Renaissance Art & Architecture

The Rebirth of Classical Ideas

Background & Phases

• 1050 – 1350– Population

growth– Economic

development– City – states

• 1200 – late 1500s– Artistic

achievementBellini: Sacra Conversazione

Intellectual Development

• Humanism: Glorify Human Form & Potential

• Revival of classical antiquity

• Individualism• Secular focusTitian: Assumption of the Virgin

Renaissance Italy

• City-States• Power

People– Medici (F)– Este

(Ferrara)– Sforza (M)– Doge (V)– Pope (PS)

Florence

• Commerce / Trade

• Banking: Medici• Textile• Patronage

Renaissance Art: Techniques

• Religious >> Secular subjects

• Realistic • Perspective• Movement• Symmetry• Proportion

Ghirlandiao: Adoration of the Shepherds

Medieval v. Renaissance

• Medieval– Flat– Religious– Static

• Renaissance– 3-D– Secular / Human focus– Movement

Ghirlandaio: Angel Appearing to Zacharias

Giotto de Bondone: The Mourning of Christ

• Florentine School * Fresco * Individuals

Massaccio: Tribute Money• Florentine School * Perspective * Realism

Sandro Botticelli: Madonna of the Magnificat

• Expression Botticelli Face Emotional

• Double focal points: Crown + Book

Major Artists: Ninja Turtles!

Raphael – Michelangelo – Donatello – Leonardo

Raphael: Pope Leo X with Two Cardinals 1518 • Vatican Murals

Commissioned by Pope Julius II

• Leo X = Julius II successor

• Focal Point = Face

Raphael: The School of Athens• In the Vatican: Stanza della Signatura• Blending of Greek + Renaissance• Symmetry• Perspective• Depth• Light

Leonardo da Vinci

• Renaissance Man– Multi-talented– Anatomy,

mechanics, art, astronomy, weaponry…

• China?

Leonardo: The Last Supper

• Fresco * Symmetry * Individual Expression

Leonardo: Mona Lisa

• Symmetry• “Sfumato”

– Blur – Blend– Mystery

• The Grin

Leonardo’s Notebooks

• Vetruvian Man• Anatomy

advances painting & sculpture

Michelangelo: Sistine Chapel• M = sculptor,

painter, architect• Commissioned by

Pope Julius II 1508• Scaffold, personally

completed• Old & New

Testament reflects the Renaissance Era

Renaissance Sculpture• Classical

Realism • Free standing• Marble & Bronze• Full body, busts

& reliefs

Humanism & Individuality

• Individuality portrayed in details

Ghiberti’s Doors - Florence• 1423,

Florentine, he was only 23!

• Bronze cast + gilding

• 20 yrs N doors• 25 yrs E doors• “Creation”• Realism

Donatello’s David

• Free standing nude

• Proportion of human form

• 5’ tall, After beating Goliath

Michelangelo’s David• Marble• 16’ tall• Details• As David

decides to battle Goliath

• Classical style, details

Renaissance Architecture

• Columns• Arch• Dome• Harmony via

proportion• The Circle is key• Math!

Church & Architecture• RCC

builds to draw people

• Tells the Biblical narrative

• Visual & Symbolic

Church Architecture: Florence• Santa Maria del Fiore begun 1294 by

Arnolfo di Cambio, died 1302• Began cupola (cup shaped dome)

Church Architecture: Florence• Filippo Brunelleschi, 1418 figured out

how to complete… ever decreasing circles with ribs to bear weight

• Scaffolding upwards

Church Architecture: St. Peter’s• Michelangelo hired by Pope Paul III in 1546… worked

until death in 1564

• Inside St. Peter’s:– High Altar– Nave Ceiling

• Roman arches

– Under Dome• Single

dome with arch support

Church Architecture: Bramante’s Tempietto• Renaissance

“Greatest Architect”

• Commissioned by K+Q of Spain: Ferdinand & Isabella

• St. Peter’s death site

• Doric columns + Roman dome, 15’ diameter

Renaissance Writers Voice of Humanism

Dante Alighieri – Petrarch – Boccaccio - Castiglione

Renaissance Writers• Dante 1265-1321

– Divine Comedy Allegory

– Vernacular• Petrarch 1304-1374

– Sonnets in Italian• Boccaccio 1313-1375

– Decameron = Plague• Castiglione 1478-1529

– The Courtier = model

Northern Renaissance • Began in Flanders >> Holland• Erasmus 1466-1536: reconcile Christian character

w/ Humanism… Colloquies, Adages, new Bible A. Dűrer – Hans Holbein (Young) – van Eyck

Northern Renaissance• Dűrer (G) 1471-1528

– Woodcuts– Mass Marketing

• Holbein the Younger (G) 1497-1543

– Portraits, Henry VIII

– Expressions • Van Eyck (Flem) 1390-

1441– Oil Paint

developer– Realism possible

English Renaissance: Elizabethan Era• G. Chaucer

– Canterbury Tales: Vernacular

• Sir Th. More– Utopia: Ideal place of

virtue• Spenser

– Faerie Queen: Ode• Marlowe = plays• Shakespeare

– Comedy, tragedy, morality

Renaissance Impact• Genius of humanity all at once… why?• Changed art & architecture forever• Individualism drives future thought