Chapter 3.6 Art of Renaissance and Baroque Europe
PART 3
HISTORY AND CONTEXT
Renaissance to Impressionism
 Renaissance (1400–1600) means “rebirth”


A renewed interest in Classical thinking, mythology, and art
THE GUTENBERG BIBLE published first movable type
1454-opened up education, scientific reasoning
 Humanism -philosophical approach that stressed the intellectual
and physical potential of humanity
 Religion- MARTIN LUTHER (1517) and HENRY VIII (1521)

The Reformation from about 1500 to 1599
There is a different visual mindset between North and
Italian artist sensibilities evident even before the
Reformation
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields
Masaccio applied linear and atmosperic perspective
The 3 dimensional figures inhabit believable space
Chiaroscuro-Creates realistic shading and modeling reinforces
Continuous narrative-3 separate moments in time told here
Masaccio, Tribute Money, c. 1427. Fresco, 8’1” × 19’7”. Brancacci Chapel, Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence, Italy
Chapter 3.6 Art of Renaissance and Baroque Europe
PART 3
HISTORY AND CONTEXT
Perugino, The Delivery of the Keys, Fresco Sistine Chapel, 1475
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields
Renewed interest in the Classical past
Study of mathematics and science encouraged the
systematic understanding of the world
Art was a balance of the real and ideal
Realistic depictions of three-dimensional space and
perspective
Idealistic portrayal
Biblical stories told in naturalistic space, Greco-Roman
clothes, like “real” men and women
Use of Contraposto
Chapter 3.6 Art of Renaissance and Baroque Europe
The High Renaissance in Italy
PART 3
HISTORY AND CONTEXT
 Beginning of the 16th century
 Continued development of
making art look “natural”
as in seen in Nature
 Three Italian artists
who dominated:
Leonardo da Vinci,
Michelangelo and Raphael
Da Vinci Vitruvian Man 1492
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields
Michelangelo, Detail Last Judgment
Sistine Chapel, 1508–12. Vatican City
Michelangelo was commissioned by Pope Julius II to paint the ceiling of the Sistine
Chapel, Vatican City, Italy
Three-dimensionality of his painted figures
Painted architectural and sculptural elements
Note-religious subject matter with humanist artistic style
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7l7kjEB5Ucw
Last Judgment 12th Century Torcello Cathedral in Venice
David Slaying Goliath
1123 Spain
Gothic Icon
Donatello’s David,1440 Michelangelo’s David,1501-04
Chapter 3.6 Art of Renaissance and Baroque Europe
PART 3
HISTORY AND CONTEXT
The Renaissance in Northern
Europe
Northern European-Netherlands, Germany, France, etc.
During the fifteenth century, artists in northern Europe:

Paid careful attention to texture and fine detail

Depicted everyday objects with religious symbolism

Where the ideal is less stressed and the genre of scenes of everyday
life really began to take hold

Tend to depict things a little more “warts and all” often stressing
the grotesque
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields
Hieronymus Bosch The Last Judgment 1482 Austria
Hieronymus Bosch The Last
Judgment details
Chapter 3.6 Art of Renaissance and Baroque Europe
PART 3
HISTORY AND CONTEXT
Note the differences between these two works of the
Northern Renaissance and Italian Renaissance
PowerPoints developed by CreativeMyndz Multimedia Studios
Raphael Madonna and Child
1504
Lucas Cranach Madonna
and Child 1512
Madonna and Child Giotto Madonna
Enthoned, 1310 Uffizi
1200’s
Gallery
Raphael
Madonna and Child
1504
Lucas Cranach
Madonna and
Child 1512
Matthias Grünewald, Isenheim Altarpiece (closed), c. 1510–15. Oil on panel, center panel: Crucifixion, 8’9⅝” × 10’; predella:
Lamentation, 29⅞” × 11’1⅞”; side panels: Saints Sebastian and Anthony 7’6⅝” × 29½” each, Musée d’Unterlinden, Colmar, France
Chapter 3.6 Art of Renaissance and Baroque Europe
PART 3
HISTORY AND CONTEXT
Matthias Grünewald,
Isenheim Altarpiece
 Made for the chapel of the Abbey of St. Anthony in Isenheim
 Hospital for patients with skin diseases
 Very graphic depiction of Christ’s crucifixion

Patients could relate to His suffering which is one of the reasons
He was made man
 A completely different visual sensibility than the Italian artists
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields
The Ghent Altarpiece Jan Van Eyck 1430-32
Symbolism and Detail
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFGAsqnOSEU
World War II
The Arnolifini Wedding
Jan Vermeer
1434
Oil on board
Debated as to a marriage contract or a
re-consecration of an existing marriage
Her hat denotes she is a married woman
Despite costume, she is not pregnant
SYMBOLISM
Dog – loyalty
Green of dress – Hope (motherhood?)
The single candle – The presence of
God
Fruits all have various meanings, but
definitely a
Sign of prosperity and wealth
The mirror – Convex perspective
The Passion of Christ is displayed in the carved circular insets
The clarity of the mirror and its reflection = her purity
Raphael’s Crucifixion
MANNERISM 1520-1600
El Greco
The Burial of Count Orgaz
1586, 6 ft. x 11 ft. 10 in.
Individual style and
consciously artificial
Slightly odd space
could be grotesque
and slightly chaotic
Chapter 3.6 Art of Renaissance and Baroque Europe
PART 3
HISTORY AND CONTEXT
The Baroque 1600-1750
 Artwork characteristics:

Emphasis on light

Diversity of approaches - genre

Dramatic movement and theatrical compositions

painting
The emotional moment is captured
Gateways to Art: Understanding the Visual Arts, Debra J. DeWitte, Ralph M. Larmann, M. Kathryn Shields
Caravaggio. The Calling of St. Matthew. c. 1599–1602.
11 ft. 1 in. x 11 ft. 5 in.
I saw in his hand a long spear of gold, and at
the iron's point there seemed to be a little fire.
He appeared to me to be thrusting it at times
into my heart, and to pierce my very entrails;
when he drew it out, he seemed to draw them
out also, and to leave me all on fire with a
great love of God. The pain was so great, that
it made me moan; and yet so surpassing was
the sweetness of this excessive pain, that I
could not wish to be rid of it. The soul is
satisfied now with nothing less than God. The
pain is not bodily, but spiritual; though the body
has its share in it. It is a caressing of love so
sweet which now takes place between the soul
and God, that I pray God of His goodness to
make him experience it who may think that I
am lying.
The Ecstasy Of Saint Teresa,
Bernini, 1650
Bernini’s David
 Baroque
 Designed to be viewed in
the round
 Dynamic energy of pose
 Even the muscles in his
face are tensed
Motion, emotion, action
are heightened to portray
that ultimate moment
Gianlorenzo Bernini, David,
1623. Marble, 5’7” high. Galleria
Borghese, Rome, Italy
Look at these three versions of David
The Raising of the Cross
Focus on Christ’s body
Strong diagonal lines
Bright light
Muscular body
Twisting movement
Amplifies the action
And direction
Peter Paul Rubens, center panel
from The Raising of the Cross,
1610–11. Oil on canvas, 5’1⅛” ×
11’1⅞”. Cathedral of Our Lady,
Antwerp, Belgium
The Three Crosses
Rembrandt
Etching
1660
Rembrandt 1655,The Flayed Ox
Genre painting or art with scenes
depicting everyday life is becoming
more important .Very popular in
the Northern European
painting tradition
Jan Steen