Art: History and Evolution

From the Renaissance to Baroque

Deledda International School
MYP 2

Adapted from the texts:

The Story of Art. Grombrich
Art: The Whole Story. Stephen Farthing
Bright Earth: The Invention of colour. Phillip Ball
Leggere Larte: Storia dellarte.Preistoria al settecento. Angela Vettese
Cover image: The Holy Family with the infant St. John the Baptist (the Doni Tondo). Michelangelo.

Chapter 1:

and made Italy the centre of the artistic world

once again.

The Early Renaissance:

1400- 1480

Trinity, Masaccio. 1426-28

In the 15th C. the Italians continued to expand

on what Giotto had started in the Gothic
period: Perspective, rich colour, large works
that showed classic style and the power of the
empire and art that went beyond simple
documentation: it told a story. Since the fall of
the of the Roman Empire, the Italians didnt
achieve much in the Middle Ages, losing
strength and power as the Empire broke down
and Italy became smaller and smaller. Not
liking this loss of territory, they wanted to
regain a little bit of what they had lost.
The Italians decided that a return (a rebirth) to
the classical style of ancient Greek and
Roman art was in order, when Italy was at the
height of its power and created artistic works
of enormous size that showed elegance, skill
and economic strength. By returning to such a
glorious period they would be able to reclaim
some power that had been lost to France,
Germany and England.
The Italians believed that the art, science and
study, that was so strong in the classical
period, would help them to be reborn as a
stronger nation and give them the spotlight
once again.
It was the Florentines, the Medici family in
particular (the official bankers to the Pope),
that helped fund this rebirth economically, but
it was the genius of the artists and architects
that helped it come to life.
Perspective
The first artist to make a huge impact, not only
in the Renaissance period, but for art around
the world, was Masaccio. A Florentine artist
(1401-1428), he studied the work of Giotto
and looked closely at the way that he painted
people in movement and how he tried to
create a 3rd dimension on a 2 dimensional
surface.
Masaccio combined art and maths and made
the most important discovery for art in the
world: perspective. This discovery forever
changed the world, in paintng, intelligence

Trinity, in the Santa Maria Novella

church in Florence, Masaccio used
geometrical shape to form the fresco,
then put Jesus in the centre, under the
arch to create even more depth and
perspective.
The figure of Jesus appears larger than
the two figures in the front of the pillars
as in the Renaissance time, we often
see figures of high place larger than
the rest, as they are deemed more
important.

The architecture painted in the picture

is of Classical style. The columns and
pillars are Corinthian and the ceiling is
classic arch form.
The architecture chosen represents
perspective in the best way possible.
Only God and Jesus are front on, the
other figures are angled on the side.
This too is to help see the perspective
in the fresco.
Masaccio used the chiaroscuro
technique, also used by Giotto, to give
the bodies shape and show off the form
of the fresco.
The fresco is best looked at from 9
metres away as all the lines meet at a
central vanishing point. 9 meters from
the middle of the painting.

Architecture
In the Renaissance, they didnt want to be
reminded of the artistic period that forgot Italy
(Gothic) so they didnt want to have any tall
buildings that resembled anything like what
was built in France in the century before. The
most important architects of the early
Reniasscance were Filippo Brunelleschi
(1377-1446) and Leon Battista Alberti (14061472). Alberti had great ideas about how
architecture should be and he decided that
the new, rich, Italian cities needed to be
modern and buildings to look balanced.
He had 3 major points for architectural
designs of the Reniassance:
1. Each building must represent the
purpose it was built for. Eg. A house
could not have the same design as a
building of parliment.
2. Buildings had to be monumental, with a
Classical design.
3. They had to follow very strict rules of
design and construction:
a. Follow the new guidelines of
structure and geometry.
b. Have a design the reflected the
Classic style of ancient Rome
(columns, pillars, arches etc.)
c. The architect was responsible
for the entire building, from
design to construction to
decoration- something not done
before.

