Themes in Italian Renaissance painting

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This article on the development of themes in Italian Renaissance painting is an extension of the article of Italian Renaissance painting, for which it provides additional pictures with comments. The works covered are from Giotto in the early 14th century until Michelangelo The Last Judgment of the 1530s.

The themes that concern the Italian Renaissance painters are the main themes and executions-what is painted and the style painted. The artist has more freedom both subject and style than medieval painters. Certain characteristic elements of the Renaissance painting flourished during this period. This includes perspectives, both in terms of how they are achieved and their applied effects, and realism, especially in the depiction of humanity, whether as symbols, portraits or narrative elements.

Video Themes in Italian Renaissance painting

Tema

The The banner of Christ by Piero della Francesca (above) shows in a small work many of the themes of Italian Renaissance painting, both in terms of elements of composition and subject matter. Immediately clear is the mastery of Piero's perspective and light. The architectural elements, including ceramic flooring that becomes more complex around the central action, combine to create two spaces. The inner space is illuminated by the invisible light source that Jesus sees. The exact location can be determined mathematically by the diffusion analysis and the shadow angle on the agreed ceiling. Three figures standing outside were lit from different angles, from daylight and reflected light from the sidewalks and buildings.

Religious themes are bound at this time. The ruler is a portrait of the Emperor who visited Byzantium. Speech is also called "scourging". The term "scourge" applies to outbreaks. Outside stands three men who represent those who bury the body of Christ. The older two, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathaea, are believed to be portraits of men who have just lost their son, one of them to plague. The third person is a young disciple of John, and perhaps a portrait of one of the sons, or represents both in a single ideal figure, coinciding with the manner in which Piero painted an angel.

Maps Themes in Italian Renaissance painting

Renaissance painting elements

Renaissance painting differs from the paintings of the late Middle Ages in its emphasis on close observations of nature, in particular with regard to human anatomy, and the application of scientific principles to the use of perspective and light.

Linear perspective

The pictures in the gallery below show the development of a linear perspective in buildings and city views.

• In Giotto frescoes, the building is like a set of stage with one side open to viewers.
• In Paolo Uccello's frescoes, the city's landscape gives a deep impression.
• Masaccio Holy Trinity is painted with carefully calculated mathematical proportions, where he may be assisted by architect Brunelleschi.
• Fra Angelico uses the simple motif of a small loggia that is designed accurately to create an intimate space.
• Gentile Bellini has painted a vast space, Piazza San Marco in Venice, where tidal numbers add a sense of perspective.
• Leonardo da Vinci does a detailed and measurable picture of the background The classic ruins of preparation for the unfinished Worship of the Magi .
• Domenico Ghirlandaio creates a very complex and wide-ranging arrangement on three levels, including sharp downhill and overhanging walls. Landscape elements, like the church on the right, are seen partially through other structures.
• The Raphael design for Fire in Borgo shows buildings around a small square where the background event is highlighted by perspective.

Landscape

The depiction of the landscape is driven by the development of a linear perspective and the inclusion of detailed landscapes in the background of many early Dutch paintings in the 15th century. Also through this influence comes the awareness of the atmospheric perspective and the observation of things far influenced by light.

• Giotto uses a few stones to give the impression of a mountain setting.
• Paolo Uccello has made a detailed and surreal setting as the stage for many small scenes.
• In Carpaccio's Anointing of the Body of Christ , the lonely rocky landscape echoes the tragedy at the scene.
• The Mantegna landscape has a three-dimensional statue of a statue that shows real physical space. Details of the rocks, their strata and fractures, indicate that he studied the geologic formations of the usual red limestone in northern Italy.
• Antonello da Messina sets a bleak scene from Crucifixion in contrast to the quiet countryside that rolls into the distance, becoming pale and more blue at low tide.
• Giovanni Bellini has created a detailed landscape with pastoral scenery between foreground and mountain backgrounds. There are many levels in this landscape, making it equivalent to the complex city landscape of Ghirlandaio (above).
• Perugino has established Witchcraft of the Magi of the familiar Umbrian hills landscape.
• Leonardo da Vinci, featuring theatrical use from an atmospheric perspective in his view of the steep mountains around Lago di Garda at the foot of the Alps in northern Italy.

Light

Light and shadow are in paintings in two forms. The tone is just the light and dark of the drawing area, judged from white to black. Color settings are a very important feature of some paintings. Chiaroscuro is modeling the real surface in the picture by suggestion of light and shadow. While tones are an important feature of medieval period painting, no chiaroscuro. Becomes increasingly important for 15th century painters, changing the depiction of three-dimensional space.

