*Lesson adapted from MET resource package

The Florentines The Florentines of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries characterized their times as a period of reawakening to the ideals and achievements of classical Rome, which they felt had been ignored for a thousand years, since the fall of the Roman Empire. In 1492, Marsilio Ficino (1433–1499), a Florentine philosopher, wrote: “This century, like a golden age, has restored to light the liberal arts, which were almost extinct....”

Giotto In 1550, Giorgio Vasari (1511–1574), the Florentine painter, biographer, and art historian claimed in his book Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors and Architects that visual art was reborn with the painter Giotto. Giotto, who also was inspired by Roman ideals, initiated a more human artistic vision that reached its high point with Michelangelo.

Humanist Connection Humanism, the underlying philosophy of this period, often is summarized in a quotation from the Greek philosopher Protagoras (ca. 485–410 B.C.): “Man is the measure of all things.” “Humanism” refers not only to the revival and publication of classical Greek and Latin texts but to new works of art modeled on classical Greek and Roman sculpture, painting, architecture, literature, and music. The Renaissance humanist authors imitated the style of great Ro m a n writers like Cicero, just as the artists studied and emulated ancient sculptors and architects. While medieval scholars had interpreted classical texts to clarify Christian theology, (for example, Thomas Aquinas’s reading of Aristotle), the authors and artists of the Renaissance took classical works as philosophical models of reason, intelligence, and taste to be applied in the material world.

Three Categories Following are three major categories, each defined by the approach to subject matter in Renaissance works of art: 1. NA R R AT I V E Alberti believed that istoria, the story or narrative, was the most important approach for the painter. The subject of the Renaissance story could be religious or secular. For example, altarpieces might depict the lives of Mary or Christ, or mythological stories might decorate household objects and furniture.

Three Categories 2. PORTRAITURE The human face, both realistic and ideal, was another important subject for the painter and sculptor. Portraits could serve commemorative functions, such as celebrating a marriage, a birth, or recording a face from a death mask.

Three Categories 3. LA N D S C A P E Landscapes often were used as background, in portraits and narrative paintings or relief sculpture. While landscape was rarely the main subject of a work of art, it was an important component of northern European painting.

The Human Figure With the rediscovery of classical figurative sculpture, including the nude of the pre-Christian world, artists began to look at the human figure as an object of aesthetic beauty in its own right. Realistic representation became important once more.

Perspective Renaissance paintings invite the viewer to look into habitable spaces where religious and mythological events occur and where life is chronicled through the observation of detail. Artists in both northern and southern Europe shared a belief in the power of observation and in the verity of what is seen by the eye.

Perspective Activity Go to the following website and complete the interactive activity about perspective (

Perspective continued Linear one-point perspective is based on a mathematical system with a fixed viewpoint Alberti was one of the artists who developed its underlying geometry. He describes the picture plane as an open window: “I first draw a rectangle of right angles, where I am to paint, which I treat just like an open window through which I might look.”This system guides the viewer’s eye through the picture plane to the focal point or vanishing point

The Davids Donato Donatello’s “David”

The Davids Michelangelo’s “David”

Side note... Last summer, Okuizumo town in western Shimane Prefecture, a location of less than 15,000 residents, received a replica of Michelangelo’s sculpture David, with some of the locals asking now for the naked work of art to wear pants. The city received a five-meter tall replica of Italian artist Michelangelo’s sculpture David, made during Renaissance, as well as a replica of Greek masterpiece Venus de Milo, both of them as donations coming from a businessman who used to live in the area. The statues were placed in a large public park, where there are also a full-size running track, a baseball stadium, tennis courts, a mountain bike course and a play area for children.

Back to the Art Sandro Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus”

Sandro Botticelli “Primavera”

Couldn’t forget these... Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa”

Da Vinci “The Last Supper”

Michelangelo “The Creation of Adam” Sistine Chapel Ceiling

So What Was the Big Deal? Renaissance artists were expressing their feelings about the place of humanity in the world Revival of classicism Artists began to receive praise that was once reserved for poets and philosophers Began modern notion of art as representative of world external to us, depicting the human condition Renaissance artwork is alluded to, even in present day

Renaissance Art and the Present