 Perspective.

To add three-dimensional depth and space to their work, Renaissance

artists rediscovered and greatly expanded on the ideas of linear perspective, horizon
line, and vanishing point.
 Linear perspective: Rendering a painting with linear perspective is like looking through
a window and painting exactly what you see on the window pane. Instead of every object
in the picture being the same size, objects that were further away would be smaller, while
those closer to you would be larger.
 Horizon line: Horizon line refers to the point in the distance where objects become so
infinitely small, that they have shrunken to the size of a line.
 Vanishing point: The vanishing point is the point at which parallel lines appear to
converge far in the distance, often on the horizon line. This is the effect you can see when
standing on railroad tracks and looking at the tracks recede into the distance.
 Shadows and light. Artists were interested in playing with the way light hits objects
and creates shadows. The shadows and light could be used to draw the viewer’s
eye to a particular point in the painting.
 Emotion. Renaissance artists wanted the viewer to feel something while looking at
their work, to have an emotional experience from it. It was a form of visual rhetoric,
where the viewer felt inspired in their faith or encouraged to be a better citizen.
 Realism and naturalism. In addition to perspective, artists sought to make objects,
especially people, look more realistic. They studied human anatomy, measuring
proportions and seeking the ideal human form. People looked solid and displayed
real emotions, allowing the viewer to connect with what the depicted persons were
thinking and feeling.

Masaccio allows Adam and Eve to appear more 3D and human-like by using chiaroscuro. He
also made it more dramatic by painting with dramatic strokes (“Masaccio,” Encyclopedia
Britannica). Masaccio allows Adam to have some dignity through the use of Adam’s body
placement. Compared to Eve, Adam is not afraid of what his body looks like and while he does
look sad, he does not look as remorseful as Eve. On the other hand, Eve looks like she “bears all
of the suffering in the world” (Web Gallery of Art). Her hands cover the most private parts of her
body while her face expresses not only in sadness but extreme pain. Masaccio further
emphasizes the dark mood of his painting by using few and very plain colors. The use of colors
creates a dreary look for the fresco. The towering angel also stands out with the use of red, the
only bright color in the painting. Through the use of different facial expressions, body language,
and color, Masaccio creates a pitiful image of two people’s tragic fates.

Eve’s emotion in “Expulsion” ties into the theme, “Women in Mourning” because of how she is
reacting to her predicament. Not only are her facial features in distress, but her body language
also shows that she is in remorse. Masaccio also makes Eve look like the important figure in the
picture by having Adam cover his face, the place where viewers can truly tell what a person is
feeling. In the painting, Eve is obviously mourning her fate. Eve is considered the true sinner in
Christian for convincing Adam to eat the forbidden fruit. As a result, Eve must be faced with the
punishment of painful childbirth and becoming the lesser of the two sexes. Adam’s punishment
was simply expulsion, so Masaccio painted him as less distressed than Eve. Expulsion sets itself
apart from the other paintings of “Women in Mourning” by being the only painting where the
artist is not trying to suggest an injustice in society. Instead, the woman is mourning over her
own mistakes.

The pose of Michelangelo's David is unlike that of earlier Renaissance depictions of David. The
bronze statues by Donatello and Verrocchio represented the hero standing victorious over the head
of Goliath, and the painter Andrea del Castagno had shown the boy in mid-swing, even as Goliath's
head rested between his feet,[19] but no earlier Florentine artist had omitted the giant altogether.
According to Helen Gardner and other scholars, David is depicted before his battle with
Goliath.[20][21] Instead of being shown victorious over a foe much larger than he, David looks tense and
ready for combat.

The statue appears to show David after he has made the decision to fight Goliath but before the
battle has actually taken place, a moment between conscious choice and action. His brow is drawn,
his neck tense and the veins bulge out of his lowered right hand. His left hand holds a sling that is
draped over his shoulder and down to his right hand, which holds a rock. [22]The twist of his body
effectively conveys to the viewer the feeling that he is in motion, an impression heightened
with contrapposto. The statue is a Renaissance interpretation of a common ancient Greek theme of
the standing heroic male nude. In the High Renaissance, contrapposto poses were thought of as a
distinctive feature of antique sculpture. This is typified in David, as the figure stands with one leg
holding its full weight and the other leg forward. This classic pose causes the figure’s hips and
shoulders to rest at opposing angles, giving a slight s-curve to the entire torso. The contrapposto is
emphasised by the turn of the head to the left, and by the contrasting positions of the arms.
Michelangelo’s David has become one of the most recognized works of Renaissance sculpture, a
symbol of strength and youthful beauty. Just the colossal size of the statue impressed
Michelangelo's contemporaries. Vasari described it as "certainly a miracle that of Michelangelo, to
restore to life one who was dead," and then listed all of the largest and most grand of the ancient
statues that he had ever seen, concluding that Michelangelo's work surpassed "all ancient and
modern statues, whether Greek or Latin, that have ever existed."
The proportions of the David are atypical of Michelangelo's work; the figure has an unusually large
head and hands (particularly apparent in the right hand). The small size of the genitals, though, is in
line with his other works and with Renaissance conventions in general, perhaps referencing the
ancient Greek ideal of pre-pubescent male nudity. These enlargements may be due to the fact that
the statue was originally intended to be placed on the cathedral roofline, where the important parts of
the sculpture may have been accentuated in order to be visible from below. The statue is unusually
slender (front to back) in comparison to its height, which may be a result of the work done on the
block before Michelangelo began carving it.

