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2. The Renaissance
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- 2. Imagine! The great generosityof God! The happiness of man! To man it is allowed to be whatever he chooses to be! ∼ Pico della Mirandola, Oration on the Dignity of Man, 15th c.
- 3. The Italian Renaissance Origins& the Arts
- 4. Renaissance • Renaissance: • Frenchfor “rebirth” • To describe the artistic, cultural, political, economic transformation • 14th – 17th c. beginning in Italian city-states • The term “renaissance” wasn’t used until 19th c. • But Italian elites realized something was happening
- 5. Renaissance • Northern ItalianCity States • By late Middle Ages (1300 on) • Papal States loosely run by Rome • Rome a shadow of former glory • Southern regions poorer than North • Sicily in decline
- 6. Renaissance • Northern ItalianCity States • Rise of the Merchant Class • Prosperous central, northern city-states • Genoa, Venice, Florence among richest cities in Europe • Not richer in resources, but from trade • Benefited from Crusades, building trade routes with Near East
- 7. Renaissance • Northern ItalianCity States • Florence during Renaissance • One of wealthiest cities in Northern Italy • Woolen textile production • Wool imported from Northern Europe, & dyes from the East • Arte della Lana – dominant trade guild • Helped develop wool industry in Florence
- 8. Renaissance • Northern ItalianCity States • Trade Routes also transmitted culture • Byzantines: continuation of the Roman Empire • Maintained much of ancient learning • By 13th c., Byzantines experiencing problems • Fall of Constantinople & • Migration of scholars to Italy • Scholars, writers, artists, philosophers
- 9. Renaissance • Northern ItalianCity States • Siege & Sack of Constantinople: 1204 • Western Christian army of 4th Crusade • Capital of Eastern Roman Empire • Rivalry between East and West • Christianity: Catholic vs. Orthodox • Emperors: East vs. West
- 10. Renaissance • Northern ItalianCity States • Siege & Sack of Constantinople: 1204 • Stolen goods divided between Venice & allies • Ancient classical art • Religious relics, icons, and art • Byzantine Empire divided up as well • Between Venice and its allies, increasing trade • Marked end of Byzantine Empire’s power
- 11. Humanism Beauty & Valueof the Individual
- 12. Renaissance • Humanism • Intellectualmovement in 14th & 15th c. Italy • Scholars, writers, civic leaders • Study of classical antiquity • Education for the value of humanity • Create a literate citizenry, speak & write with eloquence • Benefit to the civic life of the community • Beyond learning only directed to job opportunities
- 13. Renaissance • In 14thc, two trends enabled the rise of Humanism • Declining power of the Catholic Church • Public reaction to Black Death, allegations of corruption • Explanations beyond the spiritual for human suffering, loss • Rise of the market economy • Freed from serfdom • Allowed to make money, to grow, to think on their own
- 14. Renaissance • Renaissance Humanism •Petrarch (1304-1374) – “Father of Humanism” • Influential philosophical attitudes • Found in numerous personal letters • Discovery and compilation of ancient texts • Found Cicero’s letters: ad Atticum • Cicero: ancient Roman orator, lawyer, politician • Initiated 14th c. Renaissance
- 15. Renaissance • Petrarch • Extensivecollection of ancient manuscripts • Coined the term “Dark Ages” • Translated many into Latin • Encouraged translation of all available ancient works • Human thought & action had a moral, practical value • God gave humans intellect to use • Wrote volumes of poetry, letters, other works Title page to Petrarch’s Virgil, 1336
- 16. Renaissance • Dante Alighieri(1265-1321) • Italian poet • His Divine Comedy one of great works • Written in Italian vernacular • Making it accessible to broader audience • Instrumental in establishing Italian literature • Depictions of Heaven, Hell, Purgatory • Inspired Western Art
- 17. Renaissance • Dante’s DivineComedy • Narration of an individual journey • Through the afterlife • Guided by Roman poet Virgil • And Beatrice, Dante’s great love • Metaphor for soul’s voyage to salvation • Acknowledge sin, repent, know God • An individual journey to God • Rather than a journey to God through the Church
- 18. Renaissance • Dante’s DivineComedy • Inferno: • 9 concentric circles of torment • Located within earth • Sins of indulgence: • Avarice, gluttony, lust, anger • Sins of violence, and of fraud & treachery • Spiritual sins: • Unbaptized, pagans born before Christ
- 19. Renaissance • Dante’s DivineComedy • Purgatory • Penitents must conquer 7 levels of suffering and spiritual growth • Seven deadly sins • Before ascending to Heaven Dante, poised between the mountain of purgatory and the city of Florence
- 20. Renaissance • Dante’s DivineComedy • Paradise • Arranged in series of 9 spheres • Full of music, souls, supernatural beings • Assumes medieval view of Universe • Earth surrounded by concentric spheres • Containing known planets • Fixed stars • Primum mobile: last sphere of physical universe, containing the angels • Moved directly by God, causing the spheres it encloses to move
- 21. Early Renaissance Art Florence& the Birth of the Renaissance
- 22. Renaissance • Medieval Artto Renaissance • Religious themes dominated • Minimal personal portraiture • Distinctive stylized manner • Decorative illuminated manuscripts • Stained glass windows Left: Late 8th c. portrait of an evangelist Right: Late 12th c. Illuminated manuscript
- 23. 13th-century window &sculpture from Chartres Cathedral Mary Magdalen announcing Resurrection to Apostles, St Albans Psalter, English, 1120– 1145.
