Personal and Political Themes Highlighted in Secular Art Of the 14th Century

The Italian Renaissance

Learning Objectives

The art of the Italian Renaissance was influential throughout Europe for centuries.

Central Takeaways

Key Points

• The Florence school of painting became the ascendant style during the Renaissance. Renaissance artworks depicted more secular subject matter than previous artistic movements.
• Michelangelo, da Vinci, and Rafael are amidst the best known painters of the Loftier Renaissance.
• The High Renaissance was followed by the Mannerist movement, known for elongated figures.

Key Terms

• fresco: A type of wall painting in which color pigments are mixed with water and applied to wet plaster. Equally the plaster and pigments dry out, they fuse together and the painting becomes a role of the wall itself.
• Mannerism: A style of art developed at the stop of the High Renaissance, characterized by the deliberate distortion and exaggeration of perspective, peculiarly the elongation of figures.

The Renaissance began during the 14th century and remained the dominate way in Italia, and in much of Europe, until the 16th century. The term "renaissance" was developed during the 19th century in gild to depict this period of time and its accompanying creative style. However, people who were living during the Renaissance did encounter themselves as different from their Medieval predecessors. Through a variety of texts that survive, we know that people living during the Renaissance saw themselves as different largely because they were deliberately trying to imitate the Ancients in art and compages.

Florence and the Renaissance

When yous hear the term "Renaissance" and picture a fashion of art, you are probably picturing the Renaissance mode that was adult in Florence, which became the dominate style of art during the Renaissance. During the Centre Ages and the Renaissance, Italy was divided into a number of dissimilar urban center states. Each metropolis state had its own regime, civilization, economy, and artistic style. In that location were many different styles of fine art and architecture that were developed in Italy during the Renaissance. Siena, which was a political marry of France, for example, retained a Gothic element to its fine art for much of the Renaissance.

Sure weather aided the evolution of the Renaissance style in Florence during this fourth dimension period. In the 15th century, Florence became a major mercantile centre. The product of cloth drove their economy and a merchant grade emerged. Humanism, which had developed during the 14th century, remained an of import intellectual movement that impacted art product every bit well.

Early Renaissance

During the Early Renaissance, artists began to reject the Byzantine style of religious painting and strove to create realism in their depiction of the homo form and space. This aim toward realism began with Cimabue and Giotto, and reached its peak in the art of the "Perfect" artists, such as Andrea Mantegna and Paolo Uccello, who created works that employed ane betoken perspective and played with perspective for their educated, art knowledgeable viewer.

During the Early Renaissance we also meet of import developments in subject affair, in addition to style. While religion was an important chemical element in the daily life of people living during the Renaissance, and remained a driving factor backside artistic production, we also see a new avenue open up to panting—mythological bailiwick matter. Many scholars signal to Botticelli's Birth of Venus as the very first panel painting of a mythological scene. While the tradition itself likely arose from cassone painting, which typically featured scenes from mythology and romantic texts, the development of mythological console painting would open a earth for artistic patronage, production, and themes.

Birth of Venus: Botticelli's Birth of Venus was among the most of import works of the early Renaissance.

High Renaissance

The menses known every bit the Loftier Renaissance represents the culmination of the goals of the Early Renaissance, namely the realistic representation of figures in space rendered with apparent motion and in an accordingly decorous style. The most well known artists from this phase are Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, and Michelangelo. Their paintings and frescoes are amongst the most widely known works of art in the earth. Da Vinci's Terminal Supper, Raphael'south The School of Athens and Michelangelo'due south Sistine Chapel Ceiling paintings are the masterpieces of this menstruum and embody the elements of the High Renaissance.

Marriage of the Virgin, by Raphael: The painting depicts a marriage ceremony between Mary and Joseph.

