1. The Art
of the
Italian Renaissance

2. In the Renaissance a new philosophy, HUMANISM, emphasized:
1. INDIVIDUALISM: glorifying potential, talents and accomplishments of individual human beings.
2. CLASSICISM: Re-discovery and appreciation of ancient Greek & Roman culture
3. SECULARISM: emphasis on this world (the “here & now”) and its material pleasures rather than the afterlife (“hereafter”) or spiritual world.

3. 1. From Medieval Artistic Expression to Humanism
Hieratic Scale
1. From Medieval Artistic Expression to Humanism
Halo signifies they are residents of heaven
This is a very early example of Renaissance painting, containing many of the characteristics of paintings from the Middle Ages. The halos around the heads of the figures in the painting signal that they are residents of heaven. The pairs of saints and angels around the upper border of the painting are smaller than the Madonna and child in the center. This is called hieratic scale, which means making the most important figures in a work of art larger than less important figures.
Jacopa di Cione Madonna and Child in Glory 1360/65 Tempera and gold on panel

4. Gold background symbolized Holy Heaven
It was common during the Middle Ages for artists to use gold backgrounds to symbolize the holy atmosphere of heaven but artists in the Renaissance were less interested in heaven and much more interested in what the world around them looked like.
Does St. Martin of Tours wear a halo?
Does this artist used Hieratic scale. Where? Why?
Where are the figures in this painting? Do their surroundings look true to life? Why or why not?
Franconian School Miraculous Mass of St. Martin of Tours about Tempera and gold on canvas on panel

5. differ from the previous paintings? Is the landscape
How do the halo’s
differ from the previous paintings?
Is the landscape
Heavenly or earthly?
Do these figures wear halos? How do they differ from the halos the students saw in the first painting? Describe the landscape surrounding these figures. Is the landscape heavenly or earthly?
Renaissance interests changed from studying religion to studying natural sciences and human nature, the paintings created during the Renaissance changed too. In this painting, the holy family of the Madonna and baby Jesus with St. John live in the same world as ordinary people.
This painting is made with oil paint, invented during the Renaissance. Oil paint allowed artists to build up layers of paint that light could shine through, and allowed artists to represent light in a more believable way.
Guiliano Bugiardini Madonna and Child with St. John 1523/1525 Oil on panel

6. Giovanni Agostino da Lodi Adoration of the Shepherds About 1505
Hieratic Scale?
Halos?
This painting, made a little later than the others, shows the holy family of Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus, with shepherds on each side of the painting and an angel playing a lute at the center.
Did this artist has used hieratic scale. Why or why not? Can you see any halos?
Giovanni Agostino da Lodi Adoration of the Shepherds About 1505

7. Adoration of the Magi 1550/60 Oil on oak panel
Accurate Perspective
Buildings true
to life?
Examine the buildings in the background very carefully. Do they look true to life? Why or why not?
Mathematical formulas that allowed artists to represent space in paintings in a very believable way were invented during the Renaissance. This is called accurate perspective.
Compare the perspective in this painting with the perspective you saw in the earlier painting Miraculous Mass of St. Martin of Tours (Franconian School). Which looks more true to life? Why?
Can you find any halos in the Adoration of the Magi painting? Is there any hieratic scale at work? Where is there landscape in this painting? Did the artist use oil paint or tempera? Can you tell which figures are ordinary people in this painting and which are saints?
Renaissance artists represented the interests in the culture they worked in and the saints, heaven and the church began to be a part of everyday life, quite literally as this painting shows.
Adoration of the Magi 1550/60 Oil on oak panel

8. Annibale Carracci Bean Eater 1582/83 Italian, 1560-1609 Oil on canvas
Is this man
a Saint?
Ordinary people became worthy subjects for works of art.
While religious subjects remained popular during the Renaissance, for the first time in art history ordinary people also became worthy subjects for works of art.
Can you tell if the man in the painting is a saint? Is this painting an oil painting? How can you tell?
Annibale Carracci Bean Eater 1582/83 Italian, Oil on canvas

9. 2. Realism & Expression Expulsion from the Garden Masaccio 1427
First nudes since classical times.

10. 3. Perspective First use of linear perspective! The Trinity Masaccio
1427
First use of linear perspective!
What you are, I once was; what I am, you will become.

11. The Last Supper - da Vinci, 1498
vertical
horizontal
Perspective!

12. 4. Emphasis on the Individual Isabella d’Este – da Vinci, 1499
“First Lady of the Italian Renaissance.”
Great patroness of the arts in Mantua.
Known during her time as “First Lady of the World!”

13. 5. Geometrical Arrangement of Figures
The Dreyfuss Madonna with the Pomegranate
Leonardo da Vinci
1469
The figure as architecture!

14. The Last Supper - da Vinci, 1498 & Geometry

15. Here’s Michelangelo’s famous sculpture, the Pieta, 1499
The Pieta is another common theme in Catholic art, just like the Madonna and Child
What is being depicted here?

16. But these are still religious works
Renaissance Europe is still a very religious society
Madonna of the Carnation –
daVinci,
The Church is still a major power & art patron
But the art is now done in a realistic style by professionally trained artists, not untrained monks

17. To summarize: Art changed… from egg tempura to oil,
from panels to canvas,
from hieratic scale to perspective,
From heavenly to earthly landscapes
from halos and religious figures to human realism
And Renaissance art is broken into 3 phases → early, high and late

18. The Arnolfini Marriage
Jan van Eyck – Flemish
1434
Example of Northern Renaissance Art
One of earliest works to use oil – allowed for layering and thereby more realistically capture light and shadow
As well, it depicts a civil marriage (in a home, not a church), lots of marital symbolism i.e. dog = fido = fidelity
Can’t see it but mirror shows a lot of detail , second couple who act as witnesses…

19. The Seven Sorrows of the Virgin
Albrecht Durer – Germany
1497
Northern Renaissance

20. Madonna and Child
Raphael – Italy
1504

22. Details from Sistine Chapel 1508-1512
Michelangelo
Details from Sistine Chapel

23. Leonardo da Vinci – Italy
The Last Supper
Leonardo da Vinci – Italy

24. da Vinci
Mona Lisa

25. The Surgeon – Jan Sanders van Hemessen 1555
Late Renaissance – full realism, ordinary people, secular, perspective
The Surgeon – Jan Sanders van Hemessen