Italian Renaissance – A revival or rebirth of cultural awareness and learning that took place during the fourteenth

and fifteenth centuries, particularly in Italy, but also in Germany and other European

countries. The period was characterized by a renewed interest in ancient Greek and Roman art and design and included an emphasis on human beings, their environment, science,

and philosophy.

Giotto born in 1267, died in 1337. Painted the Life of St. Francis of Assisi which is identified as one of his earlier works. Though an artist of the medieval period, he influenced such greats as Michelangelo and Raphael because he introduced some of the earliest solutions to creating the illusion of three-dimensionality in paintings and because his way of composing his paintings so effectively conveyed the the subject he was painting. Besides his work as an artist, he is famous for designing the Campanile (tower) of the Florence Duomo

GIOTTO di BondoneLast Judgement (detail)1306FrescoCappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel), Padua

GIOTTO di Bondone, Crucifixion, 1310s

Expulsion from Paradise

Tribute Money

In 1422, Masaccio was appointed master of the Florentine Guild. From 1424, he worked with his older colleague Masolino on the decoration of the Brancacci Chapel, which was dedicated to St. Peter. Masaccio, applying the laws of perspective, achieved a considerable optical illusion of depth in the painting of architectural constructions and landscapes. Some art historians believe that he launched the new style of Early Renaissance practically single-handedly, he was only 21 years old at the time and he died 6 years later, leaving to others to develop his discoveries

Paolo Uccello (born Paolo di Dono) (Italian, 1397-1475), Perspective Study of a Chalice, pen and ink on paper, 29 x 24.5 cm, Gabinetto dei Disegni, Uffizi, Florence.

Donatello’s David dated about 1440

DonatelloSt John the Evangelist1410-11Marble, height: 210 cmMuseo dell'Opera del Duomo, Florence

Lamentation over the Dead ChristDonatello, before 1456Bronze, 33,5 x 41,5 cmVictoria and Albert Museum, London

Andre

a M

ante

gna

Th

e La

menta

tion

over th

e D

ead C

hrist

c. 1490

Tem

pera

on ca

nvas, 6

8 x

81 cm

Pin

aco

teca

di B

rera

, Mila

n

ANDREA MANTEGNA : "OCULUSOFTHE CAMERA PICTA"

1473; fresco; Camera degli Sposi, Castello di San Giorgio, Mantua, Italy.

The oculus is in the centre of the ribbed vault of the Camera degli Sposi, a room 8 metres (26 feet) long, rebuilt

to allow Mantegna's sequence of frescos to unfold. The paintings

celebrate and glorify the family of the Marquis of Mantua, Ludovico Gonzaga II (1447-78). The space is transformed

into a pavilion, with a series of pilasters appearing to support the

dome. The oculus, or painted opening, shows a summer sky. The painted

architecture and the iconography, in which traditions of courtly painting,

antiquarian decoration, and experimentation have been combined,

make this room an undisputed Renaissance masterpiece. The oculus is about one-quarter of the size of the

room and is surrounded by a foreshortened marble balcony, with a

decorative garland below.

http://www.all-art.org/history214-6.html

Domenico Ghirlandaio (b Florence, 1448–9; d Florence, Jan 1494).

Coronation of the Virgin1486

Pinacoteca Comunale, Citta di Castello

                                                                                                                                                                                 

Domenico Ghirlandaio (b Florence, 1448–9; d Florence, Jan 1494). Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saintsc. 1479Duomo San Martino, Lucca

                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Domenico Ghirlandaio Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saintsc. 1483Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

                                                                                  

                                                                                                           Portrait of Giovanni II Bentivoglio

c. 1480National Gallery of Art, Washington

                                                                                                                                                                      

                               Portrait of Ginevra Bentivoglio

c. 1480National Gallery of Art, Washington

Ercole de’ Roberti (b Ferrara, c. 1455–6;

d 18 May–1 July 1496).

Francesco del Cossa  (b Ferrara, c. 1435; d Bologna, 1476–7).

