The High Renaissance In Italy C.1450-C.1520

1. The High Renaissance In Italy C.1450-C.1520 “The Artist as Idea-Maker”

2. Both a culmination of the early Renaissance and a departure from it • Viewed the artist as a genius rather than a craftsman-creation rather than making • This caused the patrons of the Renaissance to spend vast amounts of money and the artists to devote a huge amount of time • Less concerned with rational order and more with visual effectiveness • New drama meant to engage the viewer • Six great masters of the Renaissance- did not trickle down past them (nobody tried to copy them) • Key monuments all produced between 1495 and 1520 • Leonardo Da Vinci- b. 1452 • 1482- went to work for the Duke of Milan as a military engineer

3. Very atmospheric, figures emerge from the background (sfumato) -makes the painting intimate • Do not know who the other figures are and its hard to place the symbolism but painting is very simple Leonardo Da Vinci, The Virgin of the Rocks c. 1485

4. Leonardo Da Vinci, The Last Supper, 1495-98 • First real statement of the ideals of the High Renaissance • Da Vinci experimented with fresco technique, using oil-tempera medium- began to deteriorate almost immediately • Extremely balanced, architecture has only supporting role-vanishing point is in the exact center, above Christ’s head, window serves as a halo • At the moment when Jesus has revealed a betrayal

5. Example of sfumato • Built up with layers of glazes • Psychological fascination with the sitter • Not many smiling portraits in the history of art (should remind you of archaic smile) • Both an ideal type and an individual portrait-perhaps a maternal tenderness Leonardo Da Vinci, Mona Lisa, 1503-5

6. Leonardo da Vinci, two drawings, c. 1490-1510 Created the modern scientific illustration

7. Marks site of St. Peter’s crucifixion in Rome • Meant to fit in a “molded” exterior space- a colonnaded courtyard- a novel idea • Directly recalls classical architecture • Monumental weight despite its small size Bramante, The Tempietto S. Pietro, 1502

8. Bramante, design for St. Peter’s Bramante’s Plan, St. Peter’s 1506 • During the papacy of Julius II, who decided to replace the old basilica-wanted to unite Italy under his command • Coin celebrates the beginning of the campaign, only proof of his design • “I shall place the Pantheon on top of the Basilica of Constantine” • Plan included a huge hemispherical dome over a Greek cross with four identical facades, no continuous surface inside- dwarfs the size of all other churches • Would have required concrete because of cost- not finished until Michelangelo redesigned it

9. -Michelangelo (1475-1564) -considered a genius by others and by himself-sometimes he thought of this as a curse -he thought that he should answer to no human because of his genius -sculptor first- only thing that satisfied him was to “liberate real three-dimensional bodies from recalcitrant matter”- kind of like God! -the human figure as the ultimate vehicle for expression linked him with the Greeks-all of his figures have Pathos -David commissioned in 1501 (he was 26!) Meant to be placed high on Florence Cathedral but moved to the center of Florence -Has pent up energy, action in repose, very unlike Donatello Had spent time in Rome studying Laocoon and other Hellenistic work Michelangelo, David 1501-4

10. Michelangelo,Rebellious Slave, 1513-16 -Part of Tomb of Julius II, a Vast number of sculptures that he was working on-would have been his greatest achievement-remained unfinished because of the Sistine Chapel Michelangelo, Dying Slave, 1513-16

11. -forced into working on this by the Pope (and Bramante!) -completed the entire thing in 4 years because he wanted to continue with the tomb -hundreds of figures within architectural framework -Scenes from Genesis, prophets-links Old and New Testament -subject matter probably picked by Michelangelo Sistine Chapel, 1508-12

12. Shows the passage of the divine spark Creation of Adam Bold, intense colors, life-like, modeled forms in the tradition of Massacio The Fall of Man

13. Michelangelo, The Campidoglio -during the last 30 years of his life, Michelangelo became obsessed with architecture -commissioned to redo Rome’s Capitoline Hill, the center of Ancient Rome -Completed long after his death -completely balanced symmetry -the square in the middle is a trapizoid- makes it look like a stage set

14. -very compact design -dome meant to come out from the building rather than top it (unlike Bramante) -verticality very important- similar to Florence Cathedral dome, but more sculptural -more sculptural in design Michelangelo, St. Peter’s 1546-64

15. Earlier Pieta Milan Pieta was his last work- very private, perhaps meant for his own tomb -groping for new forms, Medieval in nature Milan Pieta, 1555-64

16. -1483-1520 -opposite personality of Michelangelo, enjoyed equal fame -a complete success story-almost effortless -less of an innovator, more of a perfector -Madonna is calm, graceful, and meditative -sfumato, similar to the Mona Lisa Raphael, Madonna Del Granduca, 1505

17. Raphael, School of Athens, 1510-11 -Raphael was working at the Vatican at the same time as Michelangelo-in the Pope’s library- Frescos represented the liberal arts -This one is about philosophy- its considered Raphael’s masterpiece -he had probably seen the Sistine Chapel and was influenced by it -similar feel as the last supper- attention to the individual -architecture influenced by Bramante

18. -used human figures to create space -cheerfulness of Greek mythology is celebrated -similar compositionally to the Birth of Venus Raphael, Galatea, 1513

19. -had a talent for portraiture -did not flatter or idealize his subjects but makes the sitter looks powerful -The two men in the back are Medici, obviously seen as less important Raphael, Pope Leo X, 1518

20. -1488-1576 -only Venetian of the Renaissance Masters -very pagan painting -figures are joyous, like Raphael’s Galatea (influenced by Raphael’s engravings) -saw classical myths as part of the natural world, animated rather than statuesque Titian, Bacchanal, 1518

21. -very strange view -in a Renaissance architectural setting -every figure is in motion -sparking colors make this a happy painting but there is a hint of future action-foreboding Titian, Madonna with Members of the Pesaro Family, 1526

22. -Later work are full of light and color done with glazing -shapes emerge from semi-darkness -heavy impasto -scene of serenity Titian, Pieta, 1577