Cinquecento Italian ArtHigh Renaissance

1500-1600

Leonardo da VinciVirgin of the Rocksca. 1485oil on wood6 ft. 3 in. x 3 ft. 7 in.

Four artists who were most closely associated with the High Renaissance:Leonardo da VinciRaphaelMichelangeloTitian

Compositional devices Leonardo used in The Virgin of the Rocks to knit the figures together;Pyramidal grouping of the figures.Light simultaneously reveals and veils the forms, immersing them in a layer of atmosphere that exists between them and the viewer’s eye.

Leonardo da Vinci

Virgin and Child with St. Anne and the Infant St. John

ca. 1505-07charcoal heightened with white on brown paper4 ft. 6 in. x 3 ft. 3 in.

According to Leonardo, the major purpose of his scientific investigations was to discover the laws underlying the processes and flux of nature.

Leonardo da Vinci

The Last Supper

Refectory, Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan, Italy

ca. 1495-98fresco (oil and tempera on plaster)29 ft. 10 in. x 13 ft. 9 in.

Two fifteenth‑century trends Leonardo used to synthesize in The Last Supper :Classical influence in terms of motifs and naturalistic representation.The use of perspective to create a convincing pictorial illusion.

Leonardo da Vinci

Mona Lisa (La Giaconda)

ca. 1503-1505oil on wood2 ft. 6 in. x 1 ft. 9 in.

Leonardo considered modeling with light and shadow, and expressing emotional statesthe heart of painting

Leonardo da Vinci

Embryo in the Womb

ca. 1510pen and ink on paper

cartoon A full-size preliminary drawing.

desegno“Drawing” in Italian, closer to “design” in meaning, representing an artist’s conceptualization and intention.

sfumatoA smokelike haziness that subtly softens outlines in painting.

Donato d’Angelo Bramante

Plan for the new Saint Peter’s

1505

The building of the crossing piers and the lower choir walls was completed during Bramante's lifetime

Christoforo Foppa CaradossoMedal showing Bramante’s design for the new Saint Peter’s1506

Donato d’Angelo BramanteTempiettoSan Pietro in Montorio, Rome, Italy1502

Four aspects of the sculptural appearance of Bramante's Tempietto.

Lower level directly inspired by Roman round temples.

Resembles a sculptured reliquary.

The dome, drum, and base bear a logical and harmonious relationship to each other and to the whole.

Rhythmical play of light and shadow in the columns and balustrade.

Michelangelo Buonarroti

David

1501-1504marble14 ft. 3 in. high

Michelangelo believed measure and proportion should be kept “in the eyes,” that the artist could judge pleasing proportions, and that the artist’s authority was bound only to his idea. He used a style of vast, expressive strength conveyed through complex and erratic forms.

Michelangelo Buonarroti

Moses

San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome, Italy

ca. 1513-1515marbleapproximately 8 ft. 4 in. high

Three figures that Michelangelo is believed to have created for the tomb of Julius II.

Moses

Bound Slave

“Unfinished Captive”

Michelangelo Buonarroti

Bound Slave

1513-1516marble6 ft. 10 1/2 in. high

The two slaves were thought to represent not as such an abstract concept, but they embody powerful emotional states associated with oppression.

Sistine Chapel (view facing west)

Vatican City, Rome, Italy

built 1473

Fond of serving in battle, Pope Julius II reigned from 1503-1513. He was a major art patron and commissioned a new design for St. Peter’s basilica, the construction of his tomb, the painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, and the decoration of his papal apartments.

Sistine Chapel (view facing east)

Vatican City, Rome, Italy

built 1473

Michelangelo BuonarrotiSistine Chapel CeilingVatican City, Rome, Italy 1508-12frescoapproximately 128 x 45 ft.

The Creation, Fall, and Redemption of humanity. As visitors enter the chapel and walk toward the chapel, they review, in reverse order, the history of the fall of humankind. Old Testament prophets and pagan sibyls who foretell the coming of Christ are shown with depictions of conflicts between good and evil and between the energy of youth and wisdom of age. The style can be seen in the Creation of Adam, which is shown not in the traditional representation but in a humanistic interpretation that uses classical imagery and techniques, but which does not obscure the Christian message.

