The Renaissance Images and Concepts.

The RebirthThe Rebirth of of art, learning, art, learning,

& classical & classical culture (Greek culture (Greek and Roman)and Roman)

Where & Where & WhenWhen1300-1600 A.D.1300-1600 A.D.Started in Northern Italy Started in Northern Italy Ideas spread throughout Ideas spread throughout the rest of Europe the rest of Europe

ItalyItaly Advantages

Heritage of Greece and RomeTrade Routes develop in Northern Italy after CrusadesThriving CitiesMerchant Class develops

HeritageHeritageReturn to Greek and Return to Greek and RomanRomanLooked downLooked down on Middle on Middle AgesAgesInspired from Ruins to Inspired from Ruins to recreaterecreate greatness greatnessEthnocentrismEthnocentrism

MerchantsMerchants Wealthy, powerful classWealthy, powerful classPolitically InvolvedPolitically Involved““Made” – not born into itMade” – not born into it

Rise of the NationThe School of Europe

Florence:Medici Family ruled Florence for over sixty-five years. Influential in the woolen mills and baking industries of Florence.Cosimo de Medici gained authority after the uprising of the woolen workers. Cosimo was able to appease the workers and appeared to be a man of Republican virtue. Many compared him to the Emperors of Greece.Lorenzo de Medici was a patron of the arts. He was neglectful of family business and is considered responsible for the loss of the Medici family authority. Lorenzo failed take care of business responsibilities and caused the fail of the Medici Bank.

The Medici The Medici Family Family

Florence, ItalySuccessful Traders & BankersWealthiest family in ItalyControl Florence for ~40 years

Who made it possible?Who made it possible?

Johann Johann GutenbergGutenberg’s Printing ’s Printing PressPress

A Chain Reaction

Humanism+ Printing Press4 major events…

1)1) RenaissanceRenaissance: Rebirth of classical ideas & learning

2)2) ReformationReformation: leads to challenge of Church authority

3)3) ExplorationExploration: now they’ll explore, expand, get rich

4) Literacy Rates Increase in Europe

Renaissance CultureIndividualismIndividualism – The belief that the individual is most importantHumanismHumanism – The concept that one should focus on the concerns of the secular (human) world.RealismRealism – portraying everyday people and everyday events

Dress StylesDress styles reflect the IndividualismIndividualism.Women had very complex gownscomplex gowns.(Until 1600’s, women wore head dresses frequently)

BodicesA bodicebodice (front piece of renaissance gowns) was intended to showcase the chest & suck in the belly.

UndergarmentsThe dreaded corsetcorset, originating in England, was used to make women’s gowns fit right.

Men's Fashions

Men’s clothing was variedvaried.Men of high class wore hats(left) TudorTudor style, with the long robes(right) ItalianItalian dress was more common

Renaissance Art RevolutionizedA massive shift in art: PerspectivePerspective

Makes images appear on different levels (3-D)

New theme: HumanismHumanism Painters portray secular themes over religious ones.

Medieval Style Painting

Used no perspectiveVery flat and bland.

Early Renaissance

The First Three Hall-of-Famers

Masaccio1401-1428

Founder of early Renaissance PaintingPainted human figure as a real human being

(3D)Used perspectiveConsistent source of light (accurate shadows)

#2 Donatello 1386-1466

The sculptor’s MasaccioDavid (1430-32)

First free standing, life-size nude since Classical periodContrappostoSense of Underlying skeletal structure

The Penitent Magdalen

(Donatello)real

gaunt“Speak, speak

or the plague take you!”

#3 Boticelli

1482Rebirth of Classical mythologyFully PaganTHE BIRTH OF VENUS

Their accomplishments were made possible by…

Patrons of the ArtsPatrons of the ArtsWealthy merchants

donated to the arts to show how worldly and generous they were

Renaissance Painters/ArtistsRaphaelRaphaelMichelangeloMichelangeloLeonardo Da Leonardo Da VinciVinciDonatelloDonatello

MichelangeloBorn 1475.Lived/worked in Florence.Sculptor, architect, and painterMost talented?

Michelangelo Buonarroti SimoniLived to be 89Thinks of himself mainly as a sculptor but was a painter, architect and poet tooIf da Vinci is the scientist, Michelangelo is the poet/thinker/emotionalist

Architecture of Michelangelo

Designed the Designed the Dome on the Dome on the Cathedral of Cathedral of St. Peter in St. Peter in the Vatican.the Vatican.

c. 1500 [date to remember]

- Monumental (13’ 5”)

- Distortion (big hands, big head, extra long arms)

- Florence

Sprezzatura & terribilita

Sprezzatura - a studied carelessness

Terribilita – awe-inspiring power

Renaissance ideals

Sprezzatura

Master Work (Cont.)

He began in 1508began in 1508 at the behest of Pope Julius II. Created the Ceiling Ceiling paintingspaintings that are famous.Took 4 years to Took 4 years to completecomplete.

Leonardo Da VinciBorn April 15, 1452.Gifted as a painter at a young age.Left-handed (in this time that was “the devils work”)

Da Vinci’s famous works

The Last SupperThe Mona Lisa

De Vinci and Perspective

DaVinci and Invention

DeVinci was a visionary.First to examine the human body, envisioned manned flight and parachutes.

