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The Renaissance The beginning of Modern Europe
The Renaissance
The beginning of Modern Europe
The Renaissance• Renaissance," French for "rebirth," perfectly
describes the intellectual and economic changes that occurred in Europe from the fourteenth through the sixteenth centuries.
• During the era known by this name, Europe emerged from the economic stagnation of the Middle Ages and experienced a time of financial growth. Also, and perhaps most importantly, the Renaissance was an age in which artistic, social, scientific, and political thought turned in new directions. It was also the age of expansion and Discovery.
Printing Press
• Johannes Gutenberg 1440.
• Mass production– Production of paper– Production of
manuscripts.
• Gutenberg Bible: 185 copies.
• Communications revolution.
• Exchange of ideas• Beginning of
Censorship
Humanism
• Homogeneous group.• Study and support of
the liberal arts (humanities)
• Classical history and literature glory
• Want to harmonize classicism and Christian faith.
• When Constantinople fell the Greek scholars fled to Italy.
• Spurred a revival of Greek Learning.
Art and Patronage• Italians were willing to spend a lot of
money on art.– Art communicated social, political, and
spiritual values.– Italian banking & international trade interests
had the money.
• Public art in Florence was organized and supported by guilds.
Therefore, the consumption of art was used as a form of competition for social & political status!
The Artists
• Relied on Patronage– Medici’s
• Acquired more social status• Wanted to be seen as creative genius but was
not always.– Artist not artisan– Served to princely courts– Commissioned work– Made pieces for the market
1. Realism & 1. Realism & ExpressionExpression
Expulsion Expulsion fromfromthe Gardenthe Garden
MasaccioMasaccio
14271427
First nudes First nudes sincesinceclassical classical times.times.
2. Perspective2. Perspective
• the illusion of depth on a flat surface; lines appear to converge at a single point known as the vanishing point. The size of objects was reduced, colors muted and detail blurred the further away the objects grew.
2. Perspective2. Perspective
PerspectiPerspective!ve!Perspective!Perspective!PerspectiPerspectiveve!!Perspective!Perspective!
Perspective!Perspective!
First use First use of linear of linear
perspective!perspective!
Perspective!Perspective!Perspective!Perspective!
The The TrinityTrinity
MasaccioMasaccio
14271427
What you What you are, I once are, I once was; what I was; what I am, you will am, you will
become.become.
3. Classicism3. Classicism
Greco-Roman influence.
Secularism.
Humanism.
Individualism free standing figures.
Symmetry/BalanceThe The “Classical Pose”“Classical Pose”
Medici “Venus” (1c)Medici “Venus” (1c)
4. Emphasis on 4. Emphasis on IndividualismIndividualism Batista Sforza & Federico de Montefeltre: Batista Sforza & Federico de Montefeltre:
The Duke & Dutchess of UrbinoThe Duke & Dutchess of Urbino
Piero della Francesca, 1465-1466.Piero della Francesca, 1465-1466.
Isabella d’Este –Isabella d’Este – da Vinci, da Vinci, 14991499 1474-1539
“First Lady of the Italian Renaissance.”
Great patroness of the arts in Mantua.
Known during her time as “First Lady of the World!”
5. Geometrical 5. Geometrical Arrangement of Arrangement of
FiguresFigures The Dreyfus The Dreyfus Madonna Madonna with the with the PomegranatPomegranatee
Leonardo da Leonardo da VinciVinci
14691469
The figure as The figure as architecture!architecture!
Use of Light and Shadow:
• Chiaroscuro (light/dark) made lighter forms seem to emerge from darker areas, thereby producing the illusion of rounded relief on a flat surface.
• Sfumato or shading.
6. Light & 6. Light & Shadowing/Softening Shadowing/Softening
EdgesEdges
ChiaroscuroChiaroscuro
SfumatoSfumato
Renaissance Renaissance FlorenceFlorence
The Wool FactoryThe Wool Factoryby Mirabello Cavalori, 1570by Mirabello Cavalori, 1570 1252 – first gold1252 – first gold
florinsflorins mintedminted
Florentine lion:Florentine lion:symbol of St. symbol of St.
