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c.1400 - 1600 A.D.
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Religious themes are prevalent during the period. Donatello created this sculpture for a Florentine guild. The patron saint is positioned in a stable, but ready, posture. The statue's positioning is presumed to project the political resolve of Florence (“Donatello's St. George.”).
Current Location = Museo Nazionale del Bargello (Florence)
Works Cited & Image Source
“Donatello's St. George.” ItalianRenaissance.org, www.italianrenaissance.org/donatellos-st-george/. -
Depicts Holy Trinity - God (the father), Christ (the son) & the Holy Spirit at the time of Christ's crucifixion.
Location = Basilica of Santa Maria Novella (Florence)
Image Source:
http://www.italianrenaissance.org/masaccios-holy-trinity/ -
Flemish (Northern European) work depicting St. Francis of Assisi. Painted during the Renaissance period.
Location = Galleria Sabauda (Turin)
Image Source:
“Stigmate Di San Francesco - Musei Reali Di Torino%.” Musei Reali Di Torino, www.museireali.beniculturali.it/opere/stigmate-di-san-francesco/. -
After leaving Florence, Donatello crafted this statue in Padua. The sculpture depicts a Venetian conscript. Using bronze demonstrated Donatello's versatility and overall artistic prowess. (“Donatello's Gattamelata.”).
Location = Piazza del Santo in Padua, Italy
Works Cited & Image Source:
“Donatello's Gattamelata.” ItalianRenaissance.org, www.italianrenaissance.org/donatellos-gattamelata/. -
Pollaiuolo appears to have produced several works featuring supernatural beings engaged in conflict. This more peaceful painting features biblical figure Tobias and the Archangel Raphael.
location = Sabauda Gallery (Turin)
Works Cited:
“L'Arcangelo Raffaele e Tobiolo - Musei Reali Di Torino%.” Musei Reali Di Torino, www.museireali.beniculturali.it/opere/tobiolo-e-langelo/.
Image Source:
Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15441714 -
Features biblical figure Tobias with three Archangels - Michael (with sword), Raphael, and Gabriel (with Lily). According to the Sabauda website, the feminine essence of Lippi's figures parallels Botticelli's style.
Location = Sabauda Gallery (Turin)
Works Cited:
“I Tre Arcangeli e Tobiolo - Musei Reali Di Torino%.” Musei Reali Di Torino, www.museireali.beniculturali.it/opere/i-tre-arcangeli-e-tobiolo/.
Image Source:
Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10158195 -
This painting features mythological figures - evidence that the Renaissance was not completely dominated by Judeo-Christian religious figures and themes.
Location = The Uffizi
Image Source:
“Pallas and the Centaur by Botticelli: Artworks: Uffizi Galleries.” By Botticelli | Artworks | Uffizi Galleries, www.uffizi.it/en/artworks/pallas-and-the-centaur. -
Another work depicting a mythological figure. This work holds an interesting historical backstory - Botticelli painted Venus for the Medici ("Botticelli"). Tempera paint was created from egg yolk. Adding pigment was a tedious process ("Tempera Painting").
Works Cited:
“Botticelli's Birth of Venus.” ItalianRenaissance.org, www.italianrenaissance.org/botticelli-birth-of-venus/. “Tempera Painting.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/art/tempera-painting. -
The engraving seems consistent with many of Pollaiuolo's paintings that feature supernatural figures engaged in conflict. According to the Met website, this engraving was unusually large for the period (15 1/8" x 23 3/16"). The work suggests the artist possessed skill in portrayal of the human anatomy ("Metmuseum").
Works Cited & Image Source:
Metmuseum.org, www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/339971 -
This work demonstrates an emphasis upon anatomical accuracy during the Italian Renaissance. According to the Met's website, Adam was the first marble statue of its kind. The sculpture was crafted for a Venetian tomb. Adam stands over six-feet tall, making Lombardo's work the first life-sized nude created during the period ("Metmuseum.org"). Works Cited & Image Source:
Metmuseum.org, www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/36.163/ -
This work represents one of the more somber religious themes artistically captured during the period - the death of Christ and the agony of his mother, Mary. Michelangelo was commissioned to created the sculpture by the Church in Rome. Pieta was the work that launched Michelangelo to a new height of artistic fame (“Michelangelo's Pieta.”).
