Art History Notes: Renaissance to Modernism

Giotto di Bondone (1267-1336/37)

Florentine artist known for frescoes during the transitional period.
Key advance: simple perspective through overlapping and modeling figures in the round.
Created the illusion of a stage, giving viewers a sense of looking into the event.
Figures had powerful gestures and emotional expressions, differing from flat, unexpressive Gothic figures.

Renaissance Economy and Patronage

Change in the economy, with the development of paper money, significantly impacted the Renaissance.
Vast fortunes accumulated by families like the Medici, who became major art patrons.
Availability of Greek and Roman art in Italy greatly influenced Renaissance art.

Shift in the Status of Artists

Emphasis on the individual and individual genius emerged during the Renaissance.
Prior to the Renaissance, painters and sculptors were considered artisans, with lesser status.
During the Renaissance, great artists gained recognition as intellectual figures, leading to a special place in society.

Competition for the Florence Baptistery Doors (1401)

Lorenzo Ghiberti (1381?-1455) won the competition with a panel design depicting the sacrifice of Isaac as a classical Greek figure.
Ghiberti created a second set of doors over twenty-five years, later called the "Gates of Paradise" by Michelangelo.
Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446) was the second-place winner; he then focused on architecture.

Filippo Brunelleschi's Architectural Achievements

Brunelleschi won a competition to complete the dome of Florence Cathedral using a double-shelled dome design.
He is also credited with developing linear (single vanishing point) perspective.
Masaccio (1401-28) applied Brunelleschi's theory in his frescoes, using both linear and aerial perspective.
The development of linear perspective had a lasting impact on art.

Donatello (13892-1466)

Considered the founder of modern sculpture.
Strong influence of classical antiquity evident in his bronze statue of David (c. 1420s-60s).
David was the first known freestanding nude statue since antiquity.
Later sculptures emphasized naturalism and the expression of character and dramatic action.

Botticelli (14442-1510)

His painting, The Birth of Venus (c. 1482), established an image of female beauty.
His Venus was one of the first paintings of a full-length nude female since antiquity.

High Renaissance Artists

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) and Michelangelo (1475-1564) are models for the term "Renaissance Man."

Leonardo da Vinci's Innovations

Inventor, architect, engineer, painter, sculptor, scientist, and musician.
Designed locks for canals that are still in use; drawings of submarines and helicopters were viable models.
Paintings: The Last Supper (c. 1495-98) and the Mona Lisa (c.1503-05) are icons of popular culture.
Key innovation: sfumato—the use of mellowed colors and blurred outlines, allowing forms to blend subtly.

Michelangelo di Buonarotti's Sculptural Achievements

Created his statue of David (1504) from a flawed piece of marble.
David is larger than life-sized and was intended for the façade of the Florence Cathedral.
The statue was seen as embodying the spirit of Florence as a republic.

Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel and Papal Commissions

Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to design his tomb, including statues like Moses (c. 1513-15), The Dying Slave (1513-16), and The Bound Slave (1513-16).
The Pope canceled the tomb project, leading to Michelangelo's disappointment.
Michelangelo reluctantly decorated the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel from 1508 to 1512.
Restoration of the Sistine Ceiling has been controversial; cleaning revealed the original brightness of colors.

Raphael Sanzio (1483-1520)

Influential painter of the High Renaissance, learned from Michelangelo in Rome.
Employed numerous assistants to cover the Pope's chambers with frescoes, including The School of Athens (c. 1508-11).
Considered the most influential painter of the Madonna, with masterworks like the Sistine Madonna (c. 1513-14).

Venetian Art

Venice became a center of artistic creativity during the Renaissance.
Giorgione (1477/78-1510) innovated in landscape subject matter.
The Tempest (c. 1508) shifted focus to landscape, with figures of lesser importance.

Titian Vecelli (c. 1488-1576)

Prolific Venetian painter, known for portraits and as the greatest colorist of the Renaissance.
Innovative portraitist who used elements like columns and curtains as backdrops.

Tintoretto (1518-94) and Mannerism

Linked with Mannerism, characterized by distortion of perspective or scale, acidic colors, and twisted positioning.
Used dramatic angles and contrasts of light and dark (chiaroscuro) to heighten emotional impact.
His later works with spiritual subject matter anticipate the Baroque era.

Reformation and Counter-Reformation

The Reformation criticized the opulence of the Catholic Church, leading to simpler art.
The Counter-Reformation emphasized lavish church decoration and dramatic art.
El Greco (Dominikos Theotokopoulos) was influenced by Tintoretto and is known for elongated figures.
Both El Greco and Tintoretto's works bridge the Renaissance and Baroque periods.

Renaissance in Northern Europe

Artworks were smaller in scale than in Italy, with more realistic detail due to new oil paints.
Much of European art north of the Alps remained Gothic, with less influence from classical antiquity.
Sixteenth-century northern European art showed greater awareness of the Italian Renaissance.
Artists traveled to Italy; engravings spread Italian ideas and styles; trade connections also played a role.
Some northern artists maintained a more traditional approach.

Matthias Grünewald (14758-1528) and Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528)

Considered the greatest artists of the Renaissance in northern Europe.
Grünewald is known for religious scenes, especially Christ's crucifixion, and The Isenheim Altarpiece (c. 1510-15).
Dürer combined northern naturalistic detail with Italian theoretical ideas.
Dürer wrote about art theories and published woodcuts and copper engravings, like The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (c. 1498).

Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543)

Considered one of the greatest Renaissance portraitists.
Best known for his work in England as court painter to King Henry VIII.
His works set the standard for English painting through the nineteenth century.

Baroque Art

Produced from the late sixteenth to mid-eighteenth century.
Characterized by movement, energy, and emotion, differing from the static Renaissance style.
The Church aimed for dramatic appeals to faith, influenced by the Counter-Reformation.
Ruling classes governed with a view to power as a divine right.

Baroque Characteristics

Moved away from classic simplicity and calm of Renaissance.
Emphasis on richness of color and ornamentation.
Use of chiaroscuro to create theatrical lighting.

Caravaggio (1571-1610)

Italian Baroque painter, renowned for dramatic use of light and dark (caravaggesque).
Provocative naturalism; portrayed religious figures as poor and simple folks.

Artemisia Gentileschi (1593?-1652?)

Remarkable adaptation of Carravaggio's techniques.
Known for self-portraits and paintings of Old Testament women.

Gianlorenzo Bernini (1598-1680)

Most important Baroque artist, worked in sculpture, architecture, painting, and drafting.
His masterpiece, the Ecstasy of Saint Teresa (1647-52), uses dramatic gold lighting.
Pushed the use of marble to new limits, creating the illusion of real fabric and clouds.

Baroque Art Beyond Italy

In Flanders, Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) established a large workshop and influenced many artists with his energetic and colorful works.
Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-69) was a Dutch artist, recognized as a painter, printmaker, and draftsman.
His best-known work is The Night Watch (1642), but his career declined due to breaking with tradition.
The self-portraits of his later years are some of the greatest studies of the inner life.

Baroque Period in France

Reached its peak under Louis XV; Louis XIV united France and built the palace at Versailles.
The palace and its grounds covered about two thousand acres and included chateaux, gardens, a stable, an orangerie, a zoo, and fountains.
The opulence of the