Renaissance

Art in the

1400 – 1600

Overview • Italian/Early 1400-1490

• Italian/High 1500-1600

• Northern/Late 1500-1600

• one can argue about dates:

1300 – 1520

1400 – 1600

map

Renaissance• 1st period to name itself and say nasty

things about earlier times:“Gothic” & “Dark Ages”

• Term means “Rebirth”• Looking back to Classical culture –

Ancient Greece and Rome• Names! Artists known by name – 1st

contemporary art historian (1550); Individuality celebrated in this era

Renaissance• Church is still the biggest power

structure• Beginning of banking• Private fortunes & power• Starts in Italy – specifically

Florence

Man loves himself once again

The Return of Humanism

. . . I feel that I have come to some understanding of why man is the most fortunate of living things and, consequently, deserving of all admiration; of what may be the condition in the hierarchy of beings assigned to him, which draws upon him the envy, not of the brutes alone, but of the astral beings and of the very intelligences which dwell beyond the confines of the world.

from Pico della Mirandola's Oration on the Dignity of Man (1486)

see also p. 190

Donatello, David, 1432

p. 203

Donatello, David, 1432

Tuscan hat

p. 203

Style of helmet & art symbolic reference to other Italian city-states

Love of texture

Donatello,David, 1432

Goliath’s headdetail

Donatello, David, 1432

1st free-standing, life size nude sculpture since antiquity!

• contrapposto; but not just an imitation of past models

• for private collection

• David = underdog = Florence

• Goliath = giant = Milan & other central Italian cities in league against Florence

Donatello, David, 1432

Inscription:

“The victor is whoever defends the fatherland. God crushes the wrath of an enormous foe. Behold - a boy overcame a great tyrant! Conquer, O citizens! Kingdoms fall through luxury, cities rise through virtues. Behold the neck of pride, severed by the hand of humility.”

p. 203

An earlier Donatello David (c.1410)

Florence CathedralBrunelleschi dome

p. 193-197

CONFIDENCE REDISCOVERED!

Florence CathedralBrunelleschi domeinside view

Tower designed by Giotto,

1334

View of Duomo from Pitti Palace (across the river)

View from the Duomo

Uffizzi Pitti Palace

Pazzi Chapel

Post & lintel returns;

GEOMETRY

Pazzi Chapel

p. 198

Pitti Palace

Alberti (façade architect), Santa Maria Novella, Florence, 1470

By the numbers:

2:1

3:1

4:1

not in text

p. 202

MasaccioTrinity1427-28Fresco21' 10 1/2" x 10' 4 Santa Maria Novella, Florence

1st use of linear perspective

not in text

Masaccio, Tribute Money, c. 1427

p. 199

Tribute Money,detail

Note use of chiaroscuro

(light and dark shading) to

create volume in the clothes.

Ghiberti, LorenzoThe Gates of Paradise 1425-52Bronze with gilding

p. 195-196

Ghiberti, LorenzoThe Gates of Paradise 1425-52Bronze with gilding

p. 195-196

Ghiberti, LorenzoThe Gates of Paradise 1425-52Bronze with gilding

Ghiberti, LorenzoThe Gates of Paradise 1425-52Bronze with gilding

Ghiberti, LorenzoDetail from the Gates of Paradise The story of Joseph1425-52Bronze with gilding80 x 80 cmBaptistery, Florence not in text

BOTTICELLI, SandroThe birth of Venusc. 1485, Tempera on canvas(67 7/8 x 109 5/8 in.)

NOT IN TEXT

p. 199

BOTTICELLI, SandroPrimaverac. 1482. Tempera on wood203 x 314 cm

BOTTICELLI, SandroPrimaverac. 1482. Tempera on wood203 x 314 cm

BOTTICELLI, SandroVenus and Marsc. 1485. Egg tempera and oil on poplar69 x 173.5 cm not in text

NOT BIBLICAL!

KEY IMAGEPERIOD:

PLACE:

ARTIST:

TITLE:

DATE:

p. 203

Early RenaissanceFlorence

Donatello

David

1432

KEY IMAGEPERIOD:

ARTIST:

TITLE:p. 199

Renaissance

Botticelli

La Primavera (Birth of Spring)

Pazzi ChapelKEY IMAGE

p. 198

Summary – Italian Renaissance• POLITICS – Italian city-states; power from money

• EARLY RENAISSANCE – Florence

• HIGH RENAISSANCE –

• ART – Classical ideals revived

• IDEAS – Humanism returns

• MUSIC –