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378-1455)

• Sculptor: bronze doors for Florentine baptistery.

• Many sculptors such as Donatello trained under him.

Ghiberti – Gates of Paradise

Donatello (1386-1466)

• He became well recognized for his creation of the shallow relief style of sculpting, which made the sculpture seem much deeper than it actually was.

Donatello – David in Bronze

Fra Angelico (1400-1455)• Dominican Friar

who began career decorating manuscripts.

• Professional and highly successful artist despite his religious convictions.

Fra Angelico – Presentation in the Temple

Sandro Botticelli (1444-1510)• Spent almost his

entire life in Florence.

• Only significant journey was to Rome to work on Sistine Chapel.

• Died in obscurity and his fame was not reestablished until the 19th century.

Botticelli-Primavera

Botticelli- Birth of Venus

High Renaissance • “High Renaissance” centered in

Rome (1500-1527) – cinquecento (1500s)

• Most worldly of Renaissance popes – Alexander VI (1492-1503); Julius II (1503-1513); and Leo X (1513-1521), funded great art projects

• Characteristics: classical balance, harmony, restraint.

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)• Painter, sculptor,

architect and engineer.

• Often left work unfinished.

• Conducted extensive scientific studies.

• Invented the armored tank and designed aircraft.

Leonardo Da Vinci - Mona Lisa

• Probably the most famous painting in the world.

• Brought a new “life-like” dimension to painting.

• People focus on her enigmatic smile.

Da Vinci – The Last Supper

Da Vinci’s Other Works

Michelangelo Buonarotti (1475-1564)• Sculptor, painter,

architect, and poet.

• Tormented genius who was rarely satisfied with his talents.

• In painting and sculpture his work focused mainly on the nude human form.

Michelangelo - David

Michelangelo – La Pieta

Michelangelo – Sistine Chapel

Raphael Sanzio (1483-1520)• Child prodigy in

the world of art.• Patronized by

the popes and named Papal Architect in 1514.

• Died of fever at age 37.

Raphael – Three Graces

Raphael – School of Athens

Raphael – School of Athens

Titian (1485-1576)

• Foremost artist of the Venetian School.

• Titian was one of the most versatile of Italian painters, equally adept with portraits and landscapes.

• Noted for use of color and smooth brush strokes

Titian - Danae

Timeline of Renaissance Artists

Giotto breaks with earlier styles of painting

Black Death rages through Europe

Fra AngelicoPaints his religious devotion

Botticelli paints mythological and secular works

Italian Wars rage between city-states of the peninsula

Leonardo Da Vinci completes the Mona Lisa.

Michelangelo paints the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican.

Raphael dies at the age of 37 years.

c. 1300 1347-1352 c. 1430 c. 1480 1494-1559 1505 1508-1512 1520

Exit Ticket• What changes occurred in art over

the two centuries of the Italian Renaissance?

• How does the art we examined exemplify Renaissance ideals and values?

• How do the artists themselves embody the principles of the Renaissance period?