(early 1300’s -1600’s)

This picture is a portrait of him in red chalk. Leonardo da Vinci is widely considered as one of the greatest painters of all time.

The painting is a half-length portrait and depicts a seated woman whose facial expression is frequently described as enigmatic.

Others believe that the slight smile is an indication that the subject is hiding a secret. The ambiguity of the subject's expression, the monumentality of the composition, and the subtle modeling of forms and atmospheric illusionism were novel qualities that have contributed to the continuing fascination and study of the work.

Many critics note that Leonardo painted the most famous portrait of all time.

It represents the scene of The Last Supper from the final days of Jesus as narrated in the Gospel of John 13:21, when Jesus announces that one of his Twelve Apostles would betray him.

This is his portrait at the age of 60. He is considered as a “Renaissance Man” along with his rival and fellow Italian, Leonardo.

The Sistine Chapel ceiling, painted by Michelangelo is one of the most renowned artworks of the High Renaissance. The ceiling is that of the large Papal Chapel built within the Vatican between 1477 and 1480 by Pope Sixtus IV after whom it is named the Sistine Chapel.The ceiling's various painted elements comprise part of a larger scheme of decoration within the Sistine Chapel which includes the large fresco The Last Judgment on the sanctuary wall, also by Michelangelo, wall paintings by a team of the most highly regarded painters of the late 15th century including Botticelli and Perugino, and a set of large tapestries by Raphael, the whole illustrating much of the doctrine of the Catholic Church.

This picture shows the statue of Donatello outside of the Uffizi Galleria in Italy. Donatello is known for his works in bas-relief.

The Madonna gazes penetratingly into her son's eyes, foreseeing his death. The seemingly casual yet powerful genre scene is carved with economy - the haloes have been eliminated, an innovation not generally adopted until the next century. The relief was meant to be seen from below, revealing Donatello's interest in the spectator's point of view.

Donatello's David, a bronze sculpture executed ca. 1425-1430, is the first large-scale, free-standing nude statue of the Renaissance.

The photo above is a portrait of him. Raphael Sanzio was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance.

The School of Athens, or Scuola di Atene in Italian, is one of the most famous paintings by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael. It was painted between 1510 and 1511 as a part of Raphael's commission to decorate with frescoes the rooms now known as the Stanze di Raffaello, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican.

This small picture for private devotion belongs to Raphael's years in Florence, after he had moved from Umbria but before he went to Rome. There he was keen to absorb the style particularly of Leonardo, and of other artists such as the young Michelangelo. But the miniaturist delicacy and serenity of this work recall his early formation under the influence of the Umbrian master Perugino, and there is definitely also a knowledge of Netherlandish painting, particularly clear in the landscape.

Sandro Botticelli was an Italian painter of the Florentine school during the Early Renaissance. The picture above is a probable self-portrait of him in one of his paintings, the ‘Adoration of the Magi’.

The Adoration of the Magi theme was popular in the Renaissance Florence. The work was commissioned by Gaspare di Zanobi del Lama, a banker of dubious origins and morality connected to the House of Medici, for his chapel in the church of Santa Maria Novella (now destroyed). In the scene are present numerous characters among which are several members of the Medici family: Cosimo de' Medici (the Magus kneeling in front of the Virgin, described by Vasari as "the finest of all that are now extant for its life and vigour"), his sons Piero (the second Magus kneeling in the centre with the red mantle) and Giovanni (the third Magus), and his grandsons Giuliano and Lorenzo. The four Medici portrayed as Magi were all dead at the time the picture was painted, and Florence was effectively ruled by Lorenzo.

Annunciation was created for the funeral chapel in the church of Cestello in Florence. Bendedetto Guardi commissioned this work for the funeral chapel named after himself as part of the church renewal. The painting is telling the story of the angel Gabriel finding Mary and telling her that she will be the Virgin Mother of the Christ Child. Gabriel has clearly interrupted Mary reading form the book on the stand on the edge of the picture.

(early 306 A.D. -1453 A.D.)

EXTERIOR INTERIOR

The Agia Sophia (also spelled Hagia Sophia or Ayia Sofia) is the largest and most famous Byzantine church in Thessaloniki, Greece.

EXTERIOR INTERIOR

The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is a major Christian holy site, as it marks the traditional place of Christ's birth. It is also one of the oldest surviving Christian churches.

Construction of San Vitale Basilica was initiated by Ecclesius, Bishop of Ravenna, shortly after a trip to Byzantium with Pope John in 525. The following year, Amalasuntha succeeded her father Theodoric as ruler of the Goths and of Ravenna; both rulers were Arian but she was more tolerant of Catholics than he had been. The Byzantines took Ravenna in 540 and the basilica that was begun under the Goths was finished under Byzantine rule, in 548. It was consecrated by Maximian, the first Archbishop of Ravenna. Nearly all of what can be seen today, including the splendid mosaics, dates from this early period.

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