Early Renaissance

1. Early Renaissance

2. What was the Renaissance? • Period following the middle ages (1450-1550) • “Rebirth” of classical Greece and Rome • Began in Italy • Moved to northern Europe

3. Objectives • During the middle ages • Find God • Prove pre-conceived ideas • During the Renaissance • Find man • Promote learning

4. "The Renaissance gave birth to the modern era, in that it was in this era that human beings first began to think of themselves as individuals. In the early Middle Ages, people had been happy to see themselves simply as parts of a greater whole – for example, as members of a great family, trade guild, nation, or Church. This communal consciousness of the Middle Ages gradually gave way to the individual consciousness of the Renaissance." – McGrath, Alister, In the Beginning, Anchor Books (2001), p.38.

5. Humanism • Pursuit of individualism • Recognition that humans are creative • Appreciation of art as a product of man • Basic culture needed for all • Life could be enjoyable • Love of the classical past

6. "When a mural or altarpiece came to be judged not for its pious effulgence and fitness for the spot in need of decoration, but instead for what we now call its aesthetic merit, art for art's sake was just below the horizon. Aesthetic appreciation is something more than spontaneous liking; a good eye for accurate representation is not enough; one must be able to judge and talk about style, technique, and originality." – Barzun, Jacques, From Dawn to Decadence, Perennial, 2000, p70.

7. Causes of the Renaissance • Lessening of feudalism • Church disrespected • Nobility in chaos • Growth of Middle Class through trade • Fall of Constantinople • Greek scholars fled to Italy • Education • Nostalgia among the Italians to recapture the glory of the Roman empire

8. Renaissance Art

9. An example of Classical Art • Myron’s Discobolus • This statue depicts a man throwing a discus • Likely created as a celebration of an Olympic victory • Athletic skill was very important to the Greeks

10. An example of Classical Art • Shows the human form in perfect balance

11. Example of Medieval Art • Narthex Tympanum • This sculpture fits into an arch over the door of a church in France • It shows Jesus in the center surrounded by his apostles • The figures are not made to look realistic, the intention of the artist was to fit the space

12. Example of Renaissance Art • The School of Athens, Raphael • Decorated an entire wall of a room in the Pope’s palace in Rome • Depicts a gathering of the great thinkers of Ancient Greece • People are shown moving, talking, and interacting with one another

13. Example of Renaissance Art • Philosophers, Plato and Aristotle, are in the center • The painting shows the architecture of classical antiquity and uses perspective to create depth

14. “PERSPECTIVE” • Artists in the Renaissance introduce PERSPECTIVE • Mathematical concept • Based on observation that objects seem to get smaller as they move farther away

15. PERSPECTIVE • Useful in creating a realistic sense of depth

16. PERSPECTIVE • Used in drawings, paintings, theatrical scenery, etc. • Must be viewed “straight on” for effect

17. In your workbook . . . • . . . Open to p. 190 – 191

18. Artwork A • Filippo Lippi • Madonna and Child • with Two Angels • 1406 C.E.

19. Artwork B • Bathing Venus • Unknown Roman Artist • Third Century BCE

20. Artwork C • Primavera • Sandro Botticelli • 1482 CE

21. Artwork D • Madonna and Child in Majesty • Cimabue • 1280 CE

22. Artwork E • Grave Stele of Hegeso • Unknown Greek Artist • 400 BCE

23. Artwork F • Pieta • Michelangelo • 1475 CE

24. Italian Background • Major city centers • Venice: Republic ruled by oligarchy, Byzantine origins • Milan: Visconti and Sforza families • Florence (Tuscany): Republic ruled by the Medici • Papal States: Ruled by the Pope • Kingdom of Naples: King of Aragon

25. Italian Background • Florence • Medici's—family of physicians • Money in banking • Financed wool trade • Became defacto rulers of Florence

26. Italian Background • Cosimo de Medici • Advanced arts and education • Piero de Medici • Continued father’s artistic support • Lorenzo de Medici • Poet • Friend of Michelangelo • Rebuilt University of Pisa • Continued to invite scholars to Florence

27. Italian Background • Piero de Medici • Forced to make military and commercial concessions to King of France • Medici’s forced out of the city • Savonarola • Friar who decried money, power • Gained power in lower class, but lost pope’s support • Excommunicated and hung

28. Pico della Mirandola • Close friend of Lorenzo Medici • Brilliant and well educated • Wrote set of 900 theses to cover all knowledge • Believed human learning was based on basic truths • Wrote On Dignity of Man

