03 early renaissance in italy

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ART 102 Gardners - Chapter 21 Jean Thobaben Instructor HUMANISM AND THE ALLURE OF ANTIQUITY 15 TH CENTURY ITALIAN ART THE EARLY RENAISSANCE IN ITALY EARLY ITALIAN RENAISSANCE Firenzia Mantua THE EARLY RENAISSANCE IN ITALY Roma Venezia

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ART 102 Gardners - Chapter 21Jean Thobaben

Instructor

HUMANISM AND THE ALLURE

OF ANTIQUITY

15TH CENTURY ITALIAN ART

THE EARLY RENAISSANCE IN ITALY

EARLY ITALIAN RENAISSANCE

Firenzia

Mantua

THE EARLY RENAISSANCE IN ITALY

Roma

Venezia

2

• A new artistic culture emerged and expanded

in Italy in the 15th century.

• Humanism also fostered a belief in individual potential and

encouraged individual achievement.

• Humanism also encouraged citizens to participate in the social,

political, and economic life of their communities.

• Shifting power relations among the numerous Italian city-states

fostered the rise of princely courts and control of cities by despots.

• Princely courts emerged as cultural and artistic centers.

• Their patronage contributed to the formation and character of

Renaissance art.

3

Renaissance

The Italian Renaissance is divided into three phases for study:

• The Early Renaissance in the early and mid 1400s.

• The High Renaissance in the late 1400s-early 1500s.

• And Mannerism in the mid to late 1500s.

4

The Early Renaissance in Italy

5

Florence

• Renaissance means rebirth.

• Artistic leaders lived in Florence which was dominated

by the Medici – a powerful family who were great

patrons of the arts.

• Florentine artists, fueled by a renewed interest in

ancient Greece and Rome as well as science and math,

created a “New Athens”.

6

• This imposing object, a commemorative birth tray (desco da parto), was commissioned to celebrate the birth of Lorenzo de' Medici,known to posterity as Lorenzo the Magnificent (1449–1492).

• Lorenzo was the most celebrated ruler of his day as well as an important poet patron of the arts; his name is synonymous with the Renaissance.

The Triumph of Fame - Impresa of the Medici

Family and Arms of the Medici and Tornabuoni Families

Giovanni di ser Giovanni, ca. 1449, Tempera, silver, and gold on wood Dimensions: Overall, with

engaged frame, diameter 36 1/2 in. (92.7 cm); recto, painted surface, diameter 24 5/8 in. (62.5 cm);

verso, painted surface, diameter 29 5/8 in. (75.2 cm), Metropolitan Museum of Art

7

• The tradition of

commissioning circular

trays to commemorate a

birth derived from the

custom of presenting

sweet-meats to the new

mother.

• Painted by the younger

brother of Masaccio,

this is an object of

unique historical

importance.

• It was kept by Lorenzo

in his private quarters in

the Medici palace in

Florence.

The Triumph of Fame; (reverse) Impresa of the Medici Family and Arms of the Medici and

Tornabuoni Families, Giovanni di ser Giovanni Guidi (called Scheggia),

Metropolitan Museum of Art, N.Y.

8

9

Sculpture and Civic Pride

in the Early Renaissance

• The republic of Florence cultivated civic pride and responsibility

resulting in competitions to embellish the

city's buildings.

• The competitive nature of these projects, which were usually

sponsored by civic or lay-religious organizations, promoted

innovation and signaled official approval of the new, classically

inspired style.

• The emulation of antique models, however, was also

supplemented by a growing interest in the anatomical structure

of the human body and the desire to show a naturalistic illusion

of space.

10

The “Gates of Paradise”

• One such competition was to create the doors to the baptistry

at the Cathedral of Florence.

• Artists submitted brass relief panels on the subject – the

“Sacrifice of Isaac”.

• The following panels were submitted for the competition.

11

Filippo

Brunelleschi's

competition panel

shows a sturdy and

vigorous

interpretation of the

Sacrifice of Isaac.

Brunelleschi 1401-1402. Gilded bronze relief, 21" x 17". Museo Nazionaledel Bargello, Florence.

12

Lorenzo Ghiberti's

competition panel

emphasizes grace

and smoothness.

Ghiberti

1401-1402.

Gilded bronze relief

21" x 17”

Museo Nazionale del Bargello

Florence.

13

• Lorenzo Ghiberti

(1381-1455)

won the competition.

• His "Gates of

Paradise" are

comprised of ten gilded

bronze relief panels

depicting scenes from

the Old Testament.

View of the completed doors

on the Baptistry, in Florence

14

• In Isaac and His Sons, Ghiberti creates the illusion of space using

perspective and sculptural means.

• Ghiberti also persists in using the medieval narrative method of

presenting several episodes within a single frame.

15

Detail: Isaac and His Sons, 1425-1452. Gilded bronze relief, approx. 31 1/2" x 31 1/2”.

16

Creation of Adam (detail of a

panel from the eastern door)

1425-52

Bronze, Baptistry, Florence

17

Killing of Abel (detail of a panel

from the eastern door)

1425-52, Bronze

Baptistry, Florence

18

Donatello (1386-1466)

• Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, universally known as Donatello,

was born in Florence around 1386 and died there in 1466.

• The powerful expressive qualities of his work made him the greatest

sculptor of the early Renaissance.

• Donatello's early works, still partly Gothic in style, are the impressive

seated marble figure of St John the Evangelist for the cathedral

façade and a wooden crucifix in the church of Santa Croce. The

latter, according to an unproved anecdote, was made in friendly

competition with Brunelleschi, a sculptor and an architect.

19

• The wooden Crucifix in the Church of Santa Croceis attributed to Donatello,although this attribution is not shared by all art historians.

• The dating of this work is also controversial. Some scholars consider it as one of the first sculptures by Donatello while others think it was made around 1425.

• The study of the iconography suggests the date 1412-13.