Contrapposto (Italian pronunciation: [kontrapˈposto]) is an Italian term that means counterpoise. It is

used in the visual arts to describe a human figure standing with most of its weight on one foot so that
its shoulders and arms twist off-axis from the hips and legs. This gives the figure a more dynamic, or
alternatively relaxed appearance. It can also be used to refer to multiple figures which are in counter-
pose (or opposite pose) to one another. It can further encompass the tension as a figure changes
from resting on a given leg to walking or running upon it (so-called ponderation). The leg that carries
the weight of the body is known as the engaged leg, the relaxed leg is known as
the free leg.[1] Contrapposto is less emphasized than the more sinuous S Curve, and creates the
illusion of past and future movement.[2]
Contrapposto was an extremely important sculptural development, for its appearance marks the first
time in Western art that the human body is used to express a psychological disposition. The
balanced, harmonious pose of the Kritios Boy suggests a calm and relaxed state of mind, an
evenness of temperament that is part of the ideal of man represented.

individualism works hand in hand with humanism

The Mona Lisa (/ˌmoʊnə ˈliːsə/; Italian: Monna Lisa [ˈmɔnna ˈliːza] or La Gioconda [la
dʒoˈkonda], French: La Joconde [la ʒɔkɔd ̃ ]) is a half-length portrait painting by the Italian
Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vincithat has been described as "the best known, the most visited,
the most written about, the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world".[1] The Mona
Lisa is also one of the most valuable paintings in the world. It holds the Guinness World Record for
the highest known insurance valuation in history at $100 million in 1962,[2] which is worth nearly $800
million in 2017.[3]
The painting is thought to be a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, and is
in oil on a white Lombardy poplar panel. It had been believed to have been painted between 1503
and 1506; however, Leonardo may have continued working on it as late as 1517. Recent academic
work suggests that it would not have been started before 1513.[4][5][6][7] It was acquired by King Francis
I of France and is now the property of the French Republic, on permanent display at the Louvre
Museum in Paris since 1797.[8]
The subject's expression, which is frequently described as enigmatic,[9] the monumentality of the
composition, the subtle modelling of forms, and the atmospheric illusionism were novel qualities that
have contributed to the continuing fascination and study of the work

The model, Lisa del Giocondo,[15][16] was a member of the Gherardini family of Florence and Tuscany,
and the wife of wealthy Florentine silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo.[17] The painting is thought
to have been commissioned for their new home, and to celebrate the birth of their second son,
Andrea.[18] The Italian name for the painting, La Gioconda, means "jocund" ("happy" or "jovial") or,
literally, "the jocund one", a pun on the feminine form of Lisa's married name, "Giocondo".[17][19] In
French, the title La Joconde has the same meaning.

The Mona Lisa bears a strong resemblance to many Renaissance depictions of the Virgin Mary, who
was at that time seen as an ideal for womanhood.[63]
The depiction of the sitter in three-quarter profile is similar to late 15th-century works by Lorenzo di
Credi and Agnolo di Domenico del Mazziere.[63] Zöllner notes that the sitter's general position can be
traced back to Flemish models and that "in particular the vertical slices of columns at both sides of
the panel had precedents in Flemish portraiture."[64] Woods-Marsden cites Hans Memling's portrait of
Benededetto Portinari (1487) or Italian imitations such as Sebastiano Mainardi's pendant portraits for
the use of a loggia, which has the effect of mediating between the sitter and the distant landscape, a
feature missing from Leonardo's earlier portrait of Ginevra de' Benci.[65]
The woman sits markedly upright in a "pozzetto" armchair with her arms folded, a sign of her
reserved posture. Her gaze is fixed on the observer. The woman appears alive to an unusual extent,
which Leonardo achieved by his method of not drawing outlines (sfumato). The soft blending creates
an ambiguous mood "mainly in two features: the corners of the mouth, and the corners of the eyes".
The painting was one of the first portraits to depict the sitter in front of an imaginary landscape, and
Leonardo was one of the first painters to use aerial perspective.[68] The enigmatic woman is portrayed
seated in what appears to be an open loggia with dark pillar bases on either side. Behind her, a vast
landscape recedes to icy mountains. Winding paths and a distant bridge give only the slightest
indications of human presence. Leonardo has chosen to place the horizon line not at the neck, as he
did with Ginevra de' Benci, but on a level with the eyes, thus linking the figure with the landscape
and emphasizing the mysterious nature of the painting.