Brunelleschi and the Duomo of Florence

Although Alberti was the mind behind the

theory of Renaissance architecture, it was
Brunelleschi who was the most famous
and modern thinking of all the architects of
the time and the first to put Albertis ideas
in to practice.
Brunelleschis most famous work is the
Florence Cathedral (Santa Maria del
Fiore), or, as called in English- The
Duomo.
The Florentines wanted a huge dome for
their cathedral, started in the Gothic period
(Giotto had already made the bell tower),
but no one was able to design and
construct one big enough to cover the top
of the church that was already in place.
Brunelleschi studied the ruins of ancient
Rome in order to devise a plan that would
allow him to construct a new dome on top
of the church, a dome that would revive
the splendour of Italys glory days as the
biggest empire on earth, but without being
an exact copy of what was.

Brunelleschi worked on the dome

from 1420-1436.
The plan of the cathedral is
Romanesque (it was started in the
Gothic period and finished in the
Renaissance).
Gothic groin vaults hold up the
inside of the cathedral and the
interior is a Gothic style design.
The floor plan of the cathedral is
called Latin Cross because it looks
like a cross.
To make the dome more stable and
stronger, he didnt make it round
and smooth, he divided it into
sections. The dome actually has
corners. It is an ovoid shape (the
top of an egg shape).
Inside the dome there are two
layers. Between these layers is a
spiral that locks the segments of the
dome together.
There are panels that close the
sides of the dome and come
together at the top, closing in at the
top of the egg.

The lantern on the very top of the

dome (used to bring light inside the
cathedral) is actually a key that
locks everything into place, by
putting weight on the panels and
pushing them into place. Without it,
the dome would actually open and
fall to pieces.
The smaller domes around the base
are there to give extra stability.
Many of the stained glass windows
were designed by Donatello (the
early Renaissance sculptor.
The paintings inside the dome were
done by Vasari and Zuccari.
o Vasari is also the painter of
the famous fresco in the
Florentine house of
parliament, in which there is
said to be a Da Vinci painting
hiding behind it.
Giotto and Pisano worked on the
bell tower. Pisano is also the
artist/architect who worked on the
Field of Miracles in Pisa.
The clock on the face of the
cathedral is one of the world oldest
working clocks.
The marble on the exterior of the
building was of Romanesque/early
Renaissance design, used typically
for beauty, but also showed that the
Medici had money as marble was a
stone used by nobility, not by the
normal population.
o Green marble came from
Prato, red from Maremma,
white from Carrara.

Brunelleschi design a dome that would be

copied for centuries and centuries, in
diverse countries around the world and a
cathedral that has become one of the most
famous to ever exist.

4. Santa Maria Del Fiore

6. Vasaris frescoes inside the dome.

7. Marble detail of the exterior wall.

5. The Construction of the dome.

Renaissance buildings and city plans

Albertis rules for Renaissance architecture
were followed well by the Italians,
especially the Florentines.
The windows are large and well
spaced.
Each building is framed at the top,
balancing out the height of the
buildings.
The bottom floor of the buildings are
decorated with protruding stonesbugne.
Inside the buildings there are
courtyards in a square or
rectangular shape surrounded by
an arched walkway.
Above the internal courtyard are the
rooms.
The cities were designed to be
harmonious and orderly.
They were often based on
geometric shapes such as stars,
squares or circles.
Many or the buildings designed
were coordinated with each other,
to give a clean look to the city.
The people wanted buildings to be
finished in their lifetime, they
wanted to see what they were
paying for, and as a result, buildings
were not huge, but large, and they
didnt build big churches as done in
centuries before, but rather smaller
ones that could be finished quickly.
Palazzo Strozzi, Florence. 1549

Internal courtyard, Palazzo Strozzi.

The Northern Renaissance: Jan Van

Eyck
Italy wasnt the only place where the
Renaissance bloomed. It was also
happening in the north of Europe, but with
very different results. One of the artists to
emerge from this era was Jan Van Eyck
(1390-1441), from Holland.
Van Eyck is credited with being the artist
to invent the modern day oil paint. Some
other artists had done so before, but it was
Van Eycks version (using oil instead of
egg) that became the most widely used as
it was the best solution to many artists
problems: it stuck to the wall and to the
canvas better, it took a while to dry, which
meant that the artist could work on shadow
and light easily and it helped the colours
blend.
There are two works that made Van Eyck
a famous artist. The first is The Ghent
Altarpiece 1432 and the second is The
Arnolfini Wedding, 1434.

