Leonardo: High Renaissance: The Virgin of the Rocks Monalisa · The Virgin of the Rocks ... knowledge relationship human-nature Monalisa Michelangelo: David Classicism and politics

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

Durer

Reformation and the

Reproduction of the work of art

Leonardo da

Vinci, Virgin

of the Rocks,

ca. 1485, oil

on wood

new High-Renaissance concept of artist-

genius

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

Painting as instrument of

knowledge

reality continuously changing

Leonardo’s great ambition discover

the laws underlying the flux of

nature

1474 1508-191483

1506

Connoisseurship: A term derived from the

French word connoisseur, meaning "an expert."

and signifying the study and evaluation of art

based primarily on formal, visual, and stylistic

analysis. A connoisseur studies the style and technique

of an object to deduce its relative quality

and possible maker.This is done through visual

association with other, similar objects and styles.

- natural context in

stead of architectures

of early Renaissance

- natural details

painted, with scientific,

rigorous approach

-figures are now part

of it!

- no geometry

- atmosphere and

light

Leonardo da

Vinci, Virgin

of the Rocks,

ca. 1485, oil

on wood

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: optical

rather than mathematical approach.

2 principles:

1) farther back = blurrier, less

detailed, and bluer

2) color saturation and value contrast

diminish

- pyramidal grouping (as

Masaccio’s Holy Trinity)

- unity among figures is also

“psychological”

- “movements of the soul” or

“soul’s intentions”(moti

dell’anima)

Leonardo da Vinci, Virgin

of the Rocks, ca. 1485, oil

on wood

Leonardo learned from Rogier van der Weiden:

-oil paint

- interest for “psychological” portraiture

However…

Leonardo da

Vinci, Mona

Lisa, ca.

1503-1505,

oil on wood

status psychology

(aristocratic, modest and devout as every

upper-class lady was supposed to be

considered),

Vs. individual psychology: complex and

unique personality

Leonardo da Vinci, Mona

Lisa, ca. 1503-1505, oil on

wood

-gaze to the observers

-smile: actually ambiguous expression,

complex dynamics of reciprocal gazes

Depicting expression: corners of the

mouth and corners of the eyes

deliberately indistinct / soft shadow

Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa, ca.

1503-1505, oil on wood

Expression and landscapes:disguise

rather than reveal her psyche

- passage between different stages

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

fresco (oil and tempera on plaster), Refectory,

Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan

collective psychological reaction

A storm of “movements of the souls”

Michelangelo: several

activities, but foremost

sculptor

Michelangelo

Buonarroti,

David, 1501-

1504, marble,

17’

Michelangelo Sculptor

symbol of the city of

Florence

after the expulsion of

Medici, symbol of

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

Michelangelo

represents an

unusual moment:

Not the victorious

and arrogant David,

after having killed

Goliath

But 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 vs.

Leonardo (2

main

differences):

L. human-nature

M. obsessed with

human figure

L. understand the

universe by

means of

observation

M., truth is in the

artist’s mind

Michelangelo Buonarroti, ceiling of the Sistine

Chapel, Rome, 1511-1512

In 1508, commission by the

Pope Julius II

1) inexperience with the

technique of fresco

2) The ceiling’s

dimensions (ca. 5,800

square feet)

3) the vault’s height (70

feet) and curve

3 problems:

Michelangelo Buonarroti,

ceiling of the Sistine Chapel,

Rome, 1511-1512

Subject matter: Creation,

Fall, and Redemption of

humanity

Formal: does not “break”

the ceilings, no illusionistic

representation of space

muscular figures = human soul (as we

saw with David)

their sculptural presence that build

the composition/space

Michelangelo Buonarroti, ceiling of the Sistine

Chapel, Rome, 1511-1512

Subject matter: the creation of

Adam (humanity)

There is nothing in the picture to

divert attention from the main

subject:

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 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

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

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

which corresponded to the

image that the pope Julius II

wanted to give of himself:

as both a cultured

individual (Classical

themes) and a wise

religious authority

(Christian themes)

Subject: great philosophers and

scientists of the ancient world

Roman vaultsperspective directs attention to

Plato and Aristotle shown as the

forefathers of 2 approaches

Left: trascendental ideas




Right: nature and human affairs

Knowledge

comes from

the world of

ideas

No, it can be

reached only by

studying this

world

1) Raphael portrays himself

among the mathematicians:3 main points:

2) diversity of moods and

personalities




symmetrical composition is

made dynamic

3) bodies: structural value of

Michelangelo




Portrait of

Michelangelo

Albrecht Durer, Adam and Eve,

1504, engraving, 9 7/8x 7 7/8

-German Renaissance

-Nuremberg: publishing

center

-made a fortune by

publishing his own prints

-engraving: metal plates

-son of a goldsmith

-traveled to Italy

-classical influence +

northern analytic realism

-symbolic landscape

Albrecht Durer, Four Apostles, 1526, oil on

wood panel, 7 1/2 x 2’ 6”

-admirer of Martin Luther

-Peter in the background, John

in the foreground

-Luther’s German translation of

the New Testament

In favor of a Protestant

visual art

Leonardo: High Renaissance: The Virgin of the Rocks Monalisa · The Virgin of the Rocks ... knowledge relationship human-nature Monalisa Michelangelo: David Classicism and politics

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