• Taddeo Gaddi Annunciation to the Shepherds is the first known large painting of the night scene. The internal light source of the image is an angel.
• In Fra Angelico's paintings, during the day, which appear to come from the actual window of the friary cell decorated with this fresco, gently illuminates the figure and defines the architecture.
• In his Emperor's Dream, Piero della Francesca takes the theme of an angel-lit night scene and applies his scientific knowledge of light diffusion. The tonal pattern created is an important element in the composition of the painting.
• In his book Agony in the Garden , Giovanni Bellini uses dusk that fades on a cloudy night to create an atmosphere of tension and tragedy to come.
• In the official portrait of Domenico Veneziano, the use of chiaroscuro to model a little shape. However, the painting relies heavily on the tonal contrast of the pale face, the middle-tone background and the dark outfit with a patterned corset for the effect.
• Botticelli uses chiaroscuro to model the nanny's face and determine the simple details of the garment. Light and shade on the edge of the window determine the angle of light.
• Suggested writing for this early 16th century portrait includes Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio, Mariotto Albertinelli and Giuliano Bugiardini. This painting combines many lighting effects from other works in this gallery. Its form is modeled by light and shadow, as if by sunset, which gives the element of drama, which is reinforced by the landscape. The tonal pattern created by dark clothes, white cloth and hand position is a feature of the composition of the painting.
• In Leonardo da Vinci's John the Baptist , the element of the painting, including the corner of the model's eyes and mouth, is obscured by the shadows, creating an air of ambiguity and mystery.

Anatomy

While largely dependent on topographical observations, anatomical knowledge was put forward by Leonardo da Vinci's careful dissection of 30 corpses. Leonardo, among others, gave the impression to the students the need for close observation of life and to make the model image of life an important part of the pupil's formal study of painting.

• The Cimabue , extensively destroyed by the floods in 1966, shows a formal arrangement, with curved bodies and a drooping head prevalent in the late medieval art. Anatomy is very stylish to adapt to traditional iconic formulas.
• Giotto abandoned the traditional formula and painted from observation.
• The figure of Massacio Christ is shown as if seen from below, and shows the upper body tense as if by breathing effort.
• In Depositions artist Giovanni Bellini, while not trying to suggest the brutal reality of the crucifixion, has tried to give the impression of death.
• In the work of Piero della Francesca's Baptism , the powerful figure of Jesus is painted with the utmost simplicity and lack of spirituality that belies his naturalism.
• The figure of Jesus in this painting, which is a joint work of Verrocchio and young Leonardo, is likely to have been composed by Verrocchio. Contour maintains a somewhat fluid line of linearity in Gothic art. Most of the body, however, is considered to have been painted by Leonardo and revealed a strong knowledge of anatomical forms.
• Leonardo Pictures of St. Jerome shows the results of a detailed study of the shoulder girdle, known from the drawing page.
• Michelangelo uses human anatomy for great expressive effect. He is renowned for his ability in the creation of expressive poses and imitated by many other painters and sculptors.

Realism

The observation of nature meant that symbolic forms and movements which in medieval art, and especially the Byzantine forces prevalent in much of Italy, were used to convey meaning, replaced by representations of human emotions displayed by various individuals.

• In this case Awakening , Giotto shows a sleeping soldier with a face hidden by a helmet or warned to emphasize a relaxed posture.
• In contrast, Andrea Castagno has painted a picture the size of kondotierre, Pippo Spano, alert and with his feet on the edge of a painted alcove that frames itself.
• Filippo Lippi in this early work shows a group of very naturalistic children crowding around the Virgin Mary, but looking with innocent curiosity to the viewers. One of the children has Down syndrome.
• Masaccio describes the sadness resulting from the loss of innocence when Adam and Eve were expelled from the presence of God.
• Antonello da Messina painted several versions of Ecce Homo , a tormented Christ as he was presented to the people by the Roman governor. Such paintings usually show Christ in a tragic but heroic role, minimizing the depiction of suffering. Antonello's picture is very realistic.
• In his lamentation of the Dead Christ, Mantegna has here portrayed the dying body of Jesus daring to look forward, as if the performer stood at the end of the slab.
• In this detail from a larger painting, Mantegna shows a small child, wearing a tummy-binder and perforated sandals, turns and chews his fingers while the baby Christ is circumcised.
• Giorgione painted a portrait of a natural, uncharacteristically old woman, unusual in his unkempt hair portrayal and open mouth with crooked teeth.

Image composition

Among the preoccupations of the artist assigned to performing great works with many characters is how to make the subject, usually narrative, readable by the viewer, natural in appearance and well arranged in the drawing room.

