Renaissance Art• paintings,

sketches, architecture, sculpture, and literature

The Beginning of Modern Painting – Four Major

Changes• Oil on stretched

canvas – this technique allowed painters to show textures and three dimensional forms more accurately.

• Perspective – Linear perspective used the vanishing point. (All lines appear to converge at one point.) It gives a painting depth. One trick used to accomplish this was blurring details as the object appeared further away.

The Beginning of Modern Painting – Four Major

Changes• The Use of Light

and Shadow – Using chiaroscuro (it means light/dark in Italian) artists could show more rounded shapes in painting.

• Pyramid Configuration – The focus of the painting in a chosen point. It is where the painting reaches a climax.

Raphael (1483- 1520) “School of Athens”

• This painting is an excellent example of linear perspective. You can see the depth.

• It depicts an imaginary gathering of Greek philosophers

“School of Athens”

-Called to Rome by the Pope, Raphael finished painting

rooms in the Vatican with the help of 50

students!

-Some say that Raphael was very

egotistical to include himself in the front of the painting!

Compare Medieval and Renaissance Perspective

• Notice how the people seem to be stacked on top of each other

•Raphael’s fresco has more depth

Botticelli (1444-1510) “Birth Of Venus”

• The subject is Venus from classic Roman mythology.

• The horizon line and angles give the painting perspective.

• Pyramid configuration – Venus is the focal point

• What details give the painting movement?

Leonardo Da Vinci (1452 – 1519)

“Mona Lisa”• The painting exhibits

perspective. All lines are drawn to a point behind Mona Lisa’s head.

• Excellent use of chiaroscuro. Colors blend into one another without outlines.

• Her hands are very realistic. Da Vinci dissected over 30 cadavers and studied many skeletons to perfect his talents.

• Her real name was Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo. She was the wife of a wealthy merchant. Married at 16, she was 24 in this painting and the mother of 2 sons.

• The painting became famous in 1911 when it appeared in newspapers world wide after it was stolen.

• It used to hang in Napoleon’s bedroom. When it visited Tokyo, viewers were allowed ten seconds to see it. It caused traffic jams in New York when 1.6 million people viewed it over seven weeks.

Self-Portrait?

• Some theorists believe that the Mona Lisa is actually a self portrait of DaVinci himself

• What do you think?

Da Vinci – Musclesof neck and shoulders

• Leonardo was very interested in anatomy.

• His paintings looked realistic because he knew how all of the body’s muscles worked and moved.

Human Skeleton – These sketches were done at a time when dissection was completely illegal !

Baby in Womb - His sketches of the growth of the fetus in the womb were so accurate they could be used to teach medical students today.

Da Vinci’s Flying Machine Sketches

Da Vinci - The Last Supper (1498)

• The scene represents the final days of Jesus• Excellent example of linear perspective.

•Note the angles, horizon line, and shading.

•This is a fresco – watercolor paint on damp plaster. •It is part of the wall.

Last Supper – Close ups

• Notice the realistic landscape in the background.

• Unfortunately, the paint started to flake off within a few years.

Michelangelo (1475 – 1564) “Last Judgement”

• Located in the Sistine Chapel, where he painted the ceiling years earlier, its mood is gloomy.

• This religious fresco depicts the end of the world. Over 400 figures are either ascending into heaven or falling into hell.

• Jesus is centrally located and surrounded by saints.

• The chapel is the location of the conclave, where cardinals meet to elect each new pope.

St. Peter

St. Bartholomew

St. John

• In his paintings, Michelangelo often used bodies rather than faces to express emotion.

• Biagio, the pope’s assistant who criticized Michelangelo’s work for its nudity, is pictured on the bottom right with a serpent and donkey ears.

Michelangelo Sistine Chapel Ceiling•Located more than 60

feet above the floor!

•At the center of the ceiling you can see the nine frescoes that illustrate the Biblical stories of the Creation, Noah, Adam & Eve.

