Chapter
16—The Renaissance
Introduction: You've probably heard of
the Renaissance—maybe you've heard someone referred to as a Renaissance man—but
what does this really refer to? This chapter narrows its topic to a period of
time involving about two centuries, from the middle
of the 14th century to the middle or near end of the 16th
century. What could have occurred in such a relatively short time, that
we still view it as a highpoint in the arts for European civilization? You'll
be reading about artists and innovations in the northern parts of Europe and in
Italy, where Classicism never really disappeared. You'll make connections with Compare
and Contrast – The “Davids” of Donatello, Verrocchio, Michelangelo, and Bernini,
which provides a direct visual examination of stylistic changes affecting the interpretation of a theme from the Early
Renaissance, Middle and High Renaissance, and Baroque.
Chapter 16 – Why Read It? Everyone knows something
about the Renaissance—the various famous
works of Leonardo da Vinci or Michelangelo may come to mind. Ideas of science,
art, and religion form an image of modern innovation and progress. Yet how much
do we really know about this time period and its people? What were the common people and the elite wealthy patron families enjoying
(or not enjoying) as their lifestyles? What did they believe? What kind of art
did they think was useful or beautiful? Who were other artists of the Early,
Middle, and High Renaissance? How did they adopt and modify ideals and
aesthetic principles from Classical Greek and Roman art, and turn it into art uniquely of and about their own time and beliefs?
Why do we admire and continue to be intrigued by art and artists from
this brief, 150-year period that made the arts flourish throughout Western Europe?
Chapter 16 is very much like the radio programs
that will spend an entire day‘s programming playing the top 10 hits from a
particular musical era, such as rock ‘n roll or heavy metal. It includes brief
discussions of images that were pivotal to the beginnings and progress of manuscript illumination, painting,
sculpture, and architecture of the Renaissance. Names such as Giotto,
Donatello, Piero della Francesca, Brunelleschi, Botticelli, and of course the
northern European artists such as Jan van Eyck, Robert Campin, and Matthias
Grünewald are discussed. As intended, Chapter 16 can only survey the most well
known and famous of the Renaissance artists. It will still be up to you to do a bit more exploring. As with
20th-century music, even if you recognize tunes by Buddy
Holly or Jerry Garcia, it may take some extra research to find out more about
them as individuals, about other works they created, or about their influences on other artists of today. If, while
reading chapter 16, you find yourself wishing to know more about the
Renaissance artists such as the Limbourg Brothers, Titian, or even “top hits”
artists Leonardo or Raphael, go the library or the Internet and add depth to
the worthy introduction to the Renaissance that Chapter 16 has provided.
Understanding
Concepts: Through your reading of this chapter, it should become
clear that
Renaissance artists related themes from antiquity in their work. Besides
religion, mythological themes reemerged, and genre scenes became popular.
1. Make
note on the following page of some of the themes artists worked on in these three categories:
•
Religious
themes (for example, The Annunciation):
•
Mythological
themes:
•
Genre Themes:
2. What
was the Renaissance artist’s relationship to the observation of nature?
• Why did
it become more acceptable once again to make observations from nature?
3. What
is the difference between a "genre" scene and a nature scene?
•
What
constitutes a "genre" theme or scene?
•
How does this view come about and how does it differ
from artistic interpretations of man’s relationship to nature in the past?
4. What
was the role of the patron families in the Renaissance arts?
• Who
were the major patrons in Florence, Rome, and other Renaissance strongholds?
Making Connections: Many have studied and
written about the European Renaissance,
including those who were living during that time, such as Jan van Eyck, Pieter
Breugel the Elder, Leon Battista Alberti, Giorgio Vasari, Albrecht Dürer,
Filippo Brunelleschi, Donatello, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo,
Palma il Giovane, and Jacopo Pontormo.
1.
Read the quotations in this chapter by these people and
decide what each person is expressing about this time period, revered today as
an era when the arts and sciences conspired and flourished. List two quotations
that caught your attention. Notes:
A.
B.
