Survey of Art II

Chapter 17

Fourteenth-Century Art in Europe

Marble tabernacle designed and sculpted by Andrea Orcagna between 1349 and 1359.Late Gothic work finished and enriched with enamel and precious stones. The painting on the panel is the work of Bernardo Daddi, dated 1347.

• Fourteenth-century Europe was ravaged by famine, war, and, most devastatingly, the Black Plague. These widespread crises inspired a mystical religiosity, which emphasized both ecstatic joy and extreme suffering, producing emotionally charged and often graphic depictions of the Crucifixion and the martyrdoms of the saints.

• While the great boom of cathedral building that had marked the previous century waned, cathedrals continued to serve as the centers of religious life and artistic creation. Wealthy patrons sponsored the production of elaborate altarpieces, as well as smaller panel paintings and religious statues for private devotional use. A growing literate elite created a demand for both richly decorated prayer books and volumes on secular topics. In Italy, the foremost Sienese painter, Duccio, sought to synthesize northern, Gothic influences with eastern, Byzantine ones, while the groundbreaking Florentine Giotto moved toward the depiction of three-dimensional figures in his wall paintings.

Fourteenth-century collapse

• The fourteenth century saw a series of catastrophes that caused the European economy to go into recession.

• The Medieval Warm Period was ending as the transition to the Little Ice Age began. This change in climate saw agricultural output decline significantly, leading to repeated famines, exacerbated by the rapid population growth of the earlier era.

• The Hundred Years' War began between England and France, disrupting trade throughout northwest Europe, most notably when, in 1345, King Edward III of England repudiated his debts, leading to the collapse of the two largest Florentine banks, those of the Bardi and Peruzzi.

• In the east, war was also disrupting trade routes as the Ottoman Empire began to expand throughout the region. Most devastating, though, was the Black Death that decimated the populations of the densely populated cities of Northern Italy. The population of Florence, for instance, fell from 90,000 to 50,000 people.

• Widespread disorder followed, including a revolt of Florentine textile workers, the ciompi, in 1378.

The Duomo - Florence Cathedral. Drawing with cross-section of interior. 1294 plan 1296-1420

The original design was by the architect and sculptor, Arnolfo di Cambio, but his plans were later revised and enlarged after the decision of a panel of architects and painters. The new designer was Francesco Talenti.In 1420,Filippo Brunelleschi started building the enormous dome, il cupola, and finally on March 25, 1436 Pope Eugene IV consecrated the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore.

The Dome of the Florence Cathedral was designed  and built by Filippo Brunelleschi in 1425.

South Door of the Baptistery of San GiovanniAndrea Pisano 1336Gilded bronzeFlorence, Baptistery of San Giovanni

Cenni di Pepo (Giovanni)

• Better known by his nickname “Cimabue” (c. 1240 — c. 1302) also known as Bencivieni Di Pepo or in modern Italian, Benvenuto Di Giuseppe, was an Italian painter and creator of mosaics from Florence. He is also well known for his student Giotto, who revolutionized painting in Italy. Cimabue is generally regarded as the last great painter working in the Byzantine tradition. The art of this period comprised scenes and forms that appeared relatively flat and highly stylized. Cimabue was a pioneer in the move towards naturalism, as his figures were depicted with rather more life-like proportions and shading.

"Madonna Enthroned with Angels and Prophets," by Cimabue, ca. 1280-1290. Tempera on wood, 12' 7" x 7' 4". Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.  Cimabue's art is influenced by the Byzantine style.

Giotto di Bondone • Giotto di Bondone (c. 1267 – January 8, 1337), better

known simply as Giotto, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence. He is generally considered the first in a line of great artists who contributed to the Italian Renaissance.

• The 16th-century biographer Giorgio Vasari state that "...He made a decisive break with the ...Byzantine style, and brought to life the great art of painting as we know it today, introducing the technique of drawing accurately from life, which had been neglected for more than two hundred years."

• Giotto's masterwork is the decoration of the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, commonly called the Arena Chapel, completed around 1305. This fresco cycle depicts the life of the Virgin and the passion of Christ. It is regarded as one of the supreme masterpieces of the Early Renaissance.

