High Renaissance
16th Century
Characteristics of the Period
Effects of Protestant Reformation and Counter-Reformation on the Church
Major art commissions by the Church and popes
15th-century developments matured
Visual arts acquired elevated prestige
Artists claimed divine inspiration
Creation of a new profession with its own rights of expression
Architecture
Michelangelo (1475-1564)
Saint Peter’s Basilica, Vatican, Rome, ca. 1546-64
Above: Bramante’s original Greek-cross design, 1506
Reworked by Raphael and others into a Latin-cross plan
Below: Michelangelo’s Greek-cross plan
(Later, in 1606, remodeled: nave extended and façade added by Carlo Maderno)
Saint Peter’s Basilica
Michelangelo’s design continues the tradition of domed, round martyria (shrine housing a saint’s relics)
Central plan and dome symbolized the perfection of God
Classical elements assembled into a new statement
Study of ancient models
Sculptural effect of architectural forms
Light defines rich wall articulations
Balance and harmony
High Renaissance cf. Early Renaissance
Painting
Leonardo (1452-1520)
Last Supper, ca. 1495-98
Refectory, Santa Maria della Grazie, Milan
Experimental technique: oil and tempera on dry intonaco (thin layer of dry plaster)
Leonardo left Florence in 1481 to offer his services to the Duke of Milan
Last Supper
Subject
Jesus’s meal with his disciples celebrating Passover; he reveals that one of them will betray him
Departs from traditional iconography
Last Supper
Subject
Left: Ghirlandaio, Last Supper, late 15th c.
Right: Andrea del Castagno, Last Supper, 1447
Composition
Last Supper
Linear (scientific) perspective
Unity of psychological and perspective focus
Sacrifices traditional iconography to pictorial and dramatic elements
Symbolic units of three
Eliminates overt symbolism
Monumentality, movement, mathematically ordered space are all harmonized
Last Supper
Significance
First classic work of the High Renaissance
Mona Lisa, ca. 1503-05
Oil on wood, 30 x 21"
Subject: portrait
Mona Lisa
Composition
Solid pyramidal form against mysterious background landscape
Geometric forms
Were thought to correspond to the structure of the cosmos (Platonic philosophy)
Mona Lisa
Style and Techniques
Sfumato (blurred outline created by thin, slightly tinted varnishes)
Chiaroscuro (modeling in light and shadow)
Colors muted
Emphasis on structural volume
Italian Renaissance
Development of Portraiture
Painting
Raphael (1483-1520)
School of Athens, 1509-11
Fresco, Stanza della Signatura, Vatican, 19’ x 27’
Location is the Library, Papal Residence
School of Athens
Subject and Setting
Subject: assembly of the great philosophers and scientists of the ancient world
Many depicted as portraits of contemporary artists (Bramante, Michelangelo, Leonardo, self-portrait)
Setting: vaults and dome, resembles Bramante’s design for new Saint Peter’s Basilica
School of Athens
Composition
Framed by tromp l’oeil (fools the eye) arch with Greek key pattern
Symmetry, order
Clear light from a single source
Colors muted
"Sculptural" volumes emphasized
Dramatic unity
Comparison
Painting
Michelangelo (1475-1564)
Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Rome, 1508-12
Fresco, 45’ x 138’
Subject: The Three Origins
World
Humankind
Sin
Pagan and Christian traditions joined
Simple, harmonious 300-figure composition
The Creation of Adam
Sistine Ceiling
Creation of a dramatic moment
Gestures express emotion
Body seen as a manifestation of the soul
Sculpturesque modeling in light and shadow
Sculpture
Michelangelo
Pieta, 1498-1500
Marble, 5’8" high
Subject: Mary mourning the dead Christ
Common in French and German medieval sculpture, rare in Italian art
French patron
Comparison
Pieta
Humanism: scale differentiation to emphasize the relationship of mother and child
Spirituality expressed through beauty and youth
Emotion expressed through subtle means
David, 1501-04
Marble, 14’3" high
Created for plaza in front of Florence city hall
Two Davids
David
Monumental nude (first monumental nude since Antiquity)
Contrapposto
Humanism, emotion expressed
Proportions not harmonious or ideal (vs. Greeks, Romans)
Dramatic complexity
Poised at the moment before action and triumph
Painting in Venice, 16th Century
Titian (ca. 1490-1576)
Madonna of the Pesaro Family, 1519-26
Oil on canvas, 16’ x 9’
Subject: sacred conversation (saints and religious figures of different eras depicted as existing in the same time and place)
Madonna of the Pesaro Family
Dynamic diagonal composition
Rich color
Ambiguous space
Movement
Comparison
Raphael and Titian Madonnas
Venus of Urbino, 1538
Oil on canvas, 48 x 66"
"Venus" figure: woman as embodiment of beauty and object of pleasure
Theme of love emphasized through symbols
Venus of Urbino
Ingenious, clearly ordered composition
Reclining figure with pendant (balancing) figure
Rich colors