2. Find
works of art in other chapters by artists mentioned in this chapter—for
example, Michelangelo’s
work appears in the sculpture chapter (Chapter 9) and Leonardo da Vinci’s
famous Mona Lisa is the first image in the text (Chapter 1). Drawing
studies by both these artists appear in the drawing chapter (Chapter 5)
• Record
your impressions here:
3. The poet Dante Alighieri, whose home was
in Early Renaissance Florence, is mentioned in relation to his writings, which
cite particular artists and strongly influenced the art of many Renaissance artists. Do you recall what he is famous
for having written? Why was he exiled from his beloved Florence? Find out more
about this influential writer.
4. In Compare and Contrast – The “Davids”
of Donatello, Verrocchio, Michelangelo, and Bernini, you are given a look
at a similar theme expressed differently by
individual artists form various time periods, from the Early Renaissance through
the High Renaissance and the Baroque.
• What are some of the things each of these
four artists did to make their version of David unique and suited to their time period?
Artist Time
Period Characteristics
of David
Donatello:
Verrocchio:
Michelangelo:
Bernini:
• If you were asked to create a contemporary version of this same
theme, what important themes or
considerations would influence how your new David would look?
Taking Notes: Many
of the ideas, artistic themes and concepts presented in Chapter 16 are already familiar to
you, but the transformation of the way these ideas are made into art becomes fascinating to most who study the
Renaissance. As you prepare your note-taking template, look through
other chapters in the text to find images by Renaissance artists. This will
give you a comparative basis to understand some of the ways Renaissance artists chose to interpret the world
around them visually. For example you could compare the studies by
Leonardo da Vinci, and Michelangelo included in Chapter 5 to some of the detail
in their other works.
Considering the number of
works by each Renaissance artist (most of these artists were quite prolific) and the
number of books published about individual Renaissance artists such as Masaccio
or Verrocchio, it seems probable your instructor will show more images of art
than the 40 in this chapter. Be prepared to take notes and do some quick
sketching, so you'll be able to remember the extra examples. For example, it
would be almost impossible to discuss Leonardo da Vinci without mentioning some
of his anatomical drawings, his sketches of horses, or his ideas for machines
and manned flight!
Some of the 14 key terms given for this chapter
will already be familiar because you have
encountered them before. How many chapters include trompe l’oeil, iconography, perspective,
and chiaroscuro? What idea did you encounter in Chapter 14 similar in concept
to the S-curve or contrapposto mentioned in this chapter? Where did you
encounter manuscript illumination before? By now, many of the themes, ideas,
and concepts should feel familiar to you. You may see that artists began
“recycling” ideas from the time of the Greeks and Romans, adding their own
modern concepts to Classicism. Can you think of a few examples from previous
chapters? (Recall the comparison of Polykleitos's
Doryphoros to the figure of Venus in Sandro Botticelli's Birth of
Venus in Chapter 14 of the Study Guide?) List two more comparisons here:
A.
B.
Preparing for Tests: The rich variety and
repetition of themes in the Renaissance, as well as the intricate iconography
incorporated into many works, will make it easy, if not fun, for your
instructor to come up with a variety of questions about the art works you
study. Much is known about the artists themselves thanks to the writings of
Giorgio Vasari and his Lives of the Artists, some of which may be mere
gossip, but most of which is regarded as factual today. For example, did you
know that Michelangelo was called upon once
again, 20 years after completing the Sistine Chapel ceiling, to paint the Last
Judgment scene behind the altar? At the same time, the young Raphael Sanzio
had been awarded the commission to paint the Stanza della Signatore in
the Pope's apartments.
Prepare yourself for
detail-oriented questions! Recall the detail of symbolism in Jan van Eyck's wedding portrait
of Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride (Giovanna Cenami), or the symbolic aspects of Robert Campin's Merode Altarpiece.
Questions about competitions, events, details from works of art,
iconography, and religious, mythological, or genre themes will all pose fair
game in test questions.
The better you can recall specific detail and
differentiate one artist's works from another's, the better off you will be. If
you haven't already done so, studying with a partner
in class will be a great advantage as you cover the different styles, time
periods, and artworks by artist, title, and possibly date. This time
period is full of topics from which your
instructor could create essay questions asking you to discuss, with examples
cited, the patronage system and how artists received commissions for works of
art, or to compare how artists incorporated Renaissance ideas about
nature and Humanism into religious
artworks. Sample multiple-choice questions based on images from Chapter 15 are
below; answers to multiple-choice questions are found at the end of this
chapter:
• Image 16-14
Piero della
Francesca used geometry in the form of a(n)___ to create order in his Resurrection fresco.
