The Renaissance
The Renaissance ran from the beginning of the 15th century all the way to the 17th century. This movement is about the "Rebirth" of society, everything was changing into a society that was being taken over by political institutions and pieces of art. Throughout this period, a multitude of artists created exquisite paintings that still play a huge paint in art history. Some examples include the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, the Sistine Chapel, "David", etc. The beautiful thing about art is that all of the paintings that were created during the Renaissance are unique and indifferent from each other. The majority of the paintings are based off of different events that occurred throughout the Renaissance. Some of the most famous artists during the Renaissance includes: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rafael, and Brunelleschi.
The first artist that I am going to introduce is Michelangelo Buonarroti. Michelangelo was born in "Caprese" into an "impoverished Florentine family that laid a claim to nobility," (Stokstad, 658). Michelangelo is known as one of the best artists of all time that created some of the most highly regarded paintings ever. His painting David (1501-1504) is from the story of "David and Goliath". David was an enormous underdog against the unbeatable Goliath; however, David overcame the odds and defeated him. In the painting, David stands in a little taller than five meters and is composed of marble. He is completely nude and is portrayed as an athletically built man. He is gazing off into the distance with his "slingshot over his shoulder and a rock in his right hand" (Stokstad, 659). David's gaze into the distance is interpreted as he is "preparing himself psychologically for the danger ahead" (Stokstad, 659). This painting's theme is filled with triumph because of the fact that David defeated Goliath. Another theme is to never give up when faced with times of adversity. Michelangelo had another painting composed completely out of marble. This painting is called Pieta (1500). Pieta is a lot more gloomy compared to the painting of David. Pieta depicts "Virgin Mary supporting and mourning the dead Jesus in her lap," (Stokstad, 658). Michelangelo was commissioned to make this piece of art by a "French Cardinal" and it is used as a "tomb monument". The Virgin Mary is sitting on a slate of marble looking down at Jesus as he is laying lifeless on her lap. The meaning of this work is to show people what Jesus went through in order to give us everlasting life. The theme of this piece was "an unusual theme in Italy at this time (1500),"(Stokstad 1500). Pieta is a piece that is meant to show respect to our lost ones, especially because of the fact that it is installed as a tomb monument. Lastly, Michelangelo's most famous piece is the Sistine Chapel (1475-1541). This piece is filled with an amplitude of different drawings. There are depictions of individuals going to heaven and hell, disciples, Adam and Eve, etc. The Sistine Chapel is very vibrant and is filled with bright colors that makes the whole room light up. It is simply a masterpiece. While completing this painting, Michelangelo was complaining about how "the miserable job has given him a goiter.. The force of it has jammed his belly up beneath his chin," (Stokstad, 660). The Sistine Chapel basically brings a decent amount of the bible stories into one room for everyone to observe and look at in awe. This painting differs from the other Michelangelo paintings that I mentioned because it includes color and looks more attractive to the human eye. However, it is similar because of the fact that he still uses marble to complete his masterpiece.
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| Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo (1475-1541)
The next artist that I am going to talk about is Donato di Niccolo di Betto Bardi, simply known as Donatello. According to Stokstad, Donatello developed into one of the most influential and distinguished figures in the history of Italian sculpture. One of Dontatello's prominent pieces is called St. George (1415-1417). Dontatello was called upon by the sword-makers of Florence to carve the saint to have it symbolize their "advertisement of trade, carrying a metal sword and wearing a metal helmet," (Stokstad, 617-618). However, all of the accessories are now lost from the sculpture. St.George is standing inside what seems to be a small alter, similar to alters in churches. The entire sculpture is made out of marble and stands in at six foot five inches. He is staring out "into our world, perhaps sizing up his most famous adversary-- a dragon that was holding a princess captive," (Stokstad, 618). St.George is depicted as a muscular individual and looks prepared to go into battle with his sword and scabbard. The "complex psychological characterization of the warrior-saint impressed Dontatello's contemporaries," (Stokstad, 618). Another sculpture created by Donatello was Equestrian Statue of Gattamelata (1453). The sculpture was made to "commemorate a war general of the Venetian army, Erasmo de Narni, nicknamed Gattamelata". This piece of art is a life-size bronze statue that has Gattamelata mounted on his horse ready to go into battle. Gattamelata's facial expression "reads unshakably confident with his horse in mid-stride and his sword is sheathed at his side," (Donatello). Both of the artworks that I mentioned from Dontatello hold similar themes even if they were created forty years apart. They both include soldiers who are filled with confidence who are ready to go into battle.
