Which Group Served as the Greatest Patron of the Arts During the Renaissance Period

The Italian Renaissance

Learning Objectives

The art of the Italian Renaissance was influential throughout Europe for centuries.

Key Takeaways

Fundamental Points

• The Florence schoolhouse of painting became the dominant manner during the Renaissance. Renaissance artworks depicted more than secular subject matter than previous artistic movements.
• Michelangelo, da Vinci, and Rafael are amid the best known painters of the Loftier Renaissance.
• The High Renaissance was followed past the Mannerist movement, known for elongated figures.

Key Terms

• fresco: A type of wall painting in which color pigments are mixed with water and applied to wet plaster. As the plaster and pigments dry out, they fuse together and the painting becomes a function of the wall itself.
• Mannerism: A style of art developed at the stop of the High Renaissance, characterized past the deliberate distortion and exaggeration of perspective, especially the elongation of figures.

The Renaissance began during the 14th century and remained the dominate mode in Italy, and in much of Europe, until the 16th century. The term "renaissance" was developed during the 19th century in order to describe this menstruation of fourth dimension and its accompanying artistic way. Still, people who were living during the Renaissance did see themselves as different from their Medieval predecessors. Through a diversity of texts that survive, we know that people living during the Renaissance saw themselves as different largely because they were deliberately trying to imitate the Ancients in fine art and compages.

Florence and the Renaissance

When you hear the term "Renaissance" and picture a style of fine art, you are probably picturing the Renaissance style that was developed in Florence, which became the dominate fashion of art during the Renaissance. During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Italy was divided into a number of different city states. Each city state had its own government, civilisation, economy, and creative style. There were many different styles of art and architecture that were developed in Italia during the Renaissance. Siena, which was a political ally of France, for case, retained a Gothic element to its art for much of the Renaissance.

Certain conditions aided the evolution of the Renaissance style in Florence during this time catamenia. In the 15th century, Florence became a major mercantile eye. The production of material drove their economic system and a merchant class emerged. Humanism, which had developed during the 14th century, remained an important intellectual movement that impacted art production as well.

Early Renaissance

During the Early on Renaissance, artists began to reject the Byzantine style of religious painting and strove to create realism in their depiction of the homo form and space. This aim toward realism began with Cimabue and Giotto, and reached its peak in the fine art of the "Perfect" artists, such as Andrea Mantegna and Paolo Uccello, who created works that employed i point perspective and played with perspective for their educated, art knowledgeable viewer.

During the Early Renaissance we besides see important developments in subject matter, in addition to style. While religion was an important element in the daily life of people living during the Renaissance, and remained a driving factor backside artistic production, we also see a new avenue open to panting—mythological discipline matter. Many scholars point to Botticelli'south Nascency of Venus as the very first panel painting of a mythological scene. While the tradition itself probable arose from cassone painting, which typically featured scenes from mythology and romantic texts, the development of mythological panel painting would open a world for artistic patronage, production, and themes.

Nascency of Venus: Botticelli'southward Nativity of Venus was amid the most important works of the early on Renaissance.

High Renaissance

The period known as the Loftier Renaissance represents the culmination of the goals of the Early Renaissance, namely the realistic representation of figures in space rendered with credible motion and in an appropriately decorous style. The most well known artists from this phase are Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, and Michelangelo. Their paintings and frescoes are among the most widely known works of fine art in the world. Da Vinci's Last Supper, Raphael'south The School of Athens and Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel Ceiling paintings are the masterpieces of this period and embody the elements of the High Renaissance.

Union of the Virgin, by Raphael: The painting depicts a spousal relationship ceremony between Mary and Joseph.

Mannerism

High Renaissance painting evolved into Mannerism in Florence. Mannerist artists, who consciously rebelled confronting the principles of High Renaissance, tended to correspond elongated figures in illogical spaces. Modern scholarship has recognized the capacity of Mannerist fine art to convey strong, oft religious, emotion where the High Renaissance failed to do so. Some of the main artists of this period are Pontormo, Bronzino, Rosso Fiorentino, Parmigianino and Raphael'due south pupil, Giulio Romano.

