brunelleschi's dome

Andrea Mantegna

In Mantua, Andrea Mantegna's paintings were inspired by his interest in classical art and illusionistic architecture which can be seen in the Camera Picta of the Ducal Palace

Tribute Money

In the Brancacci Chapel paintings, Masaccio's figures are three dimensional, naturalistic and expressive, full of volume.

Raphael (1483-1520)

Large amounts of renaissance work and overseen a workshop that housed many young artists. School of Athens, Galatea,

Alberti

Leone Battista Alberti emerged as the foremost architect in Italy after Brunelleschi's death in 1446. He was a priest and person of the world, an intellectual. He was also a gifted writer and wrote books on architecture and sculpture. He becomes an outstanding architect

SCULPTURE

Lorenzo Ghiberti was an older sculptor and led the revival of classical forms in sculpture. He wins the competition for the baptistery doors in Florence, in 1401, with his "Sacrifice of Isaac". The figure of Isaac references classical forms. Ghiberti was also Donatello's teacher. He later creates a second pair of doors for the Florence Baptistery where we see his use of perspective to achieve a sense of deep space.

Signorelli

Luca Signorelli, a Tuscan painter who had studied under Piero della Francesca, is most famous for his "end of the world" images, as predicted in the book of Revelation, painted in fresco. One of the most memorable of these frescoes is "The Damned Cast into Hell" from 1499-1450.

Michelozzo

Michelozzo began his career as a sculptor as well, with Ghiberti and Donatello. He is known for his fortress like palaces. His buildings have rough textures on the first floor walls and smoother masonry on the upper floors.

Neo-Platonic Philosophy

Neo-Platonicphilosophy was a fluid, open-ended philosophy and was linked to the Medici circle. The philosophy stated that all revelation, whether from the Bible, Plato or classical myths, was one based on Plato's idea that life in the universe, including human existence, was linked to God by a spiritual circuit, continuously ascending and descending. Ordinary people did not understand these connections and therefore supported friar Girolamo Savonarola who attacked the "cult of paganism". Savonarola briefly gains control of Florence and expels the Medici. The Medici, through their connections regain control and Savonarola is burned at the stake condemned as a heretic. Meanwhile, Botticelli, who may have been a follower of Savonarola, burned his "pagan" paintings. Botticelli also quits painting believing that the end of the world was at hand, one of Savonarola's predictions.

Baptistery Door Competition

One of the most famous competitions of the early 15th century was the baptistery door competition between Filippo Brunelleschi and Lorenzo Ghiberti, which earned Ghiberti the commission

Veneziano & Della Francesca

Painter Domenico Veneziano, from Venice, moves to Florence and brings young assistant Piero della Francesca, who would become one of the great Early Renaissance painters. Della Francesca had a passion for perspective. Scientific perspective and a "mathematical outlook" are found in the works of Piero della Francesca.

Paolo Ucello

Paolo Ucello was trained in the International Style ofpainting but adopts the Early Renaissance style and becomes a master of perspective.

Perugino in Umbria.

Pietro Perugino from Umbria was Raphael's teacher. His Delivery of the Keys was the most notable fresco of the Sistine Chapel until Michelangelo's ceiling

Sandro Botticelli

Sandro Botticelli's most famous painting was the "Birth of Venus" painted for Lorenzo de Medici. Botticelli was a member of the Medici circle, a group of Florentines led by the rich and powerful Medici family dedicated to Plato's philosophies and humanism.Botticelli's "pagan" images like that of Venus were justified in strict Christian terms through the meaning of the picture. This justification was part of the Neo-Platonic philosophy of the Medici circle.

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni 1475-1564

Sculpture, Architect, painter, poet-believed in human images as the supreme vehicle of expression that gave him a kinship with ancient sculpture. Known for working with marble Michelangelo- pieta, David, Interior of the Sistine Chapel, The creation,

Giorgione da Castelfranco 1478-1510

Specialized in smaller scale paintings for wealthier collectors. Concert Champetre

Florence, Italy

The Early Renaissance was born in Florence. Renaissance refers to a rebirth of classical art and architecture as well as the "rebirth" of culture and learning. The visual arts were "central to the rebirth of the Florentine spirit". Florence wanted to become the "New Athens" The visual arts would change their classification from "mechanical arts" to be considered with the liberal arts, as "visible records of creative minds".

