Italian Renaissance: 15th Century

1400-1500In Italian city-states: Ferrara, Florence, Mantua, Naples, Rome, Venice, etc.

• The fine arts influenced by CLASSICAL styles • HUMANISM emerges – stresses secular alongside religious • LINEAR PERSPECTIVE is realized – artists create realistic paintings• Best understanding of human anatomy, large-scale nude sculpture • Architecture emphasizes open light spaces, symmetry, and balance• Artists encouraged to explore pagan past in relation to modern life. • European explorers venture out = knowledge• Growth/appreciation of the sciences and arts

History• City-states controlled by ruling families who dominate politics

• Big spenders in the arts. • Embellished palaces with innovative paintings

• The ruling families commissioned architecture

Culture

• Mathematics important in engineering these buildings! • Geometric designs stressed • Harmony achieved by ideal proportions (Vitruvius - architectural treatise)• Ratios, proportions, various elements, etc. express humanistic ideals• Often have unvaulted naves with coffered ceilings

Proportions• Crossing is 2X the

nave• Nave is 2X the side

aisles• Side aisles 2X the side

chapels

SAN LORENZOFilippo Brunelleschi, 1421-1469,

Florence, Italy

• Ceiling • Similar to Early Christian wooden

type• Rectangular floor grids define the spaces• Use of ratios

• Nave = two aisles• Aisles = two side chapels

• Interior • Cool and harmonious• Sparse decoration

• Light and airy• Not much stained glass

DOME OF FLORENCE CATHEDRAL Filippo Brunelleschi, 1420-1436

Lantern completed 1471

Brunelleschi’s Dome• Older domes didn’t have as much vertical thrust

• Raised on a drum to increase height• Dome is OGIVAL arch shape• New technique – putting one dome inside of another = strength/stability

• Built without centering devices• Lantern at top anchors dome into place• Architecture – light, order, clarity

• Buildings have wider window spaces, limited stained glass, wall paintings

PAZZI CHAPELFilippo Brunelleschi, 1423, Florence

• Rectangular chapel attached to a church of Santa Croce in Florence • Two barrel vaults on interior• Small dome over crossing• Restrained sense of color

• Muted tones• Glazed terracotta tiles

PALAZZO RUCELLAILeon Battista, 1452-1470, Florence

• Three separate floors• Separated by clear

“stringcourse”• Pilasters divide space in square-ish

shapes • Strong cornice at top • Not rustic like Michelozzo’s palazzo• Masonry joints are beveled • Different style plasters • Friezes have Rucellai family

symbols • Ex. Billowing sails

SANT’ ANDREALeon Battista Alberti, 1470, Mantua

• Roman triumphal arch• Huge pilasters on either side• Pilasters support pediment• First to be used in Christian architecture

• Ancient temple façade • Wanted identical width/height• Piazza in front of church is small = small

façade• Large barrel vault canopy hangs over west

façade • Shields nave window from sun

• Interior • Huge barrel vaults• No side aisles • Coffered ceiling

• PALACES in Florence – dominating facades – three stories high, austere looking• First floor

• Public areas with business transactions• Rusticated (rough cut stone), heavily articulated stone

• Second floor• Much lighter• Strong horizontal marking the ceiling of one story and floor of another • Family l

• Third floor• Even more lightness• Less articulation of stone • Heavy cornice caps off roof

Palazzo Medici-RiccardiMichelozzo, 1444, Florence

• Interior courtyard allows light into interior rooms

• Expresses civic pride and political power of Medici family

• Very symmetrical

Painting• LINEAR PERSPECTIVE

• Attributed to Filippo Brunelleschi• Developed while drawing Florence Cathedral Bapistry

• Artists create different artistic effects• PROPORTION

• Artists start showing objects, scenery, and people proportionately• People no longer dominate the image

• TROMP L’OEIL TECHNIQUE• “trick the eye”

• PERSPECTIVE• Even used in sculpture

• Carved at different depths to create a sense of space• IMAGES

• Religious scenes• Portraits• Mythological scenes• Depictions of humanist ideals/aspirations • Exploration of the nude (especially male)