Fine art and Patronage

The Medici family used their vast fortune to control the Florentine political organisation and sponsor a series of artistic accomplishments.

Learning Objectives

Discuss the relationship betwixt fine art, patronage, and politics during the Renaissance

Cardinal Takeaways

Key Points

• Although the Renaissance was underway before the Medici family unit came to power in Florence, their patronage and political back up of the arts helped catalyze the Renaissance into a fully fledged cultural movement.
• The Medici wealth and influence initially derived from the textile merchandise guided by the gild of the Arte della Lana; through financial superiority, the Medici dominated their city's government.
• Medici patronage was responsible for the bulk of Florentine art during their reign, as artists by and large merely fabricated their works when they received commissions in accelerate.
• Although none of the Medici themselves were scientists, the family unit is well known to take been the patrons of the famous Galileo Galilei, who tutored multiple generations of Medici children.

Key Terms

• Lorenzo de' Medici: An Italian statesman and de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic, who was one of the most powerful and enthusiastic patrons of the Renaissance.
• patronage: The support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another, peculiarly in the arts.

Overview

Information technology has long been a matter of debate why the Renaissance began in Florence, and not elsewhere in Italy. Scholars accept noted several features unique to Florentine cultural life that may accept caused such a cultural motility. Many have emphasized the role played by the Medici, a banking family and later ducal ruling business firm, in patronizing and stimulating the arts. Lorenzo de' Medici (1449–1492) was the goad for an enormous amount of arts patronage, encouraging his countrymen to commission works from the leading artists of Florence, including Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli, and Michelangelo Buonarroti. Works past Neri di Bicci, Botticelli, da Vinci, and Filippino Lippi had been commissioned additionally by the convent di San Donato agli Scopeti of the Augustinians order in Florence.

The Medici House Patronage

The House of Medici was an Italian banking family, political dynasty, and later royal house that offset began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. Their wealth and influence initially derived from the textile trade guided past the club of the Arte della Lana. Similar other signore families, they dominated their city's authorities, they were able to bring Florence under their family'due south ability, and they created an surroundings where fine art and Humanism could flourish. They, along with other families of Italia, such as the Visconti and Sforza of Milan, the Este of Ferrara, and the Gonzaga of Mantua, fostered and inspired the nascency of the Italian Renaissance.

The biggest accomplishments of the Medici were in the sponsorship of art and architecture, mainly early and Loftier Renaissance fine art and architecture. The Medici were responsible for the majority of Florentine art during their reign. Their coin was significant because during this period, artists generally but made their works when they received commissions in advance. Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici, the first patron of the arts in the family, aided Masaccio and commissioned Brunelleschi for the reconstruction of the Basilica of San Lorenzo, Florence, in 1419. Cosimo the Elderberry's notable artistic associates were Donatello and Fra Angelico. The nearly significant addition to the listing over the years was Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564), who produced piece of work for a number of Medici, beginning with Lorenzo the Magnificent, who was said to exist extremely fond of the young Michelangelo, inviting him to study the family drove of antiquarian sculpture. Lorenzo also served equally patron of Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) for 7 years. Indeed, Lorenzo was an artist in his own right, and an author of poesy and song; his back up of the arts and letters is seen as a high point in Medici patronage.

The Medici Business firm: Medici family members placed allegorically in the entourage of a rex from the Iii Wise Men in the Tuscan countryside in a Benozzo Gozzoli fresco, c. 1459.