Masaccio

The artist who "launched" the Renaissance in painting

Classical Forms

The revival of classical forms in sculpture continues 10 years later with Nanni di Banco's Four Saints. The Four Saints represent four Christian sculptors executed for not carving a statue of a pagan god ordered by a Roman emperor. The sculpture unites classical form and content.

From craftsman to genius.

The status of the artist changed; many engaged in literary endeavors and the concept of genius came to be associated with artists. As artists gained this new status in society, their work was no longer considered handicraft and their work was eagerly collected Competition among artists and patrons resulted in an unprecedented display of art during the early 15th century.

Chiaroscuro

The treatment of light and shade in a work of art, especially to give an illusion of depth.

Titian Vecelli (1488-1576)

Trained with Giorgione and Bellini, Venetian painter, one of the most prolific and inventive artists of the renaissance period. Known for transforming art. Madonna with family members, Man with quilted sleeve, Venus of Urbino,

Venice

Venice was the center of Early Renaissance art in Northern Italy; here, the paintings of Giovanni Bellini demonstrate a new richness of color. Also in Venice, Andrea del Verrocchio's equestrian portrait of army commander, Bartolome Colleoni, was inspired by classical equestrian portraits.

Brunelleschi

began his career as a sculptor and created the Renaissance style in architecture, utilizing classical architectural forms and proportions (mathematical harmony). Brunelleschi finishes the dome over the Florence Cathedral. He is credited with inventing linear or scientific perspective.

Masaccio

utilized an anatomical approach to painted figures and an understanding of scientific perspective. He was considered a young genius. His figures are realistic and he gives us the earliest example of a "rational" space in painting. He had a thorough knowledge of anatomy not seen since Roman Art. Masaccio preferred murals but was skilled at panel painting. He dies at the young age of 27.

The Holy Trinity

Brunelleschi's influence can also be seen in the work of Masaccio. In The Holy TrinityMasaccio employs Brunelleschi's linear perspective to create a convincing illusion of the depth of his fresco.

Leonardo da Vinci

1452-1519 scientists, painter, sculptor, musician,architect, engineer. Believed that the eye was the perfect instrument for studying the world. Vitruvian man, The last supper, Mona Lisa,

Andrea del Castagno

Andrea del Castagno painted his "Last Supper" in one-point perspective 50 years before Da Vinci painted his.

Donato Bramante

Architect of St. Peter's Basilica, The Tempietto-San Puerto. skilled at rendering architectural settings in correct perspective.

Artists Outside of Florence.

Artists outside Florence began to emulate Florentine artists and styles, adapting the naturalism and classicism of the Renaissance to the interests of each artist and region.

Artists' Personalities

Artists' personalities also tended to develop into two contrasting types: the first type was a person of the world, self-controlled, at ease and the second was a solitary genius, secretive, subject to fits of melancholy and in conflict with patrons.

Domenico Ghirlandaio

Domenico Ghirlandaio, a contemporary of Botticelli, introduces the three-quarter profile in portraiture to Italian art. Ghirlandaio was also Michelangelo's teacher for a brief period.

DONATELLO

Donatello was the greatest sculptor of his time, considered to be a solitary genius. Apprenticed under Ghiberti when he began to "divorce" his sculpture from the architecture. He also captures the full meaning of classical contrapposto, the central achievement of Classical sculpture. Donatello's St. Markutilizes contrapposto as well as his St. George .

DAVID

Donatello's David is the first "free-standing life-size nude statue since antiquity". The image of David becomes a symbol of Florence and the Florentines identify with the hero

Fra Angelico

Fra Angelico becomes the leading painter in Florence after Masaccio's death. His work was considered to be conservative in relationship to the work produced during the Early Renaissance. Fra Angelico's art "combines Gothic piety with Renaissance grandeur in an atmosphere of calm contemplation."

Fra Filippo Lippi

Fra Filippo Lippi's most popular work comes in the form of circular shaped canvas known as "tondo" . A tondo was reserved for private devotional images. In his "Madonna and Child with the Birth of the Virgin", Lippi confuses the perspective.