"Madonna and Child Enthroned," by Giotto, ca.1310. Tempera on panel, 10'8" X 6' 8 1/4".  Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

The Scrovegni (Arena) Chapel, near Padua Giotto di Bondone 1305-1306

• The Arena Chapel (so-called because it occupies the site of a Roman arena) was built by Enrico Scrovegni in expiation for the sins of his father, a notorious usurer mentioned by Dante. It was begun in 1303 and Giotto's frescos are usually dated c. 1305-06. They run right round the interior of the building; the west wall is covered with a Last Judgement, there is an Annunciation over the chancel arch, and the main wall areas have three tiers of paintings representing scenes from the life of the Virgin and her parents, St Anne and St Joachim, and events from the Passion of Christ.

Giotto's "The Lamentation," at the Arena Chapel, ca. 1305, fresco.

Virgin and Child in Majesty (Maesta)," by Duccio di Buoninsegna. Main panel of Maessta Altarpiece, from Sienna Cathedral.  1308 - 11. Tempera and gold on wood, 7' X 13' 6

The Nativity

with the Prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel (1308-1311)

Duccio di Buoninsegna

Cennino d'Andrea Cennini (c. 1370 – c. 1440)

• Italian painter influenced by Giotto. He was a student of Agnolo Gaddi.

• Cennini was born in Colle Val d'Elsa, Tuscany.• He is remembered mainly for having authored Il libro dell'arte,

often translated as The Craftsman's Handbook. Written in the early 15th century, the book is a "how to" on . It contains information on pigments, brushes, panel painting, the art of fresco, and techniques and tricks, including detailed instructions for underdrawing, underpainting and overpainting in egg tempera. Cennini also provides an early, if somewhat crude, discussion of painting in oils. His discussion of oil painting was important for dispelling the myth, propagated by Giorgio Vasari and Karel Van Mander, that oil painting was invented by Jan van Eyck (although Theophilus (Roger of Helmerhausen) clearly gives instructions for oil-based painting in his treatise, On Divers Arts, written in 1125).

Ambrogio LorenzettiEffects of Good Government on the City

Fresco in the Palazzo Publico (Siena, 1338-1340)

Allegory of Good Government, Ambrogio Lorenzetti, fresco, c. 1338-1339, Palazzo

Pubblico, Siena, Italy (Gothic-Early Renaissance).

Allegory of Good Government, Ambrogio Lorenzetti, fresco, c. 1338-1339, Palazzo Pubblico, Siena, Italy (Gothic-Early Renaissance).

France

• Manuscript illumination was a favorite of French kings and high-ranking nobles. A French king, possibly Louis XI, sits surrounded by elegantly dressed courtiers in this miniature, which accompanies a letter describing courtly life in bluntly critical terms. The king looks directly out at the viewer instead of paying attention to his courtiers, echoing the text's claim that the king neglected the troubles and burdens of those around him.

Jean Pucelle (c. 1300 – 1355)

• Parisian Gothic-era manuscript illuminator, active between 1320 and 1350. His style is characterized by delicate figures rendered in grisaille, accented with touches of color. Pucelle's most famous work is the The Hours of Jeanne d'Evreux, c. 1324-1328.

• Grisaille (grĭ-zī', -zāl'; French: gris, grey) is a term for painting executed entirely in monochrome, usually in shades of grey or brown, particularly used in decoration to represent objects in relief. Italian examples may be described as work in chiaroscuro, although this term has other meanings as well. Some grisailles in fact include a slightly wider colour range, like the Andrea del Sarto illustrated.

The Hours of Jeanne d'Évreux, ca. 1324–1328 Jean Pucelle (French, active in Paris, ca. 1320–34) French; Made in ParisGrisaille and tempera on vellum; 3 1/2 x 2 7/16 in. (8.9 x 6.2 cm)The Cloisters Collection, 1954 (54.1.2)

Sculpture

• Sculpture of the 14th century is exemplified by its intimate character. Religious subjects became more emotionally expressive. In the secular realm chivalry was revived just as the era of the Knight on horseback was rendered obsolete. Tales of love and valor were carved on luxury items to the delight of the rich, middle class, and aristocracy alike.

Virgin and Childfrom Saint-Denissilver gilt and enamelca. 1339

Peter Parler

• German architect, best-known for building Saint Vitus Cathedral and Charles Bridge in Prague, where he lived since about 1356.