The First Signs of One Point Perspective

• Brunelleschi was the first architect to use mathematical perspective in creating designs for buildings during the early Renaissance

BEFORE PERSPECTIVE AFTER PERSPECTIVE

Adoration of the MagiGentile da Fabriano, 1423, Florence

Tempera on panel

• Patrons• The Strozzi family

• Figures in fancy dress • “Courtly” outing to see baby Jesus at

the Epiphany• Exotic animals reflect private zoos of

Renaissance princes • Gold leaf used in frame and painting• Kings are shown at various ages

• Symbolizes the ages of man• Animals seen at different angles

• NATURALISM

Adoration of the Magi

Holy TrinityMasaccio, 1427, Florence

Fresco in Santa Maria Novella

• Patrons• The Lenzi family• Created as a tombstone for the family• Kneel outside arch• Faces show realism

• Christ appears in two roles • Crucified Christ• Second person of the Holy Trinity

• God supports him• Dove of the Holy Spirit is between the two of

them• Mary and Saint John flank Christ

• Typically in crucifixion scenes • Triangular figural composition dominated by

Brunelleschi-inspired architecture

Holy Trinity• Vanishing point at the foot of the cross• Skeleton below painting symbolizes death

• “I once was what you are; and what I am you will become.”

Mary Saint John Christ

Holy Spirit• As a dove

• T he traditional symbol

Tribute MoneyMasaccio, 1425, Florence

Fresco in Santa Maria del Carmine

Tribute Money• Scene from New Testament

• Jesus is asked if he should pay tribute to civil authorities• One big narrative

• Peter gets money from the fish (left)• Jesus confronts the tax collector• Peter pays tax collector (right)

• Narrative moves from center, to left, to right• Figures are dominant and cast shadows on the ground

Expulsion from the Garden of EdenMasaccio, 1425, Carmine, FlorenceFresco in Santa Maria del Carmine,

• Bold use of nude forms• Intense expressions

• Adam• Hides face in shame

• Eve• Hides body in shame

• Bleak background• Desolation outside Garden of Eden

• Angel is foreshortened

Battle of San RomanoPaolo Uccello, 1455Tempera on wood

Battle of San Romano • Battle between Florence and Siena (1432)

• Looks more like a ceremony • Strong use of perspective and vanishing points

• Orthogonals in figures and weapons

AnnunciationFra Angelico, 1438-1447

Fresco

Annunciation• Architecture of painting reflects

architecture of monastery• Serene and religious• Humility of figures• Solid forms – like Giotto• Smoothly modeled figures

• Extreme delicacy• Spare environment

• Focus on figures’ gestures and simple settings

• Corinthian columns• Brunelleschi-type arches

The Last SupperAndrea del Castagno, 1447, Sant’ Apollonia, Florence

Fresco

The Last Supper• Painted for a convent of cloistered nuns

• Red brick in painting matches red brick tiles in the convent

• Figures are individualizes • Little communication between them

• Everything in sharp focus with precise edges • Judas is on the front side of the table

• Apart from others • Symbolic of his guilt

• Marble pattern behind Judas’ head • Symbolizes lightning pointing to his head

• Six marble panels on left and back walls and four panels and two windows on right wall• Implies the room is square – doesn’t appear

square• 2:1 ratio of loops on stringcourse on back wall

implies the room is rectangular

Battle of Ten Naked Men (Battle of the Nudes) Antonio del Pollaiuolo, 1465-1470

Engraving

• Dense vegetation• Contrasts with figures

and “pushes” them forward

• Imprecise anatomy • Expressive flexed muscles • Active posses• Figures seem to be in

mirroring positions

ResurrectionPiero della Francesca, 1463, San Sepolcro

Fresco in the Palazzo Comunale• Geometric shapes • Christ

• Stepping out of tomb or has foot on lid???