- 24. Renaissance • Medieval Painting •12th c. Byzantine treatment • Lamentation of Christ • Jesus taken down from the cross • 2-Dimensional • Flat-planed • Stylized • Non-individualized • Stoic expressions • Restricted emotion Lamentation of Christ, Macedonia, 12th c. fresco
- 25. Renaissance • Renaissance Art •Reflects the core of Humanism • Belief in the value of the human • A “spirit of inquiry” • Growing interest in all aspects of life • Wide-ranging investigations of natural world • Geography, physics, mathematics • Anatomy, biology, mechanics • Scientific discoveries influenced developments in art Lamentation by Giotto di Bondone in the Scrovegni Chapel, c. 1305
- 26. Renaissance • Florence –birthplace of the Renaissance • Despite devastation of the Black Death • Economic strength based on banking & powerful mercantile guilds • Led to influx of immigrants energizing city • Dozens of artists’ guilds • Artists, scholars, writers sponsored by wealthy Florentine citizens • Especially the powerful Medici family • More on that family next time • Drew era’s most influential & talented artists & humanists
- 27. Renaissance • Early RenaissancePainting • See influence of Humanist philosophy • New topics • Church no longer had a monopoly on thinking • Human relationships with the world, the universe, God • Subjects beyond religious stories • Including battle scenes, portraits, images of ordinary people
- 28. Renaissance • Fresco Painting •Water-based pigments • Painted on freshly applied plaster • Painting dries, fixed permanently in wall • No room for mistakes • Used as early as Minoan civilization • See surviving frescoes in Pompeii • Most famous created during Renaissance Fresco portrait of woman from Pompeii, Roman era
- 29. Renaissance • Sandro Botticelli(1445-1510) • Florentine school • Painted • Mythological scenes • Portraits • Religious scenes The Madonna of the Book Self-portrait of Botticelli
- 30. Renaissance • Allegory ofSpring • Designed for private home • Set in orange grove • Vegetation, wildflowers • Venus, goddess of love • Shown with humanity • Mythological themes • Break from medieval art Botticelli, 1481-82, commissioned by members of Medici family
- 31. Renaissance • The Birthof Venus • Also for private home • Venus – the focus • Expression: Sweet, contented, anticipating
- 32. Renaissance • Humanism inChristian Art • Real people • Often donors • Or favored models • Here, sad expression • Unique person • In familiar theme Madonna of the Pomegranate Botticelli (1487)
- 33. Renaissance • Botticelli • LamentationOver the Dead Christ • Compare with earlier versions • Grouping of Christ’s closest associates • More personal • Evoking emotion through positioning of bodies • In almost contorted style • Shows Mary mourning Jesus’ death
- 34. Renaissance • Donatello(1386-1466) • Renaissancesculptor • Worked in multiple media: • Wood, stone, clay, stucco, wax • Seated St. John the Evangelist for Duomo • Marked decisive step away from Gothic • Naturalism, rendering of human feelings • Influence of classical sculpture
- 35. Renaissance • Donatello (1386-1466) •Renaissance style of sculpture • Bronze David broke new ground • Elements of both medieval & classical tradition • Classical traits: nude, in the round, triumphant • Medieval traits: religious • Emphasized by David’s youth • Victory due to God’s intervention, not human strength
- 36. Renaissance • Michelangelo Buonarroti •Genius in painting, sculpture, and architecture • Born in Tuscany to family of stonecutters • Rock Star artist of the Renaissance • Great at self-promotion • Celebration of the independent artist “I suckled in chisels and hammers with my nurse’s milk.”