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| Equestrian Statue of Gattamelata, Donatello (1453) |
Tomaso di Ser Giovanni di Mone Cassai, Massaccio, was also a very prominent artist within the Renaissance. He established a new direction of painting by "integrating monumental and consistently scaled figures into rational architectural and natural settings using linear perspective," (Stokstad, 622). One of the beautiful pieces of art he created was the Trinity with the Virgin, St.John the Evangelist, and Donors (1426). This piece of art has Jesus crucified in the middle of the painting with God the Father standing behind him to support him and the donors kneeling on both sides. In addition, Mary and John the Evangelist are also on the sides of Jesus. This fresco was meant to give the illusion of a "stone funerary monument and altar table set below a deep aedicula," (Stokstad, 622). The theme of this fresco has the donors mourning and paying their respects to Jesus. Behind all of the individuals, there are two pillars that continue all the way to the back of the artwork.
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| The Trinity with the Virgin, St.John the Evangelist, and Donors, Massaccio (1426) |
The Expulsion of Adam and Eve (1427) is another famous painting completed by Massaccio. This painting follows the story of "Adam and Eve" in the Bible. Jesus gave Adam and Eve specific instructions not to eat from a certain apple day but they disobeyed him. This was the first sin that humans committed. This picture depicts a completely nude man and women who are weeping because they just got kicked out of paradise by an Angel. The Angel is flying above Adam and Eve and is holding a sword as he escorts them out of paradise's doors. Adam and Eve have looks of embarrassment on their faces and the audience senses a feeling of shame towards them. In this painting, Massaccio focused on "the mass of the bodies formed by underlying bone and muscle structure.... Massaccio concerns himself with the psychological impact of shame on these first humans," (Stokstad, 624). The theme of this painting is about how all humans are tempted to commit sin, but it is up to yourself to deny it or not. Both of the pieces of art that I introduced from Massaccio have a somber mood to them. The Trinity is mourning the loss of Jesus, while Adam and Eve are being shunned out of the kingdom for committing sins.
Lastly, Leonardo da Vinci played a huge part in the paintings of the Renaissance. Da Vinci and his family "moved to Florence" from "Vinci"when he was a young teenager. He spent a lot of his time in Milan where he worked on "military and civil engineering projects, including urban renewal and fortification plans for the city," (Stokstad 648). Da Vinci painted arguably one of the most famous paintings of all time, Mona Lisa (1503-1506. The Mona Lisa is a minuscule painting only measuring 77x53 cm. However, it holds a lot of value. It is said that this painting portrays "Lisa di Antonio Maria Gherardini", the wife of a "Franceso del Giocondo". The Mona Lisa is just a self-portrait that has winding roads in the background. In the painting, Mona Lisa's eyes are aimed towards the right side of the painting, "this psychological complexity Leonardo has given to this face may explain the spell it cast over the viewers". In addition, this painting "embodies the hallmarks of the High Renaissance style," (Stokstad, 645). The colors included in this piece of art are very dull, giving it a slightly negative feel to it. (Fun Fact about this piece: Mona Lisa does not have any eyebrows).
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| Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci (1503-1506) |
Another one of da Vinci's masterpieces is The Virgin Of The Rocks (1485). This picture depicts the virgin and her child with angels kneeling on the ground with what seems to be a cave in the background. In order to add some balance to the painting, Leonardo added John the Baptist to the left side of the virgin. John the Baptist is "pulled into dialogue with his younger cousin Jesus by the long arms of the Virgin Mary," (Stokstad, 648). Mary's long arms act as a protective barrier to John the Baptist as she is placing her other hand on the top of Jesus' head. The mysterious background to this painting adds another breathtaking element. According to Stokstad, the Virgin of the Rocks will become a "standard feature of High Renaissance Classicism". Mona Lisa and The Virgin Of The Rocks have a couple similarities and differences. They are different by the usage of the color schemes, Mona Lisa is more dull while The Virgin Of The Rocks adds more vibrant colors to it. On the other hand, both of the paintings display humans characteristics in the same way. The way that they are painted are very similar, making it obvious that both of these paintings are made from the same artist.
Works Cited
Anirudh. (2018, September 10). Anirudh. Retrieved from https://www.learnodo-newtonic.com/donatello-famous-works.
Stokstad, M., & Cothren, M. W. (2018). Art history. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
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