Mannerism

Loftier Renaissance painting evolved into Mannerism in Florence. Mannerist artists, who consciously rebelled against the principles of High Renaissance, tended to correspond elongated figures in casuistic spaces. Modern scholarship has recognized the capacity of Mannerist art to convey strong, often religious, emotion where the High Renaissance failed to do so. Some of the master artists of this menstruation are Pontormo, Bronzino, Rosso Fiorentino, Parmigianino and Raphael's pupil, Giulio Romano.

Fine art and Patronage

The Medici family used their vast fortune to control the Florentine political system and sponsor a series of artistic accomplishments.

Learning Objectives

Discuss the relationship betwixt art, patronage, and politics during the Renaissance

Key Takeaways

Key Points

• Although the Renaissance was underway before the Medici family came to power in Florence, their patronage and political support of the arts helped catalyze the Renaissance into a fully fledged cultural movement.
• The Medici wealth and influence initially derived from the fabric trade guided by the guild of the Arte della Lana; through fiscal superiority, the Medici dominated their city's government.
• Medici patronage was responsible for the bulk of Florentine art during their reign, equally artists generally only made their works when they received commissions in advance.
• Although none of the Medici themselves were scientists, the family is well known to accept been the patrons of the famous Galileo Galilei, who tutored multiple generations of Medici children.

Central Terms

• Lorenzo de' Medici: An Italian statesman and de facto ruler of the Florentine Democracy, who was one of the most powerful and enthusiastic patrons of the Renaissance.
• patronage: The support, encouragement, privilege, or fiscal aid that an organization or individual bestows on another, especially in the arts.

Overview

It has long been a thing of debate why the Renaissance began in Florence, and non elsewhere in Italy. Scholars have noted several features unique to Florentine cultural life that may have caused such a cultural movement. Many have emphasized the role played past the Medici, a banking family and after ducal ruling business firm, in patronizing and stimulating the arts. Lorenzo de' Medici (1449–1492) was the catalyst for an enormous amount of arts patronage, encouraging his countrymen to committee works from the leading artists of Florence, including Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli, and Michelangelo Buonarroti. Works past Neri di Bicci, Botticelli, da Vinci, and Filippino Lippi had been commissioned additionally past the convent di San Donato agli Scopeti of the Augustinians order in Florence.

The Medici House Patronage

The House of Medici was an Italian cyberbanking family, political dynasty, and later royal house that start began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici in the Democracy of Florence during the first one-half of the 15th century. Their wealth and influence initially derived from the cloth trade guided by the lodge of the Arte della Lana. Like other signore families, they dominated their city's government, they were able to bring Florence under their family's ability, and they created an surroundings where art and Humanism could flourish. They, along with other families of Italy, such equally the Visconti and Sforza of Milan, the Este of Ferrara, and the Gonzaga of Mantua, fostered and inspired the nativity of the Italian Renaissance.

The biggest accomplishments of the Medici were in the sponsorship of fine art and architecture, mainly early and High Renaissance art and architecture. The Medici were responsible for the bulk of Florentine fine art during their reign. Their coin was significant because during this period, artists generally only made their works when they received commissions in advance. Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici, the first patron of the arts in the family, aided Masaccio and commissioned Brunelleschi for the reconstruction of the Basilica of San Lorenzo, Florence, in 1419. Cosimo the Elderberry's notable artistic associates were Donatello and Fra Angelico. The most significant add-on to the list over the years was Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564), who produced work for a number of Medici, starting time with Lorenzo the Magnificent, who was said to exist extremely fond of the young Michelangelo, inviting him to report the family collection of antique sculpture. Lorenzo likewise served as patron of Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) for seven years. Indeed, Lorenzo was an artist in his own correct, and an author of poetry and vocal; his support of the arts and letters is seen as a high point in Medici patronage.

The Medici House: Medici family members placed allegorically in the entourage of a male monarch from the 3 Wise Men in the Tuscan countryside in a Benozzo Gozzoli fresco, c. 1459.