Michelangelo BuonarrotiCreation of Adam, Sistine Chapel CeilingVatican City, Rome, Italy 1511-12frescoapproximately 18 ft. 8 in. x 9 ft. 2 in.

Characterize Michelangelo's style in painting and sculpture with four adjectives or phrases.Figures are sharply outlined against the neutral architectural setting, rather than forming atmospheric “picture windows”.Reclining and twisting positions of the figures.Heavy musculature.Straight architectural axes (such as in Leonardo’s compositions) are replaced by diagonals and curves.

Cleaning of, Sistine Chapel Ceiling

Vatican City, Rome, Italy

1977-1989

Cleaning of, Sistine Chapel Ceiling

Vatican City, Rome, Italy

1977-1989

The effect of the color revealed during the restoration of the Sistine ceiling is that the coloring is vivid and bright, in marked contrast to the dark and smoky appearance of the formerly soot-and-grime-covered ceiling.

Michelangelo Buonarroti

Drunkenness of Noah, Sistine Chapel Ceiling (pre-restoration)

Vatican City, Rome, Italy

1511-12fresco

Michelangelo Buonarroti

Drunkenness of Noah, Sistine Chapel Ceiling (post-restoration)

Vatican City, Rome, Italy

1511-12fresco

Sistine Chapel (view facing east)

Vatican City, Rome, Italy

built 1473

Michelangelo Buonarroti

Last Judgment

Vatican City, Rome, Italy

1537-41fresco

Michelangelo Buonarroti

Last Judgment

Vatican City, Rome, Italy

1537-41fresco

Michelangelo Buonarroti

Last Judgment

Vatican City, Rome, Italy

1537-41fresco

Raphael

Philosophy (School of Athens)

Stanza della Segnatura, Vatican Palace, Rome, Italy

1509-11frescoapproximately 19 x 27 ft.

The two central figures represented in Raphael's School of Athens, and what aspects of philosophy does each represent?

Plato and Aristotle. Plato points to heaven, the source of his inspiration, while Aristotle points towards earth, from which his observations of reality sprang. Plato represents the mysteries that transcend this world, and Aristotle represents nature and human affairs.

Raphael

Marriage of the Virgin

Chapel of Saint Joseph in Città di Castello near Florence, Italy

1504oil on wood5 ft. 7 in. x 3 ft. 10 1/2 in.

RaphaelMadonna of the Meadows1505oil on panel3 ft. 8 1/2 in. x 2 ft. 10 1/4 in.

Three characteristics of Raphael's style as seen in the Madonna of the Meadows Subtle chiaroscuro.Prefers clarity to obscurity, using lighter tonalities even with the dusky modeling of Leonardo.Substantial figures in a pyramidal arrangement, like Leonardo’s Madonna of the Rocks.

RaphaelGalateaSala di Galatea, Villa Farnesina Rome, Italy1513fresco9 ft. 8 in. x 7 ft. 5 in.

Raphael

Baldassare Castiglione

ca. 1514oil on wood transferred to canvas2 ft. 6 1/4 in. x 2 ft. 2 1/2 in.

Michelangelo Buonarroti

Tomb of Giuliano de’Medici

Medici Chapel, San Lorenzo, Florence, Italy

1519-1534marblecentral figure approximately 5 ft. 11 in. high

Michelangelo Buonarroti

Tomb of Giuliano de’Medici

Medici Chapel, San Lorenzo, Florence, Italy

1519-1534marblecentral figure approximately 5 ft. 11 in. high

Antonio da Sangallo the Younger

Palazzo Farnese

Rome, Italy

ca. 1530-1546

Michelangelo Buonarroti

Capitoline Hill

Rome, Italy

designed ca. 1537

Michelangelo Buonarroti

Capitoline Hill and Museo Capitolino

Rome, Italy

designed ca. 1537

Michelangelo Buonarroti

plan for Saint Peter’s

Vatican City, Rome, Italy

1546

Michelangelo Buonarroti

elevation for Saint Peter’s

Vatican City, Rome, Italy

1546-1564

Michelangelo Buonarroti

elevation for Saint Peter’s

Vatican City, Rome, Italy

1546-1564

Giovanni Bellini

San Zaccaria Altarpiece

Santa Zaccaria, Venice, Italy

1505oil on wood transferred to canvas16 ft. 5 in. x 7 ft. 9 in.