• Brunelleschi hated the

intensely life-like face of the

dead Christ and accused

Donatello of having, in

Vasari's words, “crucified a

peasant”

• The work reflects Donatello's

creative force, his search for

new forms of expression and

liberation from established

rules.

Crucifix, 1412-13

Wood, 168 x 173 cm

Church of Santa Croce, Florence

20

• Donatello’s St John

which, together with

the other Evangelists

by Nanni di Banco,

Niccolo Lamberti and

Bernardo Ciuffagni,

were to be placed on

the facade of Santa

Maria del Fiore in the

tabernacle at the side

of the central door.

• This statue, of St. John, which was commissioned by the Opera del Duomo but executed much later - the payments go from 1413 to 1415 -almost seems to anticipate the works of Michelangelo.

• Particularly remarkable are the saint's acute and penetrating expression, and the realistic treatment of his open hand on the book.

St John the Evangelist,1410-11

Marble, height: 210 cm,

Museo dell'Opera del Duomo

Florence

21

• The full power of Donatello

first appeared in two marble

statues, St Mark and St

George (both completed c.

1415), for niches on the

exterior of Or San Michele,

the church of Florentine

guilds.

• The niches on the exterior of

were each assigned to a

specific guild for decoration

with a sculpture of its patron

saint.

• The armored

Saint

George by

Donatello was

the patron of

the guild of

armorers and

sword makers.

View of the niches on

Or San Michele

22

• The figure stands with bold

firmness.

• The carved relief sculpture at

the base of the niche depicts

St. George slaying the dragon.

Donatello, Saint George, from Or San Michele,

Florence, Italy, 1415-1417. Marble

(replaced in niche by a bronze copy),

approx. 6' 10" high.

Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence.

23

• Nanni di Banco's (1380-1421)

group, the Quattro Santi

Coronati, shows an early

attempt to solve the problem of

integrating figures and

space on a monumental scale.

• Nanni created a unified spatial

composition.

– The figures also exhibit a

psychological unity.

– Their heads were inspired by

Roman portrait busts.

Quattro Santi Coronati, Or San Michele, Florence, Italy, ca. 1408-1414.

24

• A sense of motion is conveyed in

Donatello's Saint Mark by the

weight-shifted stance of

the figure.

• The saint's drapery also falls naturally

and implies a body underneath.

Donatello, Saint Mark

Or San Michele, Florence, Italy, 1411-1413. Marble,

approx. 7' 9" high.

25

• The same qualities came increasingly to the fore in a series of

five prophet statues that Donatello did beginning in 1416 for

the niches of the campanile, the bell tower of the cathedral.

• The statues were of a beardless and a bearded prophet, as well

as a group of Abraham and Isaac (1416-21) for the

eastern niches;

• the so-called Zuccone ("pumpkin," because of its bald head);

and Jeremiah for the western niches.

26

• Donatello's unconventional statue of Zuccone

is powerfully and realistically characterized.

• His face is individualized and discloses a fierce

personality.

Prophet figure Zuccone,

from the campanile of the

Florence Cathedral, Italy,

1423-1425. Marble, approx.

6' 5" high. Museo

dell'Opera del Duomo,

Florence.

27

• During his partnership with the architect, Michelozzo, Donatello carried out independent commissions of pure sculpture.

• the bronze David, well-proportioned and superbly poised, was conceived independently of any architectural setting.

• Its harmonious calm makes it the most classical of Donatello's works.

28

• Donatello's bronze statue David

is the first freestanding nude bronze since

ancient times.

• The biblical David was a symbol of the

independent Florentine republic.

• The figure stands in a relaxed classical

contrapposto position.

David, ca. 1428–1432. Bronze, 5' 21/4" high. Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence.

29

Details: David

30

Let’s take another look.

Now let’s take a look at

another interpretation by

a contemporary of

Donatello’s.

31

• Compare Donatello’s David to this

version by Andrea del Verocchio.

• Verrocchio's bronze David is given a

strong narrative realism.

• The jaunty, adolescent figure stands

with relaxed ease.

Verrocchio, David, ca. 1465–1470. Bronze, approx. 4' 1 1/2" high. Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence.

Andrea del Verocchio(1435-1488)

32

• In 1443, Donatello was lured to Padua by a commission for a bronze equestrian statue of a famous Venetian condottiere, Erasmo da Narmi, popularly called Gattamelata(The Honeyed Cat), who had died shortly before.

• Such a project was unprecedented -indeed, scandalous - for since the days of the Roman Empire bronze equestrian monuments had been the sole prerogative of rulers.

• It portrays Gattamelata in pseudo-classical armor calmly astride his mount, the baton of command in his raised right hand.

• The head is an idealized portrait with intellectual power and Roman nobility.

• This statue was the ancestor of all the equestrian monuments erected since.

33

34

• The two Pulpits with eleven panels in the Basilica of San

Lorenzo are Donatello's last works.

• The pulpits are obviously the result of collaboration

between Donatello and his pupils Bertoldo and Bellano.

• While in the Deposition from the Cross and the

Entombment this collaboration is apparent - in the

extremely elongated figures and the unusually high degree

of finish of the reliefs - the Agony in the Garden is

considered to be the part where Donatello was working

alone and where his ties to his youthful style are clearly

visible.

Pulpit (on the right), 1465, Marble and bronze, 123 x 292 cm,

Church of San Lorenzo, Florence

35Pulpit (on the left), 1465, Marble and bronze, 137 x 280 cm, Church of San Lorenzo, Florence

36

• This is one of

the panels of

the pulpit on

the left side of

the church of

San Lorenzo.

• The

collaboration of

Donatello' s

pupils is

apparent.

37

• This is the

Agony in

the Garden.

• This panel is

considered to

be the part

where

Donatello was

working alone

and where his

ties to his

youthful style

are clearly

visible.

38

Robbia, name of an Italian family of Renaissance artists, known

especially for their sculpture and ceramics, which flourished in

Florence for nearly 150 years.