MarkMark
Lorenzo Lorenzo the Magnificentthe Magnificent
1478 - 15211478 - 1521
Cosimo de Cosimo de MediciMedici
1517 - 15741517 - 1574
Florence Under the Florence Under the MediciMedici
Medici ChapelMedici Chapel
The Medici PalaceThe Medici Palace
Filippo Filippo BrunelleschiBrunelleschi1377 - 14361377 - 1436
ArchitectArchitect
Cuppolo of St. Cuppolo of St. MariaMariadel Fioredel Fiore
Filippo Brunelleschi• Commissioned to
build the cathedral dome.– Used unique
architectural concepts.• He studied the
ancient Pantheon in Rome.
• Used ribs for support.
Brunelleschi’s Brunelleschi’s “Secret“Secret””
Brunelleschi’s Brunelleschi’s DomeDome
BRUNELLESCHI, FilippoItalian sculptor (b. 1377, Firenze, d. 1446, Firenze)
• Called the ‘Father of Linear Perspective.’ It was Brunelleschi who first came up with a mathematical equation for projecting a three dimensional object on a two dimensional surface.
The Old Sacristy of San Lorenzo was built by The Old Sacristy of San Lorenzo was built by Brunelleschi between 1418 and 1428. The Brunelleschi between 1418 and 1428. The sculptural decoration was executed from 1428 sculptural decoration was executed from 1428 to about 1443 by Donatello.to about 1443 by Donatello.
Dome Dome ComparisonsComparisons
Il Duomo St. Peter’s St. Paul’s US capital (Florence) (Rome) (London) (Washington)
The Ideal CityThe Ideal City Piero della Piero della
Francesca, 1470Francesca, 1470
A Contest to Decorate the A Contest to Decorate the Cathedral: Cathedral: Sacrifice of IsaacSacrifice of Isaac
PanelsPanelsBrunelleschi Ghiberti
Ghiberti – Ghiberti – Gates of ParadiseGates of ParadiseBaptistry Door, Florence – 1425 - Baptistry Door, Florence – 1425 -
14521452The Winner!The Winner!
David by David by DonatelloDonatello
14301430
First free-form bronze First free-form bronze since Roman times!since Roman times!
The Liberation The Liberation of Sculptureof Sculpture
DavidDavid
VerrocchioVerrocchio
1473 - 1473 - 14751475
The Baptism of ChristThe Baptism of Christ Verrocchio, 1472 - 1475Verrocchio, 1472 - 1475
Leonardo Leonardo da Vincida Vinci
Vitruvian Vitruvian Man Man
Leonardo daLeonardo daVinciVinci
14921492
TheTheL’uomoL’uomo
universauniversalele
The Renaissance “Man”The Renaissance “Man”
• Broad knowledge about many things in different fields.
• Deep knowledge/skill in one area.
• Able to link information from different areas/disciplines and create new knowledge.
• The Greek ideal of the “well-rounded man” was at the heart of Renaissance education.
1.1. Self-Portrait Self-Portrait -- da -- da Vinci, 1512Vinci, 1512
1452 - 15191452 - 1519
Artist
Sculptor
Architect
Scientist
Engineer
Inventor
Leonardo, Leonardo, the Artistthe Artist
The Virgin The Virgin of the Rocks of the Rocks
Leonardo daLeonardo daVinciVinci
1483-14861483-1486
Leonardo, the Artist:Leonardo, the Artist:From hisFrom hisNotebooks of over Notebooks of over 5000 5000
pages (1508-1519)pages (1508-1519)
Mona LisaMona Lisa – da Vinci, – da Vinci, 1503-41503-4
A Macaroni MonaA Macaroni Mona
A Picasso MonaA Picasso Mona
An Andy Warhol MonaAn Andy Warhol Mona
Mona LisaMona Lisa OROR da da Vinci??Vinci??
The Last Supper The Last Supper - da - da Vinci, 1498Vinci, 1498& Geometry& Geometry
RefractorRefractoryy
Convent Convent of Santa of Santa
Maria Maria delle delle
GrazieGrazie
MilanMilan
horizontal
vert
ical
PerspectivPerspective!e!
