Early Renaissance Art in Europe

• Humanism

• Thomas Aquinas (1225-74)Summa Theologica, 1267-73.

The Dying Gaul. Roman Copy of a 220BC Hellenistic Sculpture.

Venus de Milo. c. 130-100 BCE. Musee du Louvre, Paris.

• Renaissance Perspective Systems:

1. Linear Perspective

i. Orthogonals

ii. Vanishing Point

2. Intuitive Perspective

3. Aerial Perspective

Benozzo Gozzoli. Saint Augustine Reading Rhetoric in Rome. Fresco in the choir of the Church of Sant’Agostino, San Gimignano, Italy. 1464-65.

Linear Perspective

Italy:

• Architecture:

i. Fillippo Brunelleschi

ii. Michelozzo di Bartholomeo

2. Sculpture:

i. Donatello

ii. Ghiberti

3. Painting:

i. Masaccio

ii. Botticelli

iii. Piero della Francesca

• The Renaissance in Italy and Societal themes:

1. Urbanization

2. Intellectualism

3. Vigorous Artistic Patronage

● Major Players at the Beginning of the Renaissance:

1. The Papal States (Romagna – region of Italy)- Ruled by the Pope

2. The Republics of Florence and Venice

3. Kingdom of Naples

4. Duchy of Milan

• Patronage: Patron(s): A group or person who supports the arts through the commissioning of art works. It can be a one time deal or a lifetime of support.

• Five Families in Italy during the 1400s:

1. The Medici – Florence

2. The Visconti and Sforze – Milan

3. The Gonzaga – Mantua

4. The Este – Ferrara

5. The Montefeltro - Urbino

Fillipo Brunelleschi, Dome of the Florence Cathedral. 1417-36. Lantern Completed 1471.

• Lantern: A turretlike structure situated on a roof, vault, or dome, with windows that allows light into the space below.

• Drum: The wall that supports the dome.

Architectural drawing of the dome of the Florence Cathedral

Attributed to Michelozzo di Bartholomeo. Palazzo Medici-Riccardi. Begun 1446. Florence

• Loggia: A room or porch open to the air on one or more sides. Popular in Mediterranean architecture.

Courtyard, Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, Florence. Begun 1446.

Anonymous, View of an Ideal City. c. 1500. Oil on panel. (77.4cm x 2.17m)

Donatello. David. c. 1420s-1460s. Bronze. 1.58m.

Donatello. Equestrian Monument of Erasmo de Narni (Gattamelata). Piazza del Santo, Padua, 1443-1453.

Lorenzo Ghiberti. Gates of Paradise. East Doors, Baptistry of San Giovanni, Florence. 1425-1452. Gilt Bronze. 4.57m tall.

• Painting Theme: integration of human figures into rational architectural setting.

Example: Masaccio. Trinity with the Virgin, Saint John the Evangelist and Donors.

Aedicula: Framed niche in a wall.

Memento Mori: An image or message conveying the theme of the transience of life.

Masaccio. Trinity with the Virgin, Saint John the Evangelist and Donors. Fresco in the Church of Santa Maria Novella, Florence. c. 1425. 6.63 x 2.85m.

Sandro Boticelli. Birth of Venus. c. 1482. Tempera on canvas. 1.73 x 2.77m.

Medici Venus.

Piero della Francesca. Battista Sforza and Federico da Montefeltro. 1475. Oil on wood panel. 47 x 33cm.

• Summary:

- Humanism embodied a world view focusing on human beings rather than on religion.

- Humanism did not interfere with the centrality of Christianity

- Humanism employed a value system that emphasized personal effort and responsibility.

i. Civic virtue

ii. Personal virtue

- Ultimate goal was visual mastery of the real/natural world in art.

Art in the Netherlands

Transition from Gothic style to a new realism

Flemish Style:

- Came from Manuscript Illumination (book illustrating) of the late 14th c.- Painted on tapestries and wood panels.- Painters preferred to work with oil paint- Close economic ties between Italian courts and the Netherlands.

Three Artists:1. Robert Campin (c. 1375-1444)2. Jan van Eyck (c. 1380-1441)3. Rogier van der Weyden (1399-1463)

Robert Campin. The Mérode Altarpiece (Triptych of the Anunciation). c. 1425-28. Oil on wood panel. Central panel 63.5 x 63.5cm. Each side panel 64.5cm x 27.6cm.

Triptych: An altarpiece or painting consisting of one central panel and two wings.

Jan van Eyck. The Annunciation. c. 1434-36. Oil on canvas. 90.2cm x 34.1cm.

Glazing: building up images in transparent oil layers.

Jan van Eyck. Man in the Red Turban. 1433. Tempera and oil on wood panel. 33.3cm x 25.8cm.

Jan van Eyck. Arnolfini Portrait. 1434. Oil on wood. 81.9cm x 59.7cm.

Jan van Eyck. Arnolfini Portrait. (detail)

Rogier van der Weyden. Descent from the Cross. 1435. oil on wood. 2.19 x 2.65m.

Rogier van der Weyden. Portrait of a Lady. c. 1460. Oil and tempera on wood panel. 37cm x 27cm.

Petrus Christus. A Goldsmith in His Shop, Possibly Saint Eligus. 1449. Oil on wood panel. 98cm x 85cm.