High Renaissance Post

Renaissance Dates
1439 - The Gutenberg Press and movable type/printmaking
1453 – Fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans
1490’s – Savonarola in Florence
1517 – Martin Luther nails his 95 theses to the church door at Wittenberg
1527 – Sack of Rome by troops of Charles V

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519):
• Trained in Florence.
• Is best known as a painter, but did absolutely everything else as well.
• Studied human anatomy, via dissection (completely illegal, unless one was a physician), and used the knowledge of such to glorify man.
• Believed only in that which he could observe.
• Had a Duke (of Milan) as his first patron.
• Painted beautiful women, most of whom seemed to be enjoying delicious secrets.
• Disliked Michelangelo, but was somewhat of a mentor (albeit unseen) to Raphael.
• Worked in Rome from 1513 to 1516.
Spent Last years of his life working for Francis I in France
Source: http://arthistory.about.com/cs/arthistory10one/a/high_ren_2.htm

High Renaissance Art
Leonardo, Last Supper
Only remaining work in situ, painted on a wall of the monks’ dining room
Oil, tempera, fresco technique on a damp wall made the fresco flake
Captures the moment when Christ says, “One of you will betray me”
Christ appears calm amid the storm of animated gestures
Various psychological portraits in the reactions of the apostles: surprise, anger, fear, denial, etc.
Rhythmic groupings of three, Christ at center in open-armed pose of serene acceptance
Perspective beams of the ceiling, floor and tapestries on walls point to Christ
Fictional space advances real space of room
Pyramidical shape of Christ’s body, a favorite High Renaissance form
Subtle halo of the rounded pediment above his head
Three windows symbolize the Trinity
Judas obscured by darkness falls back, clutching his bag of coins

Leonardo’s Last Supper
Located in Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan. Patron - Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan
1495-98
Exceptional technical proficiency in perspective and treatment of space
Focus on drama and human reaction at a specific moment
An experimental painting technique that failed

Leonardo, Virgin of the Rocks
Visionary, mystical feeling
No traditional haloes
Tradition of mountain opening up miraculously to shelter the Holy Family
Water running is a symbol of baptism
Ivy in background symbolizes fidelity and continuity
Angel Uriel’s expression: to whom is it directed?
Unusual pattern of hands, forms a cross of Jesus’ head?
Chiaroscuro, sfumato, atmospheric perspective
Botanist’s and geologist’s attention to the foreground plants and the mysterious setting of the mist-shrouded cave

Leonardo, Mona Lisa
Pyramid form with hands at base
She is not smiling, but gives the illusion
Psychological insight, coupled with enticing inaccessibility
Aerial perspective: she sits in a window box with a fantasy background
Picture cut down later on three sides, we see only the base of the columns in the window box or balcony
26 or 27 years old, likely the wife of a Florentine silk merchant, Francesco del Giocondo
¾ view, more of the body shown, gentle contrapposto suggested
Unity of figure and landscape

High Renaissance Architecture
Bramante, Tempietto, Rome
Circular shrine, spot where Saint Peter crucified
Cylindrical shape, dome ribbed on outside
Proportions simple, harmonious, unified
Alternating masses and voids
No exterior decoration
Circle as a symbol of the perfection of the world, used in the Pantheon
Combination of humanist ideas of pagan and Christian background
Underground crypt symbolizes the underworld where Saint Peter’s cross was planted
Main body is a temple, looking like a tabernacle
Upper body represents the Church triumphant

Bramante, Saint Peter’s, Rome
Greek cross, four sides equal
Exact hemisphere of a dome, planned like the Pantheon
Bell towers frame main dome; drum added for height
Interior: coupled pilasters, one giant story as in Sant’Andrea
Never finished according to Bramante’s plan
Smaller domes accent main dome

High Renaissance Architecture
Sangallo, Palazzo Farnese, Rome
Broad front, huge rectangle
“ Kneeling” windows suspended from a stringcourse
Second floor alternating triangular with circular pediments
Heavy cornice tops building
Strongly articulated stringcourses define horizontal stories
Rusticated doorway and corners
Projecting window casements give a solid feel to the façade
First floor has a darker color, indicating a solid firm base

Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564)
• Trained in Florence.
• Is best known as a painter and sculptor, but worked in architecture and wrote poetry as well.
• Studied human anatomy, via dissection (completely illegal, unless one was a physician), and used the knowledge of such to glorify God.
• Believed deeply and devoutly in God.
• Had a Medici (Lorenzo) as his first patron.
• Painted women who looked a lot like men with breasts slapped on.
• Intensely disliked Leonardo, but was somewhat of a reluctant mentor to Raphael.
• Worked in Rome 1496-1501, 1505, 1508-1516 and from 1534 until his death in 1564.
• Was commissioned by Popes Julius II, Leo X, Clement VII, Paul III Farnese, Clement VIII and Pius III.
Source: http://arthistory.about.com/cs/arthistory10one/a/high_ren_2.htm

Sistine Chapel Ceiling 1508 - 1512

Sistine Chapel Ceiling
Commissioned by Pope Julius II in 1508 – originally to paint the 12 apostles and a trompe-l’oeil coffered ceiling
Fresco (done with 9 pigments)
Dirt and debris from candle soot, past cleanings, pollution
Michelangelo considered himself a sculptor, not a painter
Expressive and incredibly complex program of scenes and images which transforms the architectural space

Consists of nine narrative scenes from Genesis – starting with the Separation of Light from Darkness (located above the altar) and ending with the Drunkenness of Noah
First 3 scenes are of Creation
3 scenes of Adam and Eve (creation of Adam, Eve, and Temptation)
3 scenes from Noah (sacrifice, flood and drunkenness) – symbolically a statement on Free Will and a second Fall from grace

4 Large Panels
Creation of Sun and Moon
Creation of Adam
The Fall of Man
The Flood

Screen divides area
Larger area is the Sacred area
Smaller is for the Laity
Scene immediately after the screen is the Fall of Man

Michelangelo, Sistine Ceiling, Rome
4 years to paint, 300 figures, no two of which are in the same pose; 70 feet from floor
Nine main episodes from the book of Genesis, opening book of the Bible
Done at the behest of Pope Julius II

5 smaller panels
Separation of Light from darkness
Separation of Land and Water
Creation of Eve
The Sacrifice of Noah
The Drunkenness of Noah

Separation of Light from Darkness

The Ignudi
Located at the four corners of every other scene
Unprecedented in Sacred decoration
Derived from secular sculpture of antiquty

Idealization of the male body connected to the Renaissance sense of the dignity and potential of man, and in the Christian sense, of man created in the image of God.

Michelangelo, Creation of Adam
Fourth scene on the vault of the Sistine Ceiling
Monumental forms, solid figures
God creates Adam in “his image and likeness”
Center: two hands do not touch, there is a distance between them
God the Father is awesome in his power of love, his kindness to create
Adam modeled on an ancient Roman river god
Two great forms: Adam as earth and God as sky
Essentially separate units

Michelangelo, David
Terribilità
First colossal nude since the ancient world
Challenging figure: calm, tense, concentrating on the enemy
Optimum vantage point is from the front and below, not meant to be seen from the back
Slight contrapposto
Monumentality, simplicity
Undercutting of brow, piercing eyes
Sense of alertness, awareness
Holds slingshot over shoulder, rock in hand
Placed in front of city hall of Florence
Came to symbolize victorious Florence against larger enemies

Michelangelo, Moses
Designed for the tomb of Pope Julius II
Central piece, although meant to be placed on the second floor of the original tomb
Meant to be seen from a low angle
Awe-inspiring, majestic, solid
Julius as an enlightened lawgiver, as was Moses
Same face as God the Father on the Sistine Ceiling
Few negative spaces
Tense coiled feeling

Michelangelo, Tomb of Giuliano de’Medici
Lying atop a sarcophagus, two figures of Day and Night
Night: female, restless, tense, between the legs is an owl (symbolic of night, watchfulness), she rests on a mask
Day: twisted, looking over his shoulder, massive muscularity
Giuliano: a heroic type, classical, dressed in Roman armor, idealized, not an actual portrait
Neoplatonic ideals expressed in vigorous Giuliano and more contemplative Lorenzo

Giuliano’s Tomb Lorenzo’s Tomb

Michelangelo, Last Judgment
Beginnings of Mannerism seen here: distortion of the figures, elongation
Apollo-like Christ comes to bring the saved to heaven and condemn the lost to Hell
No weighing of souls, he passes judgment with a movement of his hands
Christ defiantly swings away the evil souls, gently lifts the blessed
He is surrounded by the martyrs and saints of the church
On the skin held by Saint Bartholomew is a self-portrait of Michelangelo
Charon ferries the damned into Hell at bottom right
A serpent wrapped around his torso, Minos awaits to place the damned
Twisting, complex, and convoluted composition
Composition organized in horizontal layers