• Peter Parler became the master mason of Saint Vitus Cathedral in 1352, after the death of its original architect, Matthias of Arras. Apart from the cathedral, he was the main designer of the New Town of Prague and built Charles Bridge and its towers. In the Royal Palace of Prague Castle, Parler built the All Saints' Chapel. After the fire of 1541 it was redecorated in the Baroque style.

• Saint Vitus's Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Prague, Czech Republic, and the seat of the Archbishop of Prague. The full name of the cathedral is St. Vitus, St. Wenceslas and St. Adalbert Cathedral. Located within Prague Castle and containing the tombs of many Bohemian kings, is the biggest and most important church in the country

Saint Vitus's Cathedral

Attributed to Master TheodoricSaint Luke, 1360-1364Paint and gold on panel45 1/4 x 37 x 3 15/16 in. (115 x 94 x 10 cm)Narodni Pamatkovy Ustav, Uzemni OdbornePracoviste Strednich Cech, Prague

Vesperbild or Pietà Germany painted wood ca. 1330

Survey of Art II

Chapter 18

Fifteenth-Century Art in Northern Europe and the Iberian Peninsula

Altarpiece

• A work of art that decorates the space above and behind the altar in a Christian church. Painting, relief, and sculpture in the round have all been used in altarpieces, either alone or in combination. These artworks usually depict holy personages, saints, and biblical subjects. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

The Ghent Altarpiece (open view) by Jan and Hubert van Eyck, 1432, polyptych with 12 panels, oil on panel; in the Cathedral of Saint-Bavon, Ghent, Belgium.

The Ghent Altarpiece (closed)

The Ghent Altarpiece or Adoration of the Mystic Lamb

• (Dutch: Het Lam Gods or The Lamb of God; completed 1432) is a very large and complex Early Netherlandish polyptych panel painting which was once in the Joost Vijdt chapel at Saint Bavo Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium, but was later moved for security reasons to another part of the cathedral. Commissioned by the wealthy merchant and financier Joost Vijdt, it was begun by Hubert van Eyck, who died in 1426 whilst work was underway, and completed by his younger brother Jan van Eyck. The altarpiece represented a "new conception of art", in which the idealization of the Classical tradition gave way to an exacting observation of nature.

• The altarpiece consists of a total of twenty-four compartmented scenes, which make up two views, open and closed, which are changed by moving the hinged outer wings. The upper register (row) of the opened view shows Christ the King (but see below) between the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist. The insides of the wings represent angels singing and making music, and on the outside Adam and Eve. The lower register of the central panel shows the adoration of the Lamb of God, with several groups in attendance and streaming in to worship, overseen by the dove representing the Holy Spirit. On week days the wings were closed, showing the Annunciation of Mary and donor portraits of Joost Vijdt and his wife Lysbette Borluut.

Dukes of Burgundy

• For nearly one hundred years the house of Burgundy was one of the most powerful in all western Europe. Its dominion stretched from the North Sea to the Loire and from the Loire to the Rhine, while Dijon, the duchy's capital, became an important center of both the religious and secular arts, and the scene of glittering festivities. Four dukes ruled at the height of the family's prosperity: Philip the Rash, who founded its fortunes; John the Fearless, who engaged in feuds that almost destroyed it; Philip the Good, who sold Joan of Arc to the English; and Charles the Bold, perhaps the richest of them all.

Campin “Merode Altarpiece” (1428)

• The paintings of Robert Campin and Jan van Eyck, like the Bible and things in nature, are loaded with symbolic meaning.  The highly detailed works of these northern European painters are full of naturalized symbols that blend into the scenery, and presumably were widely recognized by viewers of the time.  Campin’s Merode Altarpiece, for example, contains three panels: a depiction of two people, the donors, praying near a city wall, a scene of the Annunciation, and a portrayal of Joseph in his carpenter’s shop.

• Robert Campin (the Master of Flemalle) (1378-1444) is one of many artists of the transition period between late Gothic and pre-Renaissance who portrayed social piety and religious passion. His ‘altarpiece,’ like so many before, expresses an intense religious event, the Annunciation. At the same time, Campin presents a moment in time, a real experience of the physical environment in the early 1400’s.

