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Essay: The Importance of Paintings in the Renaissance

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Paintings in the Renaissance

Explain (cause and effect) the importance of the achievements in your selected area.

SOURCE 1

"Renaissance Art – Facts & Summary – HISTORY.Com." HISTORY.Com, 2018, https://www.history.com/topics/renaissance-art.

PAINTINGS :

• Renaissance (Re-birth)

• 15th Century

• Oil paintings and perspectives changed the way of art.

• Started painting more things lifelike

• Used to be simplistic but in the renaissance they were turned to genius

• Rebirth lead into modern world

• This was a time of political stability

• With finding new continents and a new system of astronomy it produced many artworks.

• In the late 14th century the style of painting included decorative arts and architecture (sculptures)

• In 15th and 16th Century it was calm and realistic whilst having beauty and mystery with their new knowledge of perspective

• Artists include : Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael.

ORIGIN :

• Starts in later 13th and early 14th century

• 1280 – 1400 Is “proto-Renaissance” period

• The writers wanted to revive language from 6th Century and so did the painters but with art

• Giotto, famous artist of proto-Renaissance started painting the human body realistically

EARLY RENAISSANCE (1401 – 1490s):

• The proto-Renaissance stooped in 1400 – 1490 because of plague and war

• Paintings being realistic didn’t appear till 15th  century

FLORENCE:

• The Catholic Church helped produce art during Renaissance

• Art was sponsored by wealthy families leading to families such as the Medici’s

• In 1434 – 1492 Lorenzo Medici killed art

• 1512 art was flourishing and many artworks and sculptures where being produced.

PEAK OF RENAISSANCE (1490s – 1527) :

• Center of art was Florence

• Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael when the best and most popular in this period

• Da Vinci portrayed light and shadows, physical relationships between human, object and animals with what was surrounding them.

• Michelangelo experimented on humans for idea. One of his greatest achievements was painting though he was a sculptor, it is the giant fresco on the ceiling at Sistine Chapel – took 4 years.

• Raphael expressed things such as beauty, serenity and harmony

RENAISSANCE ART

• Many painting and artworks were made with a religious concept.

• Worked on commission and hired by patrons as they were reliable

• Middle class wanted to be like upper class so bought art for their homes which did rise the middle class’ status

GROWTH

• Renaissance spread through Europe in 15th and 16th century

• Oli painting grew in Venice  but was first done is 1432 ( traced back to)

• Mannerism spread through Europe to be the main style of art and painting

SOURCE 2

DElia, Una Roman. Painting in the Renaissance. Crabtree Pub. Company, 2009.

THE RENAISSANCE

• Artist painted realistic people, animals as well as landscapes and buildings

REBIRTH

• 1300 – 1600

• When artists and scholars looked back 1000 years and the discoveries of Ancient Rome

• Wanted to “recreated greatness” of the ancient times

ART AND LIFE

• “beautiful and practical” art

• Painted on walls, ceilings of chapels and wealthy peoples housing

• Painted as well on canvases, wooden panels and furniture

• Rich bought portrait and painted furniture

TIMELINE

1290s – Giotto changes art to be more realistic

1410 – Brunelleschi creates perspective

1427 – Masaccio creates depth in his frescoes

1436 – Jan Van Eyck is one of the firsts to use oil paints

1485 – Botticelli paints Birth of Venus

1495-98 – Da Vinci paints The Last Supper

1503 – Da Vinci paints Mona Lisa

1508-12 – Michelangelo paints on ceiling of Sistine Chapel

1511 – Raphael paints School of Athens

1543 – Vesalius prints book about human anatomy with amazing artists paintings

1550 – Vasari publishes Lives of the Most Eminent Italian Sculptors, Architects, Painters, and sculptors

WHY BUY ART

• It showed wealth and power which shows they had a good education

CONTRACTS

• This was made between a patron and a artists saying payment, materials, time to completed and size.

• Includes details of what it could look like

DISSAGREEMENTS

• This did happen which includes in Michelangelo and the Pope Julius II

SAVED BY PAINTINGS

• Many paintings were about Christianity as that was the religion back then

• Enrico painted a painting of GO decided who will go to heaven and who will go to hell hoping people would learn

PAINTERS

• If you were wealthy you could be paid on a court salary which is a specific amount of money given every time period rather than separate fee every painting

• Court Artist painted as well as designed theaters, table decorations, floats for parade, carriages, and expensive fireworks.

SCULPTURE GARDEN

• Lorenzo de Medici had a garden which Michelangelo would teach young artists how to paint or sculpt

PATRONS

• Were mainly man as they had the most wealth but women could be patrons as well

FEMALE PAINTERS

• These were often because they had a parent that was a painter

• Trained at home and not a workshop

LINEAR PERSPECTIVE

• 1400’s invention

• Brunelleschi used mathematics

• The closer an object it the larger it appears to the viewer

AERIAL PERSPECTIVE

• Distance, faraway objects seemed blue and less clear

LIGHT AND SHADE

• Helped viewers picture the shapes of objects

• Painters chose where the light came from and with that created lighter areas and shades