• Luca Della Robbia (1400?-82), originated glazed terra-cotta bas-reliefs, usually with white figures on a blue ground. He was born inFlorence and lived all his life there. His delicate reliefs were mostlyof religious subjects; those of the Madonna are especially notable

• Andrea Della Robbia (1437-1528), Luca's nephew, the mostimportant of his successors. Trained by his uncle in both marbleand ceramics, Andrea specialized in the creation of narrativesculpture.

• Andrea's two sons, Giovanni (1469?-1529?) and Girolamo (1488-1566), also became skilled terra-cotta sculptors; however, theirwork was inferior to that of their father and uncle.

39

• Luca Della Robbia'smany images of the Virgin Maryrepresent a fascinating world, a world of intimacy and motherly tenderness portrayed under milky skies filled with luminous matter.

• Especially popular in religious circles, they were also appreciated for their qualities of brilliance and whiteness, alluding to purity and spiritual light.

40

This glazed terracotta

tondo relief of the

Madonna and

Child introduces

high-key color into

sculpture.

The figures have a

worldly quality.

Luca Della Robbia, Madonna and

Child, Florence, Italy, 1455–1460.

Terracotta with polychrome glaze,

diameter appx. 6'.

41

• During the late 15th century

Andrea della Robbia continued

his uncle's business in glazed

terracotta sculpture.

• He shared the same furnace up

to Luca's death in 1482 but was

working autonomously by 1455.

• The influence of painting can be

seen in his characteristically puffy

clouds, raised in relief. Andrea's

sky appears in his first dated

work, the Madonna of the

Stonemasons,

commissioned by the Guild to

replace an earlier work.

• The relief was executed in three

pieces and the frame in nine.

• The recessed border of seraph

heads situates the figures in

heaven, while the white roses of

the frame symbolize the

Madonna's purity and contribute

to the work's decorative nature.

• The four medallions inscribe

emblems of the guild.

Madonna of the Stonemasons, 1475-80

Glazed terracotta, 134 x 96 cm,

Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence

42

Della Robbia in Situ - Hospital of the Innocents, Florence

The city orphanage was Brunelleschi's first completed Classical design.

43

• Antonio Rossellino

was among the most

gifted Florentine

sculptors of his

generation, and his

reliefs of the

Virgin and Child

are justly celebrated.

• The Virgin sits on an elaborate throne, with scrolled armrests projecting in high relief.

• Both she and the Christ Child in her arms seem strangely subdued, perhaps contemplating Christ's future suffering.

Madonna and Child with Angels,

Relief, (ca. 1455–60),

Antonio Rossellino,

Marble, gilding; 28 3/4 x 20 1/4 in.

Andrea del Verocchio (1435-1488)

• The Florentine sculptor and painter, who is ranked second only

to Donatello among the Italian sculptors of the early

Renaissance.

• His equestrian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni, erected in

Venice in 1496, is particularly important.

44

45

• Compared to Gattamelata,

the most obvious difference

between the images of brute

power resides in the torsion of

Verrocchio's, Donatello's

being confined to a plane.

• Colleoni stands erect in his

stirrups to regard his enemy in

violent contrapposto, while

his horse turns and raises one

hoof without support.

– Verrocchio's is technically more

advanced.

Equestrian Statue of Colleoni, 1480s

Gilded bronze, height: 395 cm

(without base)

Campo di Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice.

46

Equestrian Statue of Colleoni, 1480s,

Gilded bronze, height: 395 cm

(without base), Campo

di Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice.

47

• Like most Florentine artists of the time, Verocchio was comissioned by the Medici.

• He’s left us this outstanding portrait bust of Lorenzo the Magnificent.

Lorenzo de Medici,1480

Painted terracotta

National Gallery of Art, Washington

48

• A penetrating realism

distinguishes this terra-

cotta bust of Giuliano

de' Medici from the

idealization of the

individual that

characterizes his

marble bust known as

Lady with Primroses. (next slide)

Andrea del Verrocchio (1435-1488), Giuliano de' Medici, ca. 1475/1478

Terracotta, 61 x 66 x 28.3 cm (24 x 26 x 11 1/8 in.), National Gallery of Art, Washington

49

• A penetrating

realism

distinguishes

his terra-cotta

bust of

Giuliano

de' Medici

from the

idealization of

the individual

that

characterizes

his marble bust

known as Lady

with

Primroses.

• The latter work created a

new type of Renaissance

bust, in which the arms of

the sitter are included in the

manner of ancient Roman

models.

• This compositional device

allows the hands, as well as

the face, to express the

character and mood of the

sitter.

50

• The International Style persisted but became increasingly

suffused with a variety of naturalistic detail.

Italian Painting in

the Early Renaissance

51

Gentile da Fabriano's

(ca. 1370-1427)

Adoration

of the Magi

is an example of the

International Style.

52

It includes numerous naturalistic details.

53

• The painter Masaccio (1401-1428), however, introduced

a new monumental style that revolutionized Italian painting.

• Masaccio's manipulation of light and shade (chiaroscuro) give

an almost tangible sense of three-dimensional substance to his

figures and

• his application of the new linear perspective to create the

illusion of spatial depth or distance provided models of innovation

and direction for future generations of painters.

54Plate of Nativity (Berlin Tondo), 1427-28

Tempera on wood, diameter 56 cm, Staatliche Museen, Berlin

This round plate with a Nativity on

the front and a putto and small dog on

the back has been defined by

experts as the first

Renaissance tondo.

55

Note the important innovations and the

correct architectural perspective

reflecting an affirmation of the

classicism of Brunelleschi.

Florentine style is

evident in the color

sequences of the

geometrical patterns

on the walls of the

building and in the court.

This is in perfect harmony,

and was to appear again in

the stories of Fra Angelico

and the architecture of

Michelozzo in San Marco.

