Early Renaissance

1400-1450

“The Artist as Idea-maker”

•Early Renaissance began in Florence because of specific circumstances.•At the beginning of the 15th C., Florence was threatened by Duke of Milan•Put up defenses, including intellectual ones, to rally the people.•Propaganda in the form of writing, art, music championed Florence as the “new Athens”•Began a campaign to finish and decorate Florence Cathedral- opportunity for the emergence of new artistic talent•Art was raised from a craft to a liberal art (like writing, mathematics, philosophy)- a necessity for a gentleman’s education•The artist became the manipulator of ideas rather than just a craftsman-and the artist began to be educated and respected.•New style began with Ghiberti’s Baptistry doors.

Nanni di Banco, Four Saints, c.1410-14

•Life-sized figures•Mass and volume much more realistic than Medieval •Heads based on Roman sculpture•This time form and content are not separated like in Medieval

Donatello, St. George Tabernacle, 1415-17

•Attitude of the human body is much like classical antiquity•Donatello- greatest sculptor of his time (1386-1466)•Spent early years working on Cathedral commissions•Brought back Contrapposto!•In same architectural niche like Banco, but different feeling•Elastic limbs, lifelike, ready for battle (right hand originally held a sword)•Renaissance version of the brave Christian soldier but now redefined as the defender of the “new Athens”

Donatello, Feast of Herod, 1425

•Donatello learned bronze sculpture from Ghiberti•He ended up with a more expressive quality than his teacher.•Acts as a window of reality•Earliest example of linear perspective (invented by Brunelleschi)!!•Linear perspective made art empirical- a reason to include as a liberal art

Ghiberti, Gates of Paradise, c.1435

Ghiberti has learned from his student!

Donatello, David 1425-30

•David is based on Classical proportions and is symbolic of the struggle between Florence and Milan (David v. Goliath)•Note Greek-like wreath on his helmet•Not based on the Greek athletic type

Niccolo Dell’Arca, The Lamentation, 1485-90

•Integration of motion and emotion•Life-sized•Figure on the right is reminiscent of Nike of Samothrace (forward rush)

Brunelleschi, S. Lorenzo 1421-69

•Brunelleschi created the early Renaissance, Architecturally•First to study the exact measurements of ancient monuments •Invented linear perspective•Won the building of the Florence Cathedral Dome- created a new way of distributing weight and a new hoisting machine for construction

Commissioned by the Medici to add on to the Romanesque building and then to redo the entire thingInterior- order rather than Passion. Precise and mathematical

Plan, S. Lorenzo

•New emphasis on the regular and symmetrical•Whole design based on square units•Ushered in the Renaissance’s search for order and uniformity•Helped to organize the disorder of the Middle Ages- in art as well as language

•Drawn to classical architecture because of its inflexibility•Everything had to be the correct proportions- and completely integrated

Brunelleschi, Pazzi Chapel, 1430-33

•Completely unrelated to any Gothic structure that came before•Central arch that links two classical colonnades is an innovation

Interior, Pazzi Chapel

•Surfaces are decorated•First example of roundels- sculpture is not really needed like Gothic sculpture- its added on, but architecture now stands on its own.

Michelozzo, Palazzo Medici 1444

•Brunelleschi was rejected by his patrons because of his very innovative ideas- this commission was given to a lesser-known architect•Very fortress-like•Stone is in a graded sequence (smooth, rusticated, and rough)

Alberti, Palazzo Rucellai, 1146-51

•Death of Brunelleschi allowed for the rise of Alberti•1400-1472•didn’t start designing until he was OLD (40)- wrote a lot about Renaissance art•This is a critique of the Medici Palace- more of a strict design•Reminiscent of the Colloseum•Dealt with how to put a classical scheme on a non-classical building

Alberti, S. Andrea, 1470

•Alberti was able to meld classical and contemporary •Triumphal arch from Rome•Classical temple front•Pilasters instead of columns•Complete continuity in the interior of the church- the façade is a preview of the order of the entire interior

No clerestory, designed as one long nave w/o transcept- reminiscent of Roman basilicas

Masaccio, The Holy Trinity 1425

•New style was single-handedly launched by Masaccio (died at the age of 27)•Renaissance style already established in sculpture and painting•Inscription reads “What you are, I once was; what I am, you will become.”•Realm of monumental grandeur, not everyday life•Drapery is real- figures are “clothed nudes”•Shows linear perspective•Deliberately painted to be seen from the viewer’s perspective

Masaccio, The Tribute Money c. 1427

•Fresco from the Brancacci Chapel, showing continuous narration•Figures merge the weight and volume of Giotto with new precision of the Renaissance •Most figures are very static and sculptural

Masaccio, Madonna Enthroned, 1426

How do we know this is Renaissance and not Medieval?

Fra Angelico, The Annunciation, 1440-50

Duccio

Paolo Ucello, Battle of San Romano, 1455 (tempera and silver foil)

•Shows preoccupation with depicting space- ground is very gridlike•Ordered space in a very disordered painting

Castagno, The Last Supper, 1445-50

•Depicts an alcove of real space- reminiscent of Masaccio•Almost too ordered- imprisons and silences figures- uses medieval pose of Judas seperated

Mantegna, St.James Led to his Execution, 1455

•From the city of Padua (near Venice) 1431-1506•2nd most important painter of the early Renaissance•Fresco destroyed in 1944•Worms-eye view perspective based on viewer’s eye-level•Devotion to classical remains-desire for accuracy (soldier’s costumes)•Great emotional content (fight breaking out on the right)

Bellini, Madonna and the Saints, 1505

•Painting is set in the apse of a church•Very gentle, diffused light•Very spacious and calm•Colors have rich depth•Meditative rather than static (like medieval)

Botticelli, The Birth of Venus, 1480

•1444-1510- Florentine-favorite of the Medici from the Masaccio style-stable and monumental•Lack of concern for deep space, ornamental•Does not follow precise anatomy- bodies are deflated looking, never touching the ground•Why was mythological subjects allowed in a very religious society?

Ghirlandaio, An Old Man and his Grandson, 1480

•Very Flemish in nature- realism and facial detail but filled with emotion like the Italians

Perugino, The Delivery of the Keys, 1482

•Roman- a fresco from the Sistine Chapel-story of Peter being named the first Pope•Very symmetrical design, vast expanse of the background•Mathematically exact perspective•Became Raphael’s teacher (poor guy!)