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Renaissance art (1350 – 1620[1]) is the painting, sculpture, and decorative arts of the period of European history known as theRenaissance, which emerged as a distinct style inItaly in about AD 1400, in parallel with developments which occurred inphilosophy,literature,music,science, andtechnology.[2] Renaissance art took as its foundation the art ofClassical antiquity, perceived as the noblest of ancient traditions, but transformed that tradition by absorbing recent developments in the art of Northern Europe and by applying contemporary scientific knowledge. Along withRenaissance humanist philosophy, it spread throughout Europe, affecting both artists and their patrons with the development of new techniques and new artistic sensibilities. Forart historians, Renaissance art marks the transition of Europe from the medieval period to theEarly Modern age.
The body of art, including painting, sculpture, architecture, music and literature identified as "Renaissance art" was primarily produced during the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries in Europe under the combined influences of an increased awareness of nature, a revival of classical learning, and a more individualistic view of man.[3] Scholars no longer believe that the Renaissance marked an abrupt break with medieval values, as is suggested by the French wordrenaissance, literally meaning "rebirth". In many parts of Europe, Early Renaissance art was created in parallel withLate Medieval art.
Many influences on the development of Renaissance men and women in the early 15th century have been credited with the emergence of Renaissance art; they are the same as those that affected philosophy, literature, architecture, theology, science, government and other aspects of society. The following list presents a summary of changes to social and cultural conditions which have been identified as factors which contributed to the development of Renaissance art. Each is dealt with more fully in the main articles cited above. The scholars of Renaissance period focused on present life and ways improve human life. They did not pay much attention to medieval philosophy or religion. During this period, scholars and humanists like Erasmus, Dante and Petrarch criticized superstitious beliefs and also questioned them.[4] The concept of education also widened its spectrum and focused more on creating 'an ideal man' who would have a fair understanding of arts, music, poetry and literature and would have the ability to appreciate these aspects of life.
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In Italy in the late 13th and early 14th centuries, the sculpture ofNicola Pisano and his sonGiovanni Pisano, working atPisa,Siena andPistoia shows markedly classicising tendencies, probably influenced by the familiarity of these artists with ancient Romansarcophagi. Their masterpieces are thepulpits of the Baptistery andCathedral of Pisa.
Contemporary with Giovanni Pisano, the Florentine painterGiotto developed a manner of figurative painting that was unprecedentedly naturalistic, three-dimensional, lifelike and classicist, when compared with that of his contemporaries and teacherCimabue. Giotto, whose greatest work is the cycle of theLife of Christ at theArena Chapel inPadua, was seen by the 16th-century biographerGiorgio Vasari as "rescuing and restoring art" from the "crude, traditional, Byzantine style" prevalent in Italy in the 13th century.
Although both the Pisanos and Giotto had students and followers, the first truly Renaissance artists were not to emerge in Florence until 1401 with the competition to sculpt a set ofbronze doors of the Baptistery ofFlorence Cathedral, which drew entries from seven young sculptors includingBrunelleschi,Donatello and the winner,Lorenzo Ghiberti. Brunelleschi, most famous as the architect of the dome of Florence Cathedral and theChurch of San Lorenzo, created a number of sculptural works, including alife-sized crucifix inSanta Maria Novella, renowned for itsnaturalism. His studies of perspective are thought to have influenced the painterMasaccio. Donatello became renowned as the greatest sculptor of the Early Renaissance, his masterpieces being his humanist and unusually erotic statue ofDavid, one of the icons of theFlorentine republic, and his great monument toGattamelata, the first large equestrian bronze to be created since Roman times.
The contemporary of Donatello, Masaccio, was the painterly descendant of Giotto and began the Early Renaissance in Italian painting in 1425, furthering the trend towards solidity of form and naturalism of face and gesture that Giotto had begun a century earlier. From 1425 to 1428, Masaccio completed several panel paintings but is best known for the fresco cycle that he began in theBrancacci Chapel with the older artistMasolino and which had a profound influence on later painters, includingMichelangelo. Masaccio's developments were carried forward in the paintings ofFra Angelico, particularly in his frescos at theConvent of San Marco in Florence.
The treatment of the elements of perspective and light in painting was of particular concern to 15th-century Florentine painters.Uccello was so obsessed with trying to achieve an appearance of perspective that, according toGiorgio Vasari, it disturbed his sleep. His solutions can be seen in his masterpiece set of three paintings, theBattle of San Romano, which is believed to have been completed by 1460.Piero della Francesca made systematic and scientific studies of both light and linear perspective, the results of which can be seen in his fresco cycle ofThe History of the True Cross inSan Francesco, Arezzo.
InNaples, the painterAntonello da Messina began using oil paints for portraits and religious paintings at a date that preceded other Italian painters, possibly about 1450. He carried this technique north and influenced the painters ofVenice. One of the most significant painters of Northern Italy wasAndrea Mantegna, who decorated the interior of a room, theCamera degli Sposi for his patronLudovico Gonzaga, setting portraits of the family and court into anillusionistic architectural space.