56

• Masaccio’s fresco series for the Brancacci Chapel inSanta Maria del Carmine, Florence (about 1427)illustrates another of his great innovations, the use of lightto define the human body and its draperies.

• In these frescoes, rather than bathing his scenes in flatuniform light, he painted them as if they were illuminatedfrom a single source of light (the actual chapel window),thus creating a play of light and shadow (chiaroscuro) thatgave them a natural, realistic quality unknown in the art ofhis day.

• Of these six fresco scenes, Tribute Money and theExpulsion from Paradise are considered hismasterpieces.

View of the , Brancacci Chapel, Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence, Italy, ca. 1427

57

Masaccio's fresco of the Tribute Money in the Brancacci Chapel of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence shows psychologically and physically credible figures illuminated by a light coming from a specific source outside the picture.

Masaccio, Tribute Money, ca. 1427

Brancacci Chapel, Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence, Italy, Fresco, 8' 1" x 19' 7".

58

• The light models the figures to produce an illusion of deep sculptural relief.

• The main group of figures stand solidly in a semi-circle in the foreground of a spacious landscape.

• Masaccio employs both linear perspective and illusionistic perspective to enhance the sense of space and distance.

Detail: Tribute Money, Brancacci Chapel, Santa Maria del

Carmine, Florence, Italy, ca. 1427. Fresco, 8' 1" x 19' 7".

59

• Masaccio's starkly simple fresco of the

Expulsion of Adam and Eve from

Eden employs sharply slanted light from an

outside source to create deep relief.

• The figures appear to have substantial bodily

weight and move convincingly over the ground.

Masaccio,

Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden,

Brancacci Chapel, Santa Maria del

Carmine, Florence, Italy, ca. 1425. Fresco, 7' x 2' 11".

60

61

• Masaccio's Holy Trinity fresco

in Santa Maria Novella embodies

two principal Renaissance

interests:

– realism based on observation,

– and perspective.

Masaccio, Holy Trinity,

Santa Maria Novella,

Florence, Italy, ca. 1428. Fresco, 21' x 10' 5".

62

63

Fra Angelico (Guido di Pietro) (1400-55)

• A Dominican friar, “Brother Angel” was in fact a highly

professional artist, who was in touch with the most advanced

developments in contemporary Florentine art.

• He probably began his career as a manuscript illuminator, and his

early paintings are strongly influenced by International Gothic.

• His most famous works were painted at the

Monastery of San Marco in Florence.

• He and his assistants painted about fifty frescos.

64

Fra Angelico's fresco of the Annunciation is simple and serene.

Fra Angelico, Annunciation, San Marco, Florence, 1440–1445. Fresco, 7' 1" x 10' 6".

65

• Many of the frescos are in

the friars' cells and were

intended as aids to devotion;

– with their immaculate

coloring,

– their economy in drawing

and composition, and

– their freedom from the

accidents of time and

place, they attain a sense

of blissful serenity.

Presentation in the Temple

1440-41, Fresco, 158 x 136 cm;

Cell 10, San Marco, Florence.

66

• The brilliance of the early morning is real enough, but the irradiating light, the floating rather than walking figure of Christ, the wealth of natural detail in the garden, are for devotional reasons and intended to stimulate the meditation of the monk who lived in the cell.

Noli Me Tangere,1440-41

Fresco, 180 x 146 cm

Convento di San Marco, Florence

67

• Angelico would repeat

his success with the

frescoes at San Marcos

with commissions for

altarpieces that made

their way to churches

around the world.

• In this altarpanel

which was sold to

Spain we see his

Annunciation

recreated in egg

tempera on a

wooden panel

with the

Expulsion

from the

Garden scene

in the

background.

68

The Annunciation (detail),

1430-32, Tempera on wood,

154 x 194 cm

Museo del Prado, Madrid

69

• In the next slide, following the three kings

a splendid procession, symbolizing all

the races of mankind, waits to pay

homage to the new-born Christ..

• The peacock is a symbol of

Resurrection.

• Some scholars believe that Fra Angelico

laid out the composition and painted the

Virgin and Child and at least some of the

figures at the upper right; then his

associate and fellow monk Fra Filippo

Lippi completed the work. Fra Angelico with Fra Filippo LippiThe Adoration of the Magi. c.1445

Tempera on panel. The National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC,

Documents indicate the this

tondo may have originally

belonged to Lorenzo

de' Medici, ruler of

Florence and patron

of Renaissance

artists.

70

• Fra Filippo Lippi(1406-1469)

another painter/ Friar;

• Madonna and Child

with Angels shows

Lippi’s skill in

manipulating line.

• The subject has been

humanized and

interpreted in a worldly

manner.

Fra Filippo Lippi, Madonna and Child with Angels, ca. 1455. Tempera on wood, approx. 36" x 25". Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

71

• This is an example

how Lippi used

the architectural

elements to

emphasize the

three-dimensional

space.

• There is a

remarkable

harmony between

the figures and the

columns of the

architecture.

Annunciation,c.1443,Wood,

203 x 185,3 cm,

Alte Pinakothek, Munich

72

• Perugino's fresco of Christ Delivering the Keys of the

Kingdom to Saint Peter in the Sistine Chapel shows the

figures occupying the foreground of a great piazza that extends

perspectively back in space.

• The orthogonal lines of the perspective grid converge at a

vanishing point located in the doorway of a centrally placed

central-plan temple.

Perugino, Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to Saint Peter, Sistine Chapel, Vatican,

Rome, Italy, 1481–1483. Fresco, 11' 5 1/2" x 18' 8 1/2".

73

• The next fresco is from the cycle of the life of Christ inthe Sistine Chapel.

• It was painted by Perugino and Pinturicchio, the latterbeing probably responsible for the landscape and minorscenes.

• The paintings were to be read in pairs, one from the leftand one from the right.

• Thus the Baptism of Christ faces the Circumcision ofMoses' son by Perugino and Pinturicchio.

