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Explore the early Italian Renaissance art through Masaccio's groundbreaking frescoes like Tribute Money and Holy Trinity, along with Brunelleschi's innovative architectural works such as Florence Cathedral dome. Learn about the use of perspective, classical references, and realistic portrayals in these masterpieces.
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NORTHERN ITALIAN Realism through excessive details Intentional references to Gothic Architecture Intuitive Perspective Great art in the form of Oil Paints, Altarpieces and smaller paintings Van Der Goes, Van Eyck, Van Der Weyden, Campin Realism through mathematics and linear perspective Intentional references to Classical Architecture and figure studies Linear Perspective Great art in the form of Frescoes and larger Temperas Masaccio, Donatello, Ghiberti, Brunelleschi, Botticelli
Masaccio,Tribute Money, Brancacci Chapel, Florence, Italy, ca. 1427. Masaccio presented this narrative in three episodes within the fresco. In the center, Christ, surrounded by his disciples, tells Saint Peter to retrieve the coin from the fish, while the tax collector stands in the foreground, his back to spectators and hand extended, awaiting payment. At the left, in the middle distance, Saint Peter extracts the coin from the fish’s mouth, and at the right, he thrusts the coin into the tax collector’s hand. Masaccio realized most of the figures not through generalized modeling with a flat neutral light lacking an identifiable source but by a light coming from a specific source outside the picture.
MasaccioExpulsion of Adam and Evefrom Eden, Brancacci Chapel, Florence, Italy, ca 1425 This was painted in an awkwardly narrow space at the entrance to the Brancacci Chapel. It displays the representational innovations of Tribute Money. For example, the sharply slanted light from an outside source creates deep relief, with lights placed alongside darks, and acts as a strong unifying agent. Masaccio also presented the figures moving with structural accuracy and with substantial bodily weight. Further, the hazy, atmospheric background specifies no locale but suggests a space around and beyond the figures. Adam’s feet, clearly in contact with the ground, mark the human presence on earth, and the cry issuing from Eve’s mouth voices her anguish. The angel does not force them physically from Eden, rather, they stumble on blindly, driven by the angel’s will and their own despair. The composition is starkly simple, its message incomparably eloquent.
Masaccio,Holy Trinity Santa Maria Novella, Florence, Italy ca.1428 Masaccio’s fresco embodies two principal Renaissance interests--realism based on observation and the application of mathematics in the new science of perspective. The composition is painted on two levels of unequal height. In the coffered barrel-vaulted chapel reminiscent of a Roman triumphal arch, the Virgin Mary and St. John appear on either side of the crucified Christ. God the Father emerges from behind Christ, supporting the arms of the cross. The Dove of the Holy Spirit hovers between God and Christ. Also included are portraits of the donors of the painting, who kneel in front of the pilasters. Below the altar-- a masonry insert in the depicted composition--the artist painted a tomb containing a skeleton. An Italian inscription above the skeleton reminds spectators that “I was once what you are, and what I am you will become.”
Baptistry of San Giovanni, Florence, Italy, ca 1059
Brunelleschi’sSacrifice of Isaac Ghiberti’sSacrifice of Isaac
Lorenzo Ghiberti”Gates of Paradise”,baptistery, Florence Cathedral 1425-1452 Ghiberti, who demonstrated his interest in perspective in his Sacrifice of Isaac, embraced Donatello’s innovations. Ghiberti’s enthusiasm for a unified system for representing space is particularly evident in his famous east doors. Michelangelo later declared these as “so beautiful that they would do well for the gates of Paradise.” Each of the panels contains a relief set in plain moldings and depicts a scene from the Old Testament. The complete gilding of the reliefs creates an effect of great splendor and elegance.
Lorenzo GhibertiIsaac and his sons (”Gates of Paradise”), baptistery, Florence Cathedral, Florence 1425-1452 EARLY ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
Filippo Brunelleschidome of Florence Cathedral Florence, Italy 1420-1436 Brunelleschi’s broad knowledge of Roman construction principles and his analytical and inventive mind permitted him to solve an engineering problem that no other 15th-century architect could have solved. The challenge was the design and construction of a dome for the huge crossing of the unfinished Florence Cathedral. The space to be spanned was much too wide to permit construction with the aid of traditional wooden centering. Nor was it possible [because of the crossing plan] to support the dome with buttressed walls. In 1420, officials overseeing cathedral projects awarded Brunelleschi and Ghiberti a joint commission. Ghiberti later abandoned the project and left it to his associates.