Color and light are harmoniously balanced, softer and more luminous than Francesca; outlines dissolve in light and shadow. The effect is more glowing than the clarity of Francesca.

Venice Florence and RomeMain instrument was color Main instrument was

sculpturesque form

Colorito Disegno (drawing and design)

The poetry of the senses, delighting in nature’s beauty and the pleasures of humanity

More esoteric, intellectual themes

Concerns that distinguished the art of Venice from that of Florence and Rome

Giovanni Bellini and Titian

The Feast of the Gods

1529oil on canvas5 ft. 7 in. x 6 ft. 2 in.

Three aspects of Giorgione's style.

Soft forms in dense shadows.

Enigmatic theme in a rich, abundant landscape.

Soft, smoky, full female figures are poetic personifications of nature’s abundance.

Giorgionne da Castelfranco

Pastoral Symphony

ca. 1508oil on canvas3 ft. 7 in. x 4 ft. 6 in.

“poesia”Painting

meant to operate in a manner similar to poetry.

Giorgionne da Castelfranco

The Tempest

ca. 1510oil on canvas2 ft. 7 in. x 2 ft. 4 3/4 in.

Titian

Assumption of the Virgin

Santa Maria Gloriosa del Frari, Venice, Italy

ca. 1516-1518oil on wood22 ft. 6 in. x 11 ft. 10 in.

The most outstanding feature of Titian’s Assumption of the Virgin is his ability to convey light through dazzling color.

Titian

Madonna of the Pesaro Family

Santa Maria dei Frari, Venice, Italy

1519-1526oil on canvasapproximately 16 x 9 ft.

The massing of monumental figures, singly and in groups within a weighty and majestic architecture.

He uses perspective lines, inclination of figures, and directional lines of gaze and gesture to focus the composition

Characteristics of Titian's Madonna of the Pesaro Family are typical of High Renaissance painting;

Titian

Meeting of Bacchus and Ariadne

1522-1523oil on canvas5 ft. 9 in. x 6 ft. 3 in.

Titian

Venus of Urbino

1538oil on canvas4 ft. x 5 ft. 6 in.

Titian's painting Venus of Orbino established the compositional essentials for the representation of the female nude in much of later Western art.

Titian

Isabella d’Este

1534-36oil on canvas3 ft. 4 1/8 in. x 2 ft. 1 3/16 in.

One of the most powerful women during the Renaissance, daughter of the duke of Ferrara, she married the marquis of Mantua and was instrumental in developing the Mantuan court into an important center of art and learning. She was a patron of Titian, Leonardo, and Mantegna, and was an avid art collector.

Andrea del Sarto

Madonna of the Harpies

1517oil on wood6 ft. 9 in. x 5 ft. 10 in.

Antonio Allegri da Correggio

Assumption of the Virgin

Dome fresco of Parma CathedralParma, Italy

1526-1530fresco

Antonio Allegri da Correggio

Assumption of the Virgin

Dome fresco of Parma CathedralParma, Italy

1526-1530fresco

“Proto-baroque” as it applies to the work of Correggio at Parma;

His illusionistic ceiling perspectives became the permanent tenants of Baroque churches in later centuries. He also anticipated later Baroque compositional devices in his religious panels.

Three Mannerist painters.Jacopo da PontormoParmigianno Bronzino

Five of the characteristics of Mannerist painting that can be called "anti‑Classical" and that distinguish the Mannerist from the High Renaissance style.

Mannerists consciously reveal the artifice of their art.Imbalanced compositions.Unusual complexities, both visual and conceptual.Ambiguous space.A focus on themes of courtly grace and cultured sophistication.

Jacopo da Pontormo

Descent from the Cross

Capponi Chapel, Santa Felicità, Florence, Italy

1525-1528oil on wood10 ft. 3 in. x 6 ft. 6 in.

The Mannerist style emerged during the 16th century in Italy.

Parmigianino

Madonna with the Long Neck

ca. 1535oil on wood7 ft. 1 in. x 4 ft. 4 in.

