Renaissance Art and Architecture

Early Renaissance:

-The Early Renaissance started in Florence, Italy, during the fourteenth century. The city was beginning to come out of a period of economic stagnation, and wealthy families, such as the Medicis, were building large palaces and churches. They commissioned artists to design and decorate them, and the society was beginning to recognize these artists for their individual work. -Nudes often appear in Renaissance paintings and sculptures because artists of the time were rediscovering an interest in ancient Greek and Roman art. These nudes represented human worth, divine perfection, and a representation of the immortal soul.

High Renaissance

-The High Renaissance was the climax of the artistic developments of the Early Renaissance. It was a period of creative brilliance in the history of art. Florence and Rome were hubs of the High Renaissance and are the sites of the major accomplishments of this period. In general, the subjects of the art were mostly Christian religious figures, but many tomb sculptures and paintings depicted classical—that is, ancient Greek and Roman—personages. -The painters of this era created remarkable works with perfect harmony and total control of the paint media. Wealthy individuals, bankers, or rulers commissioned the sculptures, which were an expensive art form. Although huge sculptures decorated churches and public buildings, private patrons also commissioned small-scale statuettes and busts. -Michelangelo Buonarroti, Raphael Sanzio , and Leonardo da Vinci form the traditional trinity of great masters of that period. Other famous artists of this period include Giorgione, Titian, and Bellini

Masaccio (1401-1428) was a prominent painter of the Early Renaissance period. His famous painting The Trinity gives the perfect illusion of depth with strikingly lifelike figures seeming to stand in front of painted columns while others appear to be behind them.

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Painters used architectural backdrops, such as churches, cathedrals, and basilicas, as the setting for many paintings. Using perspective, the painters were beginning to create three-dimensional paintings, which showed depth and therefore looked lifelike

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famous Renaissance artists and their work

As you now know, the High Renaissance period was a period of creative splendor in the history of art. Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael created some of their best art works during this time. Let's learn some more about them.

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Following the new mode of making art reflect life, the sculptors of the Early Renaissance created remarkably real-looking figures. They used a unique method of first creating a full-scale model of a nude figure in clay and then draping clay-soaked linen on it. They then copied this model in marble. Donatello was one of the first sculptors to use this method. Donatello was one of the leading sculptors of this period, who studied human bodies and sculpted from human models. His famous creation, the statue of Saint Mark, is an independently standing statue, placed in a niche. Observe the position of legs, shoulders, and robes draping the body. He also created the statue of the Biblical shepherd David, the slayer of Goliath, as an adolescent, rather than a masculine adult. It is perhaps his most revolutionary achievement.

Late Renaissance (Mannerism)

In the 1520s, foreigners invaded Italy. The art of this time reflects the prevailing conflict, stress, and unrest. The artists consciously altered the ideals of High Renaissance and evolved an exaggerated theatrical style called Mannerism. As opposed to High Renaissance art, which was natural, graceful, balanced, and harmonious, the art of Mannerism was technically masterful but full of clashing colors and disturbing figures with abnormally elongated limbs. Mannerist artists were not interested in the logic of real space and natural colors; they were concerned with effect rather than content. The style of stretched proportions and exaggerated poses can be seen in the late works of Michelangelo, Andrea del Sarto, and Correggio. Artistic individuality was the hallmark of this era.

The Renaissance spanned the fourteenth to seventeenth centuries.

It began in Italy in the late Middle Ages and later spread to the rest of Europe

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

Leonardo da Vinci was born in Italy on April 14, 1452. His brilliant and curious mind led him to many discoveries and inventions. He was a scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician, and writer. No wonder he is widely considered the most diversely talented person ever to have lived

Michelangelo (1475-1564)

Michelangelo was born almost 25 years after Leonardo da Vinci in the Tuscan town of Caprese, Italy. Michelangelo means "Archangel Michael." He showed an early interest in drawing and painting, and his father often scolded him for spending too much time on this "useless" work. In his early years, he apprenticed under Domenico Ghirlandaio. Many art patrons commissioned his work, as he was a brilliant painter, architect, and sculptor. But Michelangelo saw himself as foremost a sculptor. His greatest genius lay in depicting human figures. His David and his frescos on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel are two of his most famous works.

The word renaissance means "rebirth" in French, and it describes a period of renewed interest in ancient Greek and Roman art and design.