In architecture, the Medici are responsible for some notable features of Florence, including the Uffizi Gallery, the Boboli Gardens, the Belvedere, the Medici Chapel, and the Palazzo Medici. Later, in Rome, the Medici Popes continued in the family unit tradition past patronizing artists in Rome. Pope Leo X would chiefly committee works from Raphael. Pope Clement VII commissioned Michelangelo to paint the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel just before the pontiff's expiry in 1534. Eleanor of Toledo, princess of Spain and married woman of Cosimo I the Cracking, purchased the Pitti Palace from Buonaccorso Pitti in 1550. Cosimo in turn patronized Vasari, who erected the Uffizi Gallery in 1560 and founded the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno ("Academy of the Arts of Cartoon") in 1563. Marie de' Medici, widow of Henry Four of France and female parent of Louis XIII, is the subject of a commissioned wheel of paintings known as the Marie de' Medici cycle, painted for the Luxembourg Palace past court painter Peter Paul Rubens in 1622–1623.

Although none of the Medici themselves were scientists, the family is well known to take been the patrons of the famous Galileo Galilei, who tutored multiple generations of Medici children and was an of import figurehead for his patron's quest for ability. Galileo's patronage was eventually abased past Ferdinando II when the Inquisition accused Galileo of heresy. However, the Medici family did afford the scientist a safe haven for many years. Galileo named the 4 largest moons of Jupiter after four Medici children he tutored, although the names Galileo used are not the names currently used.

Leonardo da Vinci

While Leonardo da Vinci is admired as a scientist, an academic, and an inventor, he is virtually famous for his achievements as the painter of several Renaissance masterpieces.

Learning Objectives

Describe the works of Leonardo da Vinci that demonstrate his virtually innovative techniques as an creative person

Key Takeaways

Key Points

• Among the qualities that make da Vinci's work unique are the innovative techniques that he used in laying on the paint, his detailed knowledge of anatomy, his innovative employ of the homo form in figurative composition, and his use of sfumato.
• Among the most famous works created past da Vinci is the small portrait titled the Mona Lisa, known for the elusive smiling on the woman's confront, brought about past the fact that da Vinci subtly shadowed the corners of the mouth and eyes and so that the exact nature of the smile cannot be determined.
• Despite his famous paintings, da Vinci was not a prolific painter; he was a prolific draftsman, keeping journals total of modest sketches and detailed drawings recording all way of things that interested him.

Key Terms

• sfumato: In painting, the application of subtle layers of translucent paint and so that there is no visible transition between colors, tones, and ofttimes objects.

While Leonardo da Vinci is greatly admired as a scientist, an bookish, and an inventor, he is most famous for his achievements as the painter of several Renaissance masterpieces. His paintings were groundbreaking for a diversity of reasons and his works have been imitated by students and discussed at great length by connoisseurs and critics.

Amid the qualities that make da Vinci's piece of work unique are the innovative techniques that he used in laying on the pigment, his detailed knowledge of anatomy, his use of the human course in figurative limerick, and his use of sfumato. All of these qualities are present in his most celebrated works, the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, and the Virgin of the Rocks.

The Virgin of the Rocks, Leonardo da Vinci, 1483–1486: This painting shows the Madonna and Child Jesus with the infant John the Baptist and an angel, in a rocky setting.

The Terminal Supper

Da Vinci'southward most historic painting of the 1490s is The Last Supper, which was painted for the refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria della Grazie in Milan. The painting depicts the final repast shared by Jesus and the 12 Apostles where he announces that one of the them will betray him. When finished, the painting was acclaimed equally a masterpiece of design. This work demonstrates something that da Vinci did very well: taking a very traditional subject matter, such equally the Last Supper, and completely re-inventing it.

Prior to this moment in art history, every representation of the Last Supper followed the aforementioned visual tradition: Jesus and the Apostles seated at a table. Judas is placed on the opposite side of the tabular array of everyone else and is effortlessly identified past the viewer. When da Vinci painted The Concluding Supper he placed Judas on the same side of the table as Christ and the Apostles, who are shown reacting to Jesus as he announces that ane of them will betray him. They are depicted as alarmed, upset, and trying to determine who will commit the deed. The viewer also has to determine which figure is Judas, who volition betray Christ. By depicting the scene in this manner, da Vinci has infused psychology into the work.