The Ghent Altarpiece

Oil on panel
St. Bavo Cathedral, Ghent.

The Arnolfini Wedding

Oil on wood
National Gallery, London

Based on a passage of Revelations

of St John from the Bible.
It is a fold-out artwork-the sides
open out to reveal a different picture
on the inside.
When closed, the altarpiece shows
colours that are lighter, softer and a
little bit bland.
It was kept closed on normal days
of church services, this is why it
was sombre in colour.
It was opened on special service
days (feast days) and showed its
bright glowing colours of gold, red,
blue and green.
The most famous part of this work
are the figures of Adam and Eve.
They are completely naked, except
for some leaves- something which
the Italians never dared to painttheir naked figures always had
robes or cloth over them.
Their bodies are also very realistic,
and this is why many people believe
that Van Eyck was one of the first
artists to use a live model when
painting.
He was known for painting so
realistically that he shocked the
viewer- not because his art was
ugly, but because he left people the
way they were instead of
beautifying them the way other
artists did.

The open altarpiece

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To paint this picture, Van Eyck had

to improve the quality of his paints
to make sure that he was able to
paint in the most realistic manner
possible. He made a new oil paint
that would then be used by all other
artists.
The painting is of an Italian
merchant (Arnolfini) and his new
bride Jeanne de Chenany.
He painted real life in the picture:
o Slippers on the floor
o A dog in the foreground
o Fruit on the table behind
Arnolfini
Van Eyck also painted the reflection
of the room in the mirror on the
back wall, including himself and it
follows the round curve of the
mirror.
Van Eyck was painting the marriage
of the couple, which is probably why
his signature is very clear and
visible on top of the mirror- he was
a witness to the occasion.
It is believed that Jeanne de
Chenany was pregnant when the
painting was done because of the
way she holds her dress.

Botticelli: The master of composition

In the late 1400s, an artist by the name of
Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) emerged
under the training of the artist Verrocchio.
Botticelli was extremely dedicated to
religion in art and for this, worked very
closely with the Medici family, who
founded the Academy of Philosophy, and
for who Botticelli brought to life many of
the mythological creatures and Gods that
were discussed at this school. As a result,
his paintings are very ethereal, elegant
and divine.
Primavera, 1478
Oil paint on panel
Uffizi Gallery, Florence
The artwork is from right to left, not
left to right, like most works.
Mercury (on the left) is an example
of the way the male body was often
painted in the Renaissance.
The Three Graces float above the
grass, very daintily in a typical
grouping of the Renaissance time.
They represent: Beauty, Passion
and Chastity. The joined hands
represent harmony.
Many believe that he wanted to
paint Venus with child, which is why
she has a swollen belly. The Myrtle
plant behind her also represents
pregnancy while married.
Zephyrus and Chloris: Chloris is
transformed into Flora by the wind
of Zephyrus. Flora represents
rebirth.

The Birth of Venus, 1483-85

Oil paint on canvas
Uffizi Gallery, Florence
According to legend, Venus was
born emerging from the sea,
landing on the island of Cyprus.
She is welcomed by a young
lady (possibly on of the three
Graces).
Zephyrus and Aura blow Venus
gently to shore.
Venus neck is strangely long
and her left arm looks like it is
sitting lower than her shoulder.
This was a very significant style
of painting by Botticelli- it is how
he made his figures look long
and heavenly.

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Chapter 2:

The new artists.

The High Renaissance

After the Early Renaissance, artist

themselves were enjoying a certain type of
prestige that came with their work. Artists
were no longer employees of the state,
like in ancient times. They now had
freedom to express their ideas and make
decisions regarding their work- not only do
what noble people wanted them to. They
had a choice if and how they wanted to
work, and for whom.