- 37. Renaissance • Michelangelo • Apprenticedto Ghirlandaio • Florence workshop Lamentation Over the Dead Christ, ca. 1472 By Domenico Ghirlandaio • Reflects early Renaissance • Still carries medieval elements
- 38. Renaissance • Early RenaissancePainting • Ghirlandaio’s influence on Michelangelo • Brief apprenticeship, full of conflict • Michelangelo tried to conceal Ghirandaio’s influence on his work • But see in Michelangelo’s early painting Left: Domenico Ghirlandaio, Standing Woman, 1485-90 Right: Michelangelo, An old man wearing a hat , 1495- 1500
- 39. Renaissance • Michelangelo atage 21 • Commissioned to sculpt Bacchus • While working in Rome • Astounding level of detail • Image of a god, with human vices • And physical effects of those vices • Conveys sense of motion, feeling • Rare in sculptures • Influence of classical sculpture
- 40. Renaissance • 2 YearsAfter Bacchus • Michelangelo sculpted The Pietà
- 41. Renaissance • The Pietà •Popular theme in medieval sculpture • And as the Lamentation in painting • Two samples from Middle Ages on the right • Michelangelo’s Pietà • Sculpted from single piece of Carrara marble • Said he could see the sculpture within the marble • His job: simply remove the excess stone • Striking difference from previous artists
- 42. Renaissance • The Pietà •Focus on relationship between Mary and Jesus • Face of a young girl – purity kept her from aging • Renaissance ideals: classical beauty, naturalism • As a whole, expresses: • Intimate moment of grief • Profound sorrow and humility • Beauty on earth reflects God’s beauty Michelangelo’s signature, added to prove he was the artist, despite his youth
- 43. Renaissance • Michelangelo’s David •Commissioned by Florence’s Wool Guild
- 44. Renaissance • The David •14 ft. marble statue depicting David • Carved from marble • Anxiety around his eyes, concentrating • Set before the battle with Goliath • Detailed human anatomy • Worked in secrecy • Recognized as a masterpiece
- 45. Renaissance • The SistineChapel • Rebuilding completed in 1481 • Team of Renaissance painters • Commissioned by Pope Sixtus IV • Including Botticelli, Ghirlandaio • Frescoes on walls, ceiling • 2 sets of paintings comparing stories of Jesus and of Moses 1480s: Interior of the Sistine Chapel with some frescoes completed Note: the barrel ceiling would have been painted blue with gilt stars
- 46. Renaissance • Botticelli • TheTrials of Moses
- 47. Renaissance Botticelli’s TheTrials of Christ, Sistine Chapel
- 48. Renaissance The Crossing ofthe Red Sea, Sistine Chapel Domenico Ghirlandaio, Cosimo Rosselli or Biagio d'Antonio
- 49. Renaissance • Ghirlandaio • Vocationof the Apostles
- 50. Renaissance • Painting theSistine Chapel • Pope Julius II commissioned Michelango • To create his tomb in St. Peter’s Basilica • 40 statues to be completed over 5 years • But Pope interrupts work on his tomb • Wanted ceiling painted first • Michelangelo’s rivals • Hoped he would fail, leave Rome
- 51. Renaissance • Raphael • Favoriteof Pope Leo X • Charming, easy personality • Numerous commissions • Prolific painter • Died age 37 • Disliked Michelangelo Madonna del Prato by Raphael
- 52. Renaissance • Donato Bramante •Respected painter, architect • Respected for knowledge, use of perspective • Confident, sociable, ambitious • Michelangelo called him his great enemy • Tomb of Julius II • Ceiling of Sistine Chapel The Tempietto of San Pietro
- 53. Renaissance • Michelangelo Paintsa Ceiling • Tradition – painted lying on his back • Reality – upright position, with head tilted upwards • Had never painted in fresco, except for apprenticeship • Let alone an entire ceiling or wall • Which makes the work all the more amazing
- 56. Renaissance • Michelangelo • Painting •Set a new standard for painting the human figure • Body not just “an actor” in a story • Emotionally and spiritually expressive on its own
- 58. Renaissance • Raphael Sneaksa Peek • Michelangelo worked in secrecy • Raphael bribed guard • Viewed the work • Really impressed
- 59. Renaissance • Raphael • Schoolof Athens • Added Michelangelo
- 60. Renaissance • Michelangelo inSchool of Athens Raphael looking straight at the viewer; Michelangelo as Heraclitus, “the Obscure”
- 61. Renaissance • The LastJudgment (1536-41) • Brought back to paint the Altar Wall • Depicting the separation • Saved from the Damned • With Christ in the middle
- 62. Renaissance • Michelangelo andSt. Peter’s Basilica • 1546: Appointed architect for Basilica • Foundation poured 50 years earlier • Still not completed • Michelangelo drew on previous plans • Developed a grand vision • Redesigned the dome • At his death, drum of the dome complete