In architecture, the Medici are responsible for some notable features of Florence, including the Uffizi Gallery, the Boboli Gardens, the Dais, the Medici Chapel, and the Palazzo Medici. After, in Rome, the Medici Popes continued in the family tradition by patronizing artists in Rome. Pope Leo Ten would chiefly commission works from Raphael. Pope Clement Seven commissioned Michelangelo to paint the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel just before the pontiff'southward death in 1534. Eleanor of Toledo, princess of Spain and wife of Cosimo I the Not bad, purchased the Pitti Palace from Buonaccorso Pitti in 1550. Cosimo in plow patronized Vasari, who erected the Uffizi Gallery in 1560 and founded the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno ("University of the Arts of Drawing") in 1563. Marie de' Medici, widow of Henry IV of French republic and female parent of Louis 13, is the subject of a commissioned cycle of paintings known as the Marie de' Medici bicycle, painted for the Grand duchy of luxembourg Palace past courtroom painter Peter Paul Rubens in 1622–1623.

Although none of the Medici themselves were scientists, the family is well known to have been the patrons of the famous Galileo Galilei, who tutored multiple generations of Medici children and was an of import figurehead for his patron's quest for power. Galileo's patronage was eventually abandoned by Ferdinando II when the Inquisition accused Galileo of heresy. However, the Medici family unit did afford the scientist a safe haven for many years. Galileo named the four largest moons of Jupiter after 4 Medici children he tutored, although the names Galileo used are not the names currently used.

Leonardo da Vinci

While Leonardo da Vinci is admired every bit a scientist, an academic, and an inventor, he is most famous for his achievements equally the painter of several Renaissance masterpieces.

Learning Objectives

Describe the works of Leonardo da Vinci that demonstrate his most innovative techniques equally an artist

Key Takeaways

Key Points

• Among the qualities that brand da Vinci's work unique are the innovative techniques that he used in laying on the paint, his detailed knowledge of beefcake, his innovative use of the human class in figurative limerick, and his use of sfumato.
• Amid the almost famous works created by da Vinci is the small portrait titled the Mona Lisa, known for the elusive smile on the woman's face, brought about by the fact that da Vinci subtly shadowed the corners of the mouth and optics so that the verbal nature of the smile cannot be determined.
• Despite his famous paintings, da Vinci was not a prolific painter; he was a prolific draftsman, keeping journals full of small sketches and detailed drawings recording all fashion of things that interested him.

Key Terms

• sfumato: In painting, the application of subtle layers of translucent pigment then that in that location is no visible transition betwixt colors, tones, and often objects.

While Leonardo da Vinci is greatly admired every bit a scientist, an academic, and an inventor, he is well-nigh famous for his achievements as the painter of several Renaissance masterpieces. His paintings were groundbreaking for a variety of reasons and his works have been imitated by students and discussed at great length past connoisseurs and critics.

Among the qualities that make da Vinci'south work unique are the innovative techniques that he used in laying on the paint, his detailed knowledge of anatomy, his use of the human form in figurative composition, and his utilise of sfumato. All of these qualities are present in his virtually celebrated works, the Mona Lisa, The Terminal Supper, and the Virgin of the Rocks.

The Virgin of the Rocks, Leonardo da Vinci, 1483–1486: This painting shows the Madonna and Kid Jesus with the infant John the Baptist and an affections, in a rocky setting.

The Final Supper

Da Vinci'southward most celebrated painting of the 1490s is The Last Supper, which was painted for the refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria della Grazie in Milan. The painting depicts the last meal shared by Jesus and the 12 Apostles where he announces that 1 of the them will betray him. When finished, the painting was acclaimed as a masterpiece of pattern. This work demonstrates something that da Vinci did very well: taking a very traditional bailiwick matter, such as the Last Supper, and completely re-inventing it.

Prior to this moment in art history, every representation of the Terminal Supper followed the same visual tradition: Jesus and the Apostles seated at a table. Judas is placed on the opposite side of the table of everyone else and is effortlessly identified by the viewer. When da Vinci painted The Terminal Supper he placed Judas on the aforementioned side of the tabular array as Christ and the Apostles, who are shown reacting to Jesus equally he announces that i of them will betray him. They are depicted as alarmed, upset, and trying to determine who will commit the act. The viewer also has to decide which figure is Judas, who will beguile Christ. By depicting the scene in this manner, da Vinci has infused psychology into the work.

