RENAISSANCE

Known as the Renaissance, the period immediately following the Middle Ages in
Europe saw a great revival of interest in the classical learning and values of ancient Greece
and Rome. Against a backdrop of political stability and growing prosperity, the development
of new technologies–including the printing press, a new system of astronomy and the
discovery and exploration of new continents–was accompanied by a flowering of philosophy,
literature and especially art. The style of painting, sculpture and decorative arts identified
with the Renaissance emerged in Italy in the late 14th century; it reached its zenith in the
late 15th and early 16th centuries, in the work of Italian masters such as Leonardo da Vinci,
Michelangelo and Raphael. In addition to its expression of classical Greco-Roman traditions,
Renaissance art sought to capture the experience of the individual and the beauty and
mystery of the natural world.

Early Renaissance
During the Early Renaissance, artists began to reject the Byzantine style of religious
painting and strove to create realism in their depiction of the human form and space. This
aim toward realism began with Cimabue and Giotto, and reached its peak in the art of the
―Perfect‖ artists, such as Andrea Mantegna and Paolo Uccello, who created works that
employed one point perspective and played with perspective for their educated, art
knowledgeable viewer.
During the Early Renaissance we also see important developments in subject matter,
in addition to style. While religion was an important element in the daily life of people living
during the Renaissance, and remained a driving factor behind artistic production, we also
see a new avenue open to painting—mythological subject matter. Many scholars point to
Botticelli’s Birth of Venus as the very first panel painting of a mythological scene. While the
tradition itself likely arose from cassone painting, which typically featured scenes from
mythology and romantic texts, the development of mythological panel painting would open a
world for artistic patronage, production, and themes.

High Renaissance
The period known as the High Renaissance represents the culmination of the goals
of the Early Renaissance, namely the realistic representation of figures in space rendered
with credible motion and in an appropriately decorous style. The most well known artists
from this phase are Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, and Michelangelo. Their paintings
and frescoes are among the most widely known works of art in the world. Da Vinci’s Last
Supper, Raphael’s The School of Athens and Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel Ceiling
paintings are the masterpieces of this period and embody the elements of the High
Renaissance.

Mannerism
High Renaissance painting evolved into Mannerism in Florence. Mannerist artists,
who consciously rebelled against the principles of High Renaissance, tended to represent
elongated figures in illogical spaces. Modern scholarship has recognized the capacity of
Mannerist art to convey strong, often religious, emotion where the High Renaissance failed
to do so. Some of the main artists of this period are Pontormo, Bronzino, Rosso Fiorentino,
Parmigianino and Raphael’s pupil, Giulio Romano.