The Last Supper The Last Supper - da - da Vinci, 1498Vinci, 1498
Detail of Detail of JesusJesus
The Last The Last SupperSupper
Leonardo Leonardo da Vincida Vinci
14981498
DeterioratDeteriorationion
A Da Vinci “Code”:A Da Vinci “Code”:St. John or Mary Magdalene?St. John or Mary Magdalene?
Leonardo, the SculptorLeonardo, the Sculptor
An An Equestrian Equestrian StatueStatue
1516-15181516-1518
Leonardo, the Architect:Leonardo, the Architect:Pages from his Pages from his NotebookNotebook
Study of a Study of a central central church.church.
14881488
Leonardo, the Architect:Leonardo, the Architect:Pages from his Pages from his NotebookNotebook
Plan of the city of Imola, 1502.Plan of the city of Imola, 1502.
Leonardo, the Scientist Leonardo, the Scientist (Biology):(Biology):Pages from his Pages from his NotebookNotebook
An example of An example of the humanist the humanist desire to desire to unlock the unlock the secrets of secrets of nature.nature.
Leonardo, the Scientist Leonardo, the Scientist (Anatomy): (Anatomy):
Pages from his Pages from his NotebookNotebook
Leonardo, the Leonardo, the Inventor:Inventor:
Pages from his Pages from his NotebookNotebook
Man Can Fly?Man Can Fly?
A study of siege A study of siege defenses.defenses.
Studies of water-lifting Studies of water-lifting devices.devices.
Leonardo, the Engineer: Leonardo, the Engineer: Pages from his Pages from his
NotebookNotebook
Leonardo da Vinci….Leonardo da Vinci….
O investigator, do not O investigator, do not flatter yourself that you flatter yourself that you know the things nature know the things nature performs for herself, but performs for herself, but rejoice in knowing that rejoice in knowing that purpose of those things purpose of those things designed by your own designed by your own mind.mind.
Comparing DomesComparing Domes
2.2. Michelangelo Michelangelo BuonorratiBuonorrati
1475 – 15641475 – 1564
He He represented represented the body in the body in three three dimensions dimensions of sculpture.of sculpture.
DavidDavid
MichelangelMichelangelooBuonarottiBuonarotti
15041504
MarbleMarble
15c15c
16c16c
WhatWhat
aa
differencedifference
aa
centurycentury
makes!makes!
The PietaThe Pieta
MichelangeMichelangeloloBuonarrotiBuonarroti
14991499
marblemarble
The Popes as Patrons The Popes as Patrons of the Artsof the Arts
The Sistine The Sistine ChapelChapel
MichelangelMichelangelo Buonarrotio Buonarroti
1508 - 15121508 - 1512
The Sistine Chapel’s The Sistine Chapel’s CeilingCeiling
Michelangelo BuonarrotiMichelangelo Buonarroti1508 - 15121508 - 1512
The Sistine Chapel The Sistine Chapel DetailsDetails
The The Creation Creation
of the of the HeavensHeavens
The Sistine Chapel The Sistine Chapel DetailsDetails
Creation of ManCreation of Man
A Modern A Modern “Adaptation“Adaptation””
Joe Gallo in the New York Daily News, 2004
The Sistine Chapel The Sistine Chapel DetailsDetails
The Fall The Fall from from GraceGrace
The Sistine Chapel The Sistine Chapel DetailsDetails
The Last JudgmentThe Last Judgment
The artist's self-portrait appears twice in the Last Judgment: in the flayed skin which Saint Bartholomew is carrying in his left-hand, and in the figure in the lower left hand corner, who is looking encouragingly at those rising from their graves.
Christ as a young Apollo.
Minos, the Judge of the Underworld. According to Vasari, the artist gave Minos the semblance of the Pope's Master of Ceremonies, Biagio da Cesena, who had often complained to the Pope about the nudity of the painted figures.
3.3. Raffaello Sanzio (1483- Raffaello Sanzio (1483-1520)1520)
Self-PortraitSelf-Portrait, 1506, 1506 Portrait of the Artist Portrait of the Artist with a Friendwith a Friend, 1518, 1518
Baldassare CastiglioneBaldassare Castiglione by by Raphael,Raphael,
1514-15151514-1515 Castiglione Castiglione
represented represented the humanist the humanist “gentleman” “gentleman” as a man of as a man of refinement refinement and self-and self-control.control.