• Enormous figure who conquers all

• Holds a labarum• Symbol of victory over

death• Height of drama

• Landscape (flat background)• Might symbolize death and

new life (live tree/dead tree) • Morality

• Left is bare area with strong and mature trees • Hard path

• Right is pretty with less mature trees• Easy path

Room of the NewlywedsAndrea Mantegna, 1465-1471, Mantua

Fresco in Ducal Palace

• Cube-shaped room “domed” with painted central panel• There is no real dome

• Oculus• Two groups of women

leaning over a balustrade• Some look down at viewer

• Foreshortening• Angels seen from front and

back • Rest their feet on painted

ledges• Bird and flower pot are

unsettling

Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to Saint Peter Pietro Perugino, 1482, Sistine Chapel in Rome

Fresco

Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to Saint Peter

• Left background• Tribute money

• Right background• Stoning of Christ

• Vast piazza in one-point perspective • Arch of Constantine-like structures• Central basilica reminiscent of

Brunelleschi or Alberti• Open space around keys = emphasis• Figures in contrapposto• Many contemporary faces

Birth of VenusSandro Botticelli, 1485, Florence

Tempera on canvas

Birth of Venus• Commissioned by MEDICI family• Venus

• Emerges from sea foam • Dreamy, far away look in her eyes• Roses scattered before her

• Roses created at same time as her • Thorns = love can be painful

• Physical beauty • Lifts mind to God (divine love)

• Plato• Venus was an earthly goddess of human

physical love • Heavenly goddess who inspires intellectual

love • Left

• Zephyr (west wind) & Chloris (nymph)• Right

• Handmaiden rushes to clothe her • Figures

• Floating, not anchored to ground• Crisply drawn

• Many pale colors• Landscape flat and unrealistic

• Simple v-shaped waves

Spring (La Primavera)Sando Botticelli, 1482, Florence

Tempera on wood

Spring (La Primavera)• Left

• Mercury holding a caduceus up to the air to dispel storm clouds

• Right• Zephyr reaches out to Chloris• Chloris transforms into Flora,

goddess of Spring • Center

• Venus wears a bridal wreath on her head

• Cupid, son, is above her • Three Graces dance together

• Embodiment of beauty Venus creates

• Loose, long hair is a symbol of virginity

• Narrow stage setting• Figures closer to viewer

• FERTILITY SYMBOLS• Fruit, flower, spring, Venus,

Cupid• Large oranges may refer to Medici

coat-of-arms

Birth of the VirginDomenico Ghirlandaio, 1485-1490, Santa Maria Novella, Florence

Fresco

Birth of the Virgin• Religious scene in Florentine

home – MODERN setting • St. Anne (Right)

• Mary’s mother• Reclines in palace room

• Midwives to St. Anne • GIOVANNI TORNABUONI

• Daughter of patron• Center

• High status • Upper left corner

• Story of Mary’s parents, Joachim and Anna meeting

Damned Cast into HellLuca Signorelli, 1499-1504, Orvieto Cathedral

Fresco

Damned Cast into Hell• End of world scene – very common• Upper right

• Heaven guarded by angels • Upper left

• Angels carry off the damned • Made to go against ideas of some Christian

heretics who questioned existence of hell and heaven and purgatory

• Impenetrable mass of human bodies • Many figures die by strangulation• Largest treatment of human nudes to date • Devils discolored = evil

• Interest in HUMANISM/Rebirth of Classical sculpture

• Peak an interest in Greek and Roman sculpture

• Medieval artists thought nudes were pagan

• 15th century Italian sculptures glorified the nude

• Like the ancients

• Revival of life-size nude sculpture

• Increased study of human anatomy

• Heroic bodies in stone and bronze

***Much sculpture made for Florence Cathedral Baptistry

Sculpture

Sacrifice of IsaacLorenzo Ghiberti, 1401-1403, Florence

Gilt Bronze

• Made for a competition to do a set of bronze doors for Florence Cathedral• Brunelleschi’s lost

• Story• God asks Abraham to prove his love

by sacrificing son Isaac• Abraham is about to kill Isaac when an

angel appears/reveals it’s a test • Tells Abraham to kill a ram

instead • Gothic quatrefoil pattern

• Had to match Gothic doors already on the Baptistery

• Influence of Gothic style• Gestures are graceful

• Figures are separated • Helps with story’s clarity

Sacrifice of IsaacFilippo Brunelleschi, 1401-1403, Florence

Bronze

• Lost the competition• Dense group• Great drama• Dramatic tension and rigor• Figures are heavy looking• Figures spill over the edges of the

quatrefoil

Gates of ParadiseLorenzo Ghiberti, 1425-1452, Florence

Gilt bronze• Ghiberti gets this commission after winning

“Isaac contest”• More sophisticated spatially than his other

doors• Figures have more convincing volume

• Lean, elegant, elongated bodies• Different facial expressions

• 10 Old Testament scenes

Four Crowned SaintsNanni de Banco, 1409-1417

Part of “Or San Michele” in FlorenceMarble

• Built for guild of wood and stone carvers• Shows four Christian sculptors

• Refused to carve a statue of a pagan god for the Roman Emperor Diocletian/martyred for that

