Renissance 1500

Flanders, Italy and Germany

Before the Reformation

1400-1500

Hubert Van EyckFlemish

The Crucifixion and The Last Judgment Metropolitan Museum, New Yorkcirca 1420 22.25” x 7.75”

Hubert and Jan Van EyckFlemish

The Adoration of the Lamb (Ghent Altarpiece, Cathedral of St. Bavon, Ghent, Belgium)completed 1432 (one year after the burning of Joan of Arc)oil on wood53” x 91” lower center panel of altar polyptych


The Just Judges and the Knights of Christ (Ghent Altarpiece, Cathedral of St. Bavon, Ghent, Belgium)completed 1432 (one year after the burning of Joan of Arc)oil on wood54.75” x 20.75”


Adam and Eve (Ghent Altarpiece, Cathedral of St. Bavon, Ghent, Belgium)completed 1432 (one year after the burning of Joan of Arc)oil on wood84.25” x 13”


Virgin and Child with the Chancellor Rolin Louvre, Pariscirca 1436 egg tempera and oil on wood26” x 24.5”


Virgin and Child with the Chancellor Rolin Louvre, Pariscirca 1436 egg tempera and oil on wooddetail


Virgin and Child with the Chancellor Rolin Louvre, Pariscirca 1436 egg tempera and oil on wooddetail

Jan Van EyckFlemish

Giovanni Arnolfini and his WifeNational Gallery, Londoncirca 1434 oil on wood32.25” x 23.5”

Jan Van EyckFlemish

Giovanni Arnolfini and his WifeNational Gallery, Londoncirca 1434 oil on wooddetail

DuccioItalian

Entry Into Jerusalem1308-11egg tempera on panel 40” x 21”

Basic Scheme for Albertian Perspective1415

Paolo UccelloItalian1397-1475

Perspective Study of a Chalice1430-40ink on paper13 3/8” x 9 1/2”

Piero della FrancescaItalian1412?-1492

Flagellation of Christ1450segg tempera on panel23.25” x 32”

Piero della FrancescaItalian1412?-1492

Angels from the Nativitycirca 1470egg tempera on panel49” x 48.5”

Johann GutenbergGermanLate 1300s-1468

Forty-Two Line Bible1450-55first book printed with moveable type

replica of Gutenberg’s press

1570 engraving showing a Renaissance printing house

Andrea MantegnaItalian1436-1506

Arrival of Cardinal Francesco Gonzaga1474FrescoCamera degli Sposi, Palazzo Ducale, Mantua

Mantegna “discovered and put into practice the principle of the panoramic curved screen, which is now used in cinemas all over the world for exactly the same reason.”

History of Italian Renaissance ArtFrederick Hartt

Antonello da MessinaItalian-Sicilian1430?-1479

Saint Jerome in his Study1450-55oil on panel18” x 14.125”

The Sicilian-born Antonello da Messina changed the course of Venetian painting by introducing the use of oils. He may have learned the technique from Flemish trained Spanish masters.

Antonello da MessinaItalian-Sicilian1430?-1479

Portrait of a Man (the Condottieri)1475oil on panelLouvre, Paris

Botticelli Italian1444/45-1510

Portrait of a Man with a Medal1473-74egg tempera on panel23” x 17.25”

Sandro Botticelli Italian1444/45-1510

Adoration of the Magi1476-77egg tempera on panel43.5” x 52.75”


Primavera (Spring)1478egg tempera on panel70” x 123”


Portrait of a Young Mancirca 1482egg tempera on panel14.75” x 11”National Gallery, London

Filippino Lippi Italian1444/45-1510

Vision of Saint Bernard1456/58-1504egg tempera on panel6’ 10” x 6’ 5”

Son and student of Fra Filippo Lippi and student of Botticelli, influenced by Leonardo da Vinci

Lorenzo de’ Medici, the MagnificentLorenzo il Magnifico

Leonardo da VinciThe ideal Renaissance man was deemed capable of infinite accomplishments; but there was one caveat. Everything had to be done gracefully and seemingly without effort. According to the writer, intellectual, diplomat and soldier Baldassare Castiglione, a gentleman should be at ease in any situation without ever appearing perturbed in the slightest. Needless to say, such behavior required gargantuan patience and an equally gargantuan attention span.

Aside from having been a bastard and a commoner, Leonardo da Vinci came as close to achieving the Renaissance ideal as any man in history. He was a painter, sculptor, architect, athlete, engineer, botanist, anatomist, musician, set designer, geologist and proto evolutionist. He anticipated Darwin by nearly five centuries in grasping that the Biblical account could not explain the development of geological phenomena, much less life. He studied the motion of birds’ wings and almost succeeded in understanding the principle of lift and aerodynamics. He trusted his eyes above all theories, hypotheses and beliefs. His voluminous writings and scientific detachment imply atheism or, at the very least, skepticism. It is believed that his only faith was in nature.

Leonardo was a master draftsman who worked with his left hand at a time when left-handed people were considered “sinister” and potentially evil. His journals and sketchbooks were filled with “mirror” writing: backward script written from right to left. It may have been a result of his left-handedness, or he may have done it out of fear of persecution by the ignorant and superstitious authorities of his day.

Although Leonardo loved animals, hated violence and by all accounts acted with great kindness, he had no qualms about designing weapons that were centuries ahead of their time. He invented submarines, tanks, machine guns and all manner of exploding shells. He worked as a military engineer for Lodovico Sforza, duke of Milan, and Cesare Borgia, son of Pope Alexander VI. His willingness to serve the arts of war reflected his lack of emotional commitment to others. He did not hate, but apparently did not love either. There is speculation that this may have been a result of his childhood as well as the danger of being homosexual at a time when it was punishable by death. In retrospect, he seemed resigned to the stupidity and ignorance of men and saw nothing wrong in helping them destroy themselves. If there was any tragedy in his life, it was only in having had to live among lesser humans.

Leonardo spent his final years in France protected by his friend and admirer King Francis I. The bastard country boy died in the care of a king on May 2, 1519. He was the senior partner in the trinity that constituted the High Renaissance. The other two were Michelangelo and Raphael.

Leonardo da VinciItalian1452-1519

from his sketchbooks








Madonna of the RocksBegun 1483oil on panel transferred to canvas78.5” x 48”Louvre, Paris


Madonna and Saint AnneCirca 1508-13? oil on panel 66.25” x 51.25”Louvre, Paris


Cecilia Galleranicirca 1483oil on panel

Mistress of Lodovico Sforza, Duke of Milan known as il Moro


Isabella d’Este, Marchioness of MantuaCirca 1500charcoal and chalk on paper

One of the most highly educated women of her day, Isabella d’Este was the ideal Renaissance woman, “the first lady of the world.” She chronicled the most important events of her day in over 300 letters. Her intellectual abilities paved the way for the French salonnières of the 1700s.

Isabella’s d’Este’s favorite room

Fra Luca Pacioli

Student of Alberti and Piero della Francesca

Writer, professor, friend of da Vinci and monastery abbot

Published an important work on mathematic and geometry in 1494

Hieronymus Bosch1450?-1516

The Garden of Earthly Delightslate 1400soil on wood86.75” x 76.75” center panel86.75” x 38.25” side panelsMuseo del Prado, Madrid


The Garden of Earthly Delightslate 1400soil on wooddetail


The Garden of Earthly Delightslate 1400soil on wooddetail

Albrecht Dürer German1471-1528

House on an Island in a Pond1495-97watercolor and gouache8” x 9”


Self Portrait1498oil on panel20.5” x 16”


Self Portrait1500oil on panel26” x 19”

Entertainment & Humor

Renissance 1500