BELL RINGER – 9/17 m.socrative.com – Room 38178 OR Bell

Ringer Card

QUESTION: Short Answer The word “Renaissance” translates

to... If you know the answer, put what you know. If you’re not sure, take a guess. Today, as long

as you HAVE an answer, you’ll get the points I do NOT have your binder grades added up or in the gradebook yet. They HAVE all been checked, the scores just need to be tallied. With my surgery and the conference yesterday I just haven’t gotten to them yet. You will DEFINITELY have them by the end of the week – sorry for the delay! Most of them were GREAT!

INTRODUCTION TO THE RENAISSANCE

INTRODUCTION TO THE RENAISSANCE Renaissance = “rebirth”

Rebirth of our understanding of ourselves as social and creative beings

Florence, the crucible of the Italian Renaissance, was called the “New Athens” Liberal arts were first redefined as art – not

“craft” as they were in the Middle Ages

INTRODUCTION TO THE RENAISSANCE Arts became an essential part of

learning

Artists, architects, composers, and writers gained confidence from their new status and from the technical mastery they were achieving

It seemed possible to surpass the works of the classical world

INTRODUCTION TO THE RENAISSANCE Renaissance describes a new sense of

self and self-awareness

Where and how the Renaissance began, and what specifically it was, is as difficult as answering the question of where and how it ended – if it ended at all!

INTRODUCTION TO THE RENAISSANCE The rebirth of ideas began in the 1400s

after centuries of stagnation

In Italy, there was a new spirit of inquiry and understanding – the classical world of Greece and Rome again became the inspiration for a superior civilization

INTRODUCTION TO THE RENAISSANCE The Renaissance was really 3 periods,

each with its own circumstances and characteristics Early Renaissance – in Florence High Renaissance – in Rome and Venice Late Renaissance – occurred outside Italy

in the northern European states.

THE EARLY RENAISSANCE Florence, Italy

Men and women felt they had found kindred spirits in the Greeks and Romans

The Greeks gave an idealized model of humankind that could be expressed in painting and sculpture

Ideas of nobility, intellect, and physical perfection led to new conceptions of what constituted beauty

ANTIQUITY Scholars pursued an understanding of classical art and

architecture They became enamored with measuring things

Scientific curiosity and concern for detail led to a fascination with anatomy

Scientific investigation led to a new system of mechanical perspective

All this measuring and codifying produced a set of rules for proportion and balance Unity, form, and perfect proportion were codified as a set of laws

THE PAPAL STATES Papal States: large area of central Italy

Middle of 15th century

The Renaissance popes expended great time, wealth, and energy in consolidating the Papal States Often included diplomacy and war Filled papal offices with loyal relatives

The Renaissance popes were great patrons of Renaissance artists and ideas

THE PAPAL STATES Benefits from the Renaissance popes were

mostly in worldly realms as opposed to spiritual

Vatican Library: filled with priceless manuscripts, brought major scholars to Rome, and supported research

Rome became one of the most beautiful cities of the world

EARLY RENAISSANCE ARTPainting

EARLY RENAISSANCE PAINTING CHARACTERISTICS

Highly realistic linear perspective

Treated paintings as a window into space Paintings will appear deep

Painters used realistic light, shadow, and, most of all, human anatomy

Desire to depict the beauty of nature and human form

MASACCIO (MAH-ZAH-COH) 1401-1429 (died of malaria)

Employs deep space and rational perspective in his figures Was one of the first to give us perspective

Fresco: technique of painting on a moist, plaster surface with colors ground up in water Common throughout the Renaissance (along with some

tempera panels)

Summoned in 1425 to create a series of frescoes for the Brancacci Chapel of the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence (religion supporting the arts)

MASACCIO Deep perspective is used to create

dramatic contrasts – gives solidity to the figures and unifies the paintings

Figures are strong, detailed, and very human

Compositions carefully hold the parts of the painting subordinate to the whole.

MASACCIO – THE HOLY TRINITY

MASACCIO – THE HOLY TRINITY Full frontal, single vanishing point

perspective Things get smaller as they approach

the vanishing point

Precise anatomical detail and accuracy

Places the crucified Christ at the center Similar to medieval artwork

The barrel vault recedes dramatically creating deep space, as if we were gazing up into 3-dimensional space

FRA ANGELICO (AHN-JAY-LEE-KOH) 1400-1455

Became an accomplished painter before taking vows in the Dominican Order

Numerous works

Took things one step further than Massacio

FRA ANGELICO - ANNUNCIATION

FRA ANGELICO - ANNUNCIATION An Angel comes

to Mary

Divides the canvas into thirds

The arches occupy two-thirds of the work

The rest is the receding arcade

FRA ANGELICO - ANNUNCIATION The Angel’s

words are printed to appear to come out of his mouth

Mary’s response is written upside down so that it must be read from Mary toward the angel

FRA ANGELICO - ANNUNCIATION Angelico’s figures

are 3D, though only slightly

Highlight and shadow contrasts are minimum, but there

Deep space – arcade recedes to a vanishing point on an imagined horizon

LATE 15TH CENTURY The essences of new art were well known and

well established, and it was now time for further exploration in other avenues

Lyrical expression, more poetic than anything thus far Up to this point EVERYTHING was done for the church