Whilst most of Southern Europe was in an

economic crisis due to war and social
changes, the cities of Venice and Rome
thrived under strong leadership and trade.
Venice found its strength in commercial
trade in the Adriatic and Rome because of
its religious and political power. Pope
Julius II and Pope Leon X wanted to show
this strength through art and hired artists
of an extremely high level, such as
Bramante, Michelangelo and Rafael to
design and decorate official buildings and
churches in Rome.
The Medici family in Florence was no
longer in power like the century before and
the Pope had returned to Rome from
Avignon for good. Lots of artists were in
the middle of the two cities, some loyal to
the Medici and some wanting the money
and fame that Rome brought. Art showed
a cities prestige, money, culture and
knowledge, so naturally each city wanted
the best artists for themselves, but it was
Rome that had the means to create the
great artworks of the High Renaissance.
The artists of this period, both in Florence
and in Rome, looked at humans as the
centre of all things important: creation,
invention, style and advancement. They
perfected the human form and depicted it
as what they wanted to see- not what was
realistic. Bodies were painted in
proportion, meaty and muscular, elegant
and fluid. They defined the classic style
and combined it with scientific discoveries
of the human body, allowing them to depict
the human form in any position, in any
size.
This advancement in the understanding of
the human body, combined with new
techniques of painting helped create the
most famous artworks known to man, and
make the Renaissance the most important
period in artistic history.

From a young age, about 12, students

(apprentices) were trained in studios
under famous artists (masters) to become
artists themselves. They often started by
making paint and running errands for their
master and often lived with them and their
family. When they had shown enough
responsibility, they were asked to paint a
background, or finish a work of lesser
value. Then when they had shown that
they were ready, they were asked to
complete works of more importance and
then eventually, they would leave the
studio and work on their own. This would
take years of training and practice but it
became a very important part of an artists
life- it determined what kind of artist they
would be and who they could work for.

Leonardo da Vinci
Da Vinci (1452-1519) was born in Vinci,
Tuscany, but went to be an apprentice in
Florence when he was very young, under
the guidance of the master Verrocchio. He
worked mostly in Milan and Florence
throughout his life and was more than just
an artist, he was an inventor, scientist,
musician and architect. Although he
worked in the late 1400s, he is considered
and artist of the High Renaissance due to
his incredible skill and advances in art and
science.
As a scientist he was interested in
anatomy, biology, botany, engineering and
hydraulics. In order to understand the
human body, he would cut open corpses
and study their muscles and bones,
something not done previously, by anyone,
and draw what he saw. His drawings were
so accurate that even medics were able to
study from them and learn more about the
human body. He understood the perfect
proportions of the human body and drew it
accurately and the drawing is known as
the Vitruvian Man.
Da Vinci was one of the first to investigate
how babies grow in the womb, understand
waves and tides and study insects and
birds so much that he was able to invent
the worlds first flying machine- a model
that is similar to what we use today.
His explorations and studies of nature
helped him to create art at an extremely
high level, he was considered a genius
while he was alive and was the most
wanted artist of his the Renaissance.
Despite this popularity, Da Vinci refused to
be bought and would only work on
projects he believed worthy of his time and
he would never give a work to its owner
until he decided it was finished, and he
was an absolute perfectionist. Many of
his works remained unfinished for this
reason.

people believed in what the government

told them, to be a genius and to really
understand what was going on in the
world, meant that one could also be
deemed a heretic and be severely
punished.
Da Vinci made discoveries before his time,
especially regarding the solar system.
There are writings of his that say the sun
does not move which suggest that he
understood that the earth moves around
the sun, and not vice versa- as the church
believed (Galileo was later condemned for
this). He was so worried about his
discoveries being found, that he wrote
backwards, from right to left, and his
writings could only be read whilst facing a
mirror.
The biggest work of Da Vinci, The Battle of
Anghiari, 1503, Palazzo Vecchio, Florence
(Depicting the battle of the Republic of
Florence against Lombardia), was
believed to have been lost: painted over
or cancelled. The fresco was
commissioned by the Medici family for the
Hall of the High Renaissance- the council
chamber of Palazzo Vecchio. It was
believed to have been cancelled because
it showed information that the Medici
family didnt want the Pope to know about
(or the fact the Da Vinci ruined it by trying
to dry it too quickly!).
It was in the 1970s that it was first believed
there was something behind the Vasari
fresco which we now see on the wall of the
chamber. The first clue that lead
academics to believe there was something
behind the Vasari work was that on the
fresco, there is a flag with the words
Cerca Trova but there wasnt any
technology to help with the investigation.
Only a few years ago the technology
became available to see if there is a
possibility that the painting still exists,
hidden about 5cm behind Vasaris work
(battle scenes from various Florentine
victories over Sienna and Pisa).

Da Vinci out of the box.

