15th Century Italian Renaissance Art

Medici Chapel, Benozzo Gozzoli

1458-1460. Fresco, Palazzo Medici, Florence, Italy

Subject: The adoration of the Magi

Adoration of the Magi, Sandro Botticelli

1475-1476. Tempura and oil on panel. Uffizi Galleries, Florence, Italy

Primavera, Sandro Botticelli

1482. Tempura on panel. Uffizi Galleries, Florence, Italy

Subject: Inspired by a poem by Agnolo Poliziano, which was inspired by the Metamorphosis by Ovid.

- Commissioned by a Medici Cousin for his wedding for his nuptial chamber.

"Ut pictura poesis" ("a picture poem")

Used to describe a work of art that visually reenacts a poem, or even more significantly, the work will act as a poem.

"As in poetry, in painting."

- An example of Paragone

Birth of Venus, Sandro Botticelli

1485. Tempura and oil on canvas. Uffizi Galleries, Florence, Italy

Subject: The birth of Venus from the seafoam

- Commissioned by a Medici Cousin for his wedding for his nuptial chamber.

The Meeting at the Golden Gate and the Birth of the Virgin, Domenico Ghirlandaio

1485-1490. Fresco. Santa Maria Novella, Florence, Italy

Subject: The birth of the Virgin Mary

- Placing biblical figures in a contemporary environment

David, Andrea del Verrocchio

1465-1470. Bronze. Museo del Bargello, Florence

Subject: David after defeating Goliath

- Made for the Medici courtyard in addition to Donatello's David.

Tomb of Cosimo de Medici, Andrea del Verrocchio

1465-1467. Marble, bronze, and porphyry. San Lorenzo, Florence, Italy

Subject: Presents Cosimo as a loyal citizen of Florence, reflecting on the honor he received from his citizens

Pietra dura ("Hard Stone")

Special Florentine inlay technique of using cut and fitted, highly polished colored stones and marble to create images

Ferrara, Italy

An important Renaissance court in north/central Italy, it was ruled by the Este family in the 15th and 16th centuries.

- Located in the "breadbasket" of Italy

Leonello d'Este, Pisanello

1441. Tempura on panel. Accademia Carrara, Bergamo, Italy

Medal of Leonello d'Este, Pisanello

1444. Bronze. Museo del Bargello, Florence, Italy

Commemorative Medallion

A decorative metal disc that contains portraits or symbolic imagery that was exchanged between rulers as diplomatic gifts

Hall of the Months, Francesco del Cossa, Ercole de' Roberti, and Cosmè Tura

1469-1470. Fresco. Palazzo Schifanoia, Ferrara, Italy

Urbino, Italy

A hilltop town in central Italy that was ruled by the Montefeltro family during the Renaissance.

Battista Sforza and Federico da Montefeltro, Piero della Francesca

1472-1474. Tempura and oil on panel. Uffizi Galleries, Florence, Italy

Montefeltro Altarpiece, Piero della Francesca

1472-1474. Oil on panel. Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan, Italy

Subject: Features Penitential and Mendicant saints surrounding the Virgin and Child and Frederico Montelfeltro.

Studiolo of Duke Federico da Montefeltro, Guiliano da Maiano (woodwork), and Joos van Ghent (panel paintings)

1473-1476. Intarsia wood and oil on panel. Palazzo Ducale, Urbino, Italy

Subject: Demonstrates Frederico's active life and his contemplative life.

Studiolo

A small room, often lavishly decorated, dedicated to reading, studying, and writing.

Intarsia

Inlaid wood with beautifully carved designs.

Mantua, Italy

A city in north-central Italy ruled by the Gonzaga family in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Legend of Lancelot, Pisanello

1447-1448. Fresco. Palazzo Ducale, Mantua, Italy

Camera Picta/Camera delgi Sposi, Andrea Mantegna

1465-1474. Fresco. Palazzo Ducale, Mantua, Italy

- Stern and archeological with a statuesque feel

Trompe l'oeil ("fool the eye")

Visual illusion in art, especially as used to trick the eye into perceiving a painted detail as a three-dimensional object.

Di sotto in sù ("from below to above")

Refers to a ceiling perspective in which the viewer is below, looking upward.

Venice, Italy

The most important Maritime republic in all of medieval and renaissance Italy; Entrepôt of Europe: International, cosmopolitan, between East & West.

- Venetian art is distinguished by its color and light (water, mosaics)

Libro d' oro

Book including 1000 families in Venice that had the right to vote

Ca' d'Oro, Giovanni and Bartolomeo Bon, and Matteo Raverti

1421-1437. Stone and marble. Venice, Italy.

Madonna and Child, Jacopo Bellini

1450. Tempera on panel. Uffizi Galleries, Florence, Italy

-Influenced by Byzantine and Northern European art

Hodegetria

Byzantine icon of the "true" image of the Virgin Mary holding Christ

Dormition of the Virgin, Jacopo Bellini

1450. Leadpoint on parchment with later pen re-touchings. Musée du Lourve, Paris, France.

Virgin Annunciate, Antonello da Messina

1476. Oil on panel. Museo Nazionale, Palermo, Italy.

- First artist to use oil paint in Italy

Madonna Lochis, Giovanni Bellini

1475. Tempera and oil on panel. Accademia Carrarra, Bergamo, Italy.

St Francis in the Desert, Giovanni Bellini

1480. Oil and tempura on panel. The Frick Collection, NYC.

San Zaccaria Altarpiece, Giovanni Bellini

1505. Oil on panel transferred to canvas. San Zaccaria, Venice, Italy.

Scuola/ae

A religious group or con fraternity

Miracle of Relic of True Cross, Vittore Carpaccio

1494. Oil on canvas. Galleria dell' Accademia, Venice, Italy.

Eyewitness Style

A Venetian style of art that includes details from multiple eyewitnesses as well as everyday details to emphasize the truth of the painting's subject