Unfortunately, this masterpiece of the Renaissance began to deteriorate immediately later da Vinci finished painting, due largely to the painting technique that he had chosen. Instead of using the technique of fresco, da Vinci had used tempera over a ground that was mainly gesso in an attempt to bring the subtle furnishings of oil paint to fresco. His new technique was non successful, and resulted in a surface that was bailiwick to mold and flaking.

The Concluding Supper: Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper, although much deteriorated, demonstrates the painter's mastery of the human being form in figurative composition.

Mona Lisa

Among the works created by da Vinci in the 16th century is the pocket-size portrait known every bit the Mona Lisa, or La Gioconda, "the laughing one." In the present era information technology is arguably the nigh famous painting in the globe. Its fame rests, in particular, on the elusive smile on the adult female's face—its mysterious quality brought about maybe by the fact that the artist has subtly shadowed the corners of the mouth and eyes so that the exact nature of the smile cannot be determined.

The shadowy quality for which the piece of work is renowned came to exist called sfumato, the application of subtle layers of translucent paint so that there is no visible transition between colors, tones, and ofttimes objects. Other characteristics institute in this piece of work are the unadorned dress, in which the optics and hands accept no competition from other details; the dramatic landscape background, in which the globe seems to be in a state of flux; the subdued coloring; and the extremely smooth nature of the painterly technique, employing oils, only applied much similar tempera and blended on the surface so that the brushstrokes are indistinguishable. And again, da Vinci is innovating upon a type of painting hither. Portraits were very mutual in the Renaissance. Even so, portraits of women were always in profile, which was seen as proper and small. Here, da Vinci present a portrait of a woman who not only faces the viewer but follows them with her eyes.

Mona Lisa: In the Mona Lisa, da Vinci incorporates his sfumato technique to create a shadowy quality.

Virgin and Child with St. Anne

In the painting Virgin and Child with St. Anne, da Vinci's composition again picks upwardly the theme of figures in a landscape. What makes this painting unusual is that at that place are two obliquely set figures superimposed. Mary is seated on the knee of her mother, St. Anne. She leans forward to restrain the Christ Child as he plays roughly with a lamb, the sign of his own impending sacrifice. This painting influenced many contemporaries, including Michelangelo, Raphael, and Andrea del Sarto. The trends in its limerick were adopted in particular by the Venetian painters Tintoretto and Veronese.

Virgin and Child with Saint Anne: Virgin and Child with St. Anne (c. 1510) by Leonardo da Vinci, Louvre Museum.

Michelangelo

Michelangelo was a 16th century Florentine artist renowned for his masterpieces in sculpture, painting, and architectural design.

Learning Objectives

Discuss Michelangelo's achievements in sculpture, painting, and compages

Key Takeaways

Primal Points

• Michelangelo created his colossal marble statue, the David, out of a unmarried cake of marble, which established his prominence as a sculptor of boggling technical skill and strength of symbolic imagination.
• In painting, Michelangelo is renowned for the ceiling and The Last Judgement of the Sistine Chapel, where he depicted a complex scheme representing Creation, the Downfall of Man, the Salvation of Man, and the Genealogy of Christ.
• Michelangelo's chief contribution to Saint Peter's Basilica was the apply of a Greek Cantankerous form and an external masonry of massive proportions, with every corner filled in past a stairwell or small vestry. The effect is a continuous wall-surface that appears fractured or folded at unlike angles.

Key Terms

• contrapposto: The standing position of a man figure where most of the weight is placed on 1 foot, and the other leg is relaxed.  The consequence of contrapposto in art makes figures look very naturalistic.
• Sistine Chapel: The all-time-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace.