Paul, Herman, and Jean Limbourg. Page with February, Life in the Country, Très Riches Heures. 1411 - 16. Colors and ink on parchment, 8 7/8 x 5 3/8" Musée Cond é, Chantilly, France.

• Books of Hours included offices of the dead, prayers to be said for the soul of the deceased.  Life was never certain at this time; the plague, disease, or childbirth could swiftly and unexpectedly end one’s life.  Thomas a Kempis warns to always keep the hour of one’s death in mind and to daily prepare oneself to die. 

Melchior Broederlam. Annunciation and Visitation and Presentation in the Temple and Flight into Egypt, wings of an altarpiece for the Chartreuse de Champmol. 1394 - 99. Oil on wood panel, 5'5 3/4" x 4'1 1/4" (1.67 x 1.251 m). Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon.

Claus Sluter. Well of Moses, detail of Moses and David, from the Chartreuse de Champmol, Dijon, France. 1395 - 1406. Limestone with traces of paint, height of figures 5'8 " (1.69 m).

Hunt of the Unicorn tapestry series c. 1498 - 1500. Wool, silk, and metal thread (13–21 warp threads per inch). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Cope of the Order of the Golden Fleece. Flemish, mid-15th century. Cloth with gold and colored silk embroidery, 5'49/16" x 10'95/16" (1.64 x 3.3 m). Imperial Treasury, Vienna.

Jan van Eyck. Man in a Red Turban. 1433. Oil on wood panel, 10 1/4 x 7 1/2 " (26 x 19.1 cm). The National Gallery, London.

• van Eyck “Giovanni Arnolfini and his Bride” (1434) • Increasingly, secular imagery intrudes into the picture

plane. This reflects social/cultural changes in general. The worth of the individual and the details of individual lives increasingly become the subject of the art. This is evident in van Eyck’s “Giovanni Arnolfini and his Bride.” This painting, one of the earliest examples of oil painting, expresses the mundane symbols of marriage. The iconography of many of the objects in the painting suggests an effort to record religious faith.

The Arnolfini Portrait (1434).Jan van Eyck. Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and His Wife, Giovanna Cenami. 1434. Oil on wood panel, 33 x 22 1/2" (83.8 x 57.2 cm). The National Gallery, London.

Rogier van der Weyden. Deposition from an altarpiece commissioned by the Crossbowmen’s Guild, Louvain, Brabant, Belgium. c. 1442. Oil on wood panel, 7'25/8 " x 8'71/8" (2.2 x 2.62 m). Museo del Prado, Madrid.

Rogier van der Weyden. Last Judgement Altarpiece. After 1443. Oil on wood panel, open 7'45/8" x 17'11" (2.25 x 5.46 m). Mus ée de l’Hôtel-Dieu, Beaune, France.

Rogier van der Weyden. Portrait of a Lady. c. 1460. Oil and tempera on wood panel, 141/16 x 105/8" (37 x 27 cm). National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Petrus Christus. Saint Eloy (Eligius) in His Shop. 1449. Oil on oak panel, 385/8 x 33 1/2" (98 x 85 cm).

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Dirck Bouts, The Justice of the Emperor Justice of Otto III: the Execution of the Innocent Man, 1473-75

Hugo van der Goes. Portinari Altarpiecec. 1474 - 76. Tempera and oil on wood panel; center 8'3 1/2" x 10' (2.53 x 3.01 m), wings each 8'3 1/2 " x 4'7 1/2" (2.53 x 1.41 m). Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

Hans Memling(born in Seligenstadt, c.1430-40; died in

Bruges, 11 Aug 1494). • One of the most important exponents of the new artistic

developments that flourished in the southern Netherlands in the 15th century in the wake of Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden. Their principal innovation was to apply optic realism to devotional or mystical subjects. Although Memling lived in the turbulent period of transition from the Burgundian ruling house to that of the Habsburgs, little of this is evident in his work. His commissions were almost exclusively from rich burghers in Bruges (bankers, merchants and politicians) or churchmen and the occasional aristocrat.

Hans Memling. Saint Ursula Reliquary. 1489. Painted and gilded oak, 34 x 36 x 13" (86.4 x 91.4 x 33 cm). Memling Museum, Hospital of Saint John, Bruges, Belgium.