Da Vinci was a genius, but in a time where
Christianity ruled, when the Pope had a
higher level of power than the Medici
family in Florence, and the majority of

Work has been done to try and be 100%

sure that the fresco still exists, and
academics are confident that it does, but it
is impossible to uncover without ruining
the work of Vasari.

Detail of Vasaris fresco, Palazzo Vecchio

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Da Vinci was known to be a man of

secrets, and in recent times, many studies
have been done on his work to understand
the hidden symbols and clues in his
paintings and what they mean. His works
can be mirrored and flipped over to create
other artworks within themselves, designs
of technical genius, but not only that, Da
Vinci was believed to be one of few men
trusted with holding the secrets of history
that know one else knows about, and
these secrets are hidden in his works.
The Last Supper
Oil on plaster ,1495-97, Santa Maria delle
Grazie church, Milan

The fresco was done for the monks

of the church.
The perspective of the work makes
it seem as if the room has been
extended.
The figures are life-size, so it
seemed that the monks, when
sitting at their table, were sitting at
the table with Jesus and his
disciples.
Taken from the gospel of Matthew,
the passage in which Jesus states
that one of his disciples would
betray him and Da Vinci captures
the reaction of the disciples
realistically by showing shocked
expression and body movement.

The movement of this fresco makes

it real. It isnt posed and still like
other paintings, it shows the drama
and excitement of the situation.
The vanishing point is central, as
Jesus is the direct centre of the
painting.
After the fictional novel The Da
Vinci Code by Dan Brown came
out, everyone looked at the Last
Supper very differently, and many
now believe that it isnt John the
Baptist on the left of Jesus, but
Mary Magdalene. Looking closely,
the figure looks more feminine than
masculine, one of Da Vincis hidden
secrets, perhaps?

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The Mona Lisa

Oil on poplar, 1503-06
Louvre Museum, Paris

It was documented by Vasari that

Da Vinci painted a portrait for
Frances of Giacondo, of his wife,
Mona Lisa.
The position of Mona Lisa was
adapted from the formal way in
which the Madonna was often
painted: slightly side on with her
head facing the front.
The background was designed to
not have a distinct vanishing point,
making it seem as though it all just
blends in to the horizon without
clarity. The blue-ish colours also
represent a blurry kind of shadowoften seen on mountains when one
looks at them from a far distance.

This painting shows the famous

technique invented by Da Vinci:
Sfumato (used also in the English
language). This technique was a
blend of shadow and line, not
allowing and sharp distinction
between colours and where one line
ends and another one starts.
Mona Lisa is also lacking eyebrows,
which add to the sfumato effect of
her eyes.
It is because of the sfumato that it
seems that Mona Lisa is following
you with her eyes, that she is
thinking, that she is laughing, that
she is a complete mystery.
Her right hand crosses over her left
because it was proper manners for
a lady to cross her hands in such a
way in the Renaissance time.
The Mona Lisa is smaller than most
people think (53cm x 77cm). This is
due to the fact that every time it
changed owner or gallery, it was cut
out of its frame.
It is the most expensive artwork in
the world: It has no price, the
Louvre will never sell it.
It is most likely a copy on display at
the Louvre, the real Mona Lisa is
hidden away.

Michelangelo Buonarroti
Michelangelo (1475- 1564, 13 years
younger than Da Vinci) was born in
Caprese, near Arezzo but like, Da Vinci,
from a young age he was trained in
Florence, under the master artist
Ghirlandaio- one of the most important
artists of the Early Renaissance.
Michelangelo, however, didnt like the
placid style of Ghirlandaio who only
painted to make things look pretty and tell
the correct story, so he went out to study
the works of Giotto, Masaccio, Donatello
and the Greek and Roman sculptures from
the Medici collection.
He was obsessed with the movement of
the human body and studying ancient
works helped him to understand how to
perfect the human form in any position.
He, like Da Vinci, dissected bodies to
study their insides and how they worked,
but he also used live models posing in
every possible position. This enabled
Michelangelo to be able to draw the
human body in position thinkable. He
trained himself so well in this area that he
was eventually able to draw them all from
memory. This capacity lead to future
apprentices having life-drawing lessons in
anatomy, something we still do today.
Michelangelo was so brilliant as an artist
that not only did people declare that he
was as good as the old masters from
classical times and the Early Renaissance,
but that he was even better- he had
become the greatest artist to ever live,
whilst he was still alive. This appraisal by
all made Michelangelo quite arrogant and
feared. He had grown a temper and had
little patience for those around him. He
wasnt a sculptor nor a painter, he was
simply Michelangelo Buonarroti, and he
could work for (and refuse to work for) who
ever he pleased.
Sculptures