• Painted as though they could be touched – heavy

• Convey emotions  through colours and brightness

USES  – RELIGIOUS

• People didn’t know how to read

• Painting religious scenes helped learn Christianity

• Painted on anything

SCENES COMING TO LIFE

• Artists showed lives on saints as though it was back then

• Connection to saints

• Savonarola in 1500 in Florence preached about Christians – leading Botticelli to burn some of his nonreligious things

FRESCO

• Had to draw out before as it was drying extremely quickly

• Drew over lines of drawing onto wall or ceiling or prick holes forming dotted lines

• Paint and plaster would drip on artists as on wooden scaffolding

CHRISTIANS

• Every Christian had a patron saint – a protector of a group of people

SYMBOLISM

• This was used in altarpieces

• Religious use mainly

OIL PAINT

• Remains wet for a long time

• Artist change mind constantly

• Helps colours blend

• Blurs out edges

JAN VAN EYCK

• “First person who perfected the uses of glazes in oil paint to create brilliant colours”

• Used oil paint to create shadows and reflections

PORTRAITS

• Can make someone fear or respect you

• Can remember a dead person

• Painted on walls, wooden panels, paper, fresco, tempera and oil

• 1400’s Italy portraits were usually profiles – Roman Emperors on coins

• Mona Lisa is different to other Italian portraits – body facing side, head turned and half smile

HUMAN BODY

• Middle ages nudity was sinful, Renaissance beautiful body beautiful heart

• Owned by wealthy patrons and churches although some churches declined it

• Tried to capture movement of body not stiff bodies

• One pose is contrapposto “contrasting pose” in Italian

• Painted it realistic, but exaggerated features

• 1400 – men tall and lean 1500 – men exaggerated muscles this were what was though as attractive

• Women shown with huge muscles shows power

• Beautiful women – tall, pale, blonde hair, curvy body and high forehead

WAR

• Artist would paint about the battles

• Honouring heroes and people

• Showing people to stay loyal to their country.

PEASANTS

• 1500 people didn’t want religious paintings

• So painted everyday life of peasants

IMAGINARY WORLD

• Christians Angels – good spirits who help Christians, Demons – bad spirits related to sin, evil

• Painted myths and old stories

MANNERISM

• 1520 Italy distortion of perspective

• Figures twisted creating emotion

• Not realistic

• Harsh poor use of space, incorrect scale

RISE OF ART

• Middle ages artists were called craftsmen

• 1500s artists studied and wrote theories behind their art

• Beginning of renaissance the importance of what the art was made out of not the artist

• By end price was done on who made it

• Late 1500s patrons let artist chose subject

• 1500s galleries started appearing

• Renaissance artists made biographies and all the other artist in that time

SCOURCE 3

"HISTORY OF IDEAS – The Renaissance." Youtube, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fI1OeMmwYjU.

MEDICI

• Love to make money and spend money

• Loved Philanthropy = beauty, truth, wisdom

• Helped study in past

• Rich in old times but it is the moderate amount today compared to rich people today

• Impact was to have a vision and detailed about what they wanted

• Spent money appropriately

HISTORY FINDINGS

• Broccolini finds manuscript of great philosopher  

• Wanted to run society well so looked on past and how it was run

CONSTRUCTION

• 1484 – golden age of construction

• Focus to beauty with cities

• Shaped by the people around us

• Rules made things look good

• Squares – not too big so a mum can call to a child on the other side, 5 stories, fountain in the middle, plain

PAINTING

• 1488 Giovanni Bellini paints central panel of Jesus and his mother – realistic

• Donatello, Filippo, Masaccio, Lippi, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian are all artists of this time

• Knew what they wanted to do with art/ paintings

• Selling beauty, truth, wisdom not commercial

• Raphael painting on walls of Vatican

• Titian three ages of man conveys about shortness of life, forgiveness this gives you interest in philosophy

• We all need to love, Love = Beauty = Sexiness

• Pacino (influenced art) used sexiness, lust, glamour to create  people that were very clever and amazing

• Botticelli was used to expose our sexuality and people who are beautiful and shortness of life

• Titian & Botticelli =  make us want to be nice, sweet and like painting

• Gives art a purpose and reason which is still appealing today

NOW

• Should “look through their eyes at our world” = make today better with their architecture, finance, paintings and politics etc.

• Make buildings, places, artworks  attractive

• Do things that matter

SOURCE 4

"Renaissance Art: History, Characteristics." Visual-Arts-Cork.Com, 2018, http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/renaissance-art.htm#characteristics.

REBIRTH

• Still not completely sure

• The Black Death influenced

• Emerged from Dark Ages

PROSPERITY

• Florence was centre of production for wool, silk and jewelry

• Florence as well had the Medici family who were rich and powerful

• Thousands of years of no culture or ‘spirit’ Italy need something

EFFECTS

• Idea of that man controlled human destiny not god

• A rebirth of old information from hundreds of years ago

• Humanism

• New painting techniques

• Realism people and paintings

CHURCH

• The church being weak at this time helped the renaissance grow

• People spread humanism but the church tried to stop it but couldn’t because of how weak they were

EXPLORATION

• Renaissance was time of discovery

• Discovered sea routes, new continents, perspective, artists, sculptors and architects

• Renaissance grew because of desire to study and imitate nature

WHY ITALY

• Richest trading nation in Europe

• Old ruins and artifacts

• Greek scholars moved when Ancient Rome was around so lots of old information there to build from

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