1. High Renaissance
Sponsored by the popes and cardinals who vowed to transform Rome
Michelangelo’s ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
Brmante’s Tempietto and basilica for Saint Peter
Raphael’s frescoes for the Stanza della Segnatura
Josquin des Prez’s Pangue Lingua –polyphonic work, sang a cappella by the Sistine Chapel Choir
Humanistic ideals of the age
Aspiring to the standards of classical beauty

2. Leonardo da Vinci, Vitruvian Man, 1485.
Vitruvius – the circle and the square are the ideal shapes
Perfect shapes originate from the human body; they mirror the symmetry of the body

3. Rome at the Beginning of the 15th Century
In the early 15th century, Rome seemed a pitiful place. Its population had shrunk from around 1 million in 100 CE to under 20,000 as the result of the Black Death
The ancient Colosseum was now in the countryside, the Forum was a pasture for goats and cattle, and the aqueducts had collapsed
The popes had even abandoned the city when in 1309 Avignon was established as the seat of the Church. When Rome reestablished itself as the titular seat of the Church in 1379, succeeding popes rarely chose to visit the city, let alone live in it

4. Anonymous, View of Rome Oil on canvas, ca. 1550

5. Donato Bramante, Tempietto 1502
Bramante’s Tempietto (Little Temple), built directly over what was revered as the site of Saint Peter’s Martyrdom, is modeled after a classical temple
The 16 exterior columns are Doric, their shafts original ancient Roman granite columns
Diameter of the shaft defines the entire plan. Each shaft is spaced four diameters from the next, and the colonnade they form is two diameters from the circular walls

6. Bramante, Tempietto, 1502 Embodiment of Italian humanist architecture
Site of Saint Peter’s martyrdom
Modeled on a classical temple

7. Michelangelo, David Marble, 17' 13", 1501-04
Michelangelo represents David before, not after, his triumph, confident, ready to take on whatever challenge faces him
Each night, as workers installed the statue in the Piazza della Signoria, supporters of the exiled Medici hurled stones at it
Others objected to the statue’s nudity, and before it was even in place, a skirt of copper leaves was prepared to spare the general public any possible offense

8. Michelangelo, David, 1501, Florence
David – before his triumph, confident to take on any challenge
The fate of David underscores the political and moral turbulence of the times.

9. Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel
While working on Julius II’s tomb, Michelangelo was commanded by Julius to paint the 45- by 128-foot ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. At first he refused, but in 1508 he reconsidered and began the task
Michelangelo designed an ambitious plan—nine scenes from Genesis, surrounded by prophets, Sibyls, the ancestors of Christ, and other scenes, narrating events before the coming of the law of Moses
To paint the ceiling, Michelangelo had to construct a scaffold that moved down the chapel from the entrance to the altar. Thus, the first frescoes painted were the Noah group, and the last, the Creation

10. Sistine Chapel Ceiling Fresco, 45'  128', 1508-12

11. Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel ceiling, Vatican, Rome, 1508-1512.
Nine scenes from Genesis – before the law of Moses
Symbol of acorn – to symbolize the pope’s patronage
Ignudi
Bronze shields
Creation, Adam and Eve, Noah
Center – Creation of Eve
Before the knowledge of good and evil
Drunkenness of noah

12. Creation of Adam
With the Creation of Eve serving as the center panel, Michelangelo planned the ceiling as a pairing of opposites, with the scenes before Eve representing Creation before the knowledge of good and evil entered the world, and everything after her showing the early history of fallen mankind
In the Creation of Adam, Adam is lethargic, passive; God flies through the skies carrying behind him a bulging red drapery that suggests both the womb and the brain, creativity and reason
Adam, father of humankind, and God the Father are posed along parallel diagonals, and their right legs are in nearly identical positions. The fluttering green ribbon in God’s space echoes the colors of the earth upon which Adam lies

13. Michelangelo, Creation of Adam, Sistine Chapel, Rome
Tension between spiritual and material
Adam –earthbound
God –red drapery –suggests womb, brain, creativity, and reason
Eve –prefigures the Virgin
Child –Christ
God’s finger touches Adam – infuse with energy

14. Michelangelo, Creation of Adam Sistine Chapel, Vatican, Rome, 1510

15. Michelangelo, Libyan Sibyl Michelangelo, Studies for the Libyan Sibyl
Fresco, 1512
Michelangelo, Studies for the Libyan Sibyl
Red Chalk, 11-3/8"  8-7/26", ca. 1520
A virtuoso display of technique mastery, the Libyan Sibyl underwent dramatic changes between Michelangelo’s preliminary sketches and the final painting.