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Raphael (1483-1520)

Raffaello Sanzio, more commonly referred to as Raphael, was the youngest of the three giants of the High Renaissance. He was born in Urbino, a small Central Italian city in the Marche region. His father, Giovanni Santi, was the court painter to the Duke. Raphael is best known for his Madonna paintings, such as the Madonna della Sedia, and a series of famous portraits, including those of Julius II, the Donna Velata, and Baldassare Castiglione. His work is famous for its perfection, grace, clarity of form, and ease of composition. He ran an unusually large workshop and, despite his early death at age 37, left a large body of work.

The Renaissance

Renaissance art placed an emphasis on human beings in their natural environment. It is therefore more lifelike than the art of the Middle Ages. The artists painted nudes and even studied anatomy to understand and represent the minutest details in their art. They studied and applied principles of perspective to give their paintings a strong sense of depth and realism

This time marks a shift from the religious fervor of the Middle Ages to the new philosophical and artistic movement called humanism, which is the foundation of modern European society. (T)

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Influence on Renaissance art

The Italian Renaissance introduced new styles, expressions, attitudes, and values to Western art. Invention and scientific discovery influenced the art forms in many ways. In the Greek, Roman, and Middle Ages, egg tempera was used as paint. Made from a pigment mixed with egg yolk or other glutinous substance, this paint took a long time to dry. In the Renaissance, better and brighter colors and oil paints, which could accurately show natural outdoor lighting and shadowing, came into use. In the era just before the Renaissance, artists such as Giotto started using a new technique of painting called fresco in which artists applied watercolors on wet lime plaster on a wall. As the plaster dried, a chemical reaction caused the paint to bind with the plaster.

The last supper:

The Last Supper, in which he has shown a dramatic use of light, is one of his best art works. His careful rendering of one-point linear perspective in this painting shows his deep understanding of mathematical concepts. Many people are not aware of this, but Leonardo also designed costumes and backdrop scenery for theater productions during the Italian Renaissance.

Mona Lisa and Leonardo da Vinci are both perfect representatives of the cultural era known as the Renaissance. (True)

True

Dante was a famous Italian poet who wrote the

the epic the Divine Comedy

The Renaissance period is traditionally divided into three major phases: Early, High, and Late Renaissance. ☀️

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In 1510, Raphael was commissioned to decorate the rooms in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican with frescoes. The School of Athens is one of the most famous paintings from these frescoes. This painting is an excellent example of creating an illusion of a three-dimensional space on a flat surface. The School of Athens actually depicts distinct themes of knowledge. In this painting, you can find nearly every great Greek philosopher, poet, musician, and theologian surrounded by his pupils. You can recognize them standing around the symbols of their field. ❄️

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Most of Giotto's work was in fresco, which enabled him to use space to realistically create a scene. Unlike medieval artists who made flat, stylized art, Giotto closely observed the natural world to create a sense of realism. The subjects of his paintings took on true human forms, with emotional expressions on their faces that depicted personality. Anatomical studies influenced the human forms shown in paintings. Renaissance artists emphasized correct proportions so human figures started to look more realistic. Advances in mathematics led to better proportion in painting, architecture, and sculpture. Linear and aerial perspectives allowed for a natural-looking interaction between figures and backgrounds.🌅

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In the earlier medieval paintings, saints and other religious figures were stylized and symbolic. But the Early Renaissance painting showed them as realistic humans. This period was also marked by the use of oil glazes and fresco.🍓

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Fresco was a new technique in which artists painted murals by using watercolors on wet plaster. They also painted in tempera (a paint that uses egg to bind the pigment) and in oil on wood panels and on canvas.🍭

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Florentine artist Giotto di Bondone, called Giotto, was born more than a century before the Renaissance and was the first to paint in this new style. Renaissance art built upon his style. His paintings show realism, the bodies look solid, and the background shows perspective 🎆

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Apart from Leonardo da Vinci, some of the other famous Renaissance artists are Dante, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael 🎨

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Michelangelo was another great sculptor and the painter of the immortal work on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. 🏛

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Michelangelo, Raphael, and Leonardo da Vinci are three of the masters of the Renaissance. 💯

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Leonardo kept journals of his drawings and notes. He studied human anatomy and ideas for technology improvements. In his famous drawing Vitruvian Man, he reflected the humanist view of man as the measure of all things. Michelangelo created masterpieces in paintings, architecture, and sculpture. His sculptures showed a profound understanding of the human figure and expert use of emotionalism😭

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Donatello was one of the finest sculptors in Italy.🙌

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