Baptism of Christ,c. 1482,Fresco, 335 x 540 cm,Cappella Sistina,Vatican

74

Baptism of Christ (detail)

c. 1482, Fresco

Cappella Sistina, Vatican

75

• The next fresco depicts the story of Moses' journey to Egypt

after exile in the land of Midian, when the angel tells him to

circumcise his second son.

• A comparison of the pairs of scenes shows clearly that the

principal concern was to show how the new religion of Christ

was deeper and more spiritual than the Jewish religion.

• Thus the pair of frescoes showing the Baptism and the

Circumcision emphasize how baptism - prefigured, according

to Augustine and many of the Fathers of Church, by

circumcision - represents a "spiritual circumcision."

Moses's Journey into Egypt, c. 1482, Fresco, Cappella Sistina, Vatican

76

• Castagno's Last Supper in the refectory of

Sant'Apollonia in Florence shows both a commitment

to the biblical narrative and an interest in perspective.

Andrea Del Castagno, Last Supper, the Refectory, Monastery of Sant'Apollonia,

Florence, Italy, 1447. Fresco, approx. 15' x 32'.

Andrea del Castagno (ca.1419-1457)

77

• Castagno’s The

Youthful David is

unique in Renaissance art.

• It is the only example of a

painted shield that can be

attributed to a great master,

and it is decorated with a

narrative scene instead of

the typical coat of arms.

• Rather than for protection in

battle, it was intended for

display in ceremonial

parades.

For this interpretation of David,

Castagno chose a young athlete,

whose pose shows the painter's

awareness of classical prototypes.

He demonstrates his knowledge of of

anatomy by modeling the figure in

chiaroscuro (light and shadow),

articulating the muscles and veins

of the arms and legs, and giving motion

to David's pose and windblown garments.

The Youthful David, c. 1450

tempera on leather on wood, width at top:

45 1/2 x 30 1/8 in.,width at bottom: 45 1/2 x 16 in.

78

79

80

Portrait of a Man,

c. 1450, tempera on panel,

21 5/16 x 15 7/8 in.

National Gallery, DC.

81

82

• Street preachers gave vivid

accounts of the Annunciation,

and audiences would also

have seen the event reenacted

on its feast day.

• Events in the drama took place

in sequence. Mary was first

startled at the angel's sudden

appearance; she reflected on

his message and queried

Gabriel about her fitness;

finally, kneeling, she submitted

to God's will.

• Here in Masolino’s

interpretation of the

scene, Mary's downcast

eyes and musing

gesture -- hand resting

tentatively on her breast

-- suggest the second,

and most often depicted,

of these stages:

reflection.

Masolino da Panicale

The Annunciation,

1425/1430, National Gallery, DC.

83

84

• The identity remains uncertain

of the painter of the next panel

but his style, which draws on

older artists, also shows

evidence of newer trends,

especially in his treatment of

distant space.

• Follow the lines of the

architecture: the regular

rhythm of arcades and arches

recedes into the background.

The grid formed by the

courtyard measures the

distance for our eye.

• These converging perspective lines lead to a door beyond which we glimpse a lush garden. This is not a random choice of landscape.

• In reference to her virginity, Mary was often called the hortus conclusus (enclosed garden) and the porta clausa (closed door).

• Many Annunciations translate these themes with visual images of locked doors and walled gardens.

Here instead, the perspective

takes us through an open

door into the heavenly garden

of Paradise.

The Annunciation,

because it is the beginning of

Christ's human existence,

also heralds the redemption

of humankind.

The open door underscores

the promise of salvation as

well as Mary's role in the

Incarnation and as intercessor

for the prayers of men and

women.

85

• The princely court of Urbino under the patronage of

Federico da Montefeltro was also a center of Renaissance

art and culture.

• The painter and geometrician:

Piero della Francesca (1420-1492) produced lucid

images of almost geometrical clarity and purity.

• Though little is known about him and many of his works are

lost forever, he was an important artist of the Italian

Renaissance – he clearly formulated the geometrical

rules for building perspective and made wonderful

empirical discoveries in the use of color and light.

86

Piero's fresco cycle in the church of San Francesco in Arezzo

includes the Finding of the True Cross and Proving of

the True Cross, which carefully delineates the forms and

shapes of the architecture in the background to organize and

control the grouping of the solemn figures in the foreground.

87

In his fresco of the Resurrectionin the chapel of the town hall of Borgo San Sepolcro, Piero used a triangle of figures to organize and stabilize the composition.

Resurrection. 1450-1463. Fresco. 225 x 200 cm. Pinacoteca Comunale, Sansepolcro, Italy

88

Piero's Enthroned

Madonna and

Saints Adored by

Federico da

Montefeltro shows

the figures under an

illusionistically painted,

coffered barrel vault.

Piero Della Francesca, Enthroned Madonna and Saints Adored by Federico da Montefeltro (Brera Altarpiece), ca. 1472-1474. Oil on panel, 8' 2" x 5' 7". Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan.

89

Paolo Uccello (1397 - 1475)

Developing an intense

interest in perspective

under the influence of

Masaccio’s and

Donatello’s works, Ucello

became engrossed with

developing the new

science of perspective in

painting.

Paolo Uccello. Equestrian Portrait of Sir John Hawkwood. 1436. Fresco, tranferred to canvas.

Duomo Cathedral, Florence, Italy

90

• Proof of Uccello’s

obsession with

perspective are his

drawings in the Uffizzi

of objects which he

made look transparent

in order to be able to

show them in their

stereometric

complexity.

91

• The three paintings of the Battle of San Romano are

universally attributed to Paolo Uccello.

• In all three the battle scene is interpreted in terms of a

chaotic melee of horsemen, lances and horses in a

desperate struggle, portrayed through an endless series

of superimposed and intersecting perspective planes.

