European Renaissance Art The word Renaissance means rebirth. The European Renaissance (1400-1600 AD) was a rebirth of classical Greek and Roman art and technology because of the discovery of ruins and increased trade with the rest of the world which brought an exchange of knowledge and wealth to Europe. This “classical” style of art had been lost to Europeans since the fall of the Roman Empire. Linear perspective is invented.

Christ in Majesty, Church of San Clemente, Spain, 1123 AD. An example of flat unnatural looking art of the European middle ages.

School of Athens by Raphael, Vatican Rome, Italy, 1510 AD, The peak of the Renaissance hyper-reality, bright colors, new subjects and depth.

Early Italian Renaissance The early Renaissance in closer to looking “real” than the middle ages but still is slightly flat using limited colors and depth. The ability to make sculptures of people standing on two legs is beginning to be redeveloped.

David by Donetello, 1446 AD, Bronze 5’2”

The Birth of Venus (a.k.a. Venus on the Half Shell) by Botticelli, 1482 AD. Known for his rounded fleshy figures.

Early Italian Renaissance

Andrea Mantegna, Lamentation over the Dead Christ, 1490 AD

Andrea Mantegna, Palatzzo Ducale, Mantua, 1473 AD, playful with illusion and perspective

Italian High Renaissance

David, 1501-04 AD, carved of 1 solid piece of marble

Michelangelo : Master Painter, Sculptor, Architect and Stylistic Innovator

St. Peters Basilica, Vatican Rome, 1546-64 AD

Sistine Chapel, Vatican, Rome, 1475-81 AD

Italian High Renaissance Leonardo di Vinci: Artist, Scientist and Inventor. He invented an early version of the camera, an armored tank, helicopter and much more. His

images are the most copied of all Renaissance artists

The Last Supper, 1495 AD, wall of the refectory of the Monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan

Mona Lisa 1503 AD famous for her smile, smiling in pictures was not popular until the 1900’s

Self portrait by Caterina van Hemessen, 1548 AD

Renaissance Women Artists

Laviania Fontana, Girl Covered in Hair, 1581 AD

Self Portrait by Sofonisba Anguissola, 1552 AD

Women had very few rights during the European Renaissance 1400-1600AD they could own nothing, they were the possessions of their family. They were not much more than servants and were seen as having little value. Any woman who rose above this was truly extraordinary.

Garden of Earthly Delight by Hieronymus Bosch, Dutch, 1466 AD. He influenced modern artists in the 1920’s Surrealist movement and 1960’s pop art

The Printing Press is invented in Germany by Johannes Gutenberg in 1445 AD, one of the most important inventions in the history of human technology. This made it possible to make multiple copies of the same document easily. Before this all copies had to be hand made.

German Renaissance

Albrecht Durer, Praying Hands, 1508

Albrecht Durer, Self Portrait, 1500

Albrecht Durer is one of the first artist to master printing technology for pictures.

“ I hold that the perfection of form and beauty is contained in the sum of all men.” -Albrecht Durer (1471-1528)

King Henry VIII of England by Hans Holbein 1540 AD

German Renaissance

Van Eyck , Portrait of Giovani Arnolfini & his wife, 1434 AD, Oil paint on wood. Wealthy individuals would pay to have art made for them, they were called patrons.

Titian, Venus of Urbino, 1538 AD

El Greco master of Mannerism. Mannerism comes after the Renaissance and leads to Baroque art. Mannerism is interested in darkness which you see even more in Baroque art.

Mannerism

The Knight with the Hand on His Breast, by El Greco, 1577 AD

Burial of Count Orgaz, by El Greco, 1586 AD