16th Century Italian Renaissance Art: "The Big Four"

Leonardo da Vinci

Italian painter, engineer, musician, and scientist. The most versatile genius of the Renaissance, Leonardo filled notebooks with engineering and scientific observations that were sometimes centuries ahead of their time.

- Leonardo is best known as the painter of The Last Supper (c. 1495) and The Mona Lisa (c. 1503).

The Baptism of Christ, Andrea del Verrocchio and Leonardo da Vinci

1472-1475. Tempura and oil on panel. Uffizi Galleries, Florence, Italy.

- Leonardo's presence is most prominently in the left-most angel, demonstrating a careful understanding of light and shade.

Ginerva de' Benci, Leonardo da Vinci

1474-1478. Oil on panel. National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

-Influence from Netherlandish painting demonstrated in the landscape.

- Double-sided portrait featuring Juniper, a Palm frond, and a branch of Laurel.

Chiaroscuro

Refers to a light/dark contrast in a painting. Leonardo da Vinci coined the technique.

Immaculate Conception

The Roman Catholic dogma that Mary was conceived without Original Sin and remained free from personal sin throughout her entire life.

Madonna of the Rocks, Leonardo da Vinci

1483. Oil on panel transferred to canvas. Musée du Lourve, Paris, France.

Patron: Confraternity of the Immaculate Conception, Milan

This work revolutionized Leonardo's chiaroscuro style.

Sfmato "Smoked"

Leonardo's careful blending of oil paint to create a smoky, misty, hazy effect.

The Last Supper, Leonardo da Vinci

1495-1498. Fresco. Refectory of Maria delle Grazie, Milan, Italy.

Mona Lisa (Lisa de' Gioconda), Leonardo da Vinci

1503-1505. Oil on panel. Musée du Lourve, Paris, France.

- Leonardo's most famous work of art. It embodies everything that he considered to be his artistic genius/invention.

Rapheal Sanzio

Umbrian painter who created frescoes in the papal apartments and painted portraits of devotional images.

Madonna of the Meadow, Raphael

1505-1506. Oil on panel. Kunsthisorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria.

Stanza della Segnatura, Raphael

1508-1511. Fresco. The Vatican, Rome, Italy.

Four sectors of knowledge:

1. Theology

2. Poetry

3. Justice

4. Philosophy

School of Athens (Philosophy), Raphael

1509-1511. Fresco. Stanza della Segnatura, The Vatican, Rome, Italy.

- Equating the artist with the philosopher.

Michelangelo Buonarroti

Italian Renaissance sculptor, architect, painter, and poet. He sculpted the Pieta and the David and painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Apprenticed under Domenico Ghirlandaio.

Pieta, Michelangelo

1498-1500. Marble. St. Peter's Basilica, The Vatican, Rome, Italy.

Patron: Cardinal Jean de Bilhères Lagraulas

Pieta "Pity"

A painted or sculpted representation of the Virgin Mary mourning over the body of the dead Christ.

David, Michelangelo

1501-1504. Marble. Galleria dell' Accademia, Florence, Italy.

Demonstrates David's inner resolve and the power of Florence.

Doni Tondo (The Holy Family), Michelangelo

1506. Oil on panel. Uffizi Galleries, Florence, Italy.

Patron: Agnolo Doni (Florentine wool merchant)

The Sistine Chapel

A papal chapel adjoining Saint Peter's Basilica is noted for the frescoes of biblical subjects painted by Michelangelo on its walls and ceilings.

Uses:

1. Papal chapel

2. Preaching

3. Papal elections

Meanings:

1. Exegential

2. Diaditic

3. Rhetorical

Sistine Chapel Ceiling, Michelangelo

1508-1512. Fresco. Sistine Chapel, The Vatican, Rome, Italy.

Patron: Pope Julius XVI

Subject:

- Central panels -> Genisis

- Side panels -> Old Testament prophets and ancient sybils

- Outlying panels -> Ignudi

Meaning:

1. The power of God

2. The beauty of God's creation

3. Mankind's sinfulness

4. God provides salvation through Jesus Christ

Ignudi

Nude corner figures on the Sistine Chapel ceiling

Titian Vecelli

This Venetian portraitist, known as an influential colorist, used columns or drapes as backgrounds for portraits.

Pesaro Altarpiece, Titian

1519-1526. Oil on canvas. Pesaro Chapel, Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice, Italy.

Meeting of Bacchus and Ariadne, Titian

1522-1523. Oil on canvas. National Gallery, London, England.

Patron: Duke of Ferrara

Venus of Urbino, Titian

1538. Oil on canvas. Uffizi Galleries, Florence, Italy.

Patron: Duke Guidobaldo of Urbino