Michelangelo was a 16th century Florentine artist renowned for his masterpieces in sculpture, painting, and architectural blueprint. His almost well known works are the David, the Concluding Judgment, and the Basilica of Saint Peter's in the Vatican.

Sculpture: David

In 1504, Michelangelo was deputed to create a jumbo marble statue portraying David as a symbol of Florentine freedom. The subsequent masterpiece, David, established the artist'south prominence as a sculptor of boggling technical skill and strength of symbolic imagination. David was created out of a single marble cake, and stands larger than life, as it was originally intended to beautify the Florence Cathedral. The work differs from previous representations in that the Biblical hero is non depicted with the head of the slain Goliath, every bit he is in Donatello's and Verrocchio's statues; both had represented the hero standing victorious over the head of Goliath. No earlier Florentine artist had omitted the behemothic birthday. Instead of appearing victorious over a foe, David'due south confront looks tense and set up for combat. The tendons in his neck stand out tautly, his forehead is furrowed, and his optics seem to focus intently on something in the distance. Veins burl out of his lowered right hand, simply his body is in a relaxed contrapposto pose, and he carries his sling casually thrown over his left shoulder. In the Renaissance, contrapposto poses were thought of equally a distinctive feature of antique sculpture.

The David by Michelangelo, 1504: Michelangelo'due south David stands in contrapposto pose.

The sculpture was intended to be placed on the exterior of the Duomo, and has become 1 of the most recognized works of Renaissance sculpture.

Painting: The Last Judgement

In painting, Michelangelo is renowned for his piece of work in the Sistine Chapel. He was originally deputed to pigment tromp-l'oeil coffers after the original ceiling developed a crack. Michelangelo lobbied for a different and more than circuitous scheme, representing Cosmos, the Downfall of Human, the Promise of Salvation through the prophets, and the Genealogy of Christ. The work is office of a larger scheme of decoration inside the chapel that represents much of the doctrine of the Cosmic Church.

The limerick eventually contained over 300 figures, and had at its center nine episodes from the Book of Genesis, divided into 3 groups: God's Creation of the World, God'southward Creation of Humankind, and their fall from God's grace, and lastly, the state of Humanity as represented by Noah and his family. Twelve men and women who prophesied the coming of the Jesus are painted on the pendentives supporting the ceiling. Among the most famous paintings on the ceiling are The Cosmos of Adam, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the Great Overflowing, the Prophet Isaiah and the Cumaean Sibyl. The ancestors of Christ  are painted around the windows.

The fresco of The Concluding Judgment on the chantry wall of the Sistine Chapel was commissioned by Pope Cloudless VII, and Michelangelo labored on the project from 1536–1541. The piece of work is located on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel, which is not a traditional placement for the subject. Typically, last judgement scenes were placed on the exit wall of churches equally a fashion to remind the viewer of eternal punishments as they left worship. The Concluding Judgment is a depiction of the second coming of Christ and the apocalypse; where the souls of humanity ascension and are assigned to their various fates, as judged by Christ, surrounded by the Saints. In contrast to the earlier figures Michelangelo painted on the ceiling, the figures in The Last Judgement are heavily muscled and are in much more bogus poses, demonstrating how this work is in the Mannerist manner.

In this work Michelangelo has rejected the orderly depiction of the final judgement as established past Medieval tradition in favor of a swirling scene of anarchy as each soul is judged. When the painting was revealed it was heavily criticized for its inclusion of classical imagery as well as for the amount of nude figures in somewhat suggestive poses. The ill reception that the work received may be tied to the Counter Reformation and the Quango of Trent, which lead to a preference for more conservative religious art devoid of classical references. Although a number of figures were made more than modest with the improver of curtain, the changes were not made until after the death of Michelangelo, demonstrating the respect and admiration that was afforded to him during his lifetime.

The Final Judgement: The fresco of The Last Judgment on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel was commissioned by Pope Clement VII. Michelangelo worked on the project from 1534–1541.