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Michelangelo was a master sculptor, he

was a sculptor before he became a painter
and, in his early years as an artist, he was
more interested in sculpting the human

body rather than painting it. His two most

famous sculptors are the Piet and David.
La Piet
Marble, 1497-1499,
St. Peters Basilica, Rome

This life-size statue (H-174cm x W195cm) is placed on the right hand

side inside the Romes basilica,
behind thick glass to keep it
protected. Michelangelo sculpted it
when he was just 22 when he
sculpted it.
The statue depicts Mary holding
Jesus after his death on the cross.
The position of Jesus is extremely
realistic, the placement of his right
arm and left leg is consistent with
how a lifeless body would hang in
the arms of someone living.
The folds on Marys cloth are
exactly how a real robe would fold
and drape. The expression on the
faces of Mary and Jesus are
accurate to the story they are telling
and the detail of the skin and
muscles make the bodies look as if
they could be real.
At the same time that Michelangelo
was working on St. Peters Basilica,
the sculptor and painter Rafael was
also there, after he too was
commissioned by the Pope to work
on the building. Rafael was
extremely competitive with
Michelangelo and kept taking credit
for his work. Legend has it that
Michelangelo was tired of hearing
that Rafael was doing all the work,
so he carved the sash across the
chest of Mary and sculpted his
name on it. This way, no one could
deny that it was the work of
Michelangelo.

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David
Marble, 1501-1504
Galleria dellAccademia, Florence

Sculpted during the period of the

Florentine Republic.
It tells the story of David
defeating Goliath, before Goliath
is killed.
David is a show of human
power, which is why
Michelangelo chose to sculpt
him 4m 34cm tall.
The body is of ideal proportion,
but the hands and head are a
little bit larger than normal. The
hands were sculpted larger to
represent the strength of David,
and the head was sculpted
larger to show his intelligence.
Also the look on Davids face
shows an expression of
intelligence and thought: David
looking into the distance, deep
in concentration, possibly
contemplating how to defeat
Goliath.
The position of the body is
classic: weight on one leg with
one arm down by his side.
Michelangelo even sculpted the
muscles with the right tension in
order to make it as realistic as
possible.

It originally stood outside

Palazzo Vecchio until someone
attacked it. For security
purposes it was moved to the
Art Academy.

Paintings
Michelangelo was a reluctant painter.
When he was commissioned to paint the
Sistine Chapel (called that after Pope
Sixtus IV, who had it built) ceiling by Pope
Julius II he thought that his enemies had
tried to ruin him by convincing the Pope
that Michelangelo would be the best artist
to do such a silly task.
The Sistine Chapel ceiling

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The face of David

20

The walls had already been decorated by

artists such as Botticelli and Ghirlandaio
(Michelangelos master) but the ceiling
was still blank, as was the back wall.
As it wasnt possible to refuse the Pope,
Michelangelo had the idea to paint a fairly
normal picture of the twelve apostles in the
niches (curves) of the ceiling and asked
his assistants from Florence to help him.
It took 4 years to paint- 1508-1512
Michelangelo did not follow this
original plan. Before work officially
started, he shut himself up in the
chapel and started to plan a
different artwork that would amaze
everyone when it was revealed.
And his plan worked.
The story of the creation of the
earth is what adorns the chapel
ceiling.
o The prophets of the Old
Testament who spoke of the
coming Messiah- painted as
big, intelligent creaturesreading, writing, thinking and
arguing. The prophet
Jeremiah is believed to be a
self portrait of Michelangelo.
o The story of Noah and many
other stories from the Bible.
o The centre piece is the most
famous section of the ceiling:
The creation of Adam. It is
believed that God represent
the brain and when we look
at the shape of the cloth
behind him, it certainly
seems so.
o The figures show
Michelangelos ability to draw
the human form in any

position and with any

expression.
o The smaller figures in the
background are painted out
of focus: soft, blurred lines of
colour, undefined and
smokey. Originally, it was
thought that Michelangelo
was tired, and had lost
interest in painting smaller
details no one would notice
but it was actually a
technique of his: If we look at
something small and far
away, we cannot see it
clearly and it remains out of
focus, and this is why the
artist chose to paint them this
way- to create distance and
depth in his fresco.