Saint Ursula Reliquary. Alternant side

St. Ursula

• Legendary leader of a band of virgins martyred by the Huns. The number of virgins was originally 11, but, as the story was retold over the years, it increased to 11,000. According to the 13th-century Golden Legend, Ursula was an English princess who went on a pilgrimage to Rome with 11,000 virgins and was martyred with them on the homeward journey. Ursula is the patron saint of the order of St. Ursula (Ursulines), a congregation of nuns dedicated to educating girls.

Detail of panel from St. Ursula Reliquary

The Last Judgment Hans Memling

Jean Fouquet. Melun Diptych, Etienne Chevalier and Saint Stephen, c. 1450. Oil on wood panel, (92.7 x 85.5 cm). Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Gemäldegalerie.

Jean Fouquet. Melun Diptych, Virgin and Child. c. 1451. Oil on wood panel, 365/8 x 33 1/2" (94.5 x 85.5 cm). Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Antwerp, Belgium.

Church of Saint-Maclou, Rouen Normandy, France

Example of the Flamboyant Style

Possibly designed by Pierre Robin

West Façade c. 1500 - 1514

THE JACQUES COEUR PALACE a wealthy merchant in Bourges builds the Flamboyant Style home. It survives almost intact today.

Current Events

• 1431 Joan of Arc burned at the Stake in Rouen

• 1455 Gutenberg prints the Bible

• 1453 Hundred Years War ends

• 1492 Columbus reaches the West Indies and North America

Spain and Portugal

• Queen Isabella of Castile assembles a large collection of Flemish paintings and Illuminated manuscripts as well as a collection of tapestries, jewels, and gold and silversmith’s work.

Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes, Toledo, Spain begun 1476, exterior, by Juan Guas (French, 1430–1496).

• Juan Guas (1430–1496), Isabella's court architect, championed the Hispano-Flemish style in structures such as the monastery of San Juan de los Reyes in Toledo.

The Hispano-Flemish style of architecture and decoration flourished during the reign of Isabella of Castile. It combines intricate Gothic motifs characteristic of the North with elements of the Islamic-inspired Mudejar style.

• The monastery of San Juan de los Reyes was built by the Catholic King and Queen (the Catholic Monarchs), Isabel (Elizabeth) and Fernando (Ferdinand), to commemorate their victory at the Battle of Toro (1476)

The church is dedicated to Saint John the Evangelist, patron saint of King Juan II.

• Common opinion says that the reason for building the monastery was so that it could be used by the Catholic Monarchs as a pantheon (royal burial place), an idea that changed after the conquest of Granada in the year 1492. They were actually buried in the Chapel Royal of Granada Cathedral.

Nuno Goncalves (c 1411-1471) Portuguese painter, recorded in 1463 as court painter to Alfonso V (1437-81). No works certainly by his hand survive, but there is a strong circumstantial evidence that he was responsible for the St Vincent polyptych painting of the 15th century. The style is rather dry, but powerfully realistic, and the polyptych contains a gallery of highly individualized portraits of members of the court, including a presumed self-portrait. There are affinities with contemporary Burgundian and Flemish art, especially the work of Bouts.

Germany and Switzerland

• German artists worked in two very different styles.

• The “Beautiful Style” where artists perfected a soft, lyrical style.

• Other artists began an intense investigation and detailed description of the physical world.

• The major exponent of this style was Konrad Witz (active 1434 – 1446)

Konrad Witz. Miraculous Draft of Fish from an altarpiece from the Cathedral of Saint Peter, Geneva, Switzerland. 1444. Oil on wood panel, 4'3" x 5'1 " (1.29 x 1.55 m). Musée d'Art et d'Histoire, Geneva.

Woodcuts and Engravings

• Woodcut is a relief technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface while the non-printing parts are removed, typically with gouges. The areas to show 'white' are cut away with a knife or chisel, leaving the characters or image to show in 'black' at the original surface level. The block is cut along the grain of the wood (unlike wood engraving where the block is cut in the end-grain). In Europe beechwood was most commonly used

There seems reason to conclude that wood-engraving was first applied to the representation of pictorial subjects, in the early part of the fifteenth century. One of its earliest known productions is a figure of St. Christopher, with the date 1423; and judging from the manner of its execution, it certainly cannot be considered a first attempt. It is, in fact, much superior both in design and engraving to many of the cuts of similar subjects executed upwards of half a century later.

