Medieval & Renaissance Art: A Comparison
Feb 23, 2016
Medieval & Renaissance Art:
A Comparison
Medieval and Renaissance ArtMedieval
1. No expressions onfaces
2. Stiff and unrealistic poses
Renaissance
1. Faces are filled with emotion and expression
2. Human poses are lifelike and realistic
Medieval and Renaissance ArtMedieval
3. European art was the property of the Church – often religious themes, individuals were not important—paintings not signed
4. Tempura paints were used – dried too quickly to correct mistakes
Renaissance
3. Artists take credit for their work and become famous; also portraits are done of people
4. Oil paints were used – lets artists work slowly, create new colors, and obtain more lifelike effects
Medieval and Renaissance ArtMedieval
5. The Church forbids displaying the naked human body
6. There is no balance, proportion, or perspective – pictures are “flat” and two dimensional because the most important spiritual figures in the painting are larger than the less important ones.
Renaissance
5. Like the Greeks and Romans, artists study anatomy to portray humans realistically
6. Artists create proportion with the illusion of depth and distance on the flat surface—called linear perspective. They also use new shading devices called sfumato and chiarascuro; they use geometry to achieve balance.
Medieval and Renaissance Art
Medieval
7. Halos and gold backgrounds symbolized residents of heaven and the holy atmosphere of heaven
Renaissance
7. Portrayed naturalistic landscapes of this world and saints lived in the same world as ordinary people
1. Realism & Expression� Expulsion from the Garden
� Masaccio� 1427
� First nudes sinceclassical times.
SAINT DEMETRIUS OF SALONICA.
High Middle Ages
End of 14th century
Before
Masaccio’s “Trinity”
The first known painting
to applyBrunelleschi’s
system of linear
perspective.
Church of Santa Maria
Novella,Florence
Before
2. Perspective
Perspective!Perspective!Perspective!
Perspective!Perspective!
First use of linear
perspective!
Perspective!Perspective!
� The Trinity� Masaccio� 1427
What you are, I once was; what I am, you will
become.
Progression of the Use of Perspective
1280’s 1480’s1380’s
Perspective!
Betrothal
of the Virgin
Raphael1504
3. Classicism and Realism
� Greco-Roman influence.
� Secularism.� Humanism.� Individualism
free standing figures.
� Symmetry/Balance
The “Classical Pose”Medici “Venus” (1c)
Birth of Venus – Botticelli, 1485
An attempt to depict perfect beauty.
Examples of Humanism and Realism in Renaissance Art
Botticelli's Birth of Venus Rembrandt’s The AnatomyLesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp
Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel
Da Vinci’sVitruvian Man
Examples of Humanism and Realism in Renaissance Art
4. Emphasis on Individualism� Batista Sforza & Federico de Montefeltre:
The Duke & Dutchess of Urbino� Piero della Francesca, 1465-1466.
� Vitruvian Man
� Leonardo daVinci
� 1492
TheL’uomo
universale
5. Geometrical Arrangement of Figures
� The Dreyfus Madonna with the Pomegranate
� Leonardo da Vinci
� 1469� The figure as
architecture!
Raphael’s Canagiani Madonna, 1507
6. Light & Shadowing/Softening Edges
Chiaroscuro
Sfumato
Leonardo da Vinci
described sfumato
as "without lines or borders,
in the manner of smoke or beyond
the focus plane."
Famous works by Italian Renaissance Artists
Michelangelo
Leonardo Raphael
Donatello
The Renaissance “Man”� Broad knowledge about many
things in different fields.� Deep knowledge/skill in one
area.� Able to link information from
different areas/disciplines and create new knowledge.
� The Greek ideal of the “well-rounded man” was at the heart of Renaissance education.� Artist
� Sculptor� Architect� Scientist� Engineer� Inventor
1452 - 1519
Leonardo da Vinci,
� The Virgin of the Rocks
� Leonardo daVinci
� 1483-1486
Leonardo, the Artist:From his Notebook of over 5000 pages
(1508-1519)
Leonardo Da Vinci
Why is Mona Lisa so famous?
Mona Lisa (La Giocande)Oil on wood panel
Fun Fact! Notice her lack of eyebrows! Women during this period would shave them off! It was considered fashionable to do so!
The Last Supper
Gospel Book of Bernward ofHildesheim, c. 1016
German
Leonardo da Vinci, “Last Supper”
Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan, Italy
“Last Supper” Perspective
horizontal
vert
ical
Perspective!
The Last Supper - da Vinci, 1498
The Last Supper - da Vinci, 1498
& Geometry
Refractory
Convent of Santa
Maria delle
Grazie
Milan
� Detail of Jesus
� The Last Supper
� Leonardo da Vinci
� 1498
Deterioration
Leonardo Da Vinci
The Last SupperTempera and mixed media on Plaster
Leonardo, the Sculptor
� An Equestrian Statue
� 1516-1518
Leonardo, the Architect:Pages from his Notebook
� Study of a central church.
� 1488
Leonardo, the Architect:Pages from his Notebook
� Plan of the city of Imola, 1502.
Leonardo, the Scientist (Biology):Pages from his Notebook
� An example of the humanist desire to unlock the secrets of nature.
Leonardo, the Scientist (Anatomy): Pages from his Notebook
Leonardo, the Inventor:
Pages from his Notebook
A study of siege defenses.
Studies of water-lifting devices.
Leonardo, the Engineer: Pages from his
Notebook
King David
Above: Gospel Book of Philip the FairRight: Vivian Bible
� David by Donatello� 1430� First free-form bronze
since Roman times!
The Liberation of Sculpture
David
Verrocchio
1473 - 1475
� David� Michelangel
oBuonarotti
� 1504� Marble
Michelangelo’s Detail
15c
16c
What
a
difference
a
century
makes!
� The Pieta
� MichelangeloBuonarroti
� 1499
� marble
The Popes as Patrons of the Arts
The Sistine Chapel
Michelangelo Buonarroti
1508 - 1512
Film Clip
The Sistine Chapel’s Ceiling
Michelangelo Buonarroti1508 - 1512
The Sistine Chapel Details
The Creation
of the Heavens
The Sistine Chapel Details
Creation of Man
The Sistine Chapel Details
The Fall from Grace
Creation
Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel
Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel
The Sistine Chapel Details
The Last Judgment
Raphael’s “School of Athens”
The School of Athens – Raphael, 1510 -11� One point perspective.
� All of the important Greek philosophers and thinkers are included all of the great personalities of the Seven Liberal Arts!
� A great variety of poses.� Located in the papal apartments
library.� Raphael worked on this commission
simultaneously as Michelangelo was doing the Sistine Chapel.
� No Christian themes here.
The School of Athens – Raphael, 1510 -11
Raphael
Da Vinci
Michelangelo
Aristotle:looks to thisearth [thehere and
now].
Plato:looks to theheavens [or
the IDEALrealm].
The School of Athens – Raphael, details
Averroes
Hypatia
Pythagoras
Zoroaster
Ptolemy
Euclid
Raphael’s “School of Athens”Clockwise:Plato (Leonardo), Aristotle,Raphael,Michelangelo
Comparing ArtworkMedieval Artwork Renaissance Artwork
Raphael: The Nymph Galatea 1512-1514