To paint the ceiling, Michelangelo

lay on his back almost the entire
time. He got so used to this position
that when he had to read
something, he held it above his
head and read facing upwards.
After the unveiling of the Sistine
Chapel ceiling, Michelangelo was
more famous than ever.

The Prophet Jeremiah

22

The universal Judgement

The creation of Adam

21

The Universal Judgement (on the

back wall) was painted about 25
years after the chapel ceiling was
finished. It was painted in 5 years1539-1541.
It shows the bodies of the damned
descending to hell and those who
were saved ascending upwards to
paradise. The position of the bodies
make them look as they are floating
in the celestial sky.
Michelangelo didnt make the
bodies and expressions harmonious
as he did on the ceiling- they are
more brutal and not so beautiful.
It is a work that shows the anguish
and stress about ones destiny.

The centre of the Last Judgement

External view

24

Inside the dome

23

St. Peters Basilica

St Peters Basilica is on top of the burial
ground of St. Peter, but it wasnt the first
one to be built there. Pope Julius II pulled
down the original basilica as it wasnt
particularly strong and had decided that a
new, powerful, amazing structure needed
to be built in the glory of St. Peter and
God.
The design of the basilica was done by
Donato Bramante (1444- 1514), an arch
rival of Michelangelo.
Bramante was a modern architect who
took the classical style and grandeur of
ancient Rome and mixed it with the new
Renaissance style that had emerged. He
discarded the traditional church style, and
designed a new floor plan, never seen
before: a Greek cross and a square.
Michelangelo decorated the interior of the
dome as his last project and didnt accept
payment for his work as he saw it as a
work for God. From the ground, it looks as
though it is painted, but it is actually made
of mosaics.

25

Raphael Sanzio
Raphael (1483-1520) came from the area
of Umbria and trained under the artist
Perugino, who was another accomplished
artist of the Early Renaissance. Being a
little younger than Da Vinci and
Michelangelo, Raphael had great masters
to learn from , but the standards were
high, and Raphael was intimidated by the
new masters bad tempers, power and
intelligence. He had to work hard to make
a name for himself, and he did so with
success.
Raphael went to Rome and Pope Julius II
gave him the job of painting the rooms
outside of the Sistine Chapel. Raphael had

been eager to work on the Chapel itself,

but Michelangelo would not have it. This is
rumoured to have started one of the
biggest rivalries in artistic history.
Raphael achieved something that Da Vinci
and Michelangelo did not: Harmony in
composition. Whilst he couldnt paint as
well as Michelangelo and wasnt as
intelligent and Da Vinci, he did however
create a new line of sight for his frescoes
and this made him as famous as the
others.
The Triumph of Galatea

Raphael created the image of

Galatea from his imagination
stating that he had never seen a
woman beautiful enough to
inspire him.
It was Agostino Chigi who asked
Raphael to paint this particular
image as in the legend,
Galateas courtship with Cyclops
ended happily. Chigi wished to
marry Margherita Gonzaga (the
daughter of a marquis) and
hoped that this painting would
bring a little luck to his situation.
Galatea is surrounded by
nymphs and cupids, who are
trying to make her fall in love
with Cyclops.
She is lead by two dolphins who
swim and breath in harmony. It
is based on the poem La
Giostra by the poet Poliziano.
Triton is on the left of the
painting, blowing his seashell
horn as the messenger of the
sea.
The composition is a pyramid
shape over a cross, drawing the
eye to Galatea and then
upwards.

26

Chapter 3:
Baroque Art
The 17th C was the age of science. What
Da Vinci had thought (but hidden) about
the stars, earth and the universe, Galileo
brought to the world and Sir Isaac Newton
founded new scientific theories that
couldnt be ignored. The 30 year war had
divided France, Spain and England and
although countries were becoming rich
due to territorial development, in general,
their people were very poor. Art had two
roles to play in this period: To show the
reality of the world at hand and to enforce
religious and moral principles, and it was
heavily controlled by the church with Rome
being the city most associated with the
Baroque period.

