Art Before the Renaissance

The period that preceded the Renaissance is called the Middle Ages, or the Medieval

period

The church was the most powerful institution in Europe at this time

Artist unknown, Italian (late 12th c. Pisa), Crucifix

(Cross No. 15), 1190s

Museo Nazionale di San Matteo

Image source:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Unknown

_painter_-_Crucifix_(Cross_No._15)_-

_WGA23864.jpg

Medieval art: abstract

Figures were flat and cartoonish, and did not resemble the natural world

Procession of the Royal Family, Ara Pacis, Rome, 13-9 CE

Classical Art: art of ancient Greece and Rome

Procession of the Royal Family, Ara Pacis, Rome, 13-9 CE

Naturalism/naturalistic: looks like real life

Seated woman playing a Kithara, fresco from the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor,

Boscoreale, 4-30 CE

Seated woman playing a Kithara, fresco from the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor,

Boscoreale, 4-30 CE

Modeling with light and shade: gradations of tone create illusion of 3D volume

This kind of naturalism disappeared during the Middle Ages because of the Second

Commandment

“The illusionary quality of classical art posed a significant problem for

early Christian theologians. When God dictated the ten commandments

to Moses on Mount Sinai, God expressly forbade the Israelites from

making any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven

above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the

earth (Exodus 20:4)”Dr. Nancy Ross, “A New Pictorial Language: The Image in Early Medieval Art,” Khan Academy

Medieval art avoided naturalism to avoid the sin of

“idolatry”

Christ as Pantocrator, dome mosaic in the Church of the Dormition, Daphne, Greece, c.

1090-1100

Master of Monte Aliveto, Madonna and Child Enthroned, c. 1305-35

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Italo-Byzantine style

Master of Monte Aliveto, Madonna and Child Enthroned, c. 1305-35

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Gold Background

Flat, cartoonish figures

Halos

Hierarchic scale

Most of the art created in the Middle Ages was commissioned by the church

Sculptures, paintings, and stained glass served as a kind of “bible for the poor” –

pictures that communicate the faith to a largely illiterate population

Last Judgment Mosaic, Florentine Baptistry

In Medieval art, Jesus is portrayed as a remote and heavenly figure

When humans were depicted, the emphasis was on shame and sin

Expulsion of Adam and Eve, Hunterian Psalter, c. 1170

The final day of judgment was often portrayed in vivid detail

You’re all going

straight to hell!

In the later middle ages attitudes began to change

Florence in a 1493 woodcut from, Hartmann Schedel's Nuremberg Chronicle

Cities grew, trade flourished

Florence in a 1493 woodcut from, Hartmann Schedel's Nuremberg Chronicle

And a new patron class emerged -- with money to buy art!

Art should

teach

people to

fear God!

And it should

remind

people of how

lowly and

sinful they are

Medieval art reflected church doctrine

But things began to change when private individuals began commissioning

works of art!

“[A]t the start of the 14th century, people became less interested in thinking

about God, heaven and the saints, and more interested in thinking about

themselves, their surroundings and their everyday lives.” Humanism in the Renaissance

There is more to life

than what it says in

the bible!

http://study.com/academy/lesson/humanism-in-the-renaissance-

recognizing-the-beauty-of-the-individual.html

Medieval Values:

Focus on religion, and the afterlife

Medieval art:

Focus on religion:

•Only Saints; ordinary individuals not worthy

•Abstract style = heaven, not earth

Andrea del Castagno, Petrarch, 1450

Humanism: re-discovery of Classical learning

•Philosophy

•Literature

•Mathematics

•Science

Medieval Values:

Focus on religion, and the afterlife

Humanist Values

Focus on themselves

The natural world

The here and now

Causes

Bubonic Plague

Rise of market economy

Role of the Individual under Feudalism

Obey rules to maintain order

Role of the Individual under Humanism

Independent

Beautiful

Worthy

Humanist Values

Individualism

Classical learning

Secularism

The inherent dignity and beauty of

human being

Civic virtue and

patriotism

The Proto-RenaissanceGiotto di Bondone

In the 14th century, Florence was a prosperous city state and banking capital

Soon to become the cradle of the Renaissance, it was the birthplace of Giotto di

Bondone, credited by Giorgio Vasari as one of the originators of the

Renaissance

According to Vasari, Giotto was the painter who first abandoned the artificial

formulas of the Middle Ages, and began to base his art on the direct observation

of nature

Let’s begin by comparing Cimabue’s Madonna Enthroned, with Giotto’s

Ognissante Madonna, a similarly large altarpiece made for the church of the

Ognissante in Florence

http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/proto-renaissance.html

blocking

Repoussoir

figures

Giotto traveled from Florence to nearby Padua to work for Enrico Scrovegni

Enrico Scrovegni was a wealthy banker and prominent citizen of Padua

Capella Scrovegni (Scrovegni Chapel), Padua

The Arena Chapel was built as a private family chapel, next to his palace

Scrovegni was a banker, which means he made his fortune by lending money at

interest

In the Middle Ages this was called usury, and it was considered a sin

Interior, Arena Chapel, Padua, c. 1305

Enrico built his chapel as a gift to god to atone for his sins

Interior, Arena Chapel, Padua, c. 1305

Interior, Arena Chapel, Padua, c. 1305

The Blessed The Damned

Interior, Arena Chapel, Padua, c. 1305

Interior, Arena Chapel, Padua, c. 1305

The top level depicts the Life of the Virgin, based on the Golden Legend, ending

with the scene of the Annunciation above the altar

The second level depicts the Life of Christ, and the bottom level depicts the

cycle of the Passion of Christ, which includes the Crucifixion, and the

Lamentation

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/early-europe-and-colonial-

americas/medieval-europe-islamic-world/v/giotto-arena-scrovegni-chapel-part-3-of-4

Mary + Jesus

John the

Evangelist

Mary

Magdalene

Anonymous

mourners

Anonymous

mourners

What makes this painting so innovative?

Giotto’s break through, then, was to establish the direct observation of

the natural world as the basis for art.

Homework:

https://art109wcc.wordpress.com/homework-

2/homework-night-class/homework-1-the-northern-

renaissance/

Study Questions:

https://art109wcc.files.wordpress.com/2014/12/lj1-

proto_renaissance.pdf

Quizlet Study Set

https://quizlet.com/178986677/flashcards