Niccolò da Tolentino Leads the Florentine Troops, 1450s

Tempera on wood, 182 x 320 cm, National Gallery, London

92

Niccolò da Tolentino

Leads the Florentine

Troops (detail), 1450s

Tempera on wood,

182 x 320 cm

National Gallery,London

93

• This is the central panel of the three paintings representing

the battle won by Florence against Siena allied with

Visconti, the ruling family of Milan.

• Ucello's obsession with displaying his mastery of

perspective (such as the long white and red lances or the

exceptional horses that have rolled over on the ground) and

the dramatic nature of the clash between the knights

combine with his almost magical story telling.

• This is underpinned by the use of unreal colors and light as

if describing some fabulous tale of chivalrous adventure.

Bernardino della Ciarda Thrown Off His Horse, 1450s,

Tempera on wood, 182 x 220 cm, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

94

• Particularly lovely are the

background landscapes,

especially in the

Florence panel, with

scenes of grape

harvesting and hunting

rediscovered after the

1954 cleaning.

Bernardino della Ciarda Thrown Off

His Horse (detail),1450s

Tempera on wood

Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

95

• In the Louvre panel there is a formal subtext created by

strong decorative elements, such as the tights of

contrasting colors worn by the soldiers on the left, or the

arrangement of the lances, which form a series of

patterns and movements that echo the horses and their

riders.

• As could be expected, foreshortening and perspective

are devices favored by the artist.

• The landscape has been sacrificed to the figural action.

Micheletto da Cotignola Engages in Battle, 1450s,

Tempera on wood, 180 x 316 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris.

96

Alessandro Botticelli (1445 - 1510)

• After Masaccio, Sandro Botticelli comes as the next great

painter of the Florentine tradition.

• The new, sharply contoured, slender form and rippling

sinuous line is synonymous with Botticelli .

• Nothing is more gracious, in lyrical beauty, than Botticelli's

mythological paintings Primavera and The Birth of

Venus, where the pagan story is taken with reverent

seriousness and Venus is the Virgin Mary in another form.

• He often used mythology and allegory as metaphors

for Christianity.

97Sandro Botticelli, Birth of Venus, ca. 1482. Tempera on canvas,

approx. 5' 8" x 9' 1". Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

Sandro Botticelli's Birth of Venus is a lyrical and courtly

image. The nude figure of Venus was derived from ancient

Venus statues of Roman times.

98

Botticelli's Venus is so

beautiful that we don’t notice

the unnatural length of her

neck, the steep fall of her

shoulders and the queer way

her left arm is hinged to the

body.

Botticelli took liberties with

nature in order to achieve a

graceful outline and add to the

beauty and harmony of the

design because they enhance

the impression of an infinitely

delicate being, wafted to our

shores as a gift from Heaven.

99

100

• In Primavera (Spring). Venus is standing in the center

of the picture, above her Cupid is aiming one of his arrows

of love at the three dancing Graces.

• The Garden of the goddess of love is guarded by Mercury

(he is wearing winged shoes) on the left.

• From the right, Zephyr, the god of the winds, is pursuing a

nymph.

• Next to her walks Flora, the goddess of spring, who is

scattering flowers.

Botticelli. Primavera. c.1482. Tempera on panel. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy.

101

La Primavera, "Allegory of

Spring" (detail)

1477-78

Tempera on panel

Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

102

La Primavera, "Allegory of

Spring" (detail)

1477-78

Tempera on panel

Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

103

The next painting has been subject to many different

interpretations. Venus, calm and self-assured, watches the

sleeping Mars, while little fauns playfully rush about the scene.

This can all be connected with Humanist themes: Venus as the

personification of love conquering Mars, who symbolizes discord.

Venus and Mars, 1480s, Tempera on wood, 69 x 173,5 cm, National Gallery, London

Despite the playful element of the fauns, the dominant mood of

the painting is not serene: the sleeping god is fatigued and his

body is almost too relaxed; Venus's expression is quite restless.

104

This painting marks the

end of Botticelli's

‘Medici” period, from

this point onwards the

subject-matter of his

paintings changes and

becomes increasingly

religious.

Pallas and the Centaur, 1482,

Tempera on canvas, 207 x 148 cm,

Galleria degli Uffizi,

Florence.

105

Alessandro Botticelli. Portrait of

Giuliano de' Medici. c.1476-1477.

Tempera on panel. National

Gallery of Art, Washington, DC..

Perhaps the most authentic

portrait of Giuliano

assumed that to be painted

in the lifetime of Giuliano.

However, the death

symbols (the dove sitting

on the dead branch and

the half-open door) on the

picture contradict this

assumption.

106

• Many of Botticelli's paintings are undated, but this

Adoration of the Magi has been dated by

modern scholarship to c. 1475.

• This is important because it provides evidence of

Botticelli having already secured the patronage of

the Medici whose portraits appear in the picture.

Botticelli, Adoration of the Magi, Tempera on panel, 27 ½ x 41”, Uffizi, Florence

107

Here we see Cosimo, the

elder Medici

Kneeling below, is his

son Piero di Medici.

To his right Lorenzo the

Magnificent

And to the edge of the

painting Botticelli has

given us a self portrait.

108

Mantua

• Besides in Florence, the princely courts of Naples, Urbino,

Milan, Ferrara, and Mantua, rulers nurtured the arts.

• Marquis Ludovico Gonzaga was determined to transform

Mantua into a spectacular city.

• In the Camera degli Sposi in the Ducal Palace in Mantua,

Andrea Mantegna produced the first consistent

illusionistic decoration applied to an entire room.

109

Andrea Mantegna (1431-1506)

Together with

Giovanni

Bellini,

Andrea

Mantegna

was largely

responsible

for spreading

the ideas of

the Early

Renaissance

in northern

Italy.

Interior of the Camera degli Sposi, Palazzo Ducale, Mantua, Italy, 1474.

110

Mantegna

employed

perspective and

foreshortening to

produce images

seen di sotto in sù

(from below

upwards).

Ceiling of the Camera degli Sposi, Palazzo Ducale, Mantua, Italy, 1474. Fresco, 8' 9" in diameter.

