The High Renaissance

1
The High Renaissance In Italy C.1450-C.1520
The Artist as Idea-Maker
2

• Both a culmination of the early Renaissance and a
  departure from it
• Viewed the artist as a genius rather than a
  craftsman-creation rather than making
• This caused the patrons of the Renaissance to
  spend vast amounts of money and the artists to
  devote a huge amount of time
• Less concerned with rational order and more with
  visual effectiveness
• New drama meant to engage the viewer
• Six great masters of the Renaissance- did not
  trickle down past them (nobody tried to copy
  them)
• Key monuments all produced between 1495 and 1520
• Leonardo Da Vinci- b. 1452
• 1482- went to work for the Duke of Milan as a
  military engineer

3

• Very atmospheric, figures emerge from the
  background (sfumato) -makes the painting intimate
• Do not know who the other figures are and its
  hard to place the symbolism but painting is very
  simple

Leonardo Da Vinci, The Virgin of the Rocks c. 1485
4
Leonardo Da Vinci, The Last Supper, 1495-98

• First real statement of the ideals of the High
  Renaissance
• Da Vinci experimented with fresco technique,
  using oil-tempera medium- began to deteriorate
  almost immediately
• Extremely balanced, architecture has only
  supporting role-vanishing point is in the exact
  center, above Christs head, window serves as a
  halo
• At the moment when Jesus has revealed a betrayal

5

• Example of sfumato
• Built up with layers of glazes
• Psychological fascination with the sitter
• Not many smiling portraits in the history of art
  (should remind you of archaic smile)
• Both an ideal type and an individual
  portrait-perhaps a maternal tenderness

Leonardo Da Vinci, Mona Lisa, 1503-5
6
Leonardo da Vinci, two drawings, c. 1490-1510
Created the modern scientific illustration
7

• Marks site of St. Peters crucifixion in Rome
• Meant to fit in a molded exterior space- a
  colonnaded courtyard- a novel idea
• Directly recalls classical architecture
• Monumental weight despite its small size

Bramante, The Tempietto S. Pietro, 1502
8
Bramante, design for St. Peters
Bramantes Plan, St. Peters 1506

• During the papacy of Julius II, who decided to
  replace the old basilica-wanted to unite Italy
  under his command
• Coin celebrates the beginning of the campaign,
  only proof of his design
• I shall place the Pantheon on top of the
  Basilica of Constantine
• Plan included a huge hemispherical dome over a
  Greek cross with four identical facades, no
  continuous surface inside- dwarfs the size of all
  other churches
• Would have required concrete because of cost- not
  finished until Michelangelo redesigned it

9
-Michelangelo (1475-1564) -considered a genius by
others and by himself-sometimes he thought of
this as a curse -he thought that he should answer
to no human because of his genius -sculptor
first- only thing that satisfied him was to
liberate real three-dimensional bodies from
recalcitrant matter- kind of like God! -the
human figure as the ultimate vehicle for
expression linked him with the Greeks-all of his
figures have Pathos -David commissioned in 1501
(he was 26!) Meant to be placed high on Florence
Cathedral but moved to the center of
Florence -Has pent up energy, action in repose,
very unlike Donatello Had spent time in Rome
studying Laocoon and other Hellenistic work
Michelangelo, David 1501-4
10
(No Transcript)
11
Michelangelo,Rebellious Slave, 1513-16
-Part of Tomb of Julius II, a Vast number of
sculptures that he was working on-would have been
his greatest achievement-remained unfinished
because of the Sistine Chapel
Michelangelo, Dying Slave, 1513-16
12
-forced into working on this by the Pope (and
Bramante!) -completed the entire thing in 4 years
because he wanted to continue with the
tomb -hundreds of figures within architectural
framework -Scenes from Genesis, prophets-links
Old and New Testament -subject matter probably
picked by Michelangelo
Sistine Chapel, 1508-12
13
Shows the passage of the divine spark
Creation of Adam
Bold, intense colors, life-like, modeled forms in
the tradition of Massacio
The Fall of Man
14
Michelangelo, The Campidoglio
-during the last 30 years of his life,
Michelangelo became obsessed with
architecture -commissioned to redo Romes
Capitoline Hill, the center of Ancient
Rome -Completed long after his death -completely
balanced symmetry -the square in the middle is a
trapizoid- makes it look like a stage set
15
-very compact design -dome meant to come out from
the building rather than top it (unlike
Bramante) -verticality very important- similar to
Florence Cathedral dome, but more
sculptural -more sculptural in design
Michelangelo, St. Peters 1546-64
16
Earlier Pieta
Milan Pieta was his last work- very private,
perhaps meant for his own tomb -groping for new
forms, Medieval in nature
Milan Pieta, 1555-64
17
-1483-1520 -opposite personality of Michelangelo,
enjoyed equal fame -a complete success
story-almost effortless -less of an innovator,
more of a perfector -Madonna is calm, graceful,
and meditative -sfumato, similar to the Mona Lisa
Raphael, Madonna Del Granduca, 1505
18
Raphael, School of Athens, 1510-11
-Raphael was working at the Vatican at the same
time as Michelangelo-in the Popes library-
Frescos represented the liberal arts -This one is
about philosophy- its considered Raphaels
masterpiece -he had probably seen the Sistine
Chapel and was influenced by it -similar feel as
the last supper- attention to the
individual -architecture influenced by Bramante
19
-used human figures to create space -cheerfulness
of Greek mythology is celebrated -similar
compositionally to the Birth of Venus
Raphael, Galatea, 1513
20
-had a talent for portraiture -did not flatter or
idealize his subjects but makes the sitter looks
powerful -The two men in the back are Medici,
obviously seen as less important
Raphael, Pope Leo X, 1518
21
-1488-1576 -only Venetian of the Renaissance
Masters -very pagan painting -figures are joyous,
like Raphaels Galatea (influenced by Raphaels
engravings) -saw classical myths as part of the
natural world, animated rather than statuesque
Titian, Bacchanal, 1518
22
-very strange view -in a Renaissance
architectural setting -every figure is in
motion -sparking colors make this a happy
painting but there is a hint of future
action-foreboding
Titian, Madonna with Members of the Pesaro
Family, 1526
23
-Later work are full of light and color done with
glazing -shapes emerge from semi-darkness -heavy
impasto -scene of serenity
Titian, Pieta, 1577