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Chapter 21: Italy, 1400-1500
The Renaissance
Classical Eroticism vs. Christian Piety
Sandro Botticelli. Birth of Venus. Florence, c. 1484-1486
Most famous Florentine painter that the Medici employed. Pupil of Fra Filippo Lippi, who taught him method of using firm, pure outlines with light shading within the contours. Botticelli is great master of line, and brilliant colorist.
Painter created for Medici family. Theme was from a poem retelling the Greek myth: Zephyrus, carrying Chloris, blows Venus (born of sea foam and carried on a cockle shell) to her sacred island of Cyprus. There nymph meets her. Lightness and bodilessness of winds propel all figures. Venus is nude, which is exceedingly rare in Middle Ages. Botticelli ignored all of the scientific knowledge in perspective and anatomy. Birth of Venus is a flat backdrop devoid of atmospheric perspective.
Chapter 21: Italy, 1400-1500
The Renaissance
Classical Eroticism vs. Christian Piety
Fra Filippo Lippi. Madonna and Child with Angels. 1455.
Was a friar but indulged in forgery, embezzlement, abduction of a pretty nun. Only intervention of the Medici saved Fra Filippo from severe punishment. Influenced by Masaccio and the decoration of the Brancacci Chapel. Later influenced by Chiberti’s and Donatello’s relief sculptures, he developed a linear style that emphasized figures and mobile draperies.
Interpreted his subject in a worldly manner. Madonna is a beautiful young mother, not at all spiritual or fragile. Neither is Christ Child. Filippo relished the charm of youth and beauty in this world. Preferred the real in landscape as well. Recognizable features of the Arno River valley.
Chapter 21: Italy, 1400-1500
The Renaissance
Painting: The New Body in the New Space
Pietro Perugino. Christ Delivering the Keys of the Kingdom to Saint Peter. 1481-83
Pope Sixtus IV summoned artists like Botticelli, Ghirlandio, and Perugino to decorate walls of Sistine Chapel. Papacy based its claim to infallible and total authority over Roman Catholic Church on this event. Christ hands keys to Saint Peter who stands amongst 12 apostles and Renaissance contemporaries. Stage space that extends into distance to point of convergence in doorway of temple. Converging lines on pavement. Figures in the middle distance emphasize density and order of foreground figures. At the corners of the piazza, duplicate triumphal arches create a distant compositional triangle whose apex is in the central building.
Chapter 21: Italy, 1400-1500
The Renaissance
Painting: The New Body in the New Space
Andrea del Castagno. Last Supper. 1447
Made for dining hall of Sant’Apollonia, convent for Benedictine nuns. Commitment to biblical narrative and interest in perspective. Illusion of 3D space, but has inconsistencies because you can’t see the ceiling and roof at the same time the way he has painted. Two side walls do not appear parallel. Judas sits alone on outside of table. Small figures compared to setting.
Chapter 21: Italy, 1400-1500
The Renaissance
Painting: The New Body in the New Space
Masaccio. The Tribute Money. 1424-27
No other painter in history contributed to the development of a new style in so short a time as Masaccio. Artistic descendant of Giotto-calm, monumental style. Painted in Brancacci Chapel. Tax collector confronts Jesus, Jesus tells Peter to find coin in the mouth of a fish, Peter pays tax. Three episodes within fresco. Light not flat and neutral but coming from a specific source outside the picture. Circular depth around Christ, spacious landscape, vanishing point at Christ’s head, atmospheric perspective (diminishing light and blurring outlines as distance increases).
Chapter 21: Italy, 1400-1500
The Renaissance
Sculpture: The New Body Image
Andrea del Verrochio. David. 1465-70
Made for the Medicis. Narrative realism, contrasts with the quiet classicism of Donatello’s David. Jaunty pride. Goliath’s head at his feet. Poses like hunter with his kill. Adolescent musculature, prominent veins.
Chapter 21: Italy, 1400-1500
The Renaissance
Sculpture: The New Body Image
Donatello. Saint Mark. Orsanmichele, 1411-1
Sculpted for guild of linen drapers on the facade of Or San Michele (building on main street connecting cathedral and seat of governing body). Contrapposto (weight shift). Garment accentuates movement of body. Mobile drapery suggests impending movement out of niche.