Martin Schongauer

Demons Tormenting Saint Anthony

c. 1480 – 1490 Engraving

12 1/4” x 9”

Martin Schongauer. Christ Carrying the Cross c. 1480 - 90. Engraving, 11 3/8 x 16 7/8 in. (28.9 x 42.9 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Survey of Art II

Chapter 19

Florence CathedralFlorence, Italy1296-1366campanile (bell tower) ca. 1334-1350the dome of Florence cathedral is an Early Renaissance addition by Filippo Brunelleschi

Dome interior design

Brunelleschi

• Trained as a goldsmith and sculptor in a workshop in Florence, beginning his apprenticeship in 1392. An important influence on him at this time was Paolo dal Pozzo Toscanelli who was a merchant and medical doctor. Toscanelli's interest in science and mathematics was particularly significant for he taught his young pupil the principles of geometry. He also brought out Brunelleschi's interest in technology which he would put to good use later in his career.

• While teaching at the Arte della Seta in 1401 Brunelleschi entered a competition proposed by the Lord of Florence to design the bronze doors of the Florence Baptistery.

• Brunelleschi's most important achievement in mathematics came around 1415 when he rediscovered the principles of linear perspective using mirrors. He understood that there should be a single vanishing point to which all parallel lines in a plane, other than the plane of the canvas, converge. Also important was his understanding of scale, and he correctly computed the relation between the actual length of an object and its length in the picture depending on its distance behind the plane of the canvas. Using these mathematical principles, he drew various scenes of Florence with correct perspective. These perspective drawings by Brunelleschi have since been lost but a "Trinity" fresco by Masaccio still exists which uses Brunelleschi's mathematical principles.

Filippo Brunelleschi – Foundling Hospital, Florence, Italy designed 1419 built 1421-1444

Donatello (ca. 1386–1466)

• Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, universally known as Donatello, was born in Florence around 1386 and died there in 1466. The powerful expressivity of his art made him the greatest sculptor of the early Renaissance. Masterpieces from the first phases of his career include the vigilant marble Saint George, made for the guildhall of Orsanmichele (ca. 1417; Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence);

Saint George, ca. 1417Donatello (Italian, ca. 1386–1466)Marble; H. 82 1/4 in. (209 cm)

Donatello's Equestrian Monument of Erasmo Da Narni(Gattamelata) Piazza del Santo at Padua. 1443 - 1453

David bronze c. 1446 – 1460, 5’ 2 ¼” Donatello was the great master of the Early Renaissance. His skills as a sculptor were unsurpassed until Michelangelo appeared almost a century later. He completed many commissions for the city of Florence. His St. Mark was commissioned by the weaver's guild.

Mary Magdalene. By Donatello. Polychromy and gold on wood.1455

• poly·chromy (päl′i krō′mē)

• noun

• the art of combining many different colors, esp. in painting statues, vases, etc.

Nanni di BanceThe Four Saints Crowned Martyrs , Orsanmichele, Florence, c 1410-14

• This sculptural grouping was commissioned by the Maestri di Pietra e Legname, the guild of stone and woodworkers, of which Nanni di Banco was a member. The guild's patron saints were these 3rd century Christian sculptors who were willing to die rather than carve a statue of Aesculapius for the Emperor Diocletian. There is a sense of a narrative as these four unified figures, arranged in a semi-circular group on a pedestal in an arc form, seem to engage in serious conversation.

PORTA DEL PARADISO or GATE OF PARADISE

By Lorenzo GhibertiThe door's height is (506 cm) 5.06 meters or 16.60

feet 506 cm and the Width is (287 cm) 2.87 meters or 9.41 feet 

Frame detail from the Gate of ParadiseJacob and Esau Panel

Gates of Paradise, 1425-1452 Artist: Lorenzo Ghiberti (Italian 1378 1455) �

Medium: Gilt Bronze Dimensions: 31.5 x 31.5 inches

Lorenzo Ghiberti (Italian, 1378–1455). Adam and Eve Panel, from Gates of Paradise, 1425–52. Gilt bronze.

“Hercules and Antaeus,” bronze statuette by Antonio Pollaiuolo, c. 1475; in the Bargello, Florence

Equestrian Monument of Bartolommeo Colleoni, Campo dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo Andrea del Verrocchio 1483-88bronze, c. 13 feet high

Johann Gutenberg, [page from the Gutenberg Bible], 1455. movable typography. German.