St Florian (Griffoni Polyptych)1473National Gallery of Art, Washington

Verrocchio- Italian sculptor, painter, draughtsman and goldsmith. He was the leading sculptor in Florence in the second half of the 15th century, and his highly successful workshop, in which Leonardo da Vinci trained, had a far-reaching impact on younger generations. A wide range of patrons, including the Medici family, the Venetian State and the city council of Pistoia, commissioned works from him. Exceptionally versatile, Verrocchio was talented both as a sculptor—of monumental bronzes, silver figurines and marble reliefs—and as a painter of altarpieces. He was inspired by the contemporary interest in the Antique and in the study of nature, yet, approaching almost every project as a new challenge, developed new conceptions that often defied both traditional aesthetics and conventional techniques. His fountains, portrait busts and equestrian sculpture are indebted to an iconographic tradition rooted in the early 15th century and yet they are transformed by his original outlook. His funerary ensembles are unique, so that, despite the great admiration they inspired, they had no imitators. Though a highly important artist in his own right, Verrocchio has often had the misfortune of being seen as in the shadow of his pupil Leonardo.

                                                                                                                           

Andrea del Verrocchio (b Florence, 1435; d Venice, ?30 June 1488).

Head of a GirlDrawingBritish Museum, London

                                                                                         Andrea del Verrocchio                                                                                                                                                                        

Tobias and the Angel1470-80

Egg tempera on poplarNational Gallery, London

                                                                                                                            Verrocchio                                                                                                                                                                                       

Saint MonicaPanel

S. Spirito, Florence

                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Andrea del Verrocchio The Baptism of Christ1472-75Oil on wood, 177 x 151 cmGalleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Giovanni BelliniVenetian painter, founder of the Venetian school of painting, Giovanni Bellini raised Venice to a center of Renaissance art that rivaled Florence and Rome. He brought to painting a new degree of realism, a new wealth of subject-matter, and a new sensuousness in form and color.

http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/b/bellini/giovanni/index.html

Dead Christ Supported by Two Angelsc. 1460Tempera on panel, 74 x 50 cmMuseo Correr, Venice

Head of the Baptist1464-68Tempera 0n wood, diameter 28 cmMusei Civici, Pesaro

Giovanni Bellini

Madonna degli Alberetti1487Oil on panel, 74 x 58 cmGallerie dell'Accademia, Venice

Giovanni Bellini

Sacred Conversationc. 1490Oil on wood, 58 x 107 cmGallerie dell'Accademia, Venice

Bellini's Sacred Conversation (Madonna with Child and Saints Catherine and Magdalene) is one of the loftiest expression of this frequently painted theme

Madonna and Child with an Angelc. 1470Tempera on wood, 84 x 65 cmIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

Sandro Botticelli

Th

e T

rials

an

d C

allin

g o

f Moses (d

eta

il)148

1-8

2Fre

scoC

appella

Sistin

a, V

atica

n

Sandro Botticelli

Primaverac. 1482Tempera on panel, 203 x 314 cmGalleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Sandro Botticelli

The Birth of Venusc. 1485Tempera on canvas, 172.5 x 278.5 cmGalleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Sandro Botticelli

Inferno, Canto XVIII, 1480sColoured drawing on parchment, 320 x 470 mmStaatliche

Museen, Berlin

Sandro Botticelli

Leonardo da Vinci , born 1452, died 1519. His most famous works are the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper which are works in oil. He had a nature that was careful and precise, so that he never hurried to finish a work. He developed what are regarded as technical, manual skills that were so excellent that few artists in history have rivaled his ability. He had an exceptional intellect and fascination with the world around him. Besides his paintings, he left us a legacy of detailed drawings of the human anatomy, plans for a tank, helicopter, ideas on the construction of multi-level canal and road systems. Because he was an artist and a scientist at a time when both art and science, he has come to characterize the ultimate "Renaissance Man."

Leonardo da Vinci , born 1452, died 1519

Leonardo da Vinci

Vitruvian Man

1492

About the ArtworkThe archetypal Renaissance Man,

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was single-handedly responsible for the extraordinary advancements which

propelled society forward. His artistic genious was matched by his equally

astounding and prolific breakthroughs in a multitude of scientific fields.Da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man" is his

stunning correlation of the symmetry of the human body with the symmetry of the universe. Crafted in pen and ink on paper, he further emphasized this concept by symbolizing the material

existence with a square and the spiritual plane with a circle. This

revolutionary work is also an intricate anatomical study which actually

contains 16 different poses.

The Last Supper, Leonardo da Vinci, 1495–1498

                                 

            Painting Title: Mona Lisa, 1503 / 1506

Leonardo da VinciFamous Italian Artist - Renaissance

Raphael or Raffaello (Urbino, April 6, 1483 - Rome, April 6, 1520), also called Raffaello Sanzio, Raffaello Santi or Rafael Sanzio de Urbino, was a painter and architect of the Florentine school in the Italian High Renaissance.