• Giotto combines three different narrative elements into this dramatic scene against the inhuman helmets of the guards. Jude betrays Jesus to the soldiers by kissing him. High Priest gestures to a guard to catch him. Peter cut off the ears of the high priest's servant as he stepped forward to lay his hands on Jesus. Five figures dominate the foreground, encircling Jesus so that only his head is visible. But with the colorful arrangements and gestures of the men, Giotto makes the face of Jesus the focal point of the painting.
• In the Death of Adam, Piero della Francesca has established a dying patriarch so that she is thrown into aid against the black clothes worn by one of her family. The importance of this story is further emphasized by the arch of numbers formed around it and the diagonal arms that all point to his head. p
• Theophilus Son's Resurrection is a very cohesive whole, considering it was started by Masaccio, left unfinished, destroyed, and finally settled by Filippino Lippi. Masaccio painted the middle.
• Pollaiuolo, in this very systematic painting, has taken the crossbow used by archers in the foreground, as a compositional structure. In the form of this large triangle, divided vertically, he has alternated numbers between front and rear views.
• The long, narrow painting of Botticelli Mars and Venus is based on W with numbers reflecting each other. The lovers, who shortly before united, are now separated by sleep. The three small eagle that process throughout the painting holds the composition together.
• Michelangelos's mastery of the composition of complex figures, as in his book The Entombment is to inspire many artists over the centuries. In this panel paint the figure of Christ, though vertical, degenerate and dead weight in the middle of the picture, while those who try to bring the body lean out to support it.
• At first glance, Signorelli's Fall of the Damned is a collection of surprising and cruel bodies, but with the skillful placement of the figures so that the lines, instead of intersecting, flow in a course that surging through the image, this composition is unified and resolved into a large number of separate actions. Satan colors also serve to divide the image into torturers and tormented.
• The Battle of Ostia was executed by Raphael's assistant, probably for his design. The foreground of this painting is organized into two overlapping arches, larger showers being conquered, while on the left and slightly behind, they are forced to kneel before the Pope. While the Pope rose above the second group and dominated, the first group was dominated by a warrior whose color and beautiful headdress acted like a visual stepping stone to the Pope. At the edge of this group, two bending figures reflect each other, creating a tension in which a person pulls away from the edge of the painting and the other pulls up in the center.

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Primary works

Altarpieces

The largest and most time-consuming paid work an artist can do is a fresco scheme for churches, private palaces or commune buildings. Among these, the largest or less intact integrated scheme in Italy was created by a number of different artists at the end of the Medieval period in the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi. This was followed by the Proto-Renaissance Giotto scheme in Padua and many others ranging from Magi Benozzo Gozzoli Chapel to Medici to Michelangelo's highest achievement for Pope Julius II in the Sistine Chapel.

• Giotto paints a large and free-standing Chapel of Scrovegni in Padua with the Life of the Virgin and The Life of Christ . Breaking from medieval tradition, it sets the standard of naturalism.
• Two large wall paintings of Ambrogio Lorenzetti's paintings for the Commune of Siena are truly secular and show a detailed view of the city's landscape with citizens, emphasizing the importance of civil order.
• In contrast, Andrea di Bonaiuto, painting for the Dominicans in the new church of Santa Maria Novella, completes the great painting of Church Victory, which shows the church's role in Salvation's work, and in particular, the Dominican role, which also appears symbolically as the Hounds of Heaven, shepherding the people of God. The painting includes views of Florence Cathedral.
• Masaccio and Masolino collaborate in the most famous Brancacci Chapel fresco cycle for Masccio's human life innovation, a more elegant Masolino style seen in the city's landscape that skillfully combines two episodes of St. Peter .
• The fresco circle Piero della Francesca in the church of San Francesco, Arezzo, follows exactly the Real True Legend written by Jacopo da Varagine in Golden Legend . The pictures reveal his study of light and perspective, and the numbers have almost monolithic solidity.
• The Benozzo Gozzoli fresco circle for the Medici Palace's private chapel is the final work in the International Gothic style, elegant and richly ornamented depictions of the Medici with their entourage as Three Wise Men.
The elaborate cycle for the House of Este's Palazzo Schifanoia in Ferrara, partly run by Francesco del Cossa, is also fantastic in the depictions of the Classical deity and the Zodial signs combined with scenes of family life.
• Mantegna's paintings for Gonzaga also show family life but have very realistic and skillful elements utilizing the real architecture of the room they decorate, the rack that forms the base for the numbers and the real ceiling support that seems to be supported on painting pilasters.
• While in the Brancacci Chapel, historians attempt to identify Masaccio, Masolino, and possibly Donatello's face among the apostles, Domenico Ghirlandaio in Sassetti Chapel does not attempt to disguise his models. Each fresco in this religious cycle has two sets of figures: those who tell the story and those who witness it. In this scene of the Birth of the Virgin Mary, a number of noble ladies from Florence have come, as if to congratulate the new mother.
• The punishment of the children of Korah by Botticelli is one of the episodes of the series The life of Moses , which, together with The Life of Christ >, was commissioned in 1480s as an ornament to the Sistine Chapel. Perugino artists, Domenico Ghirlandaio, and Cosimo Rosselli all work in carefully designed and harmonious schemes.
• Michelangelo's painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, which was executed on its own for a five-year period, with a narrative of Genesis, the prophetic figure and the Patriarch of Christ, is destined to become one of the world's most famous works of art.
• Simultaneously, Raphael and some of his assistants paint the papal room known as the Raphael Chamber. In The School of Athens Raphael describes famous people of his day, including Leonardo, Michelangelo, Bramante and himself, as philosophers from ancient Athens.