16. Michelangelo, Studies for the Libyan Sibyl

17. Michelangelo, Lybian Sybil

18. Raphael
As Michelangelo was beginning work on the Sistine ceiling, the young painter Raphael arrived in Rome and quickly secured a commission from Julius II to paint the pope’s private rooms in the Vatican Palace
The first of these rooms was the Stanza della Segnature, Room of the Signature, which Julius used as a library
On each of the four walls Raphael was to paint one of the four major areas of human learning: Law and Justice, to be represented by the Cardinal Virtues; the Arts, to be represented by Mount Parnassus; Theology, to be represented by the Disputà, or Dispute over the Sacrament; and Philosophy, to be represented by the School of Athens. Two scenes had classical themes, the other two Christian

19. Raphael, School of Athens Fresco, 19'  27', 1510-11

20. Raphael, Pope Leo X with Cardinals Giulio de’ Medici and Luigi de’ Rossi Panel, 60½"  47", 1517
After Julius died in 1513, the new pope, Leo X, son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, quickly hired Raphael for other commissions
His portrait of Leo suggests a new direction in Raphael’s art. The lighting is more somber, and there is greater emphasis on the material reality of the scene
The painting creates a sense of drama, as if the viewer is witness to an important historical moment

21. Raphael, Pope Leo X with Cardinals, 1517, Florence
Illuminated manuscript – naturalistic
3 figures look in different directions
Brass knob –reflects the room
1517 papacy faced problems –Martin luther’s 95 Theses

22. Michelangelo, Laurentian Library Staircase Designed beginning 1524; completed 1559
Michelangelo’s most original contribution to the library, which was designed to house the Medici’s book collection, is the large triple stairway
The cascading waterfall effect suggests that Michelangelo was becoming increasingly interested in exploring realms of the imagination beyond the humanist vision of a rational world governed by structural logic

23. Santi di Tito, Niccolò Machiavelli ca. 1510
A humanist scholar, Machiavelli ( ) had studied the behavior of ancient Roman rulers and citizens at great length
In 1512, Machiavelli was dismissed from his post as second chancellor, wrongfully accused of being involved in a plot to overthrow the new heads of state, imprisoned, tortured, and finally exiled permanently to a country home in the hills above Florence
There, beginning in 1513, he wrote The Prince, his essay on political power

24. The High Renaissance in Venice
Of all the Italian cities, Venice alone could claim invincibility because it possessed the natural fortification of being surrounded on all sides by water
Venice considered itself blessed by Saint Mark, whose relics resided in the cathedral of Saint Mark’s
A center of fashion, Venice provided the continent with satins, velvets, and brocades
During the Renaissance, an elaborate, sensuous style of architecture would develop in Venice

25. View of the Doge’s Palace, with Saint Mark’s Cathedral to the Left

26. Carpaccio, Lion of Saint Mark, 1516, Venice
Venice considered itself blessed by Saint Mark, whose relics resided in the cathedral of Saint Mark

27. Masters of the Venetian High Renaissance: Giorgione and Titian
The two great masters of painting in the Venetian High Renaissance were Giorgione da Castelfranco, known simply as Giorgione (ca ), and Tiziano Vecelli, known as Titian (ca )
Giorgione especially had been inspired by Leonardo’s visit to Venice in As did Leonardo in his landscapes, Giorgione and Titian built up color on their canvases by means of glazing
Their paintings, like the great palaces of Venice whose reflections shimmered on the Grand Canal, demonstrate an exquisite sensitivity to the play of light and shadow, to the luxurious display of detail and design, and to an opulent variety of pattern and texture

28. Giorgione, Tempest Oil on canvas, 31¼"  28¾", ca. 1509
Nothing about this painting could be called controlled. The landscape is overgrown and weedy—just as the man and woman are disheveled and disrobed
Lightning has revealed to the viewer a scene not meant to be witnessed
Sensuality, even outright sexuality, would become a primary subject of Venetian art

29. Giorgone, Tempest, 1509 Mysterious quality, atmospheric painting
Almost nude young woman, German mercenary soldier
Pediment topped with two broken columns

30. Pastoral Concert
A harmony of opposites: male and female, clothed and nude, the nobleman and the peasant, court music and folk song, city and country, and so on
Musical instruments (the lute and the flute)—metaphors for parts of male and female anatomy, a usage common in both the art and the literature of the period
Narrative presents a purposefully mysterious dream world, giving the viewer’s imagination the freedom to play

31. Giorgone, pastoral Concert, 1510
Sensuality
Men are fully clothed
Venetian nobleman, peasant garb
Instruments -metaphors

32. Titian, Sacred and Profane love, 1514
Lamp –divine light
Neoplatonic ideal of the celestial Venus and sacred love

33. Titian, Sacred and Profane Love Oil on canvas, 46½"  109-7/8", ca
Two female figures—nude is sacred love and luxuriously clothed is earthly or profane love—probably represent two aspects of the same woman.

34. Titian, Reclining Nude, 1538
Venus of Urbino –more like a woman than an ethereal goddess

35. Titian, Reclining Nude (Venus of Urbino) Oil on canvas, 47"  65", ca
More real woman than ethereal goddess, this “Venus” stares out at the viewer with matter-of-factness, suggesting she is totally comfortable with her nudity.