Renaissance art is the painting, sculpture and decorative arts of the European history. Renaissance art emerged in Italy during the late 13th and early 14th centuries. Renaissance art derived during the early 14th century in Italy to late 16th century in Europe. Renaissance art was most mature in Europe during the late 16th century. The term Renaissance means rebirth which is very fitting for this era because it represents a cultural rebirth of Classical art, new artists of Renaissance looked to earlier classical artist and incorporated more light and color into their work so that their work would look almost life like.
This work, thought to have been completed sometime between 1290 and 1300, is currently on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2013). Madonna with Childe was painted using tempera, a type of natural emulsion consisting of egg yolk, thinner, and water (Encyclopedia Brittanica, 2013). The medium on which Di Buoninsegna created this work was wood, which was common in the day. The wood was prepared through the application of gesso, a material made of burnt gypsum and hide (Encyclopedia Brittanica, 2013). The piece itself is quite intriguing, as the viewer will notice almost immediately that the promotions are significantly askew.
Art Analysis The piece of artwork I am going analyze is called Baptism of Christ. This painting was painted with oil on wood by two famous Italian Renaissance artists: Andrea del Verrocchio and Leonardo da Vinci. This also was the first and only piece that the two artists collaborated on, and was the first piece of art that Leonardo da Vinci would be known for. This piece of artwork is not just beautiful, but it is rather important to the history of art due to the new painting technique brought about by young Leonardo, who was in Verrocchio's workshop around 1470 just before the painting was finished in 1475. The painting was started in 1472 and took an entire 3 years to complete.
The artist Giuseppe Archimboldo was an Italian painter who started out working for the office of the Fabbrica in the Duomo. Archimboldo was commissioned to do stained glass window designs which included the Stories of St. Catherine of Alexandria vitrage at the Duomo. He also worked on frescoes for the Cathedral of Monza. In 1558, Archimboldo drew the cartoon for a large tapestry of the Dormination of the Virgin Mary, which is still hanging in the Como Cathedral today (Giuseppe Archimboldo biography, 2013). Giuseppe Archimboldo was considered a mannerist artist who worked in the sixteenth century.
The Renaissance proved to be a time of transformation of the artist as they came to occupy a different place in society for art was becoming more than just a craft. The rebirth of classical architecture took place in Italy in the 15th century. In Italy, there was a rediscovery of the classical orders of architecture. Italian architects were greatly inspired by Roman structural elements, its arches, vaults, and domes as well as its decorative forms. They sought both comfort and attractiveness in their buildings, adorning them with tapestries, paintings, statues, finely made furniture, and glass windows.
It was already unrecognizable as a piece of furniture however; people thought it was a delicate piece of art from the moment it was taken into the church. During the era Donatello and Luca Della Robbia were living in, a major rebirth in the Italian city-states was taking place. The rise of architects, scholars, artists, musicians, philosophers, and many other intelligent minds of the time led to create a group of people that would change the way Renaissance citizens would look at the world: humanists. Humanism was a wave of belief that an ideal citizen could be created out of ordinary people and of any calibre. It was a system of ideas and thought that gave primary importance to the quality of life of humans rather than that of spiritual or religious needs.
Marriage of Giovanni Arnofini was a Renaissance oil-painting masterfully painted by Jan van Eyck to depict the marriage between Italian businessman Arnofini and Jeanne de Chenany. The artist’s material practices have flawlessly captured the moment of this incidence with mirror-like realism. However, it’s the symbols that are used in its conceptual practices that gives meaning and delivers messages subtlety in pure visual form. Many ordinary objects found indoor that appears on the painting are not just for ornamental purposes, rather, they give layers of meaning to the marriage scene depicted and also provide cultural and historical background to when the painting was painted. A mirror has been prominently positioned in the upper middle part of the picture plane.
The arts were very popular, if you were a skilled artist you could be patroned by the wealthy families and become extremely famous and successful. Artist such as Michelangelo and Rafael are examples of this. The benefits of education were seen from religious, political, female, intellectual and social perspectives. “When once the simpler rules of composition, in prose and verse, and the commoner figures of speech have been mastered, the whole stress of teaching must be laid upon a
His teacher’s inspiration is evident in many of his early works such as The Crucifixion. Later on, he was famously known for his series of "Madonnas." When his fame was spread to Rome, Pope Julius II hired Raphael as his chief architect in 1514. Raphael became an extremely successful artist and architect in accordance with these events. After Raphael marked the finish of his Perugian period with "Madonna and the Saints," his new works were evidently influenced by Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Masaccio and especially Fra Bartolomeo.
He used these observations to depict realism in his art, and he used his imagination and skill to make his paintings as real and lifelike as humanly possible. With sculpture Leonardo believed there were limits, with painting, he had endless possibilities, and with these endless possibilities at his fingertips he could add certain symbols, and characteristics. One of these things was geometric shapes, they were a staple of the renaissance and a common theme in Leonardo’s paintings. Often times a triangle can be seen, which is a universal sign of the holy trinity. Another detail Leonardo would add is something a little more humanistic; he would give each being their own personal traits and facial features.