Sandro Botticelli (Florence ) The Ancient Myth : La Primavera (1477-8) A Humanist Venus, at the center of the composition, is the allegory of Goodness, Love as Culture and Civilization Zephir on the right, blows, giving Clori, the Nymph, the gift of creating flowers She is transformed in Flora, La Primavera, queen of flowers On the left Mercury (Greek Hermes), recognized by his symbolic wand and his winged sandals The three female figures are the Graces, who follow Venus. In Greek mythology, Spring was dedicated to them Above flies Cupid, god of Love, shooting an arrow to one of the Graces The setting is an idealized Nature, where flowers and fruits are present at the same time
The composition is based on a central view of which Venus is the focal point The groupings are at each side of her figure The curving of the branches forms a green niche around the goddess The lines of the composition depart from her figure, presented as the world’s most powerful force: Love, Beauty and Virtue, fundamental Humanist values Botticelli uses a masterly flow of lines. Lines, which envelops and veil the human body, are the instrument of the artist’s expression
The Portrait Benozzo Gozzoli ( ) Il corteo dei Magi Most refined example of political propaganda The young Lorenzo is the protagonist Lorenzo looks directly into the viewer’s eye In the Renaissance perceptive code this is typical of the portrait: it expresses the “ego” the will power and the strong personality
Leonardo da Vinci (Vinci Cioux1519) Artist and scientist, tended both to the understanding of reality and to the fantastic transformation of scientific observations Passionate explorer of Nature, he studied the way light affects the environment, the human figure and the landscape THE AEREAL PERSPECTIVE The Renaissance artist preferred to locate his figure within an architectural space. Leonardo discovers the Atmospheric Effect It is an impalpable element, made of light, air, color, humidity that is evident in the natural, open space Leonardo locates his figures in an open landscape or in front of open windows Realizes the illusion of depth through the interplay of light and shade, and through a gradual chiaroscuro present at all planes of the composition
La Vergine delle Rocce Realized for Ludovico il Moro (Milan) The figures of Jesus, Mary and little Saint John are located in an unusual space: a grotto Aim of Leonardo was to represent a pristine natural environment of which the human figure would be an integral part The architecture is formed by the rocks, stalactites and stalagmites, while on the ground a selection of carefully painted plants (that Leonardo had included in his botanical studies) The composition forms an ideal pyramid with its peak above the Madonna’s head The chiaroscuro informs the entire composition: the Sfumato It consists of a plastic relief of the bodies that he obtains, delicately, by eliminating the hard contours, and by diffusing the form in the atmosphere
The ideal of beauty for Leonardo is not the vivid light that sculpts the forms, but the softness of shade, the diffusing effect that caresses and veils them The message does not have a religious content He does not tell a religious story to educate He expresses his artistic vision of the world, in which, man, nature, sacred and mundane are one In the natural environment plants and Nature emerge from the shadows, feebly illuminated by a soft light The rocks dissolve in the background in the pure lightness of the air The rocky space is irregular, an antithesis to the clear and regular spaces of the Quattrocento paintings