A.
rectangle B. isosceles triangle
C. circle D. pentagon
• Image 16-11
Masaccio's illusionistic painting of the Holy
Trinity is located in:
A.
The Florence Cathedral B. Santa Maria Novella,
Florence
C.
Il Gesù Cathedral, Mantua D. St. Peter's Basilica, Rome
• Image 16-21
Raphael painted himself
near _________ in the School of Athens.
A. Aristotle B. Diogenes
C. Plato D. Euclid
• Sample essay question: Discuss, using two
visual examples to support your discussion, a major influence in the arts
during the Renaissance. This influence may be any societal influence, including
but not limited to, political, religious, scientific,
medical, or economic. Some detail and iconography should be present in
your discussion of the two examples cited. [Extended Essay Assignment: Include
two research sources, with proper citation; 2 pages minimum, double-spaced,
12-point font.]
Review other sample questions on the Understanding
Art website (www.cengage.com/art/fichner-rathus9e),
in the Student Test Packet, or on the ArtExperience Online for Understanding Art.
Enhancing Your Observational Powers: Many people feel it is
difficult to really understand the power of
the Renaissance period without visiting European sites such as Florence,
Rome, or Siena in Italy, or the Netherlands. Travel seems to be integral with
learning about the arts.
1.
Perhaps your school’s art department has a studio arts
instructor or art historian whose specialty is the Renaissance.
• Find out what they wrote about and studied while they were in
school.
2. If your school sponsors or participates
in a travel abroad program that includes studies
in Europe or Italy in particular, find out what cities are on their itinerary
and see if they coincide with locations of some of the works mentioned in this
chapter. Record what you find out:
3.
Visit the library or a website and look up more
information about one of the Renaissance artists who interests you.
Artist:
• What
characteristics of their personality and their artwork are mentioned?
• What kinds of pursuits or interests do you think
such a personality would follow today? Do you think they would enjoy using a
computer?
• What kinds of ideals are promoted
contemporarily in terms of learning and the arts that you can trace directly back to the
Renaissance? Make notes here:
4. By
looking at the text, you should be aware that all of the artists mentioned were
far more
prolific than the few examples of their work shown in the text. Using another
art history text or art related book, find
visual examples of other works by the same artists.
•
Does
it seem that the artists worked thematically?
•
Can you get a sense of a timeline for when they achieved
their greatest works during their lifetimes? List other works by two artists
you find interesting here:
(Example:
Jan van Eyck completes the Ghent Altarpiece, a major work, in 1432, only
two years before painting Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride. He painted Man
in a
Red Turban,
thought to be a self-portrait, in 1433.)
A. Artist:
Title of this artist's artwork in text:
Titles of other works by the same artist:
B. Artist:
Title of this artist's artwork in text:
Titles of other
works by the same artist:
5. Imagine you are given a grant to travel
for two weeks to study art. Using a map of Europe
and your text, make an itinerary you would follow if you were going to travel
to see some of the great works of the Renaissance mentioned in this chapter.
How many days would you need to spend in each location? List your itinerary and
timeline below:
Itinerary Place to visit Art
works to see
Week 1:
Week 2:
For More
Understanding: Your text mentions examples of Renaissance art
throughout. Chapters
1 through 9 include works by Leonardo da Vinci (for example, his famous drawing of the Proportions of the Human Figure
based on Vitruvius (image 3-9), Sandro Botticelli, Jan van Eyck,
Michelangelo, and Antonio Pollaiuolo. Study and research some of these
readily available examples in order to enhance your understanding of the
drawing, printmaking, and sculptural talents of these artists.
In addition, visit the
website for Understanding Art (www.cengage.com/art/fichner-rathus9e), which features a
glossary and audio pronunciation guide, sample test questions, and more.
ArtExperience
Online for Understanding Art: Use the flashcard section to view and
create study sets of images and figure drawings from the Renaissance.
Also
learn more about the information and artwork presented in the Compare and Contrast section.
The
special Art Tour feature will virtually put you in the historical city
of Dallas/Fort Worth.
Notes and Links to Remember:
(answers to sample
multiple-choice questions: b, b, d)