111

Mantegna's harrowing image of the

Dead Christ is a strikingly realistic study in

foreshortening but one which has been also

modified artistically.

Andrea Mantegna, Dead Christ, ca. 1501. Tempera on canvas, 26 3/4" x 31 7/8". Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan.

112

• Mantegna's profound and impassioned study of ancient

art is evident from this Bacchanal which recalls ancient

relief sculpture in its frieze-like composition and stony

three-dimensionality.

• Some of the figural motifs were adapted from two

sarcophagi then in Rome, probably known to Mantegna

through the intermediary of drawing books such as the

one that passed through his hands in the mid-1470s.

• The heroic nude who receives a crown in this engraving,

his only attribute a cornucopia filled with grapes, is

usually identified as Bacchus.

Bacchanal with a Wine Vat, ca. 1470s, Andrea Mantegna, Engraving; 11 3/4 x 17 1/4 in.

113

Giovanni Bellini (1430-1516)

• In Venice, Giovanni Bellini was the pre-eminent

teacher of his generation, with a sizeable workshop

staffed by pupils and assistants, among whom were

Giorgione and Titian.

• With the arrival of oil painting in Italy, Bellini developed

a richness of color and depth of color unequaled in Italy

at the time.

• Bellini portrayed the elected ruler of Venice, the Doge

Leonardo Loredan.

114

The Doge is exquisitely portrayed in his ceremonial robes, made in an old-fashioned style but from a newly imported material - damask - which has gold thread running through it.

Instead of gold leaf, Bellinipainted the surface roughly so as to catch the light and give a metallic finish - a revolutionary technique at the time.

The Doge Leonardo Loredan1501-05, Oil, probably with some egg tempera, on poplar,61.5 x 45 cm, National Gallery, London.

115

• Bellini’s Pietà is rightly considered one of the most

moving paintings in the history of art.

• A passionate feeling that is not so much religious as

human and psychological pervades the actors in the

drama.

• The rendering of grief has here its most universal

expression.

Dead Christ Supported by the Madonna and St John (Pietà),1460,Tempera on panel,

86 x 107 cm,Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan

116Giovanni Bellini, Madonna and Child, c. 1468. Oil on canvas.

85x115 cm. Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan, Italy.

117

• In a similar painting

done a few years later,

Bellini has grown in

technique but retains

the medieval gold

background separating

the Virgin from the

Italian landscape.

• This highly balanced picture

incorporates a system of

double lighting that

characterizes a small group

of similar compositions.

• The curtain behind the Virgin

captures the light coming

from in front of her in such a

way that the shadow of her

figure is projected onto the

fabric. In the landscape

background beyond, on the

other hand, the light expands

totally independently in an

even, diffused luminosity.Madonna degli Alberetti, 1487

Oil on panel, 74 x 58 cm

Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice

118

• This beautiful picture, probably painted in the late 1480s, is a work of Bellini's maturity.

• Unusually, the cloth of honor behind the figures is off center, revealing a distant landscape that in its light and atmosphere anticipates the works of Giorgione and Titian.

Madonna and Child, probably

late 1480s

Oil on wood; 35 x 28 in.

119

120

• Saint Jerome is often

depicted on small devotional

panels such as this one.

• During the Renaissance, the

saint was favored by

humanists because he had

translated the Bible into

Latin.

• The saint is often placed in

the wilderness, where he

had retreated as a hermit.

• In Bellini's painting the

saint and his lion occupy

only a small area.

• The rocky strata seem

equally alive, animated by

a radiant light that

suggests the divine.

• Many of the plants and

animals have symbolic

meanings -- rabbits, for

example, serve as

reminders of lust -- but

Bellini treats them with

the attention of a

naturalist.

Perhaps, it was because

Venice was so intensely

urban that its artists

developed into great

landscape painters.

Their approach, was more

intuitive than scientific: they

responsed to nature more

than they accurately

recorded it.

Here, Bellini shifted the

perspective three times --

we seem to look down on

the saint and foreground, up

at the looming rock face,

and straight ahead

into the distance.

121

122

Early 15th century Architecture

• Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446) adopted a

classically inspired rational approach to architecture that

employed both classical architectural forms (e.g., round

arches, columns) and a system of design based on

carefully proportioned shapes (e.g., the square, circle) or

units fitted together in strict but simple ratios.

• Brunelleschi studied the ancient monuments in Rome.

123

Brunelleschi's double-shelled dome for the Florence Cathedral is original in section and designed around a skeleton of twenty-four

ribs, of which eight are visible on the exterior. The structure is anchored at the top with a heavy lantern.

124

125

126

Brunelleschi's modular-based design for Santo Spirito has aisles, subdivided into small squares covered by shallow saucer-shaped vaults, which run all the way around the flat-roofed central space.

The scale of each architectural element in the interior is based on a unit that served as the building block for the dimensions of every aspect of building.

127

Brunelleschi's plan for

the Pazzi Chapel is

one of the first

independent

Renaissance buildings

conceived as a central-

plan structure where

emphasis is placed on

the central dome-covered

space.

He used a basic unit to

construct a balanced,

harmonious, and

regularly proportioned

space.

128

Plan of Pazzi Chapel,

Santa Croce,

Florence, Italy.

129

Interior of Pazzi Chapel

(view facing northeast),

Santa Croce, Florence,

Italy, begun ca. 1440.

130

• Next we see the Brunelleschi’s beautiful porch with

Arcade for the Foundling hospital in Florence

(c.1419-24).

• Note the della Robbia medallions on the walls between

the spandrels.

131

• The Hospital of the

Innocents is one of the first

buildings produced by

Brunelleschi and erected by

him between 1421 and 1424.

• The hospital was constructed

as a refuge for orphans and

abandoned children.

• Its nine harmonious arches are

decorated with terracotta

tondoes by Andrea della

Robbia, which depict babies

symbolically seeking the

charity of Florence's rich.