Unfortunately, this masterpiece of the Renaissance began to deteriorate immediately afterwards da Vinci finished painting, due largely to the painting technique that he had chosen. Instead of using the technique of fresco, da Vinci had used tempera over a ground that was mainly gesso in an attempt to bring the subtle effects of oil paint to fresco. His new technique was not successful, and resulted in a surface that was field of study to mold and flaking.

The Last Supper: Leonardo da Vinci'due south Last Supper, although much deteriorated, demonstrates the painter'due south mastery of the human form in figurative composition.

Mona Lisa

Amidst the works created by da Vinci in the 16th century is the small portrait known as the Mona Lisa, or La Gioconda, "the laughing ane." In the present era it is arguably the most famous painting in the world. Its fame rests, in particular, on the elusive smile on the woman'southward face—its mysterious quality brought about perhaps past the fact that the creative person has subtly shadowed the corners of the mouth and eyes so that the exact nature of the smiling cannot exist determined.

The shadowy quality for which the work is renowned came to be called sfumato, the application of subtle layers of translucent pigment so that there is no visible transition betwixt colors, tones, and frequently objects. Other characteristics found in this piece of work are the unadorned dress, in which the eyes and hands have no competition from other details; the dramatic landscape background, in which the world seems to be in a state of flux; the subdued coloring; and the extremely smooth nature of the painterly technique, employing oils, simply practical much like tempera and blended on the surface then that the brushstrokes are indistinguishable. And once again, da Vinci is innovating upon a type of painting hither. Portraits were very common in the Renaissance. However, portraits of women were always in profile, which was seen as proper and small. Here, da Vinci present a portrait of a woman who non only faces the viewer but follows them with her optics.

Mona Lisa: In the Mona Lisa, da Vinci incorporates his sfumato technique to create a shadowy quality.

Virgin and Kid with St. Anne

In the painting Virgin and Kid with St. Anne, da Vinci's composition again picks up the theme of figures in a landscape. What makes this painting unusual is that in that location are two obliquely fix figures superimposed. Mary is seated on the knee of her mother, St. Anne. She leans forward to restrain the Christ Child as he plays roughly with a lamb, the sign of his own impending sacrifice. This painting influenced many contemporaries, including Michelangelo, Raphael, and Andrea del Sarto. The trends in its composition were adopted in detail past the Venetian painters Tintoretto and Veronese.

Virgin and Kid with Saint Anne: Virgin and Child with St. Anne (c. 1510) by Leonardo da Vinci, Louvre Museum.

Michelangelo

Michelangelo was a 16th century Florentine artist renowned for his masterpieces in sculpture, painting, and architectural design.

Learning Objectives

Hash out Michelangelo'south achievements in sculpture, painting, and architecture

Key Takeaways

Key Points

• Michelangelo created his colossal marble statue, the David, out of a single block of marble, which established his prominence as a sculptor of boggling technical skill and strength of symbolic imagination.
• In painting, Michelangelo is renowned for the ceiling and The Last Judgement of the Sistine Chapel, where he depicted a circuitous scheme representing Creation, the Downfall of Homo, the Salvation of Homo, and the Genealogy of Christ.
• Michelangelo's main contribution to Saint Peter'south Basilica was the apply of a Greek Cross form and an external masonry of massive proportions, with every corner filled in by a stairwell or small vestry. The effect is a continuous wall-surface that appears fractured or folded at different angles.

Key Terms

• contrapposto: The standing position of a human figure where about of the weight is placed on one foot, and the other leg is relaxed.  The effect of contrapposto in fine art makes figures wait very naturalistic.
• Sistine Chapel: The best-known chapel in the Apostolic Palace.

Michelangelo was a 16th century Florentine artist renowned for his masterpieces in sculpture, painting, and architectural design. His near well known works are the David, the Last Judgment, and the Basilica of Saint Peter'southward in the Vatican.