The Church of lI Ges,1575-1577, Rome,

by Giacomo Della Porta is a perfect
example of Baroque architecture:
It combines some elements of
classical architecture with new
design.
Pilasters (half columns) that lead up
to a point, which then leads up to a
front face.
A large middle entrance with
columns either side.
Scrolls on the sides of the upper
storey.
The double columns give a richness
to the faade
The work is symmetrical, leading up
to a central point at the top.

The word Baroque means absurd and it

was given to this style of art by the people
who rebelled against it, who felt that the
classic style should have disappeared with
the Renaissance- some even wanted to
paint over the Sistine Chapel ceiling
because it was too nude and rude (Some
robes were painted over some of the
bodies). It was a period in which the
noblemen, churches and hierarchy wanted
to flaunt their money and show how
imaginative they could be with art.
In architecture they abandoned some of
the classic inspiration of the Renaissance
and played with the dimensions of space.
In painting, they played with light and dark
to create spaces and depth that looked
like it could go on forever.
Artists were incredibly talented in many
areas. They were able to decorate
buildings with plaster and frescoes, create
furniture and theatrical sets. They worked
with marble with new standards, making it
look as thought it was silk and worked
combining music, theatre, art and
literature.

27

Lorenzo Bernini

The colonnade, 4 columns thick

Bernini, 1607-1680, was the great

architect of the Baroque period. Working in
Rome, he created some of the worlds
most important monument and statues: St.
Peters Altar and the external Square of
the Basilica, The Fontana dei Fiumi in
Piazza Navona, and the Ecstasy of St.
Therese.
St Peters Basilica Square
1656-1665
It is an elliptical form with two
trapeze shapes at the top and
bottom- one leading up to the
basilica and one leading to the road
that leads to Rome.
The trapeze shape was designed to
have the square open up to the
Basilica, enforcing the importance
of God.
It is surrounded by a colonnade of
Tuscan columns in the Doric style.
Walking around the ellipse, one can
see the entire basilica, including the
dome of Michelangelo.
In the middle of the square is an
Egyptian obelisk that works as a
giant sundial.
It is surrounded by statues of saints,
popes, martyrs and evangelists.

28

29

o The dead body of Christ

being held by the men.

Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi)

Born in Milan (1571-1610), he trained
in Rome under the artist Simone
Peterzano. In 1606 Caravaggio killed a
man after a fight and had to go into
hiding, First in Naples, then Malta and
then various cities in Sicily. He died
when returning to Rome, while he was
on his way to be absolved of his sins
by the Pope.
As a painter Caravaggio wasnt scared
to seek the truth. He wasnt interested
in glorifying the stories of the Bible as
other artist had done in the past, he
wanted to show things as they really
were- painful, shocking and sometimes
grotesque. He was the inventor of
chiaroscuro (the word is also used in
English) a technique that applied
heavy, dark shadows to contrast
against bright and luminous yellows of
light, creating a drama and reality
rarely seen before.
He was the first artist to bring this truth
to art and he was called a naturalist by
critics.
The Entombment of Christ
Oil on canvas, 1602-1604
Vatican Pinocoteca, Rome

The figures are in the

foreground, to give strength the
narrative of the picture.
The expressive faces make the
painting very intense.
His use of an extremely dark
background make the figures
look as if they are coming out of
the painting. The background is
so dark that we cant see where
it ends.
His use of bright light helps to
focus on certain parts of the
picture that give it the most
depth:
o Mary of Cleophas in
distress in the
background.
o The corner of the platform
on which they stand.

30

Text references:
Text References:
1. The Story of Art. Stephen Farthing.
Published by Thames and Hudson,
designed by Quintessence 2010. ISBN
978-0-500-28895-5
2. Leggere Larte Volume B: Dalla Preistoria
al settecento . Vattese, Macetti, Pinotti.
Published by Atlas 2012
th
3. The Story of Art (16 edition). H.
Grombrich. Published by Phaidon 1995.
ISBN: 978-0-7184-3247-0
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