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Venetian Art of the High Renaissance and Mannerism
Gentile Bellini
Doge Loredan c. 1501
Mehmet II, 1480 Doge Loredan c. 1501
High Renaissance in VeniceBellini, San Zaccaria Altarpiece, 1505• Sacra conversazione• Vaporous sfumato, harmonious unification of
modeling and shading (i.e. Saint Jerome’s beard)• Overall tonality• Linear perspective• Serene color, gently glowing forms• Dominating architecture that cradles the figures
in a unified scene• Virgin and Child surrounded by a symmetrical
grouping of saints• Light enters from the left• Architecture of the church reflected in the
painting; painting becomes an extension of the real space of the building it is housed in
High Renaissance in Venice Giorgione, Tempest, 1506• Poesia (Italian term that refers to paintings
whose subject matter is drawn from a mythological poem )
• Dream-like, lyrical state• Deserted town with a soldier and a
breast feeding woman• Bushes are shaggy, unkempt;
mysterious pastoral setting• Columns–indicating fortitude–are
ruined, bridge tottering• Lightning makes the scene
menacing• Uncertain meaning
Giorgione, (Titian?), Pastoral Symphony, 1510
• Soft forms of figures; no clear cut edges
• Mysterious theme, unknown meaning
• Shepherds are poets who are inspired by the nymphs who are muses
• Shepherds were thought to have beautiful singing voices
• Nymph dips pitcher into the well of inspiration
• Chiaroscuro and nuanced use of shadowing
• Rounded masses and volumes of women
Titian, Assumption, 1516-18•High altar of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari•Glow of color, Titian one of the great colorists in art history•Daring arrangement of figures in space, very naturally grouped•Solid figures wave their hands passionately•Natural curves and sways in the composition•Youthful Virgin initially thought to be improper because of her sumptuous beauty•Enormous size of figures, towering verticality•Light makes for a complex spatial arrangement
Titian, Madonna of the Pesaro Family , 1519-26
High Renaissance in Venice
Titian, Madonna of the Pesaro Family , 15119-26
• Battle of Santa Maura, 1502, won by Jacopo Pesaro, who kneels at left
• Right: five males of patron’s family presented by Saint Francis of Assisi
• Diagonals and triangles establish a complex asymmetrical spatial relationship
• Virgin at the head of a right triangle
• Multiple oil glazes to increase richness
• Turk bowing on the extreme left
• Saint Peter in the center, although not central to the composition
• Very unusual arrangement not to have Madonna and Child in the center, cf. The Last Supper, San Zaccaria Altarpiece
• Painterly effect in descriptive passages in the painting (i.e. glistening armor of Saint George)
• One figure looks out at us, brings us directly into the composition, as is typical in High Renaissance art
• Columns not part of the original composition: added later
• Light comes from above left, from “on high”
High Renaissance in VeniceTitian, Venus of Urbino• Sensuous delight in female form• May not have been a Venus, but a painting
of a nude• May have been painted for the Duke of
Urbino to celebrate his union with his young wife
• Looks at us directly• Dog (fidelity) curled asleep, does not sense
that the onlooker is unwelcome• Two servants search for something in
cassoni (marriage chests), always made in pairs and intended for the storage of a wife’s trousseau
• Rose (in her hands) and myrtle (on the windowsill) are bridal attributes
• She welcomes the viewer
1510
1538
CorreggioDome fresco in Parma Cathedral, 1526-30
Correggio (1494-1534
•Begins a school of painting taken up by Parmigiano in Parma
•Breaks up the symmetry of High Renaissance using buoyant naturalism rather than deliberate chaos
•Specializes in soft voluptuous flesh
•Reminiscent of Mantegna with POV
•Huge influence on Baroque ceiling painting
Mannerism Parmigianino, Madonna of the Long
Neck• Exaggerated elegance, long
delicate hands and neck• Ambiguous columns: one column
or many? This part of painting left unfinished, as is the hair of the Christ Child
• Self-portrait of artist gazes out at us at left
• Mary’s small head: standards of beauty of the time
• Christ’s pose inspired by Michelangelo’s Pietà
• Vanishing point is low• Oddly proportioned figures, some
parts of the painting are crowded others relatively empty
Mannerist Painting• emphasized complexity and virtuosity over naturalistic representation.
• While the formal vocabulary of Mannerism takes much from the later works of Michelangelo (1475–1564) and Raphael (1483–1520) , its adherents generally favored compositional tension and instability rather than the balance and clarity of earlier Renaissance painting.
• Some characteristics common to many Mannerist works include distortion of the human figure, a flattening of pictorial space, and a cultivated intellectual sophistication
Mannerism
• Figures often seek out toward the frame rather than the center of the composition
• Heavy Intertwining of Figures• Distortion and elongation of forms• Often a lack of mathematical space• Many religious and mythological subjects,
portraits
Jacopo Pontormo
Deposition (or Entombment) 1528
How can we measure the space!!?
Agnolo Bronzino
Allegory
• 1. (Literary & Literary Critical Terms) (Fine Arts & Visual Arts / Art Terms) a poem, play, picture, etc., in which the apparent meaning of the characters and events is used to symbolize a deeper moral or spiritual meaning
• http://www.thefreedictionary.com/allegory
Time (note wings and hourglass)
Fraud (serpent’s tail, honeycomb and string)
Deceit
Jest or Folly (with roses and bells on his ankle. Has stepped on a thorn – the pleasure and pain of love)
Jealousy
Oblivion (note no back of head, no brain, o memory)
The Golden Apple of Venus given by Paris in the fateful contest with Minerva and Juno (Hera, Athena & Aphrodite). His reward was Helen and the Trojan War.