132

MichelozzoDi Bartolomo’s(1396-1472)

design for the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi has heavy rustication on the ground floor, dressed stone on the upper levels, and a heavy cornice at the top.

133

• Michelozzo became

increasingly engrossed in

a large architectural

practice, especially for

Cosimo de' Medici.

• The Medici Palace

was seen by

contemporaries, despite

its traditional features, as

'comparable to the works

of the Roman Emperors'

(Flavio Biondo).

134

• The open interior

court has a round-

arched colonnade.

Interior court of the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, Florence,

Italy, begun 1444.

135

• In the courtyard at the manastery of San

Marco Michelozzo employs a basically

Brunelleschian vocabulary without

Brunelleshi's strict proportions, modular

elements, or novel vaulting types.

• By contrast, Michelozzo's references to

antiquity are often more varied and direct.

Courtyard

1430s

Convent of San

Marco, Florence

136Library, 1437-51, Convent of San Marco, Florence

137

• The architect

Leon Battista Alberti (1404-

1472) designed a façade for

the Church of

Sant'Andrea that linked

together a Roman temple

front and a triumphal arch.

• The façade's vertical and

horizontal dimensions are

proportionally related.

138

Plan of Sant'Andrea, Mantua, Italy, designed ca. 1470.

139

Interior of Sant'Andrea, Mantua, Italy, designed ca. 1470

The vaults in the interior may have been inspired by the

Basilica Nova of Constantine in Rome.

140

• A profound understanding of ancient Roman

architecture

was achieved by Alberti, who advocated (in his own

treatise on architecture) a system of ideal proportions

expressed in simple numerical ratios. • He also proposed a more rigorous and correct application of

Roman architectural principles.

• Alberti's design for the Palazzo Rucellai in Florence

includes classical elements such as flat pilasters, a classical

cornice, and rustication.

• The flat façade is modeled on the Colosseum and uses

different capitals for each story: Tuscan for the ground floor,

Composite for the second story, and Corinthian for the third

floor.

141

LEON BATTISTA ALBERTI, Palazzo Rucellai, Florence, Italy, ca. 1452–1470.

142

• Alberti's design for the façade of Santa Maria

Novella in Florence follows a Romanesque model but

organizes the elements according to a system of

proportions that can be expressed in simple numerical

ratios.

Diagrams of west façade, Santa Maria Novella, Florence, Italy.

143

• The design also includes the use of scrolls to unite the

broad lower part and the narrow upper part of the

façade, and to screen the sloping roofs over the aisles.

Alberti,, west façade of Santa Maria Novella, Florence, Italy, ca. 1458–1470.

144

145

The Magnificent Medici:

• The Medici family, who had acquired a huge fortune from

banking, were lavish patrons of art and learning.

• Many of the artworks commissioned by members of the

Medici family reveal their interest in humanist ideas and

learning and also a concern with the family's public image.

• In sculpture, painting, and engraving is seen a particular

interest in showing figures in anatomically correct physical

movement based on direct observation and empirical

study.

146

Turmoil at the end of the century:

• The radical Dominican preacher Girolamo Savonarola

assumed absolute control of Florence after the Medici

fled the city following the death of Lorenzo de' Medici in

1492.

• Savonarola denounced humanism and encouraged

"bonfires of the vanities," in which citizens were

exhorted to burn classical texts, scientific treatises, and

philosophical writings.

147

Luca Signorelli (ca. 1445-1523)

• Outside of Florence the passion of Savonarola’s

sermons found its pictorial equal in the work of the

Umbrian painter Luca Signorelli .

• He was interested in depicting muscular bodies in

violent action in a variety of poses and foreshortening.

Signorelli, Damned Cast into Hell, San Brizio Chapel, Cathedral, |Orvieto, Italy, 1499–1504. Fresco, approx. 23' wide.

148

Detail

149

It’s clear that

Signorelli

influenced

Michelangelo

who, would

focus on the

human nude

in the next

century.

150

Review: Early Renaissance

• The spread of humanism and the growing interest in classical antiquity contributed significantly to the growth and expansion of artistic culture in 15th-century Italy.

• Also important were political and economic changes that contributed to the rise of a new class of wealthy patronssuch as the Florentine Medici who fostered art and learning on a lavish scale.

• As part of Civic pride, artistic competitions become popular. Lorenzo Ghiberti wins the competition to design the “Gates of Paradise”

• Humanism's emphasis on individual achievement and recognition gave new impetus to portraiture, both private and commemorative.

151

• In architecture, an understanding of ancient Roman architecture was achieved as well as systems of ideal proportions expressed in simple numerical ratios. In another competition Filippo Brunelleschi wins the commission to build the dome to the Cathedral of Florence.

• The use of new humanist-inspired ideas and features contributed to a growing secularization of traditional religious subject matter. Donatello creates his David, the first freestanding nude since antiquity.

• Masaccio's fresco of the Tribute Moneypsychologically and physically credible figures illuminated by a light coming from a specific source outside the picture.

152

• Sandro Botticelli's Birth of Venus is a lyrical and courtly image.

• Fra Angelico brings a human touch to his religious scenes in the Monastery of San Marcos.

• Besides in Florence, the princely courts of Naples, Urbino, Milan, Ferrara, and Mantua, rulers nurtured the arts.

• in the Ducal Palace in Mantua, Andrea Mantegnaproduced the first consistent illusionistic decoration applied to an entire room.

• In his fresco of the Resurrection Piero della Francesca used a triangle of figures to organize and stabilize the composition.

153

LINKS:

• 15th-Century Art in Italy: The Early Renaissance

• Gates of Paradise (Web gallery of Art)

• Frescoes in the Convento di San Marco (Angelico)

• Filippo Brunelleschi

• Allegorical paintings by Botticelli

• Quattrocento (lesser known paintings)

• Renaissance (AICT)

• Overview of Italian Painters from 1200 to 1750