The Renaissance Man

DaVinciDaVinci had so much talent and intelligence that he embodied the spirit of the RenaissanceHe was a man for all agesA pioneer and visionaryHe was awas a RENAISSANCE MANRENAISSANCE MAN

Raphael Born April 6, 1483painter and sculptor.Simpler style than DaVinci

Raphael Sanzio 1483-1520

Youngest of the 3 He synthesizes what he learns from bothHe began painting in FlorenceCalled to Rome by Pope“Art responds to Art”

School of AthensOne point perspectiveAll the important Greek philosophersLocated in the papal apartments libraryWorking on this commission same time Michelangelo is working on the Sistine chapelNo Christian themes hereGreat variety of poses

Uses well known figuresDa Vinci is PlatoHerakleitos is MichelangeloRaphael as himselfEuclid is Bramante

Renaissance Literature

Moved away from church oriented work.Drama, poetry, and philosophy.Influenced by humanismInfluenced by humanism.

Printing, Thought and Literature1. Language

a. Many different versions of language. The most common of educated men was Latin. Most, but not all, books would have been written in Latin.

2. Writersa. Dante Allegerhi: Divine Comedy: Traces a journey from Hell into the light of Heaven.

Dante is lead on this journey by Virgil, a Roman poet who embodies all knowledge.b. Petrarch: Known for his sonnets of love. Particularly to his love Laura. His work is

considered to be the "perfected" Italian sonnet.c. Erasmus: He is considered the one who best reflects the humanist desire to draw on all

wisdom to create his works. The Praise of Folly (see class handout) is one of his best-known works. In this work his mocks the monks of the church.

d. Machiavelli: The Prince: Political satire. Brings to issue the ethics of politicians. The question "Do the ends justify the means"?

e. Chaucer: Made use of the English vernacular in his book The Canterbury Tales. Tells the stories of people traveling to Thomas a Becket's grave in Canterbury. It is important because the book allows us to see the spectrum of classes in England during the fifteenth century.

PhilosophyNicolo Nicolo MachiavelliMachiavelli – (1469-1527)Political advisor to the Medici family.The Prince

DramaWilliam William ShakespeareShakespeare 1564 to 1616.English poet & playwright. Wrote 37 plays

Why was the Renaissance Art and Culture Important?

1. Developed western culture beyond the

church2. Allowed for

creation of individualistic works for the

first times.3. Created new

literature styles

4. Created a new world view possibility.

5. Allowed Europe to accept different styles of

learning (ie, Muslim)6. Gave us the Ninja Turtles!!!

Renaissance Art in Northern EuropeShould not be considered an appendage to Italian art.But, Italian influence was strong.

Painting in OIL, developed in Flanders, was widely adopted in Italy.

The differences between the two cultures:Italy change was inspired by humanism with its emphasis on the revival of the values of classical antiquity.No. Europe change was driven by religious reform, the return to Christian values, and the revolt against the authority of the Church.

More princes & kings were patrons of artists.

Characteristics of Northern Renaissance Art

The continuation of late medieval attention to details.Tendency toward realism & naturalism [less emphasis on the “classical ideal”].Interest in landscapes.More emphasis on middle-class and peasant life.Details of domestic interiors.Great skill in portraiture.

Jan van Eyck (1395 – 1441)

More courtly and aristocratic work.

Court painter to the Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good.

The Virgin and Chancellor Rolin, 1435.

Quentin Massys (1465-1530)Belonged to the humanist circle in Antwerp that included Erasmus.Influenced by da Vinci.Thomas More called him “the renovator of the old art.”The Ugly Dutchess, 1525-1530

Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528)The greatest of German artists.A scholar as well as an artist.His patron was the Emperor Maximilian I.Also a scientist

Wrote books on geometry, fortifications, and human proportions.

Self-conscious individualism of the Renaissance is seen in his portraits. Self-Portrait at 26, 1498.

Dürer

The Last Supper

woodcut, 1510

Durer – The Triumphal Arch, 1515-1517

The Triumphal Arch, details

The Triumphal Arch, details

Dürer

FourHorsemenof theApocalypse

woodcut, 1498

Hans Holbein, the Younger (1497-1543)

One of the great German artists who did most of his work in England.While in Basel, he befriended Erasmus.

Erasmus Writing, 1523 Henry VIII was his patron from 1536.Great portraitist noted for:

Objectivity & detachment.Doesn’t conceal the weaknesses of his subjects.

Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1525-1569)One of the greatest artistic geniuses of his age.Worked in Antwerp and then moved to Brussels.In touch with a circle of Erasmian humanists.Was deeply concerned with human vice and follies.A master of landscapes; not a portraitist.

People in his works often have round, blank, heavy faces.They are expressionless, mindless, and sometimes malicious.They are types, rather than individuals.Their purpose is to convey a message.

Domenikos Theotokopoulos (El Greco)

The most important Spanish artist of this period was Greek.1541 – 1614.He deliberately distorts & elongates his figures, and seats them in a lurid, unearthly atmosphere.He uses an agitated, flickering light.He ignores the rules of perspective, and heightens the effect by areas of brilliant color.His works were a fitting expression of the Spanish Counter-Reformation.

Conclusions

The artistic production of Northern Europe in the 16c was vast, rich, and complex.

The Northern Renaissance ended with a Mannerist phase, which lasted a generation longer in the North than it did in Italy, where it was outmoded by 1600.