Pre- Renaissance

Giotto, Kiss of Judas (228 K)

Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel, near Padua
Christus Rex et Redemptor Mundi
Limbourg brothers, Les tres riches heures du Duc de Berry
Early Renaissance
Masaccio,The Trinity (101 K)
1425-28
Fresco,667 x 317 cm
Santa Maria Novella, Florence
Uccello, St George and the Dragon
Ceiling of the Camera degli Sposi 1465-74 (w)
Note how Mantegna has used his knowledge of perspective and foreshortening to create the illusion of a three-
dimensional image on the flat two-dimensional surface of the ceiling. Viewed from below (as in the image above)
the artist has used his skill to punch a hole through the ceiling to the illusionistic open sky above. This is a
particularly fine example of di sotto in s (seen from below).
Donatello, "St George"
"The Mystical Nativity" 1500-1501 Sandro Botticelli.
Tempera on panel 108.5 74.9 cm National Gallery, London (w)
High Renaissance
Leonardo da Vinci, The Last Supper, (184 K)
1498
Fresco 460 x 880 cm
Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie (Refectory), Milan
In this study for Adoration of the Magi, Leonardo has carefully drawn all of the lines needed
to create perspective before sketching in all the figures. Look carefully and see if you can find
the horizon line, orthogonals, and vanishing point.
Da Vinci's The Virgin of the Rocks
"Pieta". St Peters Basilica in the Vatican.
1508-1512
Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel
Tintorretto "The Finding the body of St Mark" 1562 (w)
Titian, "Bacchus and Ariadne" oil on canvas 176.5191 cm.
Northern Renaissance
Van Eyck, Madonna of Chancellor Rolin. 1435
Van Eyck, Man in a Red Turban
Hieronymus Bosch. The Garden of Earthly Delights. c.1503-1504.
Durer, Self-Portrait. 1500
Renaissance Techniques
Linear Perspective a system for creating the
illusion of depth on a two-dimensional surface.
The system is based on a scientifically or
mathematically derived series of actual or
implied lines that intersect at a vanishing point
on the horizon. Linear perspective determines
the relative size of objects from the foreground
of an image to the background.
Raphael Santi, The School of Athens (181 K)
1509-10
Fresco, 770 cm wide
Stanza della Segnatura, Palazzi Vaticani, Rome
Aerial Perspective refers to creating a sense
of depth in painting by imitating the way the
atmosphere makes distant objects appear less
distinct and more bluish than they would be if
nearby. Also known as atmospheric
perspective.
Foreshortening a form of perspective where
the nearest parts of an object or form are
enlarged so that the rest of the form appears
to go back in space; To shorten an object to
make it look as if it extends backwards into
space.
Chiaroscuro an Italian term which literally
means 'light-dark'. In paintings the description
refers to clear tonal contrasts which are often
used to suggest the volume.
Contrapposto It is an Italian art term
describing a pose in which the human body is
twisted so that the chest and shoulders face
one direction, balanced by the hips and legs
facing another. The term was coined during the
Renaissance, but Greek sculptors used the
pose in the 5th century BC to make the figure
more emotionally expressive.
1. What about the painting illustrates the philosophy of humanism in your
mind?
2. What Renaissance art techniques can you see being used in the painting?