Mona Lisa has no clearly visible eyebrows or eyelashes. Some researchers claim that it was
common at this time for genteel women to pluck these hairs, as they were considered
unsightly.[69][70]In 2007, French engineer Pascal Cotte announced that his ultra-high resolution scans
of the painting provide evidence that Mona Lisa was originally painted with eyelashes and with
visible eyebrows, but that these had gradually disappeared over time, perhaps as a result of
overcleaning.[71] Cotte discovered the painting had been reworked several times, with changes made
to the size of the Mona Lisa's face and the direction of her gaze. He also found that in one layer the
subject was depicted wearing numerous hairpins and a headdress adorned with pearls which was
later scrubbed out and overpainted.

There has been much speculation regarding the painting's model and landscape. For example,
Leonardo probably painted his model faithfully since her beauty is not seen as being among the
best, "even when measured by late quattrocento (15th century) or even twenty-first century
standards."[73] Some art historians in Eastern art, such as Yukio Yashiro, argue that the landscape in
the background of the picture was influenced by Chinese paintings,[74] but this thesis has been
contested for lack of clear evidence.[74]
Research in 2003 by Professor Margaret Livingstone of Harvard University said that Mona Lisa's
smile disappears when observed with direct vision, known as foveal. Because of the way the human
eye processes visual information, it is less suited to pick up shadows directly; however, peripheral
vision can pick up shadows well.[75]
Research in 2008 by a geomorphology professor at Urbino University and an artist-photographer
revealed likenesses of Mona Lisa's landscapes to some views in the Montefeltro region in the Italian
provinces of Pesaro, Urbino and Rimini.

Correction Appended

For nearly 500 years, people have been gazing at Leonardo da Vinci's portrait
of the Mona Lisa with a sense of bafflement.
First she is smiling. Then the smile fades. A moment later the smile returns
only to disappear again. What is with this lady's face? How did the great
painter capture such a mysterious expression and why haven't other artists
copied it?

The Italians have a word to explain Mona Lisa's smile: sfumato. It means
blurry, ambiguous and up to the imagination.

But now, according to Dr. Margaret Livingstone, a Harvard neuroscientist,

there is another, more concrete explanation. Mona Lisa's smile comes and
goes, she says, because of how the human visual system is designed, not
because the expression is ambiguous.

Dr. Livingstone is an authority on visual processing, with a special interest in

how the eye and brain deal with different levels of contrast and illumination.
Recently, while writing on a book about art and the brain, an editor advised
her to learn more about art history. ''I got a copy of E. H. Gombich's 'The
Story of Art' in which he basically said, 'I know you've seen this painting a
hundred times but look at it, just look at it.' And so that's what I did.''

In staring at the picture, Dr. Livingstone said she noticed a kind of flickering
quality. ''But it wasn't until later when I was riding my bike home that I
realized what it was,'' she said. ''The smile came and went as a function of
where my eyes were.'' A scientific explanation for the elusive smile was
suddenly clear. The human eye has two distinct regions for seeing the world,
Dr. Livingstone said. A central area, called the fovea, is where people see
colors, read fine print, pick out details. The peripheral area, surrounding the
fovea, is where people see black and white, motion and shadows.

When people look at a face, their eyes spend most of the time focused on the
other person's eyes, Dr. Livingstone said. Thus when a person's center of gaze
is on Mona Lisa's eyes, his less accurate peripheral vision is on her mouth.
And because peripheral vision is not interested in detail, it readily picks up
shadows from Mona Lisa's cheekbones.

These shadows suggest and enhance the curvature of a smile. But when the
viewer's eyes go directly to Mona Lisa's mouth, his central vision does not see
the shadows, she said. ''You'll never be able to catch her smile by looking at
her mouth,'' Dr. Livingstone said. The flickering quality -- with smile present
and smile gone -- occurs as people move their eyes around Mona Lisa's face.

The actress Geena Davis also shows the Mona Lisa effect, Dr. Livingstone
said, always seeming to be smiling, even when she isn't, because her cheek
bones are so prominent.

''I do not mean to take away the mystery of Leonardo,'' Dr. Livingstone said.
''He was a genius who captured something from real life that rarely gets
noticed in real life. It took the rest of us 500 years to figure it out.''
 It is also not clear, she said, why other painters have not copied the effect
more often. To make a good counterfeit Mona Lisa, one would have to paint
the mouth by looking away from it, she said. How anyone can do that remains
a mystery.