Botticelli – 1445-1510 The first major Renaissance artist to venture back

into the stories of the Greek and Roman Gods Our first “secular” artist

BOTTICELLI – LA PRIMAVERA

BOTTICELLI – LA PRIMAVERA Unconcerned

with deep space

Forms emerge through outline

Subjects carry their own emotion: contemplation, sadness or happiness

BOTTICELLI – LA PRIMAVERA Human, but

mythical

Anatomically quite simple, but realistic

Little detailed musculature Mostly covered

by clothing

3D figures, but seem to be floating in space

BOTTICELLI – THE BIRTH OF VENUS

BOTTICELLI – THE BIRTH OF VENUS Depicts the

mythical birth of Venus from the sea

Symbolizes the birth of beauty in the minds of humankind with ideas fertilized by divinity

BOTTICELLI – THE BIRTH OF VENUS Weight

seems to be suspended not in or even on the shell, rather held in place almost magically by unseen forces

Wind god blows her to shore

BOTTICELLI – THE BIRTH OF VENUS Some deep

space

Realistic anatomy, muscular details

Realistic light and shading

EARLY RENAISSANCE ARTSCULPTURE AND ARCHITECTURE

SCULPTURE Freestanding sculpture is dominant

Scientific inquiry and an interest in anatomy are reflected Obsessed with measuring things – new rules for proportion

The nude, full of character and charged with energy, reappears for the first time since ancient times As you saw in Botticelli’s “Birth of Venus”

Human form was approached layer by layer, through an understanding of its skeletal and muscular framework Even when clothed, sculpture revealed the body under the

surface

DONATELLO 1386-1466

Saw life and reality in terms much different from his predecessors and contemporaries

Was fascinated by the optical qualities of form and by the intense inner life of his subjects

Amazingly dramatic and forceful works

DONATELLO’S DAVID The first freestanding nude

since ancient times His most famous work!

Partially clothed – boots, helmet

Facial expression reflects a lifelike human quality

Asymmetrical stance

Symbolizes Christ’s triumph over Satan (David’s triumph over Goliath)

DAVID

He stands on Goliath’s head

DONATELLO’S DAVID Clear muscular detail

Individual pose and emotion

Correct proportions/anatomy

Filled with action and strength

MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH Another major breakthrough of Renaissance art

came in the discovery of principles for depicting perspective mechanically and naturalistically

Produces a visually convincing and attractive means of depicting objects in space

Subjects will have qualities that give them a relationship to the distant horizon

GHIBERTI’S THE GATES OF PARADISE

East doors of the Florence Baptistery

GHIBERTI’S THE GATES OF PARADISE

GHIBERTI’S THE GATES OF PARADISE

GHIBERTI’S THE GATES OF PARADISE

GHIBERTI’S THE GATES OF PARADISE

GHIBERTI’S THE GATE’S OF PARADISE

Commissioned in 1425

Bears 10 scenes

Ghiberti freely uses each as if it were the canvas of a painting

Perspective is employed to give sculpture a totally new sense of deep space

GHIBERTI’S THE GATE’S OF PARADISE Each panel depicts

an incident from the Old Testament

Scenes take on remarkable senses of space

The Story of Jacob and Esau -->

GHIBERTI’S THE STORY OF JACOB AND ESAU

Beautiful surfaces are created with delicate and careful exact detail

Receding arcades to portray depth and perspective

Took Ghiberti 21 years to complete the entire gates

ARCHITECTURE Architects became concerned with reviving

classical models, but did so along mechanical lines Measured ruins of Roman buildings and translated

proportions to Renaissance buildings

Renaissance architects applied classical detail to a wide range of forms and structures

Radical change in the outer expression of structure Supporting elements, (such as posts, masonry, and

arches) are hidden from view.

FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI’S DOME OF THE CATHEDRAL OF FLORENCE

Brunelleschi spent 3 years completing a model

Was hired after the overall plan of the cathedral was already in place (and built) – could not be changed

Plan included an octagonal base for the dome itself

FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI’S DOME OF THE CATHEDRAL OF FLORENCE

Eight massive ribs, like the spokes of an umbrella, are designed to admit light into the interior

Marble lantern on top holds it all together

Built from 1420-1436

FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI’S DOME OF THE CATHEDRAL OF FLORENCE

Rises 180 feet into the air – apparent from both the inside and out

Structural considerations are subordinate

• Inspired by the Pantheon

• Pantheon’s dome is impressive only from the inside. Its exterior support clutters the visual experience outside.

FILIPPO BRUNELLESCHI’S DOME OF THE CATHEDRAL OF FLORENCE

The inside, painted by Bonainuto

NAME THE PAINTING & ARTIST Part of your quizzes/tests this period will require you to

IDENITIFY specific important pieces of artwork

To prepare you for this, we will run through them often in class before you’re ever quizzed/tested on them

A painting will appear – write down the NAME AND ARTIST to the best of your knowledge. We will go over the answers on the second pass. Please keep them to yourself the first time. THIS WILL NOT BE GRADED – IT IS PRACTICE!

ARTWORK? ARTIST?

PAINTING? ARTIST?

Artwork?

Artist?

PAINTING? ARTIST?

PAINTING? ARTIST?

ARTWORK? ARTIST?

PAINTING? ARTIST?

ANSWERS Let’s go over the answers!

THE GATES OF PARADISE - GHIBERTI

THE HOLY TRINITY - MASSACIO

David

By Donatello

THE BIRTH OF VENICE - BOTTICELLI

LA PRIMAVERA - BOTTICELLI

THE DOME OF THE CATHEDRAL OF FLORENCE - BRUNELLESCHI

ANNUNCIATION – FRA ANGELICO

CLASS ACTIVITY – CATCH UP Complete your crossword puzzle from

Wednesday

Complete your vanishing point drawing