Sculpture: David

In 1504, Michelangelo was commissioned to create a jumbo marble statue portraying David every bit a symbol of Florentine freedom. The subsequent masterpiece, David, established the artist'due south prominence equally a sculptor of extraordinary technical skill and strength of symbolic imagination. David was created out of a unmarried marble block, and stands larger than life, as information technology was originally intended to adorn the Florence Cathedral. The work differs from previous representations in that the Biblical hero is not depicted with the head of the slain Goliath, as he is in Donatello'due south and Verrocchio's statues; both had represented the hero standing victorious over the caput of Goliath. No earlier Florentine artist had omitted the giant altogether. Instead of appearing victorious over a foe, David's face looks tense and ready for combat. The tendons in his neck stand up out tautly, his forehead is furrowed, and his eyes seem to focus intently on something in the altitude. Veins bulge out of his lowered right mitt, but his body is in a relaxed contrapposto pose, and he carries his sling casually thrown over his left shoulder. In the Renaissance, contrapposto poses were thought of as a distinctive feature of antique sculpture.

The David by Michelangelo, 1504: Michelangelo's David stands in contrapposto pose.

The sculpture was intended to exist placed on the exterior of the Duomo, and has become ane of the most recognized works of Renaissance sculpture.

Painting: The Last Sentence

In painting, Michelangelo is renowned for his work in the Sistine Chapel. He was originally commissioned to pigment tromp-50'oeil coffers after the original ceiling developed a crack. Michelangelo lobbied for a unlike and more than complex scheme, representing Cosmos, the Downfall of Man, the Promise of Salvation through the prophets, and the Genealogy of Christ. The work is part of a larger scheme of decoration within the chapel that represents much of the doctrine of the Catholic Church.

The limerick eventually independent over 300 figures, and had at its middle ix episodes from the Volume of Genesis, divided into three groups: God's Creation of the Earth, God's Creation of Humankind, and their autumn from God's grace, and lastly, the state of Humanity every bit represented by Noah and his family. Twelve men and women who prophesied the coming of the Jesus are painted on the pendentives supporting the ceiling. Amongst the almost famous paintings on the ceiling are The Creation of Adam, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the Peachy Inundation, the Prophet Isaiah and the Cumaean Sibyl. The ancestors of Christ  are painted around the windows.

The fresco of The Last Judgment on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel was commissioned by Pope Cloudless VII, and Michelangelo labored on the projection from 1536–1541. The work is located on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel, which is not a traditional placement for the subject. Typically, last judgement scenes were placed on the exit wall of churches equally a way to remind the viewer of eternal punishments as they left worship. The Final Judgment is a depiction of the second coming of Christ and the apocalypse; where the souls of humanity ascent and are assigned to their diverse fates, as judged by Christ, surrounded past the Saints. In contrast to the before figures Michelangelo painted on the ceiling, the figures in The Last Judgement are heavily muscled and are in much more than bogus poses, demonstrating how this work is in the Mannerist manner.

In this work Michelangelo has rejected the orderly depiction of the final sentence as established by Medieval tradition in favor of a swirling scene of anarchy equally each soul is judged. When the painting was revealed it was heavily criticized for its inclusion of classical imagery as well every bit for the amount of nude figures in somewhat suggestive poses. The ill reception that the piece of work received may exist tied to the Counter Reformation and the Quango of Trent, which atomic number 82 to a preference for more conservative religious art devoid of classical references. Although a number of figures were fabricated more than modest with the addition of drapery, the changes were not fabricated until after the death of Michelangelo, demonstrating the respect and admiration that was afforded to him during his lifetime.

The Terminal Judgement: The fresco of The Terminal Judgment on the chantry wall of the Sistine Chapel was commissioned by Pope Cloudless Vii. Michelangelo worked on the projection from 1534–1541.