Chapter 21: Italy, 1400-1500
The Renaissance
Sculpture: The New Body Image
Ghiberti. Sacrifice of Isaac (trial relief). 1401-02
Finalist of baptistery commission competition. The other was Brunelleschi. Scene depicted is angel’s halting Abraham from killing Isaac. Brunelleschi’s was dramatic and emotional while Ghiberti’s was graceful and smooth. Use of classical poses (outthrust hip, first classical nude since antiquity). Shows increasing influence of humanism in 15th century. Rocky landscape showed spatial illusion, foreshortened angel.
Chapter 19: Italy, 1200-1400
Late Byzantine/Early Renaissance
Relief Sculpture: Classical meets Gothic
Giovanni Pisano. Annunciation, Nativity, and Adoration. Pistoia, 1297-1301
Nicola Pisano’s son. Figures loosely and dynamically arranged. Twist and bend in animation. Spaces open deeply between them. Nervous agitation, spiritual passion. Style derived from French Gothic.
Chapter 19: Italy, 1200-1400
Late Byzantine/Early Renaissance
The Narrative Altarpiece: Gothic Madonnas
Simone Martini. Annunciation altarpiece. Siena, 1333.
Martini was pupil of Duccio. Instrumental in creating “International Style” (brilliant colors, lavish costumes, intricate ornamentation, themes involving splendid processions). Weightless figures. Virgin shrinks before Gabriel, gesture in presence of royalty. Elaborate punchwork halos. Lippo Memmi painted two outer saints.
Chapter 19: Italy, 1200-1400
Late Byzantine/Early Renaissance
The Iconic Altarpiece: Byzantine Madonnas
Giotto: Madonna Enthroned. Florence, 1310.
Traditional gold background, rests on throne with stability of ancient goddess. Weighty, queenly mother, body is very present under fabric. Gold highlights disappeared from robe. Figure with substance, dimensionality, bulk. Marks end of medieval painting in Italy and beginning of new naturalistic approach to art.
Chapter 19: Italy, 1200-1400
Late Byzantine/Early Renaissance
Painted Theater
Giotto: Lamentation from Arena Chapel, Padua. 1305.
Giotto is first Renaissance painter, naturalistic, father of western pictoral art, “early scientific.”
Fresco painting. 36 framed pictures in chapel. Foreshortened angels, shallow stage for figures, diagonal rock incline defines horizontal ledge, focal point at lower left. Style broke sharply from isolated figures seen in most art during 13th century. Head of Christ is off center. Figures in back emphasize foreground. New devices for spatial depth. Light falls upon upper surfaces of the figures. First step toward development of chiaroscuro. Influence from mystery plays.
Chapter 19: Italy, 1200-1400
Late Byzantine/Early Renaissance
“Byzantine” Style
Bonaventuri Berlinghieri: Saint Francis Altarpiece. 1235.
Painted in tempera on wood panel for church of San Francesco in Pescia. Altarpiece honors Saint Francis of Assisi. Saint displays stigmata—marks resembling Christ’s wounds. Gold leaf, six narrative scenes.
Chapter 20: Northern Europe, 1400-1500
Late Gothic/Early Renaissance
Portraits
Jan van Eyck: Man in a Red Turban. 1433.
Possibly self-portrait. First painted portrait in a thousand years in which subject looks directly at viewer. Composed gaze, three-quarter head pose. Heightened sense of specificity: beard stubble, veins in bloodshot left eye, weathered and aged skin. Top text: “As I can.” Bottom text: “Jan van Eyck made me” and date.
Chapter 20: Northern Europe, 1400-1500
Late Gothic/Early Renaissance
Portraits
Jan van Eyck: Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride. 1434.
Purely secular portrait with religious overtones. Objects are all symbolic of the holiness of matrimony. Dress making her appear to be pregnant—fashionable at the time. Convex mirror with Jan van Eyck most likely in reflection.