29. Erasmus • The leading humanist of the age • Studied ancient languages • Translated New Testament • Criticized Martin Luther • …Free Will and Hyperaspistes • In Praise of Folly • Major work • Written in classical style • Discoursed on the foolishness and misguided pompousness of the world

30. “There are also those who think that there is nothing that they cannot obtain by relying on the magical prayers and charms thought up by some charlatan for the sake of his soul or for profit. Among the things they want are: wealth, honor, pleasure, plenty, perpetual good health, long life, a vigorous old age, and finally, a place next to Christ in heaven. However, they do not want that place until the last possible second; heavenly pleasures may come only when the pleasures of this life, hung onto with all possible tenacity, must finally depart. I can see some businessman, soldier, or judge taking one small coin from all his money and thinking that it will be proper expiation for all his perjury, lust, drunkenness, fighting, murder, fraud, lying and treachery. After doing this, he thinks he can start a new round of sinning with a new slate.” — Erasmus in Praise of Folly

31. Early Renaissance Sculpture

32. Ghiberti • Sculpture competition with Brunelleschi • Gates of Paradise

33. Gates of Paradise

34. “Sacrifice of Isaac” Panels Brunelleschi Ghiberti

35. David Saint George Donatello Mary Magdalene

36. Early Renaissance Architecture

37. Filippo Brunelleschi • Founded Renaissance style • Simple lines • Substantial walls • Structural elements not hidden

38. Filippo Brunelleschi • Il Duomo Cathedral’s dome (Florence)

39. Filippo Brunelleschi • Commissioned to build the cathedral dome • Use unique architectural concepts • Studied Pantheon • Used ribs for support • Structural elements have been copied on other buildings

40. Dome Comparison Il Duomo St. Peter’s St. Paul’s US capital (Florence) (Rome) (London)

41. "An innovator in countless other areas [besides the building of the dome of the Cathedral in Florence,] he [Filippo Brunelleschi] had also received, in 1421, the world's first ever patent for invention...for 'some machine or kind of ship, by means of which he thinks he can easily, at any time, bring in any merchandise and load on the river Arno and on any other river or water, for less money than usual.' Until this point no patent system existed to prevent an inventor's designs from being stolen and copied by others. This is the reason why ciphers were so widely used by scientists and also why Filippo was so reluctant to share the secrets of his inventions with others... The patent for invention was designed to remedy this situation... According to the terms of the patent, any boat copying its design, and thereby violating Filippo's monopoly, would be condemned to flames." – King, Ross, Brunelleschi's Dome, Penguin Books, 2000, p. 112.

42. Filippo Brunelleschi • Pazzi Palace Chapel • Compare to Gothic

43. Early Renaissance Art • What was different in the Renaissance: • Realism • Perspective • Classical (pagan) themes • Geometrical arrangement of figures • Light and shadowing (chiaroscuro) • Softening of edges (sfumato) • Backgrounds • Artist able to live from commissions

44. Masaccio • Realism and expression • The Expulsion from Paradise

45. Masaccio • Perspective • Tribute Money • Size of people diminishes with distance • Use of light, shadow and drama

46. Masaccio • Perspective (cont.) • The Holy Trinity with the Virgin and St. John • Geometry • Inscription: “What you are, I once was; what I am, you will become.”

47. Perspective

48. "The grand innovation that made Renaissance painters certain that theirs was the only right path for art was the laws of perspective. The discovery made them as proud as the men of letters after their discovery of the true path. For some Nature had been rediscovered; for the others, civilization had been restored. Perspective is based on the fact that we have two eyes. We therefore see objects as defined by two lines of sight that converge at a distance, the painter's 'vanishing point' on the horizon. Since those two lines form an acute angle, plane geometry can show the size and place that an object at any distance must be given to the painting to make it appear as if it looks in life... Hence the statement in an early Renaissance treatise that paining consists of three parts: drawing, measurement, and color. One of the uses of color is to create 'aerial perspective.' A light blue-gray makes distant objects in the painting look hazy, as they appear to the eye owing to the thickness of the atmosphere. Combined, the two perspectives create he illusion of depth, the three-dimensional 'reality' on a flat surface." – Barzun, Jacques, From Dawn to Decadence, Perennial, 2000, p73.

49. Sandro Botticelli • Pagan themes • La Primavera • The Birth of Venus • Attempt to depict perfect beauty

50. Classical Pose Medici Venus (1st century AD) Birth of Venus