Location = St. Peter's Basilica
Works Cited & Image Source:
“Michelangelo's Pieta.” ItalianRenaissance.org, www.italianrenaissance.org/michelangelos-pieta/. -
Had to include this painting... When I think of fine art, Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is front of mind for inclusion in the art canon. Works Cited & Image Source:
“Work Mona Lisa – Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, Wife of Francesco Del Giocondo.” Mona Lisa – Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, Wife of Francesco Del Giocondo | Louvre Museum | Paris, 16 July 2019, www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/mona-lisa-portrait-lisa-gherardini-wife-francesco-del-giocondo. -
Michelangelo's seventeen-foot statue represents an interesting contrast to the unassuming biblical David that faced Goliath in 1 Samuel 17. The artist demonstrates his brilliance as a sculptor and his command of human anatomy (“Michelangelo's David.”). Consistent with the period, Michelangelo found his niche in religious art.
Location = Accademia Museum in Florence.
Works Cited & Image Source:
“Michelangelo's David.” ItalianRenaissance.org, www.italianrenaissance.org/michelangelos-david/. -
In a style similar to Masaccio, Bellini elevates his characters above the viewer... According to ItalianRenaissance.org, Bellini achieves the effect via pyramidal groupings (a Renaissance convention) and appears to extend the physical church with his painting (“Bellini's San Zaccaria Altarpiece.”).
Location: Church of San Zaccaria in Venice
Works Cited & Image Source:
“Bellini's San Zaccaria Altarpiece.” ItalianRenaissance.org, www.italianrenaissance.org/bellinis-san-zaccaria-altarpiece/. -
Perhaps one of the most famous and influential works in human history. Michelangelo personifies God's essence as a seemingly gentle old man. According to ItalianRenaissance.org, the painting depicts the beginning of the human race ("Michelangelo's Creation of Adam.”). The fresco seems to capture the essence of Christianity.
Location = Sistine Chapel
Works Cited & Image Source:
“Michelangelo's Creation of Adam.” ItalianRenaissance.org, www.italianrenaissance.org/michelangelo-creation-of-adam/. -
I chose this work because Durer appears to humanize the supernatural. This engraving is part of a three piece collection of his master engravings referred to as the Meisterstiche. The work is an expression of melancholy - a condition considered conducive to creative genius during the Renaissance (Metmuseum.org).
Works Cited & Image Source:
Metmuseum.org, www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/43.106.1/ -
Germanic art during the Renaissance. The painting captures a story from the book of Judith - which appears in the Roman Catholic Bible, but not in the traditional Hebrew or Protestant Bibles.
Works Cited & Image Source:
Metmuseum.org, www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436038. -
This painting suggests supernatural endorsement of the church's ordination of a future saint. The Renaissance seems to feature several works depicting supernatural interaction with human life. Location = National Gallery, London
Image Source:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Paolo_Veronese_-_The_Consecration_of_Saint_Nicholas_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg -
This painting portrays a supernatural love story - complete with a nude Venus, cherub-looking Cupid, and placid God of War. According to the Met's website, the milk from Venus's breast and the angel calming the horse celebrates love (Metmuseum.org). The Renaissance seemed to celebrate the Catholic Church and the deeper mythological roots of Western Civilization. Works Cited & Image Source:
Metmuseum.org, www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/10.189/ -
I've included this Northern Renaissance work due to the violent mythological theme. The anatomical precision seems consistent with Italian contemporaries, but the landscape appears to have more of a gruesome edge than the Southern artists... Interesting contrast. The Chiaroscuro woodcut represents an interesting artistic effect using a wood medium.
Works Cited & Image Source:
Metmuseum.org, www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/343585
