1. Art Appreciation
Topic IV:
Renaissance Art
1420-1610

2. The term “renaissance” means “rebirth,” and stems from
ideas formulated by the Italian poet Petrarch. Petrarch believed that he
and his contemporaries had revived Greek and Roman ideas and
thought after a period of cultural stagnation in the Dark Ages following
the collapse of the Roman Empire. The Italian city of Florence is often
described as the cradle of the Renaissance.
The new middle classes achieved a status for themselves, and
instead of bowing to the inevitability of death and focusing on the
afterlife, they took pride in their contribution to society in this world, a
cultural shift called “humanism.” For the first time since classical
antiquity, a new naturalism appeared in art.
Religious subjects remained the most common theme, but
painting and sculpture became realistic, representing the living, visible
world rather than, as in medieval art, symbolically portraying the
heavenly realm. Painting had a convincing illusion of three dimensions,
with solid-looking figures set in a unified space. The figures have noble
proportions and features, and show believable emotions.

3. The Annunciation by Fra Angelico

5. David
by
Donatello

10. St. John in
the Desert
by
Domenico

12. The Baptism
of Christ
by
Piero della
Francesca

14. The Hunt in the Forest
by Uccello

17. Christ at the
Column
by
Antonello

19. Primavera by Botticelli

25. The Birth of Venus by Botticelli

31. The Lamentation over the
Dead Christ by Mantegna

34. A Satyr Mourning over a
Nymph
by Piero di Cosimo

36. The Last Supper by Leonardo
1970s

37. After restoration

41. Mona Lisa
(La Gionconda)
by
Leonardo

44. David
by
Michelangelo

52. The Creation of Adam
by Michelangelo

59. Laura
(Portrait
of a
Young
Woman)
by
Giorgione

62. The Sleeping Venus by Giorgione

65. The
Sistine
Madonna
by
Raphael

70. Feast of the Gods by Bellini

74. Young Woman with Mirror by Bellini

77. Madonna
of the
Harpies
by
del Sarto

80. Apollo and
Daphne
by
Dossi

81. Bacchus
by
Dossi

82. The
Abduction of
Ganymede
by Correggio

84. Venus of Urbino by Titian

89. After the High Renaissance in Italy there followed a period in
which painting, sculpture and architecture broke with many of the
classical conventions. The term Mannerism was later adopted to
describe both the period and its stylistic characteristics.
Mannerism began to develop in Italy around the time of
Raphael’s death in 1520. Some scholars see Mannerism as a reaction
against the classical harmony of Raphael and his High Renaissance
contemporaries such as Leonardo and Michelangelo, and others see it
as an evolution from elements in their work. It has been defined as
either an effected, decadent distortion, or an emotional refinement, of
late Renaissance ideals.
It was a courtly style, but beneath the elegance and technical
brilliance there is often an element of emotional disturbance. Tension
and drama were achieved by the use of elongated figures in
exaggerated poses, bold colors and lighting, and a dramatic distortion
of scale and perspective.

90. Madonna
with the Long
Neck
by
Parmigianino

93. An
Allegory
with
Venus and
Cupid
by
Bronzino

96. Perseus
with the
Head of
Medusa
by
Cellini

104. Venus and Mars by Tintoretto

106. The Last Supper by Tintoretto

109. Apennine
by
Giambologna

117. In the 14th and 15th centuries, artists in northern Europe—as in
Italy—began to depict the world in a more realistic way. In the 15th
century, the Northern Renaissance centered on Flanders (modern-
day Belgium and northern France) and Germany. Many scholars credit
the French king Charles V (reigned 1364-80) and the Holy Roman
Emperor Charles IV (reigned 1355-78) for the start of the Northern
Renaissance.
While Italian artists attained a greater naturalism through the
study of anatomy, perspective, and classical art, northern artists
achieved it by developing and mastering oil paint and paying precise
attention to detail. The figures in Flemish painting are often
extraordinarily lifelike—they are not the flat figures of medieval art, nor
are they idealized as in Italian Renaissance painting.
Many of the best artworks of the 15th century were altarpieces.
There were also highly detailed prints, both woodcuts and copperplate
engravings. In the 16th century, Northern Renaissance painters
instigated the genre of landscapes and anticipated genre of the still-life.

118. The
Arnolfini
Portrait
by
van Eyck

121. Descent from the Cross by
Van der Weyden

130. Virgin
and Child
by
Fouquet

132. The Garden of Earthly Delights
by Bosch

142. Self-
Portrait
by
Dürer

144. Henry, Duke
of Saxony
by
Cranach the
Elder

146. Neptune
and
Amphytrite
by
Gossaert
(Mabuse)

147. Portrait
of Henry
VIII of
England
by
Holbein

149. Queen
Mary I
by
Mor

153. Fall of the
Rebel
Angels
by
Floris

154. Landscape with the Fall of Icarus
by Brueghel the Elder

158. Tower of Babel by Brueghel

161. Expatriate Italians and artists trained in Italy helped spread
Mannerism to other countries in Europe throughout the 16th century.
Italian artists were employed at several foreign courts and Mannerist
influence was also spread widely by engravings.
The courts at Fontainebleau in France and Prague in Bohemia
were the most impressive settings for Mannerist art outside Italy. In
France, Mannerist artists created a distinctively elegant style—featuring
long-limbed, small-headed figures—that formed an influential current
in French art until the end of the 16th century.
In essence, it is a sophisticated, sometimes rather inbred style,
so it is not surprising that its most refined manifestations were
produced for courtly settings. The most powerful and personal
interpretation of Mannerism outside Italy, however, is that of El
Greco, who spent most of his career in Spain. Although his work is
intensely individual, his elongated figures have a stylistic kinship with
those of other artists of the time.

162. Pierre
Quthe
by
Clouet

165. Emperor
Rudolf II as
Vertumnus
by
Arcimboldo

168. View of
Toledo
by
El Greco