Architecture: St. Peter'southward Basilica

Finally, although other architects were involved, Michelangelo is given credit for designing St. Peter's Basilica. Michelangelo's chief contribution was the use of a symmetrical programme of a Greek Cross form and an external masonry of massive proportions, with every corner filled in by a stairwell or small vestry. The effect is of a continuous wall surface that is folded or fractured at unlike angles, lacking the right angles that normally define change of direction at the corners of a edifice. This outside is surrounded by a giant order of Corinthian pilasters all set at slightly unlike angles to each other, in keeping with the ever-changing angles of the wall's surface. Higher up them the huge cornice ripples in a continuous band, giving the appearance of keeping the whole edifice in a state of pinch.

St. Peter's Basillica: Michelangelo designed the dome of St. Peter's Basilica on or before 1564, although it was unfinished when he died.

Mannerism

Mannerist artists began to reject the harmony and ideal proportions of the Renaissance in favor of irrational settings, artificial colors, unclear subject matters, and elongated forms.

Learning Objectives

Describe the Mannerist style, how it differs from the Renaissance, and reasons why it emerged.

Central Takeaways

Key Points

• Mannerism came later on the High Renaissance and before the Baroque.
• The artists who came a generation after Raphael and Michelangelo had a dilemma. They could not surpass the great works that had already been created past Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo. This is when we kickoff to meet Mannerism emerge.
• Jacopo da Pontormo (1494–1557) represents the shift from the Renaissance to the Mannerist style.

Key Terms

• Mannerism: Style of art in Europe from c. 1520–1600. Mannerism came after the High Renaissance and before the Bizarre. Non every artist painting during this period is considered a Mannerist artist.

Mannerism is the proper name given to a way of fine art in Europe from c. 1520–1600. Mannerism came after the Loftier Renaissance and before the Baroque. Not every creative person painting during this period is considered a Mannerist artist, however, and there is much debate among scholars over whether Mannerism should be considered a carve up move from the High Renaissance, or a stylistic phase of the High Renaissance. Mannerism will exist treated as a separate art movement here as at that place are many differences between the High Renaissance and the Mannerist styles.

Manner

What makes a work of fine art Mannerist? Start we must empathise the ideals and goals of the Renaissance. During the Renaissance artists were engaging with classical antiquity in a new fashion. In improver, they developed theories on perspective, and in all ways strived to create works of art that were perfect, harmonious, and showed platonic depictions of the natural world. Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo are considered the artists who reached the greatest achievements in fine art during the Renaissance.

The Renaissance stressed harmony and dazzler and no ane could create more beautiful works than the great three artists listed to a higher place. The artists who came a generation after had a dilemma; they could non surpass the not bad works that had already been created past da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo. This is when nosotros start to see Mannerism sally. Younger artists trying to practise something new and different began to pass up harmony and ideal proportions in favor of irrational settings, artificial colors, unclear subject matters, and elongated forms.

Jacopo da Pontormo

Jacopo da Pontormo (1494–1557) represents the shift from the Renaissance to the Mannerist manner. Accept for example his Degradation from the Cross, an altarpiece that was painted for a chapel in the Church of Santa Felicita, Florence. The figures of Mary and Jesus appear to be a directly reference to Michelangelo'south Pieta. Although the work is called a "Degradation," in that location is no cross. Scholars also refer to this work every bit the "Entombment" but at that place is no tomb. This lack of clarity on bailiwick matter is a hallmark of Mannerist painting. In addition, the setting is irrational, nigh as if information technology is not in this world, and the colors are far from naturalistic. This work could non have been produced by a Renaissance artist. The Mannerist movement stresses unlike goals and this piece of work of art past Pontormo demonstrates this new, and dissimilar manner.

Pontormo, Deposition from the Cantankerous, 1525-1528, Church of Santa Felicita, Florence: This piece of work of art by Pontormo demonstrates the hallmarks of the Mannerist fashion: unclear subject matter, irrational setting, and bogus colors.

walkerclon1975.blogspot.com

Source: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-worldhistory/chapter/art-in-the-renaissance/