Parmigianino

Madonna with the Long Neck

ca. 1535oil on wood7 ft. 1 in. x 4 ft. 4 in.

Bronzino

Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time (The Exposure of Luxury)

ca. 1546oil on wood5 ft. 1 in. x 4 ft. 8 3/4 in.

Bronzino

Portrait of a Young Man

ca. 1530soil on woodapproximately 3 ft. 1 1/2 in. x 2 ft. 5 1/2 in.

Sofonisba AnguissolaPortrait of the Artist’s Sisters and Brotherca. 1555

Three characteristics that Sofonisba Anguissola’s Portrait of the Artist’s Sisters and Brother shares with other Mannerists portraits like those by Bronzino: Figures placed against the front plane, blocking the space.Contours are strong and sculptural.A focus on heads and hands, considered to be the carriers of grace.

One feature that is uniquely hers: Informality with relaxed poses and expressions.

Giacomo della Porta

façade of Il Gesù

Rome, Italy

ca. 1575-1584

Giacomo da Vignola

plan of Il Gesù

Rome, Italy

1568

Tintoretto

Miracle of the Slave

1548oil on canvas14 x 18 ft.

Tintoretto aspired to combine the color of Titian with the drawing of Michelangelo.

Two characteristics of Tintoretto’s painting style that point toward the Baroque style:Dynamic perspectives.Dramatic chiaroscuro.

Devices Tintoretto used to identify Christ in his version of The Last Supper;The light flaring out of the darkness; He sits above and beyond the converging perspective lines.

TintorettoLast SupperChancel. San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice, Italy1594oil on canvas12 ft. x 18 ft. 8 in.

Four features of the Palazzo del Te that are "irregular" from the point of view of Renaissance architectural practice.a. The facades, where the divergences from architectural convention are so pronounced they constitute a parody of classical style.b. The keystones seem to have not fully settled or seem to be slipping from the arches.c. Keystones placed over pediments over the rectangular niches, where no arches exist.d. The Tuscan columns carry incongruously narrow architraves.

Giulio RomanoInterior courtyard façadeof the Palazzo del TèMantua, Italy1525-1535

Paolo Veronese

Christ in the House of Levi

1573oil on canvas18 ft. 6 in. x 42 ft. 6 in.

Paolo VeroneseChrist in the House of Levi1573oil on canvas18 ft. 6 in. x 42 ft. 6 in.

Veronese's favorite subjects were;Splendid pageantry

Majestic classical architecture.

Paolo VeroneseTriumph of Veniceca. 1585oil on canvasapproximately 29 ft. 8 in. x 19 ft.

Aspects of Veronese paintings did the Holy Office of the Inquisition object;

The Holy Office accused Veronese of impiety for painting creatures such as dogs and clowns so close to the Lord.

Antonio Allegri da CorreggioAssumption of the Virgin

Paolo VeroneseTriumph of Venice

Differences in the type of illusion created by Veronese in The Triumph of Venice and that created by Correggio in The Assumption of the Virgin for the dome of Parma Cathedral;

Veronese’s perspective is not projected directly up from below. Rather, it is a projection of the scene at a 45-degree angle to the spectator.

Andrea PalladioVilla Rotundanear Vicenza, Italyca. 1566-1570

Palladio’s books had wide-ranging influence on generations of architects throughout Europe, and his influence outside Italy, most significantly in England the colonial America, was stronger and more lasting than any other architect.

A circle (the central dome-covered rotunda) inscribed in a square (the building does not have the usual wings of secondary buildings).

Andrea Palladio

Villa Rotunda

near Vicenza, Italy

ca. 1566-1570

Andrea Palladiowest façade ofSan Giorgio MaggioreVenice, Italybegun 1565

Palladio superimposed a tall, narrow classical porch on a low broad one for the facade of San Giorgio Maggiore to integrate the high central nave and low aisles.

Andrea Palladiointerior ofSan Giorgio MaggioreVenice, Italybegun 1565

Palladio’s architectural style differs from Mannerist architecture in that the play of shadow across the building’s surfaces, its reflection in the water, and its gleaming white against sea and sky create a colorful effect, prefiguring the Baroque. The interior lacks the ambiguity of the façade and evokes the High Renaissance. Wall decorations are “correctly” profiled in the classical style.