PerspectivPerspective!e!
PerspectivPerspective!e!
BetrothBetrothal al
of the of the Virgin Virgin
RaphaelRaphael
15041504
Raphael’sRaphael’s Canagiani Canagiani Madonna, Madonna, 15071507
Raphael’sRaphael’s Madonnas Madonnas (1)(1)
Sistine MadonnaSistine Madonna Cowpepper MadonnaCowpepper Madonna
Madonna della SediaMadonna della Sedia Alba MadonnaAlba Madonna
Raphael’sRaphael’s Madonnas Madonnas (2)(2)
The School of Athens The School of Athens – – Raphael, 1510 -11Raphael, 1510 -11• One point perspective.
• All of the important Greek philosophers and thinkers are included all of the great personalities of the Seven Liberal Arts!
• A great variety of poses.
• Located in the papal apartments library.
• Raphael worked on this commission simultaneously as Michelangelo was doing the Sistine Chapel.
• No Christian themes here.
The School of Athens The School of Athens – – Raphael, 1510 -11Raphael, 1510 -11
Raphael
Da Vinci
Michelangelo
School of Athens
MICHELANGELO
LEONARDO
Raphael himself
Bramante ?
In his Painting of famous Greek figures, Raphael immortalizes his contemporaries with portraits.
AristotleAristotle::looks to thislooks to thisearth [theearth [thehere andhere and
now].now].
PlatoPlato::looks to thelooks to theheavens [or heavens [or
the IDEALthe IDEALrealm].realm].
The School of Athens The School of Athens – – Raphael, detailsRaphael, details
Averroes
Hypatia
Pythagoras
ZoroasterZoroaster
Ptolemy
Euclid
The Liberation of St. The Liberation of St. PeterPeter by Raphael, 1514 by Raphael, 1514
Portrait of Pope Julius IIPortrait of Pope Julius II by Raphael, 1511-1512by Raphael, 1511-1512
More concerned More concerned with politics than with politics than with theology.with theology.
The “Warrior The “Warrior Pope.”Pope.”
Great patron of Great patron of Renaissance Renaissance artists, especially artists, especially Raphael & Raphael & Michelangelo.Michelangelo.
Died in 1513Died in 1513
Pope Leo X with Cardinal Pope Leo X with Cardinal Giulio deMedici and Luigi De Giulio deMedici and Luigi De Rossi Rossi by Raphael, 1518-1519 by Raphael, 1518-1519 A Medici Pope.A Medici Pope.
He went through He went through the Vatican the Vatican treasury in a treasury in a year!year!
His extravagances His extravagances offended even offended even some cardinals some cardinals [as well as Martin [as well as Martin Luther!].Luther!].
Started selling Started selling indulgences.indulgences.
Birth of VenusBirth of Venus – – Botticelli, 1485Botticelli, 1485
An attempt to depict perfect beautyAn attempt to depict perfect beauty..
Botticelli’s Venus Motif.Botticelli’s Venus Motif.
10¢ Italian Euro coin.10¢ Italian Euro coin.
2002 Euro Coin2002 Euro Coin
PrimaveraPrimavera – Botticelli, – Botticelli, 14821482
Depicted classical gods as Depicted classical gods as almost naked and life-size.almost naked and life-size.
A Portrait of SavonarolaA Portrait of Savonarola By Fra Bartolomeo, By Fra Bartolomeo,
1498.1498.
Dominican friar who Dominican friar who decried money and decried money and power.power.
Anti-humanistAnti-humanist he saw he saw humanism as too humanism as too secular, hedonistic, and secular, hedonistic, and corrupting.corrupting.
The “Bonfire of the The “Bonfire of the Vanities,” 1497.Vanities,” 1497.
/ Burned books, artwork, Burned books, artwork, jewelry, and other jewelry, and other luxury goods in public.luxury goods in public.
/ Even Botticelli put Even Botticelli put some of his paintings some of his paintings on the fire!!on the fire!!
The Execution of The Execution of Savonarola, 1452Savonarola, 1452
The Doge, Leonardo LoredonThe Doge, Leonardo LoredonBerlini, 1501Berlini, 1501
Venus of Urbino Venus of Urbino – Titian, – Titian, 15581558
The Penitent Mary The Penitent Mary Magdalene Magdalene by Titian, 1533by Titian, 1533
By the mid-16c, By the mid-16c, High High Renaissance Renaissance art was art was declining.declining.
