High Renaissance Art

- commissioned by the Sforza of Milan for the refectory (dining hall) of a Dominican abbey

- relationship between the friars eating and a Biblical meal

- only Leonardo work remaining in situ

- linear perspective; orthogonals of ceiling and floor points to Jesus

- apostles in groupings of three; Jesus alone but before a group of three windows that symbolize the Trinity

- experimental combination of paints to yield greater chiaroscuro; paints gean to peel off wall in Leonardo's lifetime and has been restored many times

- great drama of the moment: Jesus says, "One of you will betray me"

- various reactions on faces of apostles; anguish on face of Jesus

- Judas falls back clutching bag of coins, face in darkness

The Last Supper

- Sistine Chapel erected in 1472 and painted by quattrocento masters, including Botticelli and Perugino, as well as Michelangelo's teach Ghirlandaio

- function of chapel: place where new popes are elected

- complicated arrangement of figures for ceiling, broadly illustrating first few chapters of Genesis, w/ accompanying Old Testament figures and antique sibyls--based on antique sculptures

- three hundred figures on ceiling, no two in same pose; Michelangelo's lifelong preoccupation w/ male nude in motion

- enormous variety of expression

- painted cornices frame groupings of figures in highly organized way

- many figures (ie the Ignudi) are done for artistic expression > enhance narrative

- acorns motif on ceiling, inspired by crest of patron, Pope Julius II

Sistine Chapel Ceiling

- one of five sibyls on ceiling

- wears Greek style turban

- turns head, as if listening

- expression seems sorrowful

- contrapposto

- holds scroll containing her prophecy

- combination of Christian religious and pagan mythological imagery

Delphic Sibyl

- few remaining survivors cling to mountain tops

- man carrying drowned son to safety, will only meet his son's fate

- over 60 figures; crowded composition

- sculptural intensity of figure style

- ark in background only safe haven

The Flood

- in contrast to ceiling, no cornice divisions; one large space w/ figures more casually grouped

- mannerism in distortions of body, elongations, crowded groups

- four broad horizontal bands act as unifying element: (1) bottom: left: dead rising, right: mouth of hell (2) second level: ascending elect, descending sinners, trumpeting angels (3) third level: those rising to heaven gathered around Jesus (4) top lunettes: angels carrying the Cross and the Column, instruments used at Christ's death

- Christ in center and gestures defiantly w/ right hand; complex pose

- justice deliver: good rise, evil fall

- lower right-hand corner has figures from Dante's Inferno: Minos and Charon

- St Bartholomew's face modeled on a contemporary critic; St Bartholomew holds his skin, symbol of his martyrdom, but the skin's faceis Michelangelo's; oblique remark about critics who skin him alive w/ criticism

- spiraling composition reaction against High Renaissance harmony of Sistine Chapel ceiling; reflects disunity of Christendom caused by Reformation

Last Judgement

- commissioned by Pope Julius II to decorate his library

- originally called "Philosophy" because pope's philosophy books meant to be housed on shelving below

- one painting in complex program of works that illustrates vastness and variety of papal library

- open, clear light uniformly spread throughout composition

- nobility and monumentality of forms parallel to greatness of figures represented; figures gesture to indicate philosophical thought

- building behind might reflect Bramante's plan for Saint Peter's

- center: plato (w/ features of Leonardo on left, pointing up) and Aristotle

- Bramante, Pope's architect, bald figure of Euclid on lower right

- Raphael in corner at extreme right

- Michelangelo resting on stone block, writing a poem

- overall composition influenced by Leonardo's The Last Supper

School of Athens

- may not have been a Venus; may have been a courtesan

- sensuous delight in skin tones

- looks at viewer directly

- complex spatial environment: figure placed forward on picture plane, servants in middle space; open window w/ paints in background

- roses contribute to floral motif carried throughout

- dog = faithfulness?

- cassoni

- patron Guidobaldo della Rovere of Urbino

- painting became standard for future reclining female nudes

Venus of Urbino