Michelangelo, Saint Peter’s, Rome
Many architects worked on Saint Peter’s before Michelangelo
Respected Bramante’s plan, and revived portions of it
Used a double dome as at Florence
One hundred feet taller than the dome of Florence Cathedral
Building has monumental pilasters and columns that extend from the ground to the roof without interruption
Enormous windows make interior light
Surmounted by a lantern
After Michelangelo’s death, the building was completed by Giacomo della Porta, who redesigned the dome to make it more pointed instead of round

Raphael (1483-1520):
• Trained in Umbria, but studied in Florence (where he picked up his draftsmanship and compositional skills by studying Leonardo and Michelangelo's works).
• Is best known as a painter, but worked in architecture as well.
• Studied human anatomy only to the extent that his figures were proportionately correct.
• Believed in God, but didn't alienate the Humanists or Neo-Platonists.
• Had, as his first patrons, those who actually wanted either Leonardo or Michelangelo (whose time, respectively, was being monopolized by their patrons), but settled for Raphael.
• Painted beautiful, gentle, calm women in a courteous manner.
• Idolized Leonardo and managed to get along with Michelangelo (no mean feat, that).
• Worked in Rome from 1508 until his death in 1520.
• Was commissioned by Popes Julius II and Leo X.

E.H. Gombrich, "The Story of Art": "It was for this achievement that Raphael has remained famous throughout the centuries. Perhaps those who connect his name only with beautiful Madonnas and idealized figures from the classical world may even be surprised to see Raphael's portrait of his great patron Pope Leo X of the Medici family, in the company of two cardinals. There is nothing idealized in the slightly puffed head of the near- sighted Pope, who has just examined an old manuscript (somewhat similar in style and period to the Queen Mary's Psalter. The velvets and damasks in their various rich tones add to the atmosphere of pomp and power, but one can well imagine that these men are not at ease. These were troubled times, for we remember that at the very period when this portrait was painted Luther had attacked the Pope for the way he raised money for the new St Peter's. It so happens that it was Raphael himself whom Leo X had put in charge of this building enterprise after Bramante had died in 1514, and thus he had also become an architect, designing churches, villas and palaces and studying the ruins of ancient Rome. Unlike his great rival Michelangelo, though, he got on well with people and could keep a busy workshop going. Thanks to his sociable qualities the scholars and dignitaries of the papal court made him their companion. There was even talk of his being made a cardinal when he died on his thirty-seventh birthday, almost as young as Mozart, having crammed into his brief life an astonishing diversity of artistic achievements."

Raphael, School of Athens
Painted for Pope Julius II’s library/study
Greek philosophers of ancient world in muted conversation
No dominant colors, weaving of various hues
Clear, open piazza-like structure
Perspective points to two central figures under a barrel vault that resembles Saint Peter’s by Bramante
Plato and Aristotle in center as greatest of philosophers
Plato has Leonardo’s features
Plato points up revealing his philosophy of another ideal world
Aristotle points outward to indicate that this material world is the only world
Bramante as Euclid, balding, in lower right
Raphael second from the far right, among the scientists, mathematicians and astronomers
Michelangelo, as Heraclitus, composing a sonnet in the front foreground painted in his own style

Plato – holds his Timaeus Aristotle – holds his Ethics Combining knowledge of ideas, and learning from the world thereby increasing happiness through intellectual activity

Pythagorus – taking notes on his ideas of harmony and the musical scale

Euclid (Bramante) Diogenes Epicurus Socrates - with Alcibiades, Xenophon, Alexander

Stanza della Segnatura
Patron – Julius II
A world as beautiful (poetry)
A world as good (law and justice)
A world as true (philosophy and theology)

Raphael, Madonna in the Meadow
Triangular composition echoing Leonardo
Atmospheric perspective, sun-drenched landscape
Clear, ordered and deceptively simple composition, but poses complex
Tenderness and love expressed
Graceful, tender expressions
Strong diagonals control composition

Raphael, Galatea
Galatea pursued by Polyphemus
Galatea’s head turns left, arms right, hips left, legs frontal
Triangular compositional elements
Twisting bodies seem natural but are highly complex
Suggests wheeling movement and spontaneity

High Renaissance
Exceptional knowledge of anatomy
Emphasis on knowledge gained from the natural world
Illusionistic space – a window into the world
A revaluation and reintroduction of classical forms and ideas melded with Christianity
Subtlety and sophistication in painting and sculpture and architecture
Heavy use of symbolism and drama

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High Renaissance Post

by bassmanb on Jan 03, 2010

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