The Renaissance meaning “re-birth” was a period in which learning and creativity were challenged.  Artists found different ways to depict their interpretations of how they saw their masterpieces with the use of three-dimension, accuracy, and perspective.  A big part of the Renaissance period was the notion of humanism. Humanism is known as the change of people highlighting their individual achievements rather than focusing on spiritual values.  In northern Europe, “a major trait of the Renaissance was the interest in the natural world and their influence remaining intertwined with the power of the church and the royal and noble courts.” (Stokstad, p.576-577)  The Italian Renaissance’s “political power and artistic patronage were both dominated by wealthy families. The Italian humanists turned to classical antiquity for inspiration. Rather than seeking to describe the visual appearance of nature through luminosity and detailed textural differentiation, Italian artists aimed at achieving lifelike but idealized weighty figures set in a space organized through strict adherence to linear perspective.” (Stokstad, p.608-609)  The artists in the market of Antwerp, Netherlands, were specialists in either portraiture or landscapes. The Renaissance period lasted from about 1300-1600.

Jan and Hubert van Eyck GHENT ALTARPIECE (OPEN), ADORATION OF THE MYSTIC LAMB, 1432 Jan van Eyck was a court painter for Duke Philip the Good of Burgundy.  “Jan’s use of oil glazes was mistakenly credited with the invention of oil paintings.” (Stokstad, p.587)  One of Jan van Eyck’s most famous works of art is this beautiful polyptych that was made for the Cathedral of St. Bavo in Ghent.  This altarpiece was commissioned by Jodocus Vijd, a wealthy city official in Ghent. Vijd and his wife are also illustrated on the polyptych while it is closed, which was significantly meant for others to see their wealth and importance to society for them to be showcased in a church. (Stokstad, p.588-589)  Jan and his brother, Hubert van Eyck were said to be the creators of this altarpiece. “Jan’s artistic wizardry is magnificently demonstrated in the three-dimensional mass of the figures, the volume and remarkable surface realism of the draperies, and the scrupulous attention to luminous details of textures as variable as jewels and human flesh.”  The subjects in the upper panels depicts the holy trio, angels, and Adam and Eve. The lower panel subjects include a landscape of worshipping individuals of God. Here, one can see how lifelike the figures are illustrated and filled with bold colors.

Perugino CHRIST GIVING THE KEYS TO ST. PETER, 1480-1482 - The subject of this fresco is Saint Peter.  The artist, Pietro Vannuci, nicknamed “Perugino” contributed this mural to the Sistine Chapel to “portray the biblical support for the supremacy of papal authority in Rome’s development into a Renaissance center of the arts.”  At the request of Pope Sixtus IV, Vannuci’s work is surrounded by others artists like Botticelli and Ghirlandaio to paint the walls of the newly built chapel at the time. Vannuci uses the technique of linear perspective to exaggerate the depth to which Jesus gives the keys to Saint Peter.  The key can be defined as the single fixed vantage point. The lines behind Jesus and Saint Peter are known as the orthogonals which are connected to the church. The church having arches being of ancient Roman frameworks, and the crowd filling in the squares of the orthogonals to add on to the depth of scale.  The artists play with the viewers illusion of space. “The carefully calibrated scene is softened by the subdued colors, the distant idealized landscape and cloudy skies, and the variety of the figures’ positions.” (Stokstad, p.640)

Leonardo da Vinci THE VIRGIN OF THE ROCKS, 1485 - Leonardo’s passions were the natural work, engineering, and mathematics.  With the use of his passions, “Leonardo da Vinci contracted with the confraternity of the Immaculate Conception to paint this altarpiece for their chapel in the church of San Francesco Grande in Milan.  The subjects of this painting are Mary the Virgin, Jesus Christ, angels, and John the Baptist. Da Vinci stations the “three to act as a pyramid, making the painting balanced. The use of a pyramidal figural group became a standard feature of High Renaissance Classicism.” (Stokstad, p.648)  Leonardo used the technique sfumato, which is a smoke-like effect while shading images. He also luminizes the subjects of this painting by creating chiaroscuro, which transitions the lighting of the three-dimensional figures.

Pieter Bruegel the Elder THE HARVESTERS, 1565 - Pieter Bruegel imitated the works of Hieronymus Bosch.  “He often painted large narrative works crowded with figures, and he chose moralizing or satirical subject matters.” (Stokstad, p.716)  “He was motivated by landscapes. Bruegel presented humans not as unique individuals, but as well-observed types whose universality makes them familiar even today.”  (Stokstad, p.717) In the painting, there are two sets of workers depicted whose labor was dependent on for the wealth of patrons. One group of workers are on their lunch break and the other working their shift.  The subject of this painting are the workers on their lunch break. “Bruegel’s series invites comparison with this venerable tradition of showing peasant activity within the calendar cycles of prayer books made for wealthy patrons.  It was said that the wealthy enjoyed these types of paintings because there was an idealization of harmony between the natural world and the people who live in it.” (Stokstad, p.718)

The Renaissance was a period in which the way of acting and thinking was “re-discovered,” hence, “re-birth.”  It lasted for about three centuries. The Renaissance was filled with past works of art being reinvented using different types of skills and perspectives.  It was mainly in Italy then slowly progressed to other parts of Europe, further increasing the styles of artists in their interpretation of Renaissance art.

Works Cited:

Stokstad, Marilyn, and Michael Watt Cothren. Art History. Sixth ed., II, Pearson, 2018.