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Running head: Italian Renaissance Art
Italian Renaissance Art
Phase #3, Assignment #5, Discussion Board Entry #3
TSgt Loren Karl-Robinson Schwappach
Colorado Technical University
Prepared for Tammy Starzyk
HUM140-0804A-08 Art Appreciation
24 October, 2008

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Abstract
The Italian “Renaissance” or “rebirth” (late 14th century to early 16th century) was one of
the most influential and fruitful periods in art history. Some of the greatest innovators during
this triumphant period were Masaccio (in painting), Donatello (in sculpture), and Brunelleschi
(in architecture). The Italian Renaissance further redefined the artist’s role within society. Prior
to the Italian Renaissance artists were mere craftsman. After the Italian Renaissance artists
became regarded as members of the elite liberal arts, often attributing artists to geniuses with
links to the divine. The Italian Renaissance brought a renewed interest in classical antiquity (a
love for the early works of Greek and Rome) and set a point of departure from the medieval to
the modern world laying the foundations for modern Western values and society. This
discussion will go over three works (a painting, a sculpture, and a building) of this fantastic
period of rebirth and the masterminds that gave them to our world.

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The Italian Renaissance brought about the marriage of art, mathematics, and science.
The artist and the scientist both sought mastery of the tangible world as can be seen in the
creations of this period. Specifically, art paintings profited through the scientific studies of
anatomy, and mathematical perspective. Breakthroughs in anatomy increased the artists ability
to accurately present the human body, and perspective granted the artists increased ability in
molding a two dimensional surface into illusions of three dimensions. Although perspective-like
imagery was used in early art history even back in the early Roman times where Roman artisans
created masterful three dimensional wall paintings, this effect was only achieved through an
experimental means. The discovery of a mathematical method of attaining three-dimensional
impressions is attributed to Brunelleschi (the architect). Thanks to Brunelleschi’s work,
mathematical perspective became one of the primary instruments artists, especially painters used
in their pursuit of reality. The marriage of art and science were so entwined in fact that many
artists were also masters of Science, the famous Leonardo da Vinci is just one such example.
(Italian Renaissance Art, 2006)
One of the great contributions of the Italian Renaissance to paintings was the return of
Roman flavored Florentine style of which the tempera and fresco were the most common
techniques. Tempera paintings used dry surfaces, such as a wooden panel coated with plaster
and glue. The colors were tempered with egg or vegetable albumin. The fresco technique,
influenced deeply by early Roman artwork and used widely in churches involved painting on wet
plaster (See my post on Roman Wall Paintings). As the plaster dried, the colors became a
permanent part of the masterpiece. It was Masaccio (1401-1428) that revolutionized Florentine
painting. He granted his paintings nobility, unity of the composition, controlled movements, and
a command of aerial perspective. Masaccio’s fresco dramatizing the biblical Christian Expulsion

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from the Garden of Eden (See Image 1) is an example of the rebirth of the Florentine style
imbued with the mastery of anatomy and mathematical proportions that made the Italian
Renaissance so transformational. In the fresco Masaccio paints an image of Adam and Eve
moving in disgrace and disgust out of the life giving Garden of Eden chased out by an angel of
the Lord into the barren dessert. Retreating from the middle ages modest and gothic styles of art
Adam and Eve walk naked in their sin, covering their eyes, and body parts in humility. Notice
the mastery of movement and body composition in the fresco. (Italian Renaissance Art, 2006)
Donatello (1386-1466), a famous sculptor and artist from Florence, Italy was yet another
great contributor to the Italian Renaissance, specifically in the creation of sculptures. Affected
by the revival of antiquity and the study of ancient art work, Donatello is considered by many as
the greatest sculptor that ever lived. His works are defined by his mastery of the human body
and realism. As a sculptor he had the ability to capture the emotional and psychological states of
his subjects into many forms. His bronze statue of the biblical king David (see image #2), is a
great testament to his genius and mastery of his craft and the contributions of anatomy to his
field. The statue of David was the first free standing nude male sculpture of the Italian
Renaissance and depicts young king David with an energetic smile while pressing his foot on the
severed giant Goliath’s head and holding his enormous sword. The statue is a tribute to the
awesome power of God over men, and captures the rebirth of antiquity, and the influence of
science and religion in art. (Italian Renaissance Art, 2006)
Architecture in the Renaissance was mainly Christian and was a tribute to Roman
architecture, and a retreat from the gothic pointed arches from the medieval period of art history.
The architect Brunelleschi (1337-1446) is considered by many the first of great Italian
Renaissance architects. By studying the remains of ancient Roman buildings and using the

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columns, arches, and vaults of in his designs (see my post on Roman Architecture) Brunelleschi
constructed the Opedale degli Innocenti (Foundling Hospital) of Florence (See image 3), built
between 1419 and 1424. The Opedale degli Innocenti was an orphanage for children and
hospital and is considered the first true Renaissance building. Here Brunelleschi shows the use
of the mathematical proportions that exemplify the Italian Renaissance by referring to the size of
the columns as the basis for the other dimensions. The hospitals round arches, supported by
slender columns, and the vaults, which consist of a series of small domes, are a direct reflection
on the Roman rebirth of Roman style architecture within the new age. (Italian Renaissance Art,
2006)

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Appendix
Image 1: Artist, Masaccio: Type: Fresco: Expulsion from the Garden of Eden (c. 1424-1428): Image obtained on 24 October 2008
from Artchive website at: http://www.artchive.com/artchive/M/masaccio/masaccio_expulsion.jpg.html
Image 2: Artist, Donatello: Type: Marble Statue: David (c. 1440s): Image obtained on 24 October 2008 from Artchive website at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donatello%27s_David

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Appendix
Image 3: Artist, Brunelleschi: Type: Masonry, Stone building: Ospedale Degli Innocenti (1424-1425): Image obtained on 24 October
2008 from Essential World Architecture website at: http://www.italian-architecture.info/FL/FL-004.htm

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References
Stokstad, M. (2007). Art: a brief history (3rd ed.).
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.
Italian Renaissance Art. (April, 2006). Retrieved on October 24, 2008 from
http://vlib.iue.it/carrie/texts/carrie_books/gilbert/07.html