Mannerism Mannerism became more became more popular.popular.
This painting is This painting is a good example a good example of this new of this new artistic style.artistic style.
Madonna with Saints and Members of the Pesaro Family c.1519-26Oil on canvas, 478 x 266 cm. Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice
• Titian was neither such a universal scholar as Leonardo, nor such an outstanding personality as Michelangelo, nor such a versatile and attractive man as Raphael. He was principally a painter, but a painter whose handling of paint equaled Michelangelo's mastery of draughtsmanship. This supreme skill enabled him to disregard all the time-honored rules of composition, and to rely on color to restore the unity which he apparently broke up.
MANNERISM• A movement in Italian art from
about 1520 to 1600. Developing out of the Renaissance, Mannerism rejected Renaissance balance and harmony in favor of emotional intensity and ambiguity. In Mannerist painting, this was expressed mainly through severe distortions of perspective and scale; complex and crowded compositions; strong, sometimes harsh or discordant colors; and elongated figures in exaggerated poses. In architecture, there was a playful exaggeration of Renaissance forms (largely in scale and proportion) and the greater use of bizarre decoration. Mannerism gave way to the Baroque.
• Leading Mannerist artists include Pontormo, Bronzino, Parmigianino, El Greco and Tintoretto.
Andrea Mantegna
Mantegna, Andrea (1431-1506), one of the foremost north Italian painters of the 15th century. A master of perspective and foreshortening, he made important contributions to the compositional techniques of Renaissance painting.
The Lamentation over the Dead Christc. 1490Tempera on canvas, 68 x 81 cmPinacoteca di Brera, Milan
ANDREA MANTEGNA
Painter of Mantua(1431-1506)
This painting was destroyed during WWII.
It shows St. James being led to execution from the viewpoint of the kneeling Jailor who begs St. James for forgiveness. (and apparently is receiving it.)
St. James led to Martyrdom, c. 1455
Sixteenth-Century Art in Northern Europe and Spain.
Martin Luther as a young Monk
ALTDORFER, Albrecht 1480-1538
• This is the most famous painting of Altdorfer.
• Victory of the young Alexander the Great in 333 B.C. over the Persian army of King Darius in the battle of Issus.
• The battle took place in Turkey, however, on this painting it is shown in the rocky environment of the Alps with German cities in the background.
The Battle of Alexander 1529Wood, 158,4 x 120,3 cmAlte Pinakothek, Munich
Albrecht DÜRER
• Painter and printmaker generally regarded as the greatest German Renaissance artist. His vast body of work includes altarpieces and religious works, numerous portraits and self-portraits, and copper engravings. His woodcuts, such as the Apocalypse series (1498), retain a more Gothic flavor than the rest of his work.
Self Portraits done between 1484 and 1500
b. 1471, Nürnberg, d. 1528, b. 1471, Nürnberg, d. 1528, NürnbergNürnberg
Age 13
Albrecht DÜRER To Dürer's about 60 paintings more
than a thousand drawings and watercolours, about 250 woodcuts, 96 engravings, 6 etchings, and 3 drypoints should be added. Dürer was primarily a graphic artist - indubitably the greatest draftsman of his time, and among the most accomplished draftsmen that ever lived.
• Dürer was the first German artist to find new opportunities for production and distribution. He was the first to introduce the production of printed graphics in his own publishing business on an equal footing with the running of a painter's workshop.
The Revelation of St John: 4. The Four Riders of the Apocalypse 1497-98Woodcut, 399 x 286 mmKupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe
Albrecht DÜRER
• Portrait of Hieronymus Holzschuher1526Oil on panel, 51 x 37 cmStaatliche Museen, Berlin
• Inscription in the top left: HIERONIMVS HOLTZSHVER ANNO DO[MI]NI 1526 AETATIS SVE 57; to the right, near the head, monogrammed.
Albrecht DÜRER• On 6 October 1526 the artist
offered The Four Holy Men to the city fathers of Nuremberg.
• The council gratefully accepted the gift, hanging the two works in the upper government chamber of the city hall.
