The High Renaissance in Italy - Literature review Example

THE HIGH RENAISSANCE IN ITALY Introduction: The term Renaissance, adopted from the French equivalent of the Italian word ‘rinascita’ literally means ‘rebirth’. It describes the radical and comprehensive changes that took place in European culture during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, bringing about the demise of the middle ages, and embodying for the first time the values of the modern world, as stated by ArtHistory.1 The artistic revolution of the early Renaissance, and the birth of new interest in the classical Greco-Latin world, matured to what is known as the High Renaissance. In Italy this is the climax of Renaissance Art, from 1500-1525. It is also considered as a natural evolution of Italian Humanism. The High Renaissance has been characterized by an explosion of creative genius. Painting especially reached its peak of heroic composition, rich artistic imagination, and technical competence. The main characteristics of High Renaissance paintings are harmony and balance in construction. According to the text book, Chap.13 on the High Renaissance in Italy, p.45, Renaissance art had rationally ordered composition. The beautiful modeling of the human forms was more important than the arrangement of shapes. Art in the High Renaissance: Renaissance Classicism was a form of art that removed the extraneous detail and showed the world as it was. Forms, colours and proportions, light and shade effects, facial harmony, composition, perspective, anatomy: all are handled with great control, and a high level of accomplishment, for which there are no real precedents. According to Hersey, (1993) achievements in painting, sculpture, and architecture formed the backbone of Italian High Renaissance. They have greatly influenced subsequent art. The politics and ideology behind these great works was as ambitious as the artistic instinct that guided them.(p.1). On art and paintings of the Renaissance, the book by Freedberg is reviewed by Schulz 1963 (p.159). He says that a detailed account is presented of the formal changes occurring in Roman and Florentine painting between 1480 and 1520. Artists of the Renaissance moved by discrete stages, rather than by slow, inner maturing. The Sistine Chapel: Built in 1475-1481, the Sistine Chapel stands over the foundations of another papal chapel. The architect of the new structure is considered to be Baccio Pontelli. The Chapel contains Michelangelo’s epic ceiling depiction of creation, fall and redemption as seen in the Bible, and is considered as one of the most beautiful halls in the world. They are very early monumental art in the High Renaissance style of painting. (p.129). There is also a brilliant series of earlier Renaissance frescoes by Botticelli, Ghirlandaio and others (1481-83), and also Michelangelo’s later masterpiece, The Last Judgment (1535-41). Dotson 1979 (p.223) interprets Michelangelo’s Sistine Ceiling: The writings of St. Augustine, especially The City of God is proposed as a source for the general program of the Sistine Ceiling. Many of the interpretations proposed occur not only in St. Augustine’s writings, but in many others as well. Biblical narratives, Christian scriptural and doctrinal exegesis, etc are found as intimations of the divine plan of redemption incorporated in events from the beginnings of human history. St. Peter’s Church: According to Hersey, 1993 (p.67), during most of the history of Christianity, the Vatican has been the official seat of the Roman Catholic Church. The work done on St. Peter’s was such that the Church was like an epic poem, whose genesis and history reach out into every imaginable discipline: Renaissance history, architecture, philosophy, cosmology, typology and religion. It’s story stretches back to the first century of Christianity in Rome, and forward from the High Renaissance, into the Baroque art of the seventeenth century, and beyond that to the modern times. Renaissance and Humanism: Ferguson (1971) clarifies the relationships of the Renaissance and of humanism, to their pasts, ancient and medieval. But he left open the question of their relationship to, and influence upon the historical genesis of the future.(p.683). It is generally perceived that the culture of humanism which originated mostly from Italy, and spread through the rest of Europe in the era of the Renaissance and Reformation, took root, and initiated new patterns of relationships and attitudes among people in the future generations. Popes and Patronage: Artists in the fifteenth century preferred to work in places where their art was valued and appreciated. (Text book: Chapter 13 p.45). Patronage by the Medici had made Florence a very congenial place for talented artists to work in. But soon after the political decline of the Medici in the last decade of the fifteenth century, many major artists moved away to other more stable and wealthy centers. One such center was the Papal court at the Vatican. Talented artists were commissioned by the Pope to create frescoes and art work within the Vatican: for the Sistine Chapel, the library, etc. Great artists of the High Renaissance: Some of the greatest artists ever known: the mighty Florentines: Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, the Umbrian: Raphael Sanzio, along with the great Venetian masters: Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese have created great works in which all the elements of High Renaissance art can be seen. In these works, an ideal of harmony and balance was achieved, comparable with the works of ancient Greece or Rome. Raphael: Raphael Sanzio (1483-1520) created a new style of painting, and his many paintings of madonna have become synonymous with his name. In The Madonna of the Meadow, Raphael arranged his figures in a pyramidal configuration, to create a harmoniously balanced visual effect. Leonardo da Vinci had already popularized this geometrical device, and it was central to the Renaissance theme of rationally ordered composition. (Text book, p.45). Raphael was commissioned by Pope Julius in 1509, for various projects in the Vatican. Sixteenth century Renaissance in Rome is defined by one of Raphael’s most outstanding works: a large fresco, The School of Athens executed in 1509-1511, on the wall of the Stanza della Segnatura, an office in the Vatican Palace, where documents requiring the Pope’s signature were prepared. The elements of great art found in The School of Athens, sum up the Renaissance’s ideal: inspiration from Roman architectural past, brilliant sense of color and form, and intellectual clarity.(p. 46). Michelangelo: (1475-1564). Michelangelo Buonarroti was commanded by Pope Julius to fresco the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, to complete the work done in the previous century under Sixtus IV. Due to the technical problems presented by the shape of the ceilings, and the fact that he was a sculptor, Michelangelo was not keen to work on the fresco. But later he gave in, and completed the work in three years. (p.48). This was one of Michelangelo’s masterpieces, and is known all over the world. His sculpture The Moses, with the carefully crafted particulars of musculature, drapery and hair, and the joyfully enlightened expression on the face of Moses, depict the work of a master. Leonardo da Vinci: O’Connor (2003), states that Florence was the centre of the Renaissance Movement when da Vinci arrived there. Leonardo observed everything around him, and was focused on finding models for his realistic drawings. An example of his awe-inspiringly realistic work is: somewhere between 1474-1475, Leonardo started work on the Annunciation, with the help of other people. This painting shows the arch-angel Gabriel announcing to Mary that she would give birth to a son named Jesus. Leonardo most likely, designed, sketched and painted a large portion of the work himself. His work was extremely realistic, as he portrayed everything as closely as possible to their true form. (p.31). Conclusion: In Rome, Florence, Venice and the rest of Italy, the brilliant and dramatic explosion of artistic activity, among artists, sculptors and architects in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, disinguish the era of The High Renaissance of Italy. REFERENCES Dotson, Esther Gordon (1979). An Augustinian Interpretation of Michelangelo’s Sistine Ceiling Part-1, Journal: Art Bulletin Vol. 61, No.2, pp.223-256. Ferguson, W.K.(1971). The Three Ages of the Italian Renaissance by Robert S. Lopez, reviewed by W.K. Ferguson, The American Historical Review Vol.76, No.3, p 676-713. Hersey, George L. (1993). High Renaissance Art in St.Peter’s and the Vatican. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. O’Connor, Barbara. (2003). Leonardo da Vinci: Renaissance Genius. Publisher: Twenty-first century books. Schulz, Juergen, (1963). Paintings of the High Renaissance in Rome and Florence by S.J.Freedberg, reviewed by Juergen Sculz, Art Bulletin Vol.45, No.2, pp.159-163. Read More