Raphael, born 1483, died 1520. Popular with the popes of the period, Raphael decorated the papal apartments of Julius II, continued to do so under Leo X and, following Bramante, served as architect of St. Peter's. He is credited with revolutionizing portrait painting because of the style he used in the portrait of Julius II. He also designed the "cartoons" that are on the tapestries of the Sistine Chapel. A tour of the Vatican Museums should include the Raphael Rooms where you can see some of the artist's works (though Raphael died suddenly on Good Friday, 1520, before all the work was completed and much of it was finished by his students). In his painting The School of Athens, he reflected the classical influence upon Renaissance art, but he also paid tribute to the men who inspired him by using the faces of da Vinci, Bramante and Michelangelo as philosophers participating in the debate between Plato and Aristotle.

Raphael’s School of Athens (1509–1511). http://www.newbanner.com/AboutPic/athena/raphael/nbi_ath4.html

St. Sebastian. 1502-1503. Oil on panel. Pinacoteca dell'Accademia Carrara,Bergamo, Italy

Raphael

Poetry (ceiling tondo). 1509-1511. Fresco. Vaticano, Stanza della Segnatura, Rome

Raphael

http://library.thinkquest.org/2838/artgal.htm

Michelangelo Buonarroti, born 1475,died 1564. In the 89 years that he lived, Michelangelo created many of the works of art that we think of when we think of the Renaissance. A skilled painter who spent many years completing the frescoes that adorn the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo had trained as a sculptor and created two of the world's greatest statues--the enormous David and the emotional Pieta.

The Last Judgment

St Bartholomew displaying his flayed skin (a self-portrait by Michelangelo) in The Last Judgment

Michelangelo’s David,1501, Florence

Interior of the Sistine Chapel1475-83, 1508-12, 1535-41FrescoesCappella Sistina, Vatican

Michelangelo Buonarroti

Michelangelo Buonarroti

Michelangelo Buonarroti

Creation of Adam1510Fresco, 280 x 570 cmCappella Sistina, Vatican

Michelangelo Buonarroti

Brunelleschi, born in 1377, died in 1446. Architect in Florence that made the cupola of the Florence cathedral. The Duomo of Florence has become the symbol of Florence, is its tallest building and is a symbol of the wealth and civic pride of the affluent families of the city during the Renaissance. The church, on which construction began in 1299, is crowned by the massive dome designed by Brunelleschi almost two centuries later. This building did not have a roof for 175 years because it posed a major architectural challenge with the large area the dome had to span. You can climb 463 steps up the dome and view the city below. Seven of the great artists of Florence, including Brunelleschi and Donatello, competed for the opportunity to make these doors (and earn the stipend for the work). Beyond his abilities as an architect, Brunelleschi was recognized for using geometric principles in creating perspective and influencing both Masaccio and Donatello to follow that style.

A distinctive feature of Florence's skyline is the dome of the cathedral (Duomo), Santa Maria del Fiore. The building itself, located due north of the Piazza della Signoria, was begun by the sculptor Arnolfo di Cambio in 1296. Numerous local artists continued to work on it during the following century and a half. The painter Giotto designed its sturdy bell tower (campanile) in 1334. Yet, the massive octagonal cupola (1420-36) that truly dominates both the church and the city was the proud achievement of Filippo Brunelleschi, master architect and sculptor.

Duomo, Florence

Titian born in c. 1487, died in 1576. The most famous painter from Venice at the start of the 16th century. Trained by Giovanni Bellini, He was noted for use of color and for the use of thick, dramatic brush strokes. Among his famous paintings is Bacchus and Ariadne

Bacchus and Ariadne1523-24Oil on canvas, 175 x 190 cmNational Gallery, London

TitianSacred and Profane Love1514Oil on canvas, 118 x 279 cmGalleria Borghese, Rome

Titian, The Venus of Urbino,1538, Oil on canvas, 119 x 165 cm, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Caravaggio, born in 1573, died in 1610 A notable painting is his Death of the Virgin displayed in the Louvre, with the dramatic quality that was found in most of his works. He used foreshortening, shadowing and detail to portray scenes that drew out the emotions of the viewers. Caravaggio is often given credit for inspiring the Renaissance painters of northern Europe including Rembrandt.

CARAVAGGIOAmor Victorious1602-03Oil on canvas, 156 x 113 cm

CARAVAGGIODavid1609-0Oil on canvas, 125 x 101 cmGalleria Borghese, Rome