Architecture: St. Peter'south Basilica

Finally, although other architects were involved, Michelangelo is given credit for designing St. Peter's Basilica. Michelangelo's primary contribution was the apply of a symmetrical program of a Greek Cross form and an external masonry of massive proportions, with every corner filled in by a stairwell or small vestry. The result is of a continuous wall surface that is folded or fractured at different angles, lacking the right angles that unremarkably define modify of direction at the corners of a building. This exterior is surrounded past a giant social club of Corinthian pilasters all set up at slightly different angles to each other, in keeping with the ever-changing angles of the wall'south surface. Above them the huge cornice ripples in a continuous band, giving the appearance of keeping the whole edifice in a country of pinch.

St. Peter's Basillica: Michelangelo designed the dome of St. Peter'south Basilica on or earlier 1564, although it was unfinished when he died.

Mannerism

Mannerist artists began to reject the harmony and ideal proportions of the Renaissance in favor of irrational settings, artificial colors, unclear subject matters, and elongated forms.

Learning Objectives

Describe the Mannerist manner, how it differs from the Renaissance, and reasons why it emerged.

Cardinal Takeaways

Cardinal Points

• Mannerism came after the Loftier Renaissance and before the Bizarre.
• The artists who came a generation after Raphael and Michelangelo had a dilemma. They could not surpass the great works that had already been created past Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo. This is when we start to run across Mannerism sally.
• Jacopo da Pontormo (1494–1557) represents the shift from the Renaissance to the Mannerist style.

Key Terms

• Mannerism: Style of art in Europe from c. 1520–1600. Mannerism came subsequently the High Renaissance and earlier the Bizarre. Non every artist painting during this catamenia is considered a Mannerist artist.

Mannerism is the name given to a mode of art in Europe from c. 1520–1600. Mannerism came later on the High Renaissance and before the Baroque. Non every artist painting during this period is considered a Mannerist artist, however, and there is much debate amid scholars over whether Mannerism should exist considered a separate movement from the Loftier Renaissance, or a stylistic phase of the High Renaissance. Mannerism will exist treated as a separate fine art movement hither as there are many differences betwixt the High Renaissance and the Mannerist styles.

Way

What makes a piece of work of fine art Mannerist? First we must sympathize the ideals and goals of the Renaissance. During the Renaissance artists were engaging with classical artifact in a new way. In addition, they developed theories on perspective, and in all ways strived to create works of art that were perfect, harmonious, and showed platonic depictions of the natural world. Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo are considered the artists who reached the greatest achievements in art during the Renaissance.

The Renaissance stressed harmony and beauty and no one could create more beautiful works than the bully three artists listed above. The artists who came a generation later on had a dilemma; they could not surpass the great works that had already been created by da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo. This is when we start to run into Mannerism emerge. Younger artists trying to practice something new and different began to refuse harmony and ideal proportions in favor of irrational settings, artificial colors, unclear subject matters, and elongated forms.

Jacopo da Pontormo

Jacopo da Pontormo (1494–1557) represents the shift from the Renaissance to the Mannerist style. Accept for example his Deposition from the Cross, an altarpiece that was painted for a chapel in the Church of Santa Felicita, Florence. The figures of Mary and Jesus announced to exist a direct reference to Michelangelo's Pieta. Although the work is called a "Deposition," at that place is no cross. Scholars also refer to this work as the "Entombment" but there is no tomb. This lack of clarity on bailiwick matter is a hallmark of Mannerist painting. In addition, the setting is irrational, nigh equally if it is not in this earth, and the colors are far from naturalistic. This work could non have been produced past a Renaissance artist. The Mannerist motility stresses different goals and this work of art by Pontormo demonstrates this new, and different style.

Pontormo, Deposition from the Cross, 1525-1528, Church of Santa Felicita, Florence: This work of art past Pontormo demonstrates the hallmarks of the Mannerist style: unclear discipline matter, irrational setting, and artificial colors.

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Source: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/art-in-the-renaissance/

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