Allegory with Venus and Cupid c. 1455
• Agnolo Bronzino• A “puzzle painting” –alludes to different
qualities of Love.• Jest – compared to Fraud, Jealousy and
Deceit.• Note Time and Oblivion struggling with the
blue cloth in an attempt to reveal (or forget) the Truth
• Venus disarms her own son (Cupid)
Allegories• An allegory that takes time to unravel and understand• Greater effort = greater reward• Some allegories more univeral – David & Goliath. Some
more elite. Requires specific education.• May have been a gift of Cosimo de’Medici to Francis I. ( a
gift of flattery – implies that Francis will– 1. that Francis will understand all the references– 2. that Cosimo is inteeligent as well– 3. caters to the taste of Francis: elegant, refined, erotic
MannerismBronzino, Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time• Given to Francis I of France as a gift from the
Medici in Florence• Extremely learned allegories that defy easy
interpretation• Venus fondled by Cupid, her son, and uncovered
by Father Time• Venus holds the apple she won in a beauty contest• Cupid has his eyes on the apple, but does not
suspect that Venus has removed an arrow from his quiver
• Folly throws roses• Vanity is beautiful girl on the outside, but an
animal under her skirt• Vanity’s hands are oddly arranged• Masks symbolize falseness; doves symbolize love• Envy is green• Strong contours• High key color, flesh smooth as porcelain
1499 vs. c. 1550 w/ Mary Magdalene and Nicodemus
Rondanini Pietà
Named for the Roman palace where it long stood, the Rondanini Pietà is the sculpture on which Michelangelo was working only six days prior to his death on February 18, 1564.
Mannerism Bologna, Rape of the Sabine Women• Uncommissioned, done to silence
critics who doubted his ability to carve monumental marble works
• To be seen from all sides• Spiraling movement, figura
serpentinata• Arms and legs spiral in space• Nude figures• Reference to Laocoön in the
crouching old man• Three bodies interlock• Ancient sources said that
sculptures were made from a single block. The Renaissance discovered this was untrue. Bologna wanted to surpass the ancients.
Giovanni BolognaAstronomy, 1573 (cast bronze)
Copernicus:“On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres”Published 1543
Galileo“Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems” 1632
Women Artists
• Women’s roles in Florence, Sienna and Venice very limited
• More relaxed guild system outside of these cities
Prosperzia de’Rossi (1490 – 1530)
•First woman sculptor to leave works of such high quality
•Knowledge of male anatomy that was unusual for the time in women
•1ST woman painter not the daughter of another painter – great humanist education
•Specialized in portraits, genre and miniatures
•Received high praise from Michelangelo
•Enjoyed the Patronage of the Spanish Royal family
Veronese, Christ in the House of Levi, 1573• Hard to notice Christ and Mary, lost in the shuffle• Architecture sets the scene, dominates the action• Rich costumes, tables magnificently set, stage-like quality• After the dinner: no one is eating any more• Chaotic diffuse composition• Christ turns water into wine for the groom of the wedding who has run out• Not many people are interested in the miracle that has taken place• Came into trouble with the Inquisition for the lack of spirituality in the painting:
dwarves, jesters and German soldiers abound–daring artistic license
Mannerism in Venice Tintoretto, Last Supper, 1592-94• Deep perspective leads your eye back into the painting to nothing in
particular; dynamic diagonal• Muddy atmosphere with lamps burning fitfully• Lamps reveal angels swooping down from the sky• Only light sources: swinging oil lamps and Christ’s (and apostle’s)
incandescent halos• Christ gives the Eucharist to Saint Peter• Judas on opposite side of table, without glow of halo• Long table divides earthly food from spiritual food• Hectic scene in a dining hall• Dogs, cats, servants and miscellaneous figures• Very busy composition
Finding of the body of St Mark in Alexandria , 1548
Andrea Palladio
• Builds off of Alberti and Roman architecture• Harmonious symmetry and a rejection of
ornamentation
Villa Rotunda, Vicenza
Palladian Architecture
Palladio, Villa Rotonda, Vicenza• Pleasure pavilion set in a pastoral
setting• Perfectly symmetrical interior and
exterior• Greek pediment, Roman dome,
Ionic columns, Roman statues• All Palladian villas are built of brick
and faced with stucco• Air of discreet opulence• Four identical colonnaded porches
with a wide flight of steps• Villa faces four horizons
simultaneously• Villa as temple• Centrally planned buildings
considered perfect
Dome originally unglazed as in the Pantheon
No matter how you view the building it seems complete
Palladian Architecture
Palladio, Villa Rotonda, Vicenza (continued)• Pediments over doorways and windows• Building was meant to be lived in “artistically:” central hall functioned
to hold learned discussions, hear music, etc.• Villa’s relationship to the setting may suggest a limitless vista; the
porches that face the horizon at the same time lead to the depths within; the spatial settings that emphasize one’s view of the world also add dimension to the view of someone from within
• The intimacy of the interior culminates in the great central hall
Palladio, San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice•Clearly lit High Renaissance interior•Side aisles indicated on the façade•Mannerist: two temple façades intersect, creating an interplay of light and shadow•Columns with arches containing sculpture•Columns set on huge pedestals overwhelming the spectator•Dramatic setting in the Venetian lagoon•Location of intoretto’s “Last Supper”
S. Giorgio Maggiore, Venice
16th Century Italy
• From Realism to Idealism• From surface treatment to an understanding of
structure• Exploration of personality• Celebrating the dignity of humans as creatures
made by God• Retained a fascination with Classicism and Rome• A Balance of physical and spiritual forces• Mannerism opens the way to Baroque movement
and excess