Correction: November 22, 2000, Wednesday An article in Science Times

yesterday about reasons the eye sometimes perceives the Mona Lisa to be
smiling misspelled the name of the art historian who wrote about the
painting in ''The Story of Art.'' He is E. H. Gombrich, not Gombich.

chiaro - clear, bright

oscuro - dark, obscure

Let’s start out by looking at two different paintings of the Virgin Mary, one from the
Byzantine period, and one from the Renaissance period, so that you can get a feel for
the profound transformation art went through during the Renaissance:

Madonna and Child on a Curved Throne, 1200’s. In this wood panel painting from the
Byzantine period, the bodies of Mary and Jesus are bodiless and hidden in drapery. The
folds of the drapery are represented by gold leaf striations; even where you would see
knees, you have an accumulation of gold instead of light and shadow. The picture lacks
the feeling of depth and space. Also, Jesus is portrayed as an infant, but looks like a
miniature adult.

Madonna del Cardellino, by Raphael, 1506. Now we’re well into the Renaissance and
the changes in style are readily apparent. Mary has become much more realistically
human; she has a real form, real limbs, a real expression on her face. Not only does
she look natural, but she is placed is a natural setting. Jesus and John the Baptist look
like real babies, not miniature adults. Raphael utilized perspective to give the painting
depth. He also captured the Renaissance’s love of combining beauty and science-
bringing back things like geometry from the ancient Greeks: Mary, Christ, and John the
Baptist form a pyramid.

Tribute Money, by Masaccio, 1425. Masaccio was a pioneer in the technique of one
point perspective; the painting is an image of what one person looking at the scene
would see. Notice how Peter, next to the water, and the mountains are paler and less
clear than the objects in the foreground. The lines in the painting meet atop Jesus’ head
in a vanishing point. It appears that the figures are lit by light from the chapel, as their
shadows all fall away in the same direction. Such a touch seems basic to us today, but
incorporating a light from a specific source and using it to lend figures three-
dimensionality was groundbreaking for the time.

The Last Supper, by Leonardo da Vinci, 1498. An example of the way in which
Renaissance artists wished to draw the viewer into the painting by depicting a vibrant
scene filled with real psychology and emotion. All the apostles have different reactions
to Christ revealing that one will betray him. Like in the Tribute Money, Jesus’ head is
located at the vanishing point for all the perspective lines.
The Creation of Adam, by Michelangelo, 1511. In this most famous section of the
Sistine Chapel, the personal nature of faith, the divine potential of man, and the idea of
man being co-creator with God is vividly depicted. So is the Renaissance interest in
anatomy; God is resting on the outline of the human brain. Michelangelo, like Leonardo,
performed numerous dissections of human corpses in order to gain an in-depth and
realistic look at the parts and structure of the human body.
David, by Michelangelo, 1504. Renaissance artists created the first free-standing nude
statutes since the days of antiquity. Michelangelo believed that sculpture was the
highest form of art as it echoes the process of divine creation. His David is the perfect
example of the Renaissance’s celebration of the ideal human form. The statue conveys
rich realism in form, motion, and feeling. The upper body and hands are not quite
proportional, perhaps owing to the fact that the work was meant to be put on a pedestal
and viewed by looking upwards. Michelangelo was a master at portraying subjects at
moments of psychological transition, as if they had just thought of something, and this
statue is often believed to be depicting the moment when David decides to slay Goliath.
School of Athens, by Raphael, 1510. This painting, which depicts all the great
philosophers of ancient Greece and Rome, serves as an example of the way in which
Renaissance artists were inspired by and hearkened back to the days of antiquity. The
perspective lines draw the viewer to the center of the painting and the vanishing point
where history’s two greatest philosophers, Plato and Aristotle, stand. In line with their
philosophies, Plato points to the heavens and the realm of Forms, while Aristotle points
to the earth and the realm of things.

The Virgin of the Rocks (sometimes the Madonna of the Rocks) is the name of two paintings
by Leonardo da Vinci, of the same subject, and of a composition which is identical except for several
significant details. The version generally considered the prime version, that is the earlier of the two,
hangs in The Louvre in Paris and the other in the National Gallery, London. The paintings are both
nearly 2 metres (over 6 feet) high and are painted in oils. Both were originally painted on wooden
panel, but the Louvre version has been transferred to canvas.[1]
Both paintings show the Madonna and child Jesus with the infant John the Baptist and an angel, in a
rocky setting which gives the paintings their usual name. The significant compositional differences
are in the gaze and right hand of the angel. There are many minor ways in which the works differ,
including the colours, the lighting, the flora, and the way in which sfumato has been used. Although
the date of an associated commission is documented, the complete histories of the two paintings are
unknown, and lead to speculation about which of the two is earlier.
Two further paintings are associated with the commission: side panels each containing an angel
playing a musical instrument and completed by associates of Leonardo. These are both in the
National Gallery, London