This document provides an overview of the artistic developments that occurred during the High Renaissance period in Italy, centered around Rome and Venice. It discusses the patronage of the Catholic Church and various popes who commissioned major works from leading artists such as Raphael, Michelangelo, and Titian. Key works covered include Michelangelo's frescoes in the Sistine Chapel and The Last Judgment, as well as his contributions to St. Peter's Basilica. Music during this period is also summarized, focusing on composers like Josquin des Prez and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina.

1. Culture and Values, 6th Ed.
Cunningham and Reich

2.  Vatican as center of wealth, stability
 Many artists migrated to the Vatican to be recipients
of patronage when the Medici declined.
 Patronage – artists were paid and supported to create
specific works of art
 Pope Sixtus IV – commissioned artists who
were famous in Florence to fresco the side
walls of the Sistine Chapel:
 Ghirlandaio, Botticelli, Perugino

3.  Pope Julius II
 Beginnings of High Renaissance (1503)
 Appreciated fine art; influenced by his uncle, Pope
Sixtus IV
 “il papa terribile” – the awesome pope
 Summoned Raphael Sanzio and Michelangelo
Buonarroti to Rome

4.  From Urbino to Perugia
 Born in Urbino and practiced art under his father’s
direction
 His father died in 1494
 Became apprentice to Perugino, the painted
 Moved from Perugia to Florence (1505)
 Worked there for 3 years
 Painted many madonnas while in Florence

5.  Madonna of the Meadow (1508) (Fig. 13.1)
 Typical Raphael style of madonna
 Pyramidal configuration – believable and balanced
space
 This geometrical device was popularized by Leonardo
da Vinci
 Rationally ordered
 Modeling of human forms
 Conveys genuine sweetness and warmth
 Human quality of the divine figure is Raphael’s
trademark

7.  Went from Florence to Vatican (Rome) (1508)
 Pope Julius had him working on various projects in the
Vatican by the next year.
 Commissioned him to decorate rooms of his palace
 School of Athens (1509-1511) (Fig. 13.2)
 Large fresco on the wall of the Stanza della Segnatura, an
office in the Vatican Palace
 Symbolic homage to philosophy
 Sets the great philosophers of old in an immense
architectural framework inspired by Roman architecture
 Renaissance ideal – sensitivity to ordered space, ease
with Classical thought, Roman architecture, brilliant
color and form, and love for intellectual clarity

8.  The Transfiguration (1527) (Fig. 13.3)
 Last work, unfinished at his death
 Balance of philosophy and theology
 Old and New Testament figures; light and dark to
reflect balance

11.  Called to Rome in 1505 by Pope Julius II to
create a monumental tomb: Tomb for Pope
Julius II
 Tomb was never finished; Michelangelo was
interrupted by Julius, his death, and later the
Medici family

12.  Moses (1513-1515) – one of the finished pieces of the
tomb (Fig. 13.4)
 Fiercely inspired look on Moses’ face; bulky physicality,
carefully modeled musculature, drapery, and hair
 Face radiates divine fury, divine light
 Terribilità - awesomeness

13.  Boboli Captives (1527-1528) (Fig. 13.5)
 Rough and unfinished:
 Neo-Platonic notion of form and matter – ideal form
struggles to be freed from gross matter
 Insight into artist’s methods
 Captives were possible meant to serve as corner
supports for the bottom level of the tomb (Fig. 13.6)

16.  The Sistine Chapel (Fig. 13.8)
 Julius commanded Michelangelo to fresco the ceiling.
 He resisted the project and fled Rome; he was ordered
back by papal edict.
 Finished the ceiling in 3 years (1508-1511).
 “Michelangelo, Sculptor” – signed the ceiling to
remind Julius of his reluctance to paint.
 Architectural and thematic motifs
 Heroic action of the Old Testament; biblical ancestors of
Christ; pagan sibyls and OT prophets; scenes from
Genesis

17.  Interpretation – the overall meaning is problematic
 The following elements must all be considered:
 Neo-Platonism – manipulation of dark and light;
liberation of spirit from matter; and geometrical
allusions
 Old Testament and pagan prophets – points to the
coming of Christ
 Complex tree symbolism – trees in the Bible: tree of good
and evil, the cross, etc.); and allusion to the pope’s family
name (della Rovere – “of the oak tree”)
 Human wisdom (sibyls) + God’s revelation (prophets)

19.  Michelangelesque: describes the style
 Masculine anatomy, musculature
 Combines physical bulk with linear grace, & powerful
display of emotion
 Creation of Adam (1508-1511) (Fig. 13.9)
 The Last Judgment (1534-1541) (Fig. 13.10)

21.  Medici Chapel in Florentine Church of San
Lorenzo (Fig. 13.11)
 Worked under patronage of popes Leo X and
Clement VII, both from Medici family
 Designed and executed both sculptures and the chapel
 Never completely finished the chapel
 Meditation of the shortness of life, inevitability of
death, and hope for resurrection
 Brothers Lorenzo the Magnificent and Giuliano are
buried in the chapel
 Night and Day; Dawn and Dusk (Fig. 13.12)

22.  The New Saint Peter’s Basilica – 1,000 years old,
and had suffered from roof fires, structural
stresses, and ravages of time
 Donato Bramante (1444-1514), architect
 Envisioned a central domed church with a floor plan in
the shape of a Greek cross with 4 equal arms (Fig. 13.13)
 Tempietto (little temple) – small chapel he built in 1502 in
Rome may give a clue to Bramante’s vision for St.
Peter’s.