The end period of the Early Renaissance in Italian art is marked, like its beginning, by a particular commission that drew artists together, this time in cooperation rather than competition.Pope Sixtus IV had rebuilt the Papal Chapel, named theSistine Chapel in his honour, and commissioned a group of artists,Sandro Botticelli,Pietro Perugino,Domenico Ghirlandaio andCosimo Rosselli to decorate its wall with fresco cycles depicting theLife of Christ and the Life of Moses. In the sixteen large paintings, the artists, although each working in his individual style, agreed on principles of format, and utilised the techniques of lighting, linear and atmospheric perspective, anatomy, foreshortening and characterisation that had been carried to a high point in the large Florentine studios of Ghiberti, Verrocchio, Ghirlandaio and Perugino.
The painters of theLow Countries in this period includedJan van Eyck, his brotherHubert van Eyck,Robert Campin,Hans Memling,Rogier van der Weyden andHugo van der Goes. Their painting developed partly independently of Early Italian Renaissance painting, and without the influence of a deliberate and conscious striving to revive antiquity.
The style of painting grew directly out of medieval painting intempera, on panels andilluminated manuscripts, and other forms such asstained glass; the medium offresco was less common in northern Europe. The medium used wasoil paint, which had long been utilised for painting leather ceremonial shields and accoutrements because it was flexible and relatively durable. The earliest Netherlandish oil paintings are meticulous and detailed like tempera paintings. The material lent itself to the depiction of tonal variations and texture, so facilitating the observation of nature in great detail.
The Netherlandish painters did not approach the creation of a picture through a framework oflinear perspective and correct proportion. They maintained a medieval view of hierarchical proportion and religious symbolism, while delighting in a realistic treatment of material elements, both natural and man-made. Jan van Eyck, with his brother Hubert, paintedThe Altarpiece of the Mystical Lamb. It is probable thatAntonello da Messina became familiar with Van Eyck's work, while in Naples or Sicily. In 1475, Hugo van der Goes'Portinari Altarpiece arrived in Florence, where it was to have a profound influence on many painters, most immediatelyDomenico Ghirlandaio, who painted an altarpiece imitating its elements.
A very significant Netherlandish painter towards the end of the period wasHieronymus Bosch, who employed the type of fanciful forms that were often utilized to decorate borders and letters in illuminated manuscripts, combining plant and animal forms with architectonic ones. When taken from the context of the illumination and peopled with humans, these forms give Bosch's paintings a surreal quality which have no parallel in the work of any other Renaissance painter. His masterpiece is the triptychThe Garden of Earthly Delights.
The artists of France (including duchies such asBurgundy) were often associated with courts, providing illuminated manuscripts and portraits for the nobility as well as devotional paintings and altarpieces. Among the most famous were theLimbourg brothers,Flemish illuminators and creators of theTrès Riches Heures du Duc de Berry manuscript illumination.Jean Fouquet, painter of the royal court, visited Italy in 1437 and reflects the influence of Florentine painters such as Paolo Uccello. Although best known for his portraits such as that ofCharles VII of France, Fouquet also created illuminations, and is thought to be the inventor of theportrait miniature.
There were a number of artists at this date who painted famous altarpieces, that are stylistically quite distinct from both the Italian and the Flemish. These include two enigmatic figures,Enguerrand Quarton, to whom is ascribed thePieta of Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, andJean Hey, otherwise known as "the Master of Moulins" after his most famous work, the Moulins Altarpiece. In these works, realism and close observation of the human figure, emotions and lighting are combined with a medieval formality, which includes gilt backgrounds.
The "universal genius"Leonardo da Vinci further perfected the aspects of pictorial art (lighting, linear and atmospheric perspective, anatomy, foreshortening, and characterisation) that had preoccupied artists of the Early Renaissance in a lifetime of studying and meticulously recording his observations of the natural world. His adoption of oil paint as his primary media meant that he could depict light and its effects on the landscape and objects more naturally and with greater dramatic effect than had ever been done before, as demonstrated in theMona Lisa (1503–1506). His dissection of cadavers carried forward the understanding of skeletal and muscular anatomy, as seen in the unfinishedSaint Jerome in the Wilderness (c. 1480). His depiction of human emotion inThe Last Supper, completed 1495–1498, set the benchmark for religious painting.
