Chapter 7: The Renaissance 14001600

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Chapter 7 The Renaissance(1400-1600)
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Painting

• Leonardo da Vinci
• Most represents the Renaissance spirit
• Painter, inventor, architect, builder
• Also wrote treatises on anatomy, optics, geology,
  physics, and painting
• Mona Lisa
• Ginevra dé Benci (colorplate 24)
• More than portrait - a psychological study of the
  character of the subject
• The Last Supper (colorplate 25)
• Also notable because of psychological study to
  reflect the personalities of the disciples in
  their reaction. Note also the form elements
  (masterpiece of linear perspective)

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Painting

• Michelangelo Buonarroti
• Along with da Vinci, was one of the last of the
  great 16th century painters
• Painter, architect, sculptor
• Thought of himself primarily as a sculptor
• Last Judgement (colorplate 26)
• Painted on east wall of Sistine Chapel
• Creation (colorplate 27)
• Fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
• Although he protested when Pope Julius II ordered
  him to do the paintings claiming he was a
  sculptor, not a painter, the completed work shows
  him to be among the great painters of all time
• Despite religious symbolism, this work is true to
  Renaissance humanism, being one of the most
  perfect representations of the human form. A
  great work of art with a religious subject but a
  secular spirit.

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Painting

• Titian
• Venice
• Lines less sharply defined with more movement
  energy
• Colorist - Titian seems to create form with
  color, not line
• Created thousands of paintings, including
  portraits, religious, and mythological subjects
• Venus and Adonis (colorplate 28)
• Treats figures of mythology as humans with a more
  sensual quality lacking in earlier Renaissance
  painting
• Can be considered a transitional artist
  (between Renaissance and Baroque periods)
• Raphael
• Late Italian Renaissance
• School of Athens (colorplate 6) - use of
  perspective anatomy and architectural
  definition of space
• Sistine Madonna (colorplate 7) - while subject is
  religious, more attention is on beauty of forms
  and color (humanistic expression)

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Painting

• Northern European Renaissance - less quickly
  included the revival of Greek ideals than
  Italians
• Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528)
• German Renaissance artist - early studies in
  Italy
• Expressiveness still mostly Gothic, influenced by
  the Reformation
• Grünewald (1480-1528)
• Associated with Catholic patronage in Germany
• The Small Crucifixion (colorplate 29)
• Limited sense of perspective and 3 dimensional
  form, but other elements give an almost medieval
  quality to the painting
• Pieter Brueghel (the Elder, c. 1524-1569)
• Flemish painter, was a master of landscapes
• Many works depict struggle between Catholics
  Protestants in the Low Countries (now Holland
  Belgium)

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Sculpture

• Renaissance sculpture reflects same concern for
  humanism found in painting - stylistic
  conventions similar to those in painting
• Representation of the natural world
• Use of symbolism to represent things not
  physically present
• Use of curvilinear lines instead of the stiff
  formality of the Middle Ages
• Many artists of the period did equally well with
  sculpture as with painting (Leonardo da Vinci,
  Michelangelo)

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Sculpture

• Donato di Niccolò Donatello (1386-1466)
• One of premiere sculptors of 15th century
  Florence
• David (fig. 7.3, p.146)
• Life-size bronze sculpture depicting David as a
  victorious youth
• Michaelangelo
• David (fig. 7.4, p.147)
• 18 ft. marble statue showing a mature man with
  great physical strength

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Architecture

• Renaissance architects began to design palaces
  and villas for elaborate and comfortable living
• Architects increasingly employed elements of
  classical Greek architecture, including the
  golden mean proportion (height width in 3/2
  ratio)
• Andrea Palladio (1518-1580), studied as the
  epitome of Renaissance architecture
• In England America the classic style of the
  great estates can be traced directly from his
  work.
• Villa Rotonda (fig. 7.7, p.151) best known
  example of Palladian building and an fine example
  of his theories
• Greek and Roman influence in design
• Michaelangelo
• St. Peters, Rome
• Assumed responsibility for completion after the
  death of the original architect, Bramante. He did
  not live to see completion of his design.

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Music

• Performance of music began to move out of
  churches and into households of aristocracy and
  the upper classes.
• Music was still important in the church, but was
  no longer under its exclusive patronage
• Catholic church music continued to serve the same
  purpose as in earlier periods
• Protestant church music was simplified and
  written with German text (so the congregation
  could understand what was being sung)
• Secular music was about the human joys and
  sorrows of earthly existence
• Most music was polyphonic in texture
• Music based mostly on modal scales
• A body of practical rules determined how
  dissonant and perfect intervals were used.

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Music

• Josquin Desprez (c. 1440-1521)
• One of the most important composers of polyphony,
  among the first to have his works published
  during his lifetime
• Motet - Ave Maria
• Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c. 1525-1594)
• Almost exclusively wrote sacred music for the
  Catholic church

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Music

• Protestant church music
• Lutheran church had largest influence on musical
  development of western Europe
• Mostly hymn settings known as the Lutheran
  chorale
• Calvinism largely influenced French-speaking
  countries and the hymn tradition of Scottish
  Presbyterianism
• Reformation in England saw the development of the
  English anthem.
• Thomas Tallis (c. 1505-1585)
• William Byrd (1543-1623)

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Music

• Secular Music
• Secular folk songs were often adapted by
  composers as the melodic basis (cantus firmus)
  for both secular and religious polyphonic
  settings
• Innsbruck Lied
• Example of folk song used in several different
  settings
• Society participated in the production of
  secular music
• Instrumental vocal music played/sung by every
  refined gentleman lady

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Music

• Secular Music
• Renaissance secular music was primarily meant for
  a small, intimate group (for the most part
  participating in the performance)
• Texts of chansons and madrigals reflect this
  intimacy
• No large forms of secular music comparable to the
  Mass
• Madrigal, chanson polyphonic Lied were secular
  counterpart to the religious motet
• Although meant to be sung, it was common practice
  to double voice parts on instruments
• (fig. 7.12, 7.13 7.14, p. 161,162,163)
• Instrumental music developed from dances
• For solo instruments or small ensembles
  (major/minor)

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• The End
• Ch. 7