23.  Raphael and Sangallo worked on the project, as
well , after Bramante’s death.
 Added nave and aisles.
 Michelangelo as architect (1546)
 Used Bramante’s plan for central domed Greek cross
 Major difference: ribbed, arched dome modeled after
a cathedral in Florence
 Michelangelo lived to see the completion of the
drum to support dome
 Drum was raised 30 years later (after his death) by
Giacomo della Porta

25.  Rome excelled in fresco, sculpture, and
architecture – Venice had tradition of easel
painting
 Use of oil paints because of damp atmosphere
 Could enrich and deepen color – make color more
brilliant
 Subtlety of light
 Eye for close detail
 Love of landscape

26.  Giorgione (c.1477-1510) – most celebrated painter
in 16th century Venice
 Venetian Renaissance Style
 Enthroned Madonna with Saints (1500-1505) (Fig. 13.15)
 Painted for his hometown cathedral
 Highly geometric work – use of pyramid/triangle
 More typical work – painting without religious content
or recognizable storyline/narrative
 Le Concert Champêtre (c. 1510) (Fig. 13.16)
 Secular homage to joy of life rendered with richness and
lushness of concept and color.

27.  Titian (c. 1488-1576)
 Use of striking color
 Very popular and created many works
 Two representative paintings demonstrate his abilities:
 Assumption of the Virgin (1516-1518) (Fig. 13.17)
 Panel painting in the Venetian Church of the Frari
 Use of triangular composition; shift from dark to light; and
lines converging on the Madonna for movement
 Venus of Urbino (1538) (Fig. 13.18)
 Homage to feminine beauty from human perspective
 Architectural background; evenly divided between light and
dark; lush and rich

28.  Tintoretto (1518-1594)
 “little dyer” – name for his father’s occupation
 Over his studio door: “The drawing of Michelangelo
and the color of Titian.”
 Scuola - most famous work; cycle of frescoes
 The Last Supper (Fig. 13.19) – Church of San Giorgio
Maggiore
 Energetic and dramatic style

32.  Artistic “mood” – exaggeration of Renaissance
form and loosening of Renaissance intellectuality
 Frederick Hartt’s schema
 ***See page 325 in textbook***
 Michelangelo’s mannerist style in later works
 Night, Day, Dawn, and Dusk
 Entrance to Laurentian Library (Fig. 13.20)
 Windows aren’t windows, columns support nothing;
staircase steps seem agitated and in motion
 The Last Judgment – example of Mannerism

34.  Jacopo Carucci da Pontormo (1494-1557)
 Eccentric and reclusive painter; studied with da Vinci
 Deposition (c. 1528) (Fig. 13.21)
 Shocking colors: pinks, greens, and blues
 Parmigianino (1503-1540)
 Madonna of the Long Neck (c. 1535) (Fig. 13.22)
 Gigantic proportions
 Implied eroticism – shape of her body; long fingers;
curving S of her neck; and partially clad figures
clustered at her side
 Mannerism is a testament to inventiveness,
restlessness of human spirit

36.  Lavinia Fontana (1552-1614)
 Daughter of Bolognese painter
 Portrait painter in Rome, Bologna
 Adopted Mannerist style: Exaggerated angles, use of
color
 Dead Christ with the Symbols of the Passion (1581) (Fig.
13.23)
 Sofonisba Anguissola (1532?-1624)
 Influenced by both Renaissance and Baroque masters
 Pictorial representations – self-portrait (Fig. 13.24)
 Contrasts of dark and light

37. Music at the Papal Court
 Sistine Choir and Julian Choir – established
permanent choirs for private chapels
 Sistine Choir was composed of male voices
 Preadolescent boys sang soprano, older men sang alto,
tenor, and bass
 a capella – without musical accompaniment

38.  Josquin des Prez (c. 1440-1521)
 Sistine Choir, composer and director
 True genius for creative musical composition: Motet
for four voices
 Praised for his homogenous musical structure,
balance, lyrical quality
 Motet uses sacred text sung by four voices in
polyphony
 Clear division in text, but used overlapping voices to
avoid sense of break in the music
 Tu Pauperum Refugium (Thou Refuge of the Poor)

39. Music at the Papal Court
 Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594)
 Choirmaster of capella Guilia (Saint Peter’s)
 1571-1594 Vatican’s music director
 Conservative masses in response to Catholic reform
movement
 Returning to the simpler ways of the past
 Music reflects that conservation

40. Venetian Music
 Adrian Willaert – Dutchman who became
choirmaster of the Church of St. Mark
 Trained both Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli
 Church of St. Mark
 Split choirs – 2 choirs permitted variation of composition
 Could sing to and against each other
 Instrumental music in liturgy; pioneered the use of the
organ for liturgical music
 Intonazione (music played before service), toccata
(virtuoso prelude)

42. Castiglione’s Courtier (1528)
 Characters discuss chivalry, classical virtues,
Platonic love
 Courtiers should be a person of humanist learning,
impeccable ethics, refined courtesy, physical and martial
skills, and fascinating conversation
 Uomo universale – well-rounded person
 Sprezzatura – effortless mastery
 Criticism: Overly refined, idealized worldview
 Courtier’s world is that of elite aristocracy

43. Cellini’s Autobiography
 Chronicles a life of violence, intrigue, sex,
egotism, politics
 Vignettes of all walks of life; realistic snapshots
 Popes, commoners, artists, soldiers, cardinals,
prostitutes, assassins
 Insight into methods of the artist
 Describes the process of casting the bronze statue of
Perseus (Fig. 13.26)