•Nearly all the work is his. He only allowed his assistants to prepare his paint, plaster, and work on minor details. It took 4 years to complete.

•How did they reach the ceiling?

Michelangelo Sistine Chapel Ceiling

Creation of Adam – close up

Van Eyck (1390 – 1441) “Arnolfini Wedding”

• Van Eyck is considered the father of oil painting. He was so idolized for his discovery that his right arm was preserved as a holy relic.

• Known as a master of realism and showed incredible detail. You can see details such as fur and the stubble on some subjects’ chins.

• Textures become very realistic due to oil paint.

• Objects often symbolized important themes. In this painting the dog represents fidelity and the lit candle represents the Holy Spirit. The whole painting can be seen in miniature on the mirror on the wall.

Brunelleschi (1377 – 1446) Duomo of Florence

• Known as the father of modern engineering.

• Brunelleschi won a competition to earn the privilege of designing the dome.

• He went to Rome and took measurements of the ancient Pantheon in order to design and build his dome.

• It is made of two shells leaning against each other and held together by the lantern on the top.

• Everyone thought it would collapse.

• The ball on top was positioned by a machine designed by da Vinci.

Roman Pantheon128 A.D.

Duomo of Florence

1434 A.D.

The Pantheon was the world’s largest dome for

over 1300 years!

Duomo of Florence

• The dome took 16 years to build.

• It remains the largest brick dome in the world.

A Visit to the Duomo of Florence

• Florence from the top of the Duomo

• Video from Duomo Bell Tower

• Bell ringing from Duomo’s Tower

The Superdome

New Orleans, Louisiana

Saints Football Arena

Largest Fixed Dome Structure in the

World

Capacity is nearly 80,000 people!

Vatican City, Rome • Michelangelo

copied Brunelleschi’s design for this dome over 100 years later.

• Tens of thousands of people crowded St. Peter's Square at the Vatican for a Sunday morning Mass honoring Pope John Paul II, who died in 2005.

Andrea Palladio (1508-1580) Villa Barbaro

• Well known for making villas and palaces.

• Strong Greek and Roman influence. You can see the columns and arches.

• Buildings were usually symmetrical. (Same on each side.)

Neoclassical Architecture

Neoclassical,or "new" classical, This term refers to buildings that are inspired by classical Greek and Roman architecture.

…in America!

The U.S. Capitol Building

Why do you think American government buildings borrow ideas from

Ancient Greece and Rome?

Bernini (1598 – 1680)

• St. Theresa supposedlyheard voices from angels.She believed herself to bepierced by an angel’s dartwith God’s love.

• Bernini was known for capturing action in hissculptures. The wholesculpture seems alive andmoving.

• He served 8 popes, therefore much of his work is religious in nature

Michelangelo (1504)

Donatello(1425)

Bernini(1623)

Contrapposto - when a figure stands with one leg holding its full weight and the other leg

relaxed

Compare & Contrast all

three

Michelangelo’s David

•The statue is over 13 feet tall

•It is carved out of a single piece of marble.

•It depicts the Bible story of David just before he slays Goliath

•It was displayed in front of city hall in Florence (a nude statue!)

•The hand was broken off accidentally by construction workers when it was moved to a museum indoors.

David by

Michelangelo

• Workers clean and repair the statue

• Note the immense size of the statue compared to the worker.

Shakespeare (1564-1616)

• He is recognized as the greatest English writer.

• Wrote tragedies, comedies, histories, romances, and sonnets.

• Characters he created were often loved or hated because they were flawed (imperfect).

To be, or not to be: that is the question

Plays: Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet,

Macbeth, A Midsummer

Night’s Dream, The Merchant of

Venice, King Lear, Julius Caesar and many more!

Globe Theater (1599)•The original burned down in 1613 due to a cannon shot used as a prop during a performance

• Archaeologists located the original foundation in 1989 and it was rebuilt shortly thereafter.

•Located in London, England

Globe Theater – Interior

THE END