Renaissance Art Brought to you by… The Art Department

The Renaissance : A summary

This period is often considered to be a time of renewal and rebirth. The word Renaissance, which is actually French, literally means rebirth.

Renaissance art were paintings, sculptures, architecture, music, and literature made in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries in Europe. It was under the influences of an increased awareness of nature, a revival of classical learning, and a more individualistic view of man. Scholars and artists began to explore what they thought to be a revival of classical learning, literature, and art.

The Renaissance art period began in Italy in about 1400. This type of art marks the transition of Europe from the medieval period to the early modern age.

Earlier Renaissance art created a parallel with Late Medieval art. The patrons of the Renaissance wanted to art to show the joy in human beauty and the pleasures of life. It was more life-like than the art of the middle Ages. Artists of the time also studied linear perspective. Linear perspective is an approximate representation, generally on a flat surface (such as paper), of an image as it is seen by the eye. The most characteristic features of Linear perspective are that objects appear smaller as their distance from the observer increases; and that they are subject to foreshortening, meaning that an object's dimensions along the line of sight appear shorter than its dimensions across the line of sight. Italian Renaissance painters and architects including Fillipo Brunelleschi, Massachio, Uccello, Pierto della Francesca, and Luca Pacioli studied linear perspective, wrote treatises on it, and incorporated it into their artworks, thus contributing to the mathematics in art. Source

Uccello’s ChaliceRAPHAEL (1483-1520)'The Transfiguration', 1516-20 (oil painting)

What do you see here?

What do you think about these drawings?

What do you wonder about them?

In their endeavour to match the naturalism of Classical beauty, many Renaissance artists took up the study of anatomy to increase their knowledge of the human form.

LEONARDO DA VINCI (1452-1519)'Anatomical study of the muscles of the shoulder, arm and neck', c.1510-11 (pen, ink and wash). Leonardo snuck into graves and dissected dead bodies to explore the structures that lay beneath the skin. Sourced

What do you think Leonardo used as his reference material here? Photography did not exist yet…

Leonardo DaVinci

Mona Lisa (Left), and various invention drawings.

Describe what you see in the Mona Lisa. What is her expression like? Where is she? What is her mood?

The Sistine Chapel: Constructed by Giovanni dei Dolci

Do you know what is painted on the walls here?

The Sistine Chapel Walls and ceiling painted by Michelangelo Buonarroti

How did Michellangelo paint on the ceiling of such a huge chapel??

Michelangelo Buonarroti : Sketch for a figure within the Sistine Chapel Notice the detail of the human body portrayed here. Is it a man, or a woman? How do you know?

Michalenglo worked up until his death on February 18, 1564

These uncompleted sculptures were later called “the prisoners or the slaves” because they appear to be trapped in the stone.

Is this how you would imagine sculptures to be produced? Notice how Michelangelo worked in one direction to reveal the figure in the stone.

Sandro Botticelli was another influential artist in the renaissance.

The Birth of Venus, mid 1480’s

Renaissance paintings heavily relied on stories from mythology and used symbolism. Notice how the flowers being blown in to the left of Venus (standing on the shell) are balanced with the flower in the garment that is about to clothe her. What does this mean? Why would Botticelli include this subtlety? What other symbolism do you see? Does this help you to understand the story of the birth of Venus?

Compare and contrast at least ten things between these two images.

Don’t cheat! Which one do you think was painted by a man, and which by a woman?

Gentileschi

Caravaggio

Carravaggio: The incredulity of St. Thomas..

Notice the light. How is it different than, say, the Mona Lisa? How does it change the mood of the work?

Chiaroscuro is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark. Artists known for developing the technique include Leonardo da Vinci, Caravaggio, and Rembrandt.

Artemisia Gentileschi: Self Portrait.

How many female artists were making work at this time?

Read this to learn more about women who made art during

this time period.

Crash Course: Florance & the Renaissance

Crash Course: Northern Renaissance

Video Crash Courses on Renaissance