• Saints• Wear Roman togas• Heads look like portraits of Roman emperors• Seem to be discussing their fate • Feet step outside of arch • Pedestal carved in arc

• Follows their positioning • Figures are independent of the niche

• Bottom scene has view of sculptors at work on their craft

DavidDonatello, 1420’s – 60’s

Bronze

• First large-scale bronze since antiquity• Exaggerated contrapposto of the body • Probably displayed in Medici palace• David

• Looks androgynous• Stance is nonchalant• Contemplating victory over Goliath

• Foot on Goliath’s head• Head lowered to show humility • Hat has laurel leaves on it

• Means he was a poet• Special strength comes from God

• Story of triumph of good over evil• Story

• Israelites fighting Philistines• Philistines’ best warrior wants to fight Israelites

best warrior – David volunteers• David refused armor, hits Goliath in the head

with a stone/cuts off his head

Mary MagdaleneDonatello, 1430-1450, Florence

Wood • Mary

• Was a reformed sinner – followed Christ • Hair covers her body

• Wiped Christ’s feet with hair• Gilded hair indicated spirituality

and former beauty • Emaciated from 30 years of penitence

• Hallowed cheeks, missing teeth, sunken eyes

• Face shows torture of a badly left life• Ravages of time on her body

• Gesture of prayer expresses a world of spirituality

• Eyes focused on an inner reality and a higher form of beauty

• Completely, introspectively fixated on Christ

GATTAMELATADonatello, 1445-1450, Padua, Italy

Bronze

• Nickname for warrior• “Honeyed Cat”

• Gatamelata• Commemorative monument

for a cemetery• Face reflects stern

expression of a military commander

• Horse is spirited, resting one leg on a ball

• Rider is in control

Madonna and ChildLuca della Robbia, 1455-1460, San Michele, Florence

Terra cotta

• White glazed terra-cotta of flesh areas simulates marble

• Ceramic is cheap• Retains color and polish even

outdoors• Drapery has rich colored glazes

• Creates luminous ceramic forms• Soft quality of ceramic adds gentility to

the artistic expression

Hercules and AntaeusAntonio del Pollaiuolo, 1475, Florence

Bronze

• Shows ancient myth• Hercules must lift Antaeus off the ground

to defeat him• Antaeus gets his strength from his mother,

who is the earth goddess• Active composition with limbs jutting out in

various directions• Strong angles of the body• Sinewy, strong muscles

ColleoniAndrea del Verrocchio, 1481-1496, Venice

Bronze• Military leader, fought for the

Venetians• Very powerful and spirited

animal tamed by an animated, victorious leader

• Dramatically alive and forceful appearance

• Bulging, fiery eyes • Erect position in saddle

VOCABULARY

1. BOTTEGA – the studio of an Italian artist2. HUMANISM – an intellectual movement in the Renaissance that emphasized the secular

alongside the religious. Humanists were attached the achievements of the classical past, and stressed the study of classical literature, history, philosophy, and art

3. LANTERN – a small structure with openings for light that crowns a dome4. OTHOGONAL – lines that appear to recede toward a vanishing point in a painting with linear

perspective 5. PILASTER – a flattened column attached to a wall with a capital, a shaft, and a base6. QUATTROCENTO – the 1400s (15th century) of Italian art7. RUSTICATE – to deeply and roughly incise stones to give a rough and rustic texture to its

appearance8. STRINGCOURSE – a horizontal molding9. TROMPE L’OEIL – “fools the eye” – a form of painting that attempts to represent an object as

existing in three dimensions, and therefore resembles the real thing