Battle of the Nudes c. 1465- 1470, Antonio del Pollaiuolo (1429-1498 Florentine) Engraving

Holy TrinityMasaccio

• He used linear perspective with a vanishing point to create an illusion of deep space within an architectural framework.

• Linear perspective creates the

sense that a picture plane is opening a window into another world. This other world, in order to be convincing, has to be spatially cohesive, and spatial relationships were sometimes measured mathematically

• This fresco is 21 feet high and is

painted on the wall of a church in Florence. The figures are life-size.

• Because of the painting's position on the wall, its vanishing point is at the viewer's eye level: close to the foot of the cross. This makes the recession of space look tilted in photo-reproductions, but convincingly accurate in situ.

• Mary looks at the audience and points to Christ's sacrifice. Two donors kneel on a lower step. These figures are observed with a respect for realism that recalls Roman portrait sculpture.

• Below, a headless skeleton lies on a sepulchre. Its inscription reads: ' What you are now, I once was.....what I am now, you will be.'

• The inclusion of this memento mori, makes the Trinity an encouragement for the salvation of one's soul. It is a more poetic reminder of mortality than those earlier expressions created in the wake of the Great Plague.

The Tribute Money Masaccio Interior of the Brancacacci Chapel, Church of Santa Maria Del Carmine, Florence. Fresco (1426 -1427)

• This work tells a sequence of three events in one panel-a type of continuous narrative that was a common medieval device. In the center Christ and his followers are confronted by a Roman tax collector. Christ gestures to St. Peter to walk to the edge of the Sea of Galilee. There Peter finds a fish and in the fish's mouth is the half drachma necessary to pay tribute. On the right side St. Peter places the coin in the collector's hand. This is where Christ says 'Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's' ... setting worldly concerns apart from spiritual ones.

• In terms of style, Masaccio is interested in the figure (the young man in tights), in drapery (which indicates the figures' naturalistic form), in light (the figures cast shadows and their forms are modeled with light and dark areas in a sculptural way) and space (recession of space through size relationships, atmospheric perspective, and linear perspective).

Expulsion from the GardenMasaccioHis Adam and Eve possess the same formal qualities, plus they express deeply their shame and sorrow in being expelled from Paradise. In an epitaph, one contemporary of Masaccio, the biographer Vasari gives him this claim: "I painted and my picture was lifelike; I gave my figures movement, passions, soul: they breathed"

Masaccio. Frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel, Church of Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence. 1427

His Madonna is clearly set in a real world of Classical (complete with Corinthian columns) and Renaissance architecture. It recedes convincingly in space. On the far wall of the interior room behind the Virgin's head, is a small window that opens into deeper space. She is also set in the natural world with a flowered lawn, fence and distant woods and the angel Gabriel 's wings are brightly colored like an exotic bird's.

AnnunciationFra Angelico

Diagrams of Linear Perspective

Andrea del Castagno

• Full name Andrea di Bartolo di Bargilla (c. 1421/23 - 1457)

• Little is known of Castagno's early life and training. His style shows the influence of Masaccio and Donatello. Except for a brief period in Venice, approximately in 1442, Andrea worked all his life in Florence. His first notable work, not preserved, is the fresco at the Palazzo del Podestà in Florence, which depicted the execution of the Medici's enemies, hanged by their heels.

• The first well-known of Castagno's preserved works were fulfilled for the refectory of the monastery of Sant’ Apollonia (now there is museum of Andrea del Castagno in the monastery). Castagno worked on these monumental frescoes in 1445- 1450. The wall is visually divided into 2 parts, the lower part is the most famous of his frescoes, the Last Supper, the upper part contained three scenes from the Christ's Passion – Crucifixion in the center, Resurrection on the left, and Deposition on the right. The mixed chronology of the events shows the symbolic character of the painting.

