italian high renaissance - wordpress.com · 3/18/2010 · italian high renaissance: leonardo: the...

Italian High Renaissance:

Leonardo:

The Virgin of the Rocks

Painting as an instrument of

knowledge

relationship human-nature

Monalisa

Michelangelo:

David

Classicism and politics

Sistine Chapel

the artist as genius - the artwork

as divine creation

Raphael:

the School of Athens

the history of knowledge

a rational choice

Leonardo da

Vinci, Virgin

of the Rocks,

ca. 1485, oil

on wood

Leonardo is a significant figure of his

time, representative of the new High-

Renaissance concept of artist-genius

Far from the medieval concept of artist =

artisan,

Art was but one of Leonardo’s

innumerable interests documented by his

voluminous notes and sketches dealing

with:

botany, geology, geography, cartography, zoology,

military engeneering, animal lore, anatomy, and aspect

of physical science, including hydraulics and mechanics

Leonardo da

Vinci, Virgin

of the Rocks,

ca. 1485, oil

on wood

Within this complete intellectual

research, painting was for

Leonardo

the most effective way to try to

understand the world (an

instrument of knowledge)

He believed that reality was a

totality continuously changing

Leonardo’s great ambition both in

his scientific research and, above all,

in his painting,

was to discover the laws underlying

the processes and flux of nature

In stead of the

architectures that

framed early

Renaissance sacred

scenes

here the Virgin, Christ

Child, infant John and

an angel are painted in

a natural context

Not only are natural

details extremely

carefully painted, with

scientific, rigorous

approach

But also, figures are

now part of it!

Leonardo da

Vinci, Virgin

of the Rocks,

ca. 1485, oil

on wood

Early R. artists had

focused on the point of

view, the geometry of

their images

Leonardo is mainly

interested in representing

figures’ relationship

with nature

Leonardo for the first

time in the history of art,

represents the

atmosphere and light as

physical, touchable

presences

Leonardo paints the invisible substance

surrounding things by means of his unique

way of using oil paints and sfumato

technique

Sfumato: the technique of allowing tones and

colors to shade gradually into one another,

producing softened outlines or hazy forms

Atmospheric Perspective involves an

optical rather than mathematical

approach. 2 principles:

1) the farther back the object is in

space, the blurrier, less detailed, and

bluer it appears;

2) color saturation and value contrast

diminish as the image recedes into the

distance

The soft passages made possible by oil

painting are used here in order to obtain a

new method of spatial representation

The figures are composed in a

pyramidal grouping as

Masaccio’s Holy Trinity

and are sharing the same

environment

The unity among figures is also

“psychological”: figures’ acts and

gestures visually unite them

A mood of tenderness keeps

together the entire composition

A major novelty in Leonardo’s

representation of human figures is

his will of portraying the

“movements of the soul” or

“soul’s intentions”(moti

dell’anima)

Leonardo da Vinci, Virgin

of the Rocks, ca. 1485, oil

on wood

Leonardo had learned 3 things from

Rogier van der Weiden:

-The Flemish technique of oil painting

-The possibilities of soft color and

light/dark passages that this technique

permits

- The interest for “psychological”

portraiture However, Leonardo made a

significant step further:

Leonardo da

Vinci, Mona

Lisa, ca.

1503-1505,

oil on wood

Even if Rogier’s model is repeated here,

there is a substantial difference:

While the Flemish lady’s psychology is

related to a status

(aristocratic, modest and devout as every

upper-class lady was supposed to be

considered),

Mona Lisa is portrayed as an individual,

with all her complex and unique

personality

Leonardo da Vinci, Mona

Lisa, ca. 1503-1505, oil on

wood

Her gaze, directed to the observers,

engages them psychologically

Her famous smile is actually not a

smile,

but rather an ambiguous expression

that better corresponds to the complex

dynamics of reciprocal gazes

Everyone who has ever tried to draw a

face knows that its expression rests

mainly in two features:

the corner of the mouth and the corners

of the eyes

Now it is precisely these parts which

Leonardo has left deliberately

indistinct

By letting them merge into a soft

shadow

Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa, ca.

1503-1505, oil on wood

As the atmospheric quality of

Leonardo’s landscapes, also

Mona Lisa’s expression is a

way to disguise rather than

reveal her psyche

Leonardo is more interested in

catching the passage between

different stages (movements

of the soul)

rather than representing a

defined, immutable (therefore

simplistic) expression

Moreover, there is a mutual

mirroring of nature and

psyche:

the mysteriousness of Mona

Lisa’s psyche

is mirrored by the smoky,

uninhabited landscape in the

background

Leonardo da Vinci, Last Supper, ca. 1495-1498,

fresco (oil and tempera on plaster), Refectory,

Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan

Here Leonardo portrais a collective

psychological reaction

A storm of “movements of the souls”

Which moment does he represent?

One of you

is about to

betray me

Even if Michelangelo, like Leonardo,

had several intellectual and practical

activities (he was an architect,

sculptor, painter, poet, and engineer)

he thought of himself foremost as a

sculptor

In 1501 the city of Florence

commissioned him a David statue

from a colossal block of marble

the Biblical fight between David and

the giant Goliath was political

symbol of the city of Florence

(surrounded by powerful kingdoms and

proud of its independence)

Michelangelo

Buonarroti,

David, 1501-

1504, marble,

17’

Michelangelo Sculptor

placed at the entrance of

Palazzo della Signoria, the

center of Florence

government

It had a further political

significance:

after the expulsion of the

Medici family, former ruler

of the city,

David was seen as the

symbol of liberty of the

Florentine republic that

had defied tyranny

Theme already

represented by

Donatello

However, instead

of the elegant

adolescent of

Donatello

Ththis is solid

and muscular

Michelangelo

Buonarroti,

David, 1501-

1504, marble,

17’

Donatello, David, ca.