The art of Leonardo's younger contemporaryMichelangelo took a very different direction. Michelangelo in neither his painting nor his sculpture demonstrates any interest in the observation of any natural object except the human body. He perfected his technique in depicting it, while in his early twenties, by the creation of the enormous marble statue ofDavid and the groupPietà, in theSt Peter's Basilica, Rome. He then set about an exploration of the expressive possibilities of the human anatomy. His commission byPope Julius II to paint theSistine Chapel ceiling resulted in the supreme masterpiece offigurative composition, which was to have profound effect on every subsequent generation of European artists.[8] His later work,The Last Judgement, painted on the altar wall of theSistine Chapel between 1534 and 1541, shows aMannerist (also called Late Renaissance) style with generally elongated bodies which took over from the High Renaissance style between 1520 and 1530.
Standing alongside Leonardo and Michelangelo as the third great painter of the High Renaissance was the youngerRaphael, who in a short lifespan painted a great number of lifelike and engaging portraits, including those ofPope Julius II and his successorPope Leo X, and numerous portrayals of the Madonna and Christ Child, including theSistine Madonna. His death in 1520 at age 37 is considered by many art historians to be the end of the High Renaissance period, although some individual artists continued working in the High Renaissance style for many years thereafter.
In Northern Italy, the High Renaissance is represented primarily by members of the Venetian school, especially by the latter works ofGiovanni Bellini, especially religious paintings, which include several large altarpieces of a type known as "Sacred Conversation", which show a group of saints around the enthroned Madonna. His contemporaryGiorgione, who died at about the age of 32 in 1510, left a small number of enigmatic works, includingThe Tempest, the subject of which has remained a matter of speculation. The earliest works ofTitian date from the era of the High Renaissance, including the massive altarpieceThe Assumption of the Virgin, which combines human action and drama with spectacular colour and atmosphere. Titian continued painting in a generally High Renaissance style until near the end of his career in the 1570s, although he increasingly used colour and light over line to define his figures.
German Renaissance art falls into the broader category of the Renaissance in Northern Europe, also known as theNorthern Renaissance. Renaissance influences began to appear in German art in the 15th century, but this trend was not widespread. Gardner'sArt Through the Ages identifiesMichael Pacher, a painter and sculptor, as the first German artist whose work begins to show Italian Renaissance influences. According to that source, Pacher's painting,St. Wolfgang Forces the Devil to Hold His Prayerbook (c. 1481), is Late Gothic in style, but also shows the influence of the Italian artistMantegna.[9]
In the 1500s, Renaissance art in Germany became more common as, according to Gardner, "The art of northern Europe during the sixteenth century is characterized by a sudden awareness of the advances made by the Italian Renaissance and by a desire to assimilate this new style as rapidly as possible."[10] One of the best known practitioners of German Renaissance art wasAlbrecht Dürer (1471–1528), whose fascination with classical ideas led him to Italy to study art. Both Gardner and Russell recognized the importance of Dürer's contribution to German art in bringing Italian Renaissance styles and ideas to Germany.[11][12] Russell calls this "Opening the Gothic windows of German art",[11] while Gardner calls it Dürer's "life mission".[12] Importantly, as Gardner points out, Dürer "was the first northern artist who fully understood the basic aims of the southern Renaissance",[12] although his style did not always reflect that. The same source says thatHans Holbein the Younger (1497–1543) successfully assimilated Italian ideas while also keeping "northern traditions of close realism".[13] This is contrasted with Dürer's tendency to work in "his own native German style"[12] instead of combining German and Italian styles. Other important artists of the German Renaissance wereMatthias Grünewald,Albrecht Altdorfer andLucas Cranach the Elder.[14]
Artisans such as engravers became more concerned with aesthetics rather than just perfecting their crafts. Germany had master engravers, such asMartin Schongauer, who did metal engravings in the late 1400s. Gardner relates this mastery of thegraphic arts to advances inprinting which occurred in Germany, and says that metal engraving began to replace the woodcut during the Renaissance.[15] However, some artists, such as Albrecht Dürer, continued to do woodcuts. Both Gardner and Russell describe the fine quality of Dürer's woodcuts, with Russell stating inThe World of Dürer that Dürer "elevated them into high works of art".[11]
Britain was very late to develop a distinct Renaissance style and mostartists of the Tudor court were imported foreigners, usually from theLow Countries, includingHans Holbein the Younger, who died in England. One exception was theportrait miniature, which artists includingNicholas Hilliard developed into a distinct genre well before it became popular in the rest of Europe.Renaissance art in Scotland was similarly dependent on imported artists, and largely restricted to the court.
Renaissance artists painted a wide variety of themes. Religiousaltarpieces,fresco cycles, and small works for private devotion were very popular. For inspiration, painters in both Italy and northern Europe frequently turned toJacobus de Voragine'sGolden Legend (1260), a highly influential source book for the lives ofsaints that had already had a strong influence on Medieval artists. The rebirth of classical antiquity andRenaissance humanism also resulted in manymythological andhistory paintings.Ovidian stories, for example, were very popular. Decorativeornament, often used in painted architectural elements, was especially influenced by classical Roman motifs.
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 The Birth of Venus (c. 1484–1486) byBotticelli |
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