Andrea del Castagno, Last Supper (fresco), refectory, monastery of Sant'Apollonia, Florence, Italy, 1447

Last Supper (fresco detail), refectory, monastery of Sant'Apollonia, Florence, Italy, 1447

The Youthful David. c. 1450. Tempera on leather mounted on wood. 115.5 x 77 cm. The National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, USA

• The Ducal Palace of Urbino, one of the architectural jewels of the Renaissance, was built for Federico da Montefeltro between 1450-1480 by three different architects: Maso di Bartolomeno, Luciano Laurana, and Francesco di Giorgio Martini.Luciano Laurana created the fascinating oblique facade with the palace's trademark towers , and intriguing blend of east and west that may have been inspired by distant minarets beyond the shores of the adriatic.

Luciano Laurana. Courtyard, Ducal Palace, Urbino. 1465–79.

Piero della Francesca, Battista Sforza (left) and Federico Montefeltro (right),  1472-73. oil on panel. Italian.

Piero della Francesca, Discovery and Testing of the True Cross, 1454-58. fresco. Italian.

Palazzo Ducale (studiolo w/ intarsio inlay)Urbino, Italy. Luciano Laurana. 1445-.

Palazzo Ducale (studiolo w/ intarsio inlay) Detail

Piero della Francesca, The Triumphs of Duke Federico Da Montefeltro and Battista Sforza, circa 1465

Leon Battista Alberti, Italian, facade of the Church of Sant'Andrea, Mantua.

plan of the Church of Sant'Andrea, Mantua, designed c.1470.

Leon Battista Alberti, nave of the Church of Sant'Andrea, Mantua. architecture. Italian.

Andrea MantegnaCeiling Oculus1471-74Fresco, diameter: 270 cmCamera degli Sposi, Ducal Palace, Mantua

Pietro Vannucci, called Perugino The Delivery of the Keys to St. Peter fresco, 1481–2, Sistine Chapel,

• Pietro Vannucci, called Perugino was born in Città della Pieve near Perugia. According to Giorgio Vasari, Perugino, after being introduced to the artist's craft in his native town, went to Florence, where he studied with Andrea del Verrocchio. Perugino's presence in Florence in 1472 is documented. He traveled fairly extensively between Florence, Umbria, and Rome during the 1470s. In October 1481 he was one of the artists commissioned to execute frescoes for the newly completed Sistine Chapel in Rome.

Ghirlandaio, c.  1475 - View of the Sassetti Chapel, Santa Trinitá, Florence

Ghirlandaio, c.  1475 - View of the Sassetti Chapel, Santa Trinitá, Florence

Detail

Confirmation of the Franciscan Order, c. 1482-85, Sassetti Chapel, Sta. Trinita, Florence

Resurrection of the Dead Child, c. 1482-85, Sassetti Chapel, Sta. Trinita, Florence

Sassetti Chapel, Sta. Trinita, Florence

• The church has several interesting works of art, but the piece de resistance is without doubt one of the finest remaining Renaissance chapels - Ghirlandaio's Capella Sassetti.

• The Sassetti Chapel was frescoed between 1482 and 1485 by Domenico Ghirlandaio.   

Sandro Botticelli (c. 1445-1510) Primavera (Spring), c. 1482?, Uffizi, Florence

Sandro Botticelli (c. 1445-1510)

• "Italian painter. Botticelli was Florentine and extremely successful at the peak of his career, with a highly individual and graceful style founded on the rhythmic capabilities of outline. With the emergence of the High Renaissance style at the turn of the 16th century, he fell out of fashion, died in obscurity and was only returned to his position as one of the best-loved quattrocento painters through the interest of Ruskin and the Pre-Raphaelites. His nickname "Botticelli" means "little barrel" and was originally bestowed on his older brother. For some reason the name was passed on to, and adopted by, the younger painter brother.

Sandro Botticelli. The Birth of Venus c. 1484 - 86. Tempera on canvas, 5'87/8 " x 9'17/8" . Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.

Sandro Botticelli. Mystical Nativity 1500. Oil on canvas, 42 x 29 1/2" (106.7 x 74.9 cm). The National Gallery, London.

A relic of the True Cross being carried in procession through the Piazza San Marco, Venice. Gentile Bellini 15th century.

Giovanni Bellini Madonna and Child Enthroned Between Ss. Francis, John the Baptist, Job, Dominic, Sebastian, Louisc. 1478 oil on wood panel

Giovanni Bellini. St Francis in Ecstasy 1470s. Oil and tempera on wood panel, 49 x 557/8" (125 x142 cm).The Frick Collection, New York Copyright the Frick Collection, New York.