1440, bronze, 5’ 21/4”

M. goes back to

Nicola Pisano

And to the

expressive

effect of his

medieval

exaggeration

of head and

hands/feet

Michelangelo

Buonarroti,

David, 1501-

1504, marble

Moreover,

Michelangelo

represents an

unusual moment:

Not the victorious

and arrogant David,

after having killed

Goliath

But rather he shows

the moment just

before the fight

When his whole

body, as well as his

face, is tense with

gathering power:

Michelangelo

Buonarroti,

David, 1501-

1504, marble

Michelangelo

Buonarroti,

David, 1501-

1504, marble

this strategy of

representation can

remind us of Myron, but

there is here something

completely new:

The real subject of

Michelangelo’s

sculpture is not the

body of David itself,

but rather a powerful

psychological tension

That is expressed by

means of the whole

body

Michelangelo’s approach to art

making is the opposite than

Leonardo’s (2 main

differences):

1) For L. man was only one of the

many fascinating aspects of

nature

- M. is obsessed with the human

figure

2) L.’s aim was to understand the

universe by means of

observation

According to M., truth is

already in the artist’s mind:

the image produced by the

artist’s hand must come from

the artist’s idea

Michelangelo Buonarroti, Creation of

Adam, detail from the ceiling of the

Sistine Chapel, Rome, 1511-1512

How to structure an Art-historical paper:

1) identification

the creation of Adam (humanity)

Adam is lying in a barren

landscape

From the other side the

Creator is approaching

wrapped in a mantle blown by

the wind like a sail

Adam is so powerfully muscled

that even in repose we sense

the energy that will be released

once God touches him


2) Subject matter - description

2 interpretations about the figures

surrounding Him:

-angels

-souls waiting for their creation (Eve/Virgin)

The Creator stretches out His

hand not even touching

Adam’s finger


3) Formal analysis

In 1508, following his success

with the David, Michelangelo

receives the commission by

the Pope Julius II

to paint the ceiling of the

Sistine Chapel

The largest pictorial

decoration ever

realized before

1) Michelangelo’s

inexperience with the

technique of fresco

2) The ceiling’s

dimensions (ca. 5,800

square feet)

3) Perspective problems

presented by the vault’s

height (70 feet) and curve

3 problems:


4) Context - commission

Michelangelo Buonarroti,

ceiling of the Sistine Chapel,

Rome, 1511-1512

M. shut himself in the

chapel, let no one come

near him, and worked

alone for 4 years

(technical problem: on the

scaffolding he had to lie

on the back and paint

looking upwards)

Subject matter: the

Creation, Fall, and

Redemption of humanity


5) Comparison 1

Unlike Mantegna and

Leonardo (other

Renaissance

frescoes), M. does

not “break” the

wall/ceiling: there is

no illusionistic

representation of

space


5) Comparison 2

Unlike Leonardo (contemporary,

from the same city, well known to

Michelangelo), M. is not interested

in the relationship humans-nature

Figures are not placed in a spatial

setting (linear nor atmospheric

perspective)

But rather, it is their sculptural

presence that build the

composition/space

Rather Michelangelo’s whole

oeuvre concentrates itself on

the HUMAN BODY:

naked, muscular figures are

THE manifestation of human

soul (there is no separation

body/soul in his world view)


6)context - within the artist’s oeuvre

the power of this gesture of creation

corresponds to the act of art-making

Adam is like a block of marble waiting to

receive life from the artist’s hand:

The creation is reinterpreted as the

powerful dialogue between artist and

artwork


7)interpretation

Raphael, Philosophy (School

of Athens), Vatican Palace,

Rome, 1509-1511, Fresco

While M. was working at

the Sistine Chapel, the

younger Raphael was

painting the pope’s

apartments

This is the papal library

Raphael painted on the four

walls Theology, Law,

Poetry, and Philosophy

the image that the pope

Julius II wanted to give of

himself:

as both a cultured

individual (Classical

themes) and a religious

authority (Christian

themes)

Subject: Raphael represents here

a congregation of great

philosophers and scientists of the

ancient world

They are conversing and

explaining their ideas

The massive architectural

context are Roman vaults

Scientific perspective directs our

attention to the 2 central figures:

Plato and Aristotle shown as the

forefathers of 2 main approaches

to knowledge

On the left side those concerned

with mysteries and trascendental

ideas




On the right side those

concerned with nature and

human affairs

Knowledge

comes from

the world of

ideasNo, it can be

reached only by

studying this

world

1) Raphael portrays himself

among the mathematicians and

scientist around Euclid:

Acknowledges the importance

of the rational-mathematical

approach of scientific perspective

3 main points:

2) characters communicate a

diversity of moods and

personalities

The artists represents the person

behind each of these great

philosophers




the strictly symmetrical and

rational composition is made

dynamic and diverse by the

characters

3) Raphael’s bodies have the

powerful structural value of

Michelangelo’s heroic figures




Portrait of

Michelangelo as the

philosopher Heraclitus

italian high renaissance - wordpress.com · 3/18/2010 · italian high renaissance: leonardo: the...

Documents