Famous Renaissance ArtistsBiographies and Works

Fresco

Italian meaning “fresh”Form of painting on freshly laid lime plasterWater is used as a vehicle for the pigmentOnce the plaster sets, the painting becomes a part of the wall

Leonardo da Vinci1452-1519

Born in city-state of FlorenceWorked in Milan, Rome, Venice and France

The Renaissance Man:Scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer

Conceptualized the helicopter, tank, concentrated solar power, calculator, double hull boat and outlined rudimentary theory of plate tectonics

Mona Lisa1503-1506

oil on canvasMusee du Louvre Paris, France

The Last Supper1498

15 feet tall and 29 feet wideConvent of Santa Maria della Grazie, Milan, Italy

This fresco has suffered, ironically, from Leonardo's genius. The painting was not done in true fresco technique, in which a water based paint is applied to the wet plaster to become part of the wall, but rather with an oil based paint of Leonardo's own invention, done directly on the dry plaster. Because of this, the paint has been flaking off for centuries. Despite its ruinous condition, the stability and monumentality of the composition, and the handling of the figures, assured its timeless appeal from its inception, it is surely one of the most beloved works in all of Western art.

Michelangelo1475-1564

Italian sculptor, painter, architect, poet and engineerBorn in Tuscany region of Italy Died in Rome, ItalySupposedly did not like Leonardo da Vinci

David1501-1504

Marble (over 14 feet tall)Galleria dell'Accademia,

Florence

Originally commissioned by Cathedral of Florence

Then placed in front of main government building

in Florence

Sistine Chapel Ceiling1508-1512

131 feet long and 43 feet wide Vatican City, Rome, Italy•Originally commissioned by Pope to paint 12 apostles•Originally turned down offer as he considered himself a sculptor•Pope then allows Michelangelo to paint any biblical scene and creates over 300

includes Creation, Adam and Eve, Garden of Eden and the Great Flood•Used very bright colors so that the details may be seen from the floor•Created a flat wooden platform on brackets built out from holes in the wall, high up near the top of the windows. He lay on this scaffolding while he painted.

"Without having seen the Sistine Chapel one can form no appreciable idea of what one man is capable of achieving."

—Johann Wolfgang Goethe, 23 August 1787

The Last Judgment1535 and 1541

The Last Judgment is a depiction of the second coming of Christ and the Apocalypse. The souls of humanity rise and descend to their fates as judged by Christ and his saintly entourage. The wall on which The Last Judgment is painted looms out slightly over the viewer as it rises, and is meant to be somewhat fearful and to instill piety and respect for God's power. In contrast to the other frescoes in the Chapel, the figures are heavily muscled and appear somewhat tortured—even the Virgin Mary at the center seems to be cowering before God

St. Peter’s Basilica

Raphael1483-1520

• Popular with Popes of the time

School of Athens

1509-1511Fresco

Stanza della Segnatura, Palazzi Pontifici, Vatican, Italy

The School of Athens represents all the greatest mathematicians, philosophers and scientists from classical antiquity gathered together sharing their ideas and learning from each other. Aristotle, Plato, Pythagoras, Ptolemy, Zaroaster, and Raphael (self-portrait)

Donatello 1386-1486

One of earliest artists working with idea of perspective

St. Mark1411-1413

7’9” marble statueOrsanmichele church

Florence, Italy

Lo Zuccone“pumpkin” or “bald-head”

1423/1425

Magdalene Penitentwooden sculpture

1453/1455

Museum of the Works of the Duomo Cathedral

Florence, Italy

Brunelleschi

Dome to the Duomo

Chateau de Chambord

Boticelli

• Ghiberti