• Dürer was awarded an honorarium of 100 florins. The four monumental figures remained in the municipality of Nuremberg until 1627, when, following threats of repression, they had to be sold to the elector of Bavaria, Maximilian I, a great enthusiast of Dürer's work
The Four Holy Men, 1526Oil on lindenwood, 215 x 76 cm (each
panel)Alte Pinakothek, Munich
DÜRER: Wood cuts and ingravings
• During 1513 and 1514, Dürer created the greatest of his copperplate engravings: the Knight, St Jerome in His Study, and Melencolia I - all of approximately the same size.
Adam and Eve1504Engraving, 252 x 194 mmStaatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe
Knight, Death and the Devil, 1513• Knight, Death and the Devil, also
known as The Rider, represents an allegory on Christian salvation. Unflustered either by Death who is standing in front of him with his hour-glass, or by the Devil behind him, an armored knight is riding along a narrow defile, accompanied by his loyal hound. This represents the steady route of the faithful, through all of life's injustice, to God who is symbolized by the castle in the background. The dog symbolizes faith, and the lizard religious zeal. The horse and rider, like other preliminary studies made by Dürer, are derived from the canon of proportions drawn up by Leonardo da Vinci.
Engraving, 245 x 188 mmEngraving, 245 x 188 mmStaatliche Kunsthalle, Staatliche Kunsthalle,
KarlsruheKarlsruhe
Melencolia I• Dürer's greatest achievement in
printmaking were the three engravings of 1513-14, regarded as his masterpieces. Melencolia I is by far the most complex of the three master engravings.
• On the wall of the building hang a bell, an hourglass, scales and a magic square of 16 numerals (with each line adding up to 34). A dog sleeps at Melancholy's feet and a cherub sits astride an upturned millstone. A bat-like creature holds up the inscription `Melencolia I'. The dog and bat correspond to this melancholy humour. Melancholy was considered to be both a negative and positive power of the mind, as represented by the bat and writing putto.
Melencolia I, 1514Engraving, 239 x 189 mmKupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe
Hans HOLBEIN the Younger • In the first years after
Holbein's return to England, the Steelyard merchants were by no means his only clients. His reputation as a brilliant portraitist had undoubtedly penetrated court circles, because in 1533 Holbein was commissioned by the French ambassador Jean de Dinteville (c. 1503 -1555) to paint the largest and most splendid panel painting in Holbein's hand to survive to this day, namely the Double Portrait of Jean de Dinteville and Georges de Selve, widely known as The Ambassadors.
Anamorphic Art
• Anamorphic pictures are drawings and paintings which appear distorted and almost unrecognizable to the unaided eye. However, when they are viewed from a particular perspective or using a "decoding device" they are easily interpreted as recognizable images.
• In the lower half of this picture there is an oblong shape, which, with a little inspection, you should be able to make out as the distorted image of a human skull.
• The skull achieves its true shape if you view it from the right hand side and very close to the plane of the painting. From this unconventional viewpoint, you will see something like…
Now do you see it?
…this!
The Ambassadors (detail)
• Whereas the astronomical globe on the upper shelf helps to identify the stars, the lower globe shows the Earth. In the centre, the word Polisy can be made out, the place where Jean de Dinteville had his château, for which the picture was intended. Besides this are two opened books, plus dividers, a lute with a broken string, and a bag with wooden flutes. The arithmetical book has been identified as Peter Apian's (1495-1552) book Eyn Newe unnd wohlgegründte underweysung aller Kauffmanss Rechnung (A new and thorough instruction in all mercantile calculations), published 1527, while the hymnal contains two songs from Johannes Walther's (1496-1570) Lutheran hymnal published in Wittenberg in 1524.
This image most likely was made by the help of a Camera Obscura.
Camera Obscura• For the most part, art
historians have long assumed that most of the Old Masters achieved their astonishing effects either through preternaturally gifted "eyeballing" or else (in the wake of the Italian Renaissance) through recourse to elaborate mathematical perspectives. Over the last few years, however, David Hockney and his collaborator, the physicist Charles Falco have been exploring an alternative possibility, The Camera Obscura. (Latin for ‘dark room’.)
Detail form the French Ambassadors.
