Art of the Renaissance

Art of the Renaissance(In Europe – mostly ITLAY)

Renaissance Art

    The Renaissance was between 1400 A.D. to 1600 A.D.  It began in the city states of Italy.  The Renaissance means "rebirth" in French.   This art reflected back to the classical time of Rome and Greece. 

This reflection back to the Greek and Romans was not limited to the arts, but all fields like literature, science, and architecture began to look back to the ancients for their inspiration.   

        One of the major influences in the Renaissance was the change in the social structure of Europe at this time. Before the Renaissance, there were primarily three different social levels; the nobility, the churchmen,

and the peasants.  During the Renaissance Era a merchant class developed.  These wealthy merchants would often hire artists to decorated family chapels in the local church or cathedral.  Guilds (or groups of

craftworks)  would often compete with other guilds in the town by sponsoring large art projects.   Later the arts were supported by rich patrician families.  

    In the Renaissance, we see the first oil painting on canvas.   It was also a time where the paintings took on three dimensions by the use of shadow and light.  The subject matter included mythical subjects and nature scenes.  Artists tried to show differences in proportions (meaning size  and location of one thing

compared to another in the painting) of their subject matter.         Leonardo DaVinici painted the Mona Lisa during this time.  The painting is characteristic of Da Vinici in it's pyramid like setup with a smoky background.  Michelangelo took over four years to paint over 6000 square

feet of the Sistine Chapel  with scenes from the Old Testament Bible.  Many other works were also developed during this time. 

ANNUNCIATION, 1482HANS MEMLING

Netherlandish,active by 1465–d. 1494

Oil on wood; 32 x 21 5/8 in.Robert Lehman Collection, 1975

The Annunciation

• The Annunciation • 26Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee,

named Nazareth, 27to a virgin pledged to be married to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28Having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, you highly favored one! The Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women!” 29But when she saw him, she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered what kind of salutation this might be. 30The angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31Behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bring forth a son, and will call his name ‘Jesus.’ 32He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David, 33and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. There will be no end to his Kingdom.” 34Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, seeing I am a virgin?” 35The angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore also the holy one who is born from you will be called the Son of God. 36 Behold, Elizabeth, your relative, also has conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37For everything spoken by God is possible.” 38Mary said, “Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; be it to me according to your word.” The angel departed from her.

MARCO DEL BUONO GIAMBERTIFlorentine, 1402–1489APOLLONIO DI GIOVANNI DI TOMASO,Florentine, 1415/17–1465Tempera and gold on wood;17 1/2 x 55 3/8 in.Rogers Fund 1918 (18.117.2)

• The Story of Queen Esther • Esther belonged to God's special people, the Jews. Esther and many other

Jews lived in the land called Persia. Persia was a long way from their own land.

• The king of Persia was angry with Queen Vashti and he sent her away. Then he searched for another wife who would be the new queen. He chose Esther.

• “King Ahasuerus loved Esther more than all the women, and she found grace and favor in his sight…so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen…Then the king gave a great banquet to all his princes and servants.” Through this marriage, Esther would be able to save the Jews.

• One of the king's chief officials, called Haman, hated the Jews and he plotted to destroy them. But Esther's uncle Mordecai asked Esther to speak to the king to save the Jews. Although Esther was the queen, Mordecai was asking her to do a dangerous thing. People could not go to see the king if he had not invited them. But Esther did what Mordecai asked. The king was pleased with her and listened to her. The king gave to the evil Haman the punishment that Haman had wanted to give to the Jews.

THE MIRACLE OF THE LOAVES ANDFISHES, 1545–50TINTORETTO (JACOPO ROBUSTI)Venetian, 1518-1594Oil on canvas; 61 x 160 1/2 in.Francis L. Leland Fund, 1913

• Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand •  1Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of

Tiberias), 2and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. 3Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4The Jewish Passover Feast was near.

•  5When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" 6He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

•  7Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages[a] would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"

•  8Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, 9"Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"

•  10Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. 11Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

•  12When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." 13So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

•  14After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world." 15Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

Vasari writes that the convent of Sant’Antonio da Padova at Perugia commissioned the youngRaphael to paint this altarpiece and asked him to clothe the Christ Child. He also states thatRaphael worked on this altarpiece in two stages, painting the female figures before he left forFlorence in 1504, and the male figures when he returned the following year. In Florence, hewas influenced by many painters, including Michelangelo and Leonardo. Thus, the bodies ofthe male saints are rendered with greater volume, and the facial features show more individualexpression than those of the female saints. Vasari also describes the three scenes of the predella.The Metropolitan Museum owns one of the panels, The Agony in the Garden.

MADONNA AND CHILD ENTHRONEDWITH SAINTS, 1504–5RAPHAEL (RAFFAELLO SANZIO OR SANTI)Marchigian, 1483–1520Tempera and oil on wood;main panel 66 7/8 x 67 7/8 in.

VIEW OF TOLEDO, CA. 1597DOMENICO THEOTOCOPOULOS,CALLED EL GRECO (“THE GREEK”)Greek (Crete), 1541–1614Oil on canvas; 47 3/4 x 42 3/4 in.

STUDY OF A BEAR WALKING, CA. 1485–90LEONARDO DA VINCIFlorentine, 1452–1519

Sliverpoint on light buff prepared paper;

The Last Supper, 1498 (post-restoration)Leonardo da Vinci (Italian, 1452–1519)

Scala/Art Resource, NY

David with the Head of Goliath, 15th century (1470–80)Bartolomeo Bellano (Donatello ) (Italian, Paduan, 1437/38–1496/97)

Gilt bronze, oil gilding of later date H. 11 1/4 in. (28.6 cm)

Sandro Botticelli (Italian, 1444-1510), Birth of Venus, c. 1485-86, painted for the villa of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici at Castello, tempera on canvas, 67

7/8 x 109 5/8 inches (172.5x 278.5 cm), now in the Uffizi, Florence.

Sistine Chapel & Michelangelo

• http://arthistory.about.com/od/famous_paintings/a/sischap_ceiling.htm

Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel Painted by Michelangelo

Mona Lisa - Leonardo Da Vinci

Creation of Adam Sistine Chapel Ceiling - Michelangelo

Adoration of the Magi - Botticelli

Primavera - Botticelli

Renaissance Women

Renaissance Men

National Gallery Of Art links

• http://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/itacer/itacer-main1.html

• http://www.nga.gov/collection/gallery/itacer/itacer-main2.html

Renaissance Architecture

Renaissance Fashion

Women's Clothing

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Men's Clothing