Filippo Brunelleschidome of Florence Cathedral Florence, Italy 1420-1436 Brunelleschi not only discarded traditional building methods and devised new ones, but he also invented much of the machinery necessary for the job. Although he might have preferred the hemispheric shape of Roman domes, Brunelleschi raised the center of his dome which is inherently more stable because it reduces the outward thrust around the dome’s base. To minimize the structure’s weight, he designed a relatively thin double shell--the first in history--around a skeleton of 24 ribs. The eight most important are visible on the exterior. The structure is anchored at the top with a heavy lantern, built after his death but from his design.
Filippo Brunelleschidome of Florence Cathedral Florence, Italy 1420-1436
Filippo Brunelleschi west facade of the Pazzi Chapel Florence, Italy begun ca. 1440 Applying Roman Mathematical Logic The chapel that was the Pazzi family’s gift to the church of Santa Croce in Florence presented Brunelleschi with the opportunity to explore this interest in a structure much better suited to such a design than a basilican church. The chapel was not completed until the 1460s, long after Brunelleschi’s death, and thus the exterior does not reflect Brunelleschi’s original design. The narthex(the entrance hall leading to the nave of a church.)seems to have been added as an afterthought, perhaps by the sculptor-architect Giuliano da Maiano. It is suggested that the local chapter of Franciscan monks who held meetings in the chapel needed the expansion.
Filippo Brunelleschi Interior of the Pazzi Chapel Florence, Italy begun ca. 1440 Applying Roman Mathematical Logic This chapel was the Pazzi family’s gift to the church of Santa Croce in Florence. The artist is Filippo Brunelleschi, who began to design this chapel in 1440 and it was not completed until after his death. The interior trim is in gray stone or pietra serena(serene stone). Medallions with glazed terracotta are featured on the inside representing the Four Evangelista and decorated wall panels represent the Twelve Apostles. Brunelleschi used this opportunity to create a structure more suited to a compact and self-contained “central floor plan” as seen in the Pantheon. He used a basic unit that allowed him to construct a balanced, harmonious, and regularly proportioned space.
Donatello, David 1428-1432 The Medici family commissioned Donatello to create this bronze statue for the Palazzo Medici courtyard. This was the first freestanding nude statue created since ancient times. This statue portrays the biblical David, the young slayer of Goliath and the symbol of the independent Florentine republic. David possesses the relaxed classical contrapposto stance and the proportions and beauty of Greek Praxitelean gods. The Medici family chose the subject of David, perhaps because they had seen Donatello’s previous statue of David which is located in the center of political activity in Florence. This shows that the Medici family identified themselves with Florence, and the prosperity of the city.
Sandro Botticelli Portrait of a Youth,early 1480s This full face portrait was created by Botticelli in the last decade of the fifteenth century. Italian painters adopted the 3/4 and full face views believing that such poses increased information available to viewers about the subject’s appearance. These poses also permits greater exploration of the subject’s character. This is evident in this portrait where he is highly expressive psychologically. He has a delicate pose, a graceful head tilt, sidelong glance, and an elegant hand gesture. The subject seems to be half-musing, half-insinuating. Botticelli merged feminine and masculine traits to make an image of rarefied beauty.
Sandro Botticelli, Birth of Venus, 1484-86. Sandro Botticelli was one of the best known artists who produced works for the Medici. He painted this tempera on canvas for the Medici family. A poem on the theme of the famous Birth of Venus by Angelo Poliziano was what inspired Botticelli to create this lyrical image. Zephyrus (the west wind) blows Venus, born of the sea foam and carried on a cockle shell to her sacred island, Cyprus. The nymph Pomona runs to her with a brocaded mantle.
Fra Angelico, Annunciation San Marco, Florence, Italy1440-1445
Andrea Del Castagno,Last Supper, monastery of Sant’ Apollonia, Florence, Italy, 1447. Andrea del Castagno, like Fra Angelico, accepted a commission to produce a series of frescoes for a religious establishment. His Last Supper painted in the refectory (dining hall) of Sant’Apollonia in Florence, a convent for Benedictine nuns. Inconsistencies are apparent, such as the fact Renaissance perspectivial systems make it impossible to see both the ceiling and the roof, as Castagno depicted. Further, the two side walls do not appear parallel.
Piero della Francesca,Battista Sforza & Federico da Montefeltro(Duke & Duchess of Urbino),1472-1473.
Andrea Mantegna, Fresco. Camera degli Sposi (Bridal Chamber), Mantua, Italy. 1465-74.
Andrea Mantegna,Camera Degli Sposi, (the Gonzaga family), Mantua, Italy,1465-74.
Andrea Mantegna St. Sebastian c1480.