• The earliest mention of this type of device was by the Chinese philosopher Mo-Ti (5th century BC).
• The image quality was improved with the addition of a convex lens into the aperture in the 16th century and the later addition of a mirror to reflect the image down onto a viewing surface.
• The term "camera obscura" was first used by the German astronomer Johannes Kepler in the early 17th century. He used it for astronomical applications and had a portable tent camera for surveying in Upper Austria.
Pieter Bruegel the Elder
• The Harvesters1565Oil on wood, 118.1 x 160.7 cmMetropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Pieter Bruegel
• Pieter Bruegel the Elder, the greatest Flemish painter of the 16th century, whose landscapes and vigorous, often witty scenes of peasant life are particularly renowned. He spelled his name Brueghel until 1559, and his sons retained the "h" in the spelling of their names. Since Bruegel signed and dated many of his works, his artistic evolution can be traced from the early landscapes, in which he shows affinity with the Flemish 16th-century landscape tradition, to his last works, which are Italianate. He exerted a strong influence on painting in the Low Countries, and through his sons Jan and Pieter he became the ancestor of a dynasty of painters that survived into the 18th century.
The Peasant DanceThe Peasant Dance, 1568, 1568Oil on oak panel, 114 x 164 cmOil on oak panel, 114 x 164 cmKunsthistorisches Museum, ViennaKunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Genre Art: Depiction of Everyday scenes • The depiction of scenes from everyday life. Elements of everyday life had
long had a role in religious works; pictures in which such elements were the subject of a painting developed in the 16th century with such artists as Pieter Bruegel. Then Carracci and Caravaggio developed genre painting in Italy, but it was in Holland in the 17th century that it became an independent form with its own major achievements, Vermeer being one of its finest exponents.
Peasant weddingc. 1568Oil on wood, 114 x 164 cmKunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Jean CLOUET, b. 1485/90, Bruxelles, d. 1541,
Paris • French artist of Flemish
origin, and probably the son of another Jean Clouet, a Flemish artist who came to France in about 1460. He is renowned for his superb royal portraits, although no completely verifiable works exist today.
Portrait of François I, King of France. 1525-30Wood, 96 x 74 cmMusée du Louvre, Paris
Jean Goujon, 1510-1565 • One of the most famous work
of Goujon is the Fontaine des Innocents, erected in 1550 in rue aux Fers in Paris. There six narrow reliefs representing nymphs holding urns in various positions.
• These caryatid-type figures are adapted from the stucco decorations and were to become so marked a feature of French sculpture.
Panels of the Nymphs on the Fountain of the Innocents in Paris 1547-49MarbleMusée du Louvre, Paris
Spain in The 16th Century• Juan Buatista de
Toldeo was a Spaniard who studied in Rome with Michelangelo Buonarroti before being recalled to Spain by Phillip II. His major work was the palace of the Escorial, (Right) begun by him in 1563, and finished after his death by Juan de Herrera, who became the favorite architect of Phillip II.
Juan de Juan de HerreraHerrera
El Greco, (The Greek)
• The contract for the painting is dated 18th March 1586. El Greco agreed to finish the painting by Christmas of the same year. This commission again resulted in litigation over the valuation, the final outcome of which was that the artist accepted the amount of the original valuation, 1200 ducados.
The Burial of Count Orgaz
1586Oil on canvas, 480 x 360
cmSanto Tomé, Toledo
Self portrait: Detail from the Burial of Count Orgaz
• El Greco was a "Spanish" Mannerist painter, whose work, with that of Francisco de Goya and Diego Velázquez, represents the acme of Spanish art.
El Greco, (b. 1541, Candia, d. 1614, Toledo)
• Portrait of his friend, the great Toledan poet (1580- 1633). Paravicino, in his sonnet celebrating the portrait, tells us that it was painted when he was twenty-nine years of age. The complete frontality of the pose, the enormous simplicity, and the absence of any setting contribute to the feeling of spiritual presence, comparatively absent from the splendid portrait of Cardinal Guevara. The inspired rhythm and handling is no less a living thing than the man himself. It is one of the greatest masterpieces of portraiture and painting of all time. Portrait of Hortensio Felix Paravicino
c. 1609, Oil on canvasm, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