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Subject

The devotional images of Madonna and Child are produced in very large numbers, often for private clients. The Scenes of the Life of Christ, The Life of the Virgin, or the Life of the Saints were also made in large numbers for the churches, especially the scenes associated with the life of Christ > Nativity and Passion of Christ . The Last Supper is usually depicted in religious refectories.

During the Renaissance, more and more patrons have a resemblance to their commitment to color in paint. For this reason, there are a large number of Renaissance portraits for whom the name of the nanny is unknown. The rich personal patron commissioned artwork as a decoration for their home, the more secular subject matter.

The devotional painting

Madonna

These intimate little pictures, which are now almost all in the museum, are most often done for private property, but can occasionally endow a small altar in a chapel.

• Madonna who worships the Son of Christ with two Angels has always been very popular because the expressive boy angels support the Son of Christ. Filippo Lippi's paintings such as this greatly influenced Botticelli.
• Verrocchio separates Madonna and Christ Child from the observer through the stone threshold, also used in many portraits. Roses and cherries represent spiritual love and love.
• Antonello da Messina Madonna and Child is superficially very similar to Verrocchio, but it is much less formal and both mother and child seem to move rather than pose for painters. Elbow The uprooted child as he grabs her mother's breast takes place in Raphael's work and can be seen in a different form inside Michelangelo Doni Tondo .
• The numbers placed on Leonardo's diagonal opposite seen at the beginning of Madonna and Child by Leonardo da Vinci are themes of compositions that will be repeated in many of his works and imitated by his disciples and by Raphael.
• Giovanni Bellini is influenced by the Greek Orthodox icon. The golden fabric in this painting takes the place of the background of the gold leaf. The arrangements are formal, but the movements, and especially the worshiping gaze of the mother, give human warmth to this picture.
• Vittore Carpaccio Madonna and Child is very unusual in showing the Christ Child as a toddler dressed up in contemporary attire. The meticulous details and households are suggestive of the early Dutch paintings.
• Michelangelo, Doni Tondo is the largest of these works, but is a private commission. The very unusual composition, the wrinkled form of Madonna, the three heads near the top of the painting and the radical foreshorten are all extremely challenging features, and Agnolo Doni is not sure that he wants to pay for it.
• Raphael skillfully adjusts the strength of the opponent, and unites Madonna and Son with loving eyes.

Secular paintings

Portrait

These four famous paintings show the arrival and acceptance of naked as a subject for the artist in its own right.

• In Botticelli's Birth of Venus , the nude figure, though central to the painting, is not the subject itself. The subject of the painting is the story of Classical mythology. The fact that Venus Goddess rises naked from the sea provides justification for a naked study that dominates the work center.
• Painted thirty years later, the exact meaning of the image of Giovanni Bellini is unclear. If the subject is painted by impressionist painters, it would be extremely unnecessary to assume a meaning. But in this Renaissance work, there is the presence of mirrors, objects that are usually symbolic and that show allegory. The nakedness of the young woman is a sign of less seduction, such as innocence and vulnerability. However, she wore a very rich headdress, sewn with pearls, and lacked one, but two mirrors, just seeing herself that never stopped. The mirror, often a prophetic symbol, here becomes an object of futility, with a young woman in the role of Narcissus.
• Giorgione's painting probably precedes Bellini for ten years. It's always known as The Sleeping Venus but there's nothing in the painting to make sure it's Venus. The painting is remarkable because of the lack of symbolism and the emphasis on the body only as an object of beauty. It is believed to have been completed by Titian.
• Titian's , on the other hand, is painted for the pleasure of the Duke of Urbino, and as in Botticelli's Birth of Venus, painted for a member of the Medici family, looks directly at the audience. The model is probably the client's mistress. Venus Urbino is not just a beautiful body in itself. She is an individual young woman and very seductive, who is not naked signifying heavenly perfection, but only naked, after stripping her clothes but going on some of her jewelry.

Classical mythology

Source of the article : Wikipedia