Classical and Worldly Values

• The Renaissance Woman– Upper-class, educated in

classics, charming– Expected to inspire art

but not create it– Isabella d’Este, patron of

the artists, wields power in Mantua

The Renaissance and ScienceLeonardo’s Work: Science and Medicine

• Studies of a fetus from Leonardo's journals

• The Vitruvian Man

Leonardo’s Work: Science and Medicine

Investigating the motion of the arm

Organs of a Woman’s Body

III. The Renaissance and Art

IntroductionFollowing the barbarism of the Middle Ages, men of the 15th and 16th centuries have the impression of living an extraordinary period of renewal. Their era is called an age of individual genius.

Key Questions: In what ways is the Renaissance in the Arts a Humanist Movement?How does the Renaissance movement in the arts reflect the larger Humanist’s philosophy?

The Renaissance in Art: a return to ancient sources

Just as the Humanists return to ancient texts in Greek and Latin, the artists of the 15th and 16th century find inspiration in the Ancient world as a reaction against the Middle Ages. The classic influence can be seen through architecture and painting by the decoration of represented scenes (columns, cupolas, arches, etc.)

An example of Greek temple architecture. Note the triangular pediment on top and the Greek columns below

New Subject matter for Renaissance Artists

Mythological and ancient scenes are once again represented Renaissance artists also paint scenes of the Old Testament which is also a focus of the Humanists

Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus”, Uffizi Museum, Florence, Italy

Michelangelo’s Detail of the Sistine Chapel, Creation of Adam 1508-1512

IV. Italian Renaissance Art A. Patronage

1. Florence was the leader in Renaissance art especially in the quattrocento (1400s)

a. Giorgio Vasari (1511-74): The Lives of the Artists Contemporary Renaissance art historian who left much

valuable information about Renaissance artists and their works.

b. Massive patronage for the arts came from wealthy merchant-families (such as the Medicis) who commissioned countless works from the great artists. In essence, the wealth of Florence was mirrored by the superb artistic output of the Renaissance

A good example is Donatello’s David which stood in the Medici courtyard during the wedding of Lorenzo de Medici.

In Milan, the Sforza’s commissioned such works as Leonardo’s The Last Supper

Donatello’s “David”

Note that the subject is standing in Contrapposto

Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper” c. 1493-1498

c. Patronage also came from local churches who increasingly saw Renaissance art as a means of glorifying God. Some notable examples include Brunelleschi’s Il Duomo built for the Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral Ghiberti’s two sets of doors were created for the baptistery opposite Il Duomo

Ghiberti’s “Gates of Paradise”