Running head: RENAISSANCE GALLERY 1

Renaissance Gallery

Donna Green

Art 101

September 26, 2010

Melissa Ernstes
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Renaissance Gallery

Proto – Renaissance
Trecento

Giotti di Bondone

Fig. 1
1304-06
“No. 23 Scenes from the Life of Christ- 7. Baptism of Christ”
Giotto Di Bondone
Fresco,
Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel), Padua

The Renaissance Period is divided into five separate periods, in this gallery, we will show

examples from Trecento, Quattro Centro and Cinquecento timelines. The above is from what is

commonly known as early renaissance. Giotto painted a series of 38 Frescos depicting the life of

Christ and the Virgin Mary. Over the archway of the choir in the Arena Chapel in Padua is a

scene of the Court of Heaven; the Last Judgment faces it on the entrance wall. His compositions

are simple and the faces are studies in emotional expression. Each Fresco tells a story that leads

to the next in the series. “In common with other artists of his day, Giotto lacked the technical

knowledge of anatomy and perspective that later painters learned. Yet what he possessed was

infinitely greater than the technical skill of the artists who followed him. He had a grasp of

human emotion and of what was significant in human life. In concentrating on these essentials he
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created compelling pictures of people under stress, of people caught up in crises and soul-

searching decisions. Modern artists often seek inspiration from Giotto. In him they find a direct

approach to human experience that remains valid for every age.” (Pioch, 2002)

Early (Quattro Centro)

Renaissance

Sandro Botticelli

Fig 2
The Birth of Venus
1485
Oil on Canvas

“Botticelli's major early works are Fortitude (1470, one of seven Virtues for a merchants'

assembly hall; the other six are by Piero Pollaiuolo), two tiny panels of the story of Judith and

Holofernes, and St. Sebastian (1474). In some of these he altered the appearance of muscular

energy and physical action found in Verrocchio's work in the direction of nervous fatigue and

contemplative repose. These qualities are most evident in Botticelli's best-known works, Spring

and the Birth of Venus, executed for a cousin of Lorenzo the Magnificent, Lorenzo di

Pierfrancesco de' Medici, for his villa. They obviously reflect the contemporary literary culture,

but their precise subject matter has been much debated and has never been agreed on; they were

certainly designed in consultation with a scholar, but he may have invented an allegory for the
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occasion which was not recorded. Since Venus has a central position in both works, it is

plausible to consider the two figures of Venus as a contrasting pair. There was a literary

convention in philosophical-archeological writing of the time of contrasting the spiritual and the

earthly Venus, which may well be a factor in the paintings, though not the entire theme.”

(Biography: Sandro Botticelli, 2010)

High Renaissance
Cinquecentro

Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Raphael

Fig 3
The Creation of Adam
1508-1512
Fresco
Sistine Chapel, Vatican

Michelangelo, Da Vinci, and Raphael are considered the Trinity of High Renaissance.

Michelangelo shows true genius, creativity, determination, and patience when he took on the

four year project. This series of Fresco’s is of the most famous depicting the creation to the last

judgment on the ceiling of the chapel. In this work, lines, shading and contour are evident and

present in God and Adam’s arms reaching for each other connecting at the finger tips. Shades of

light and dark and shadows are seen in the muscular build of the two.
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Fig 4
The Fall of Man and the Expulsion from the Garden of Eden
1508-1512
Fresco
Sistine Chapel, Vatican

This works lines show three separate panels. In the middle one we can see Eve taking the apple

from the serpent and an angel holding what looks like a wand pointed towards Adam’s neck

banishing them from the garden. It’s difficult for me to imagine what life could have been like

had this not happened. This work brings questions to my mind like would we still have had war?,

would there have been so much negativity?, but mostly – would the people who are here on earth

now have been here at all? Other questions I have when I look at this are – if given the

opportunity, would I have done the same thing? I’d like to think I wouldn’t. Also, why would she

make that choice when everything was theirs for the asking, there was only one thing that was

forbidden and for all eternity – that is one of the two things she is remembered for – which

brings another question to mind. Eve made one mistake – and people remember that mistake, and

yet they can’t understand why people remember the bad more clearly than the good.

Fig 5
The Flood
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1508-1512
Fresco
Sistine Chapel, Vatican

This work depicts Michelangelo’s rendition of the first time God destroyed the earth. A truly

beautiful work filled with brilliant colors for the clothing. The light sky against the darkness of

the boat gives the feeling of a bad storm coming. It is amazing how artist’s use light and shadow

in such a way that you can feel what is happening in the work. When Noah was told to build the

ark, he was worried, scared and intimidated. He asked friends and neighbors for help and they all

laughed at him. They did not believe that what he said would happen, would in fact happen.

Noah was an old man, and the enormity of the project it self was enough to scare a young man,

much less a man up in age as Noah was. Imagine building some large enough to carry two of

every beast and fowl on the planet.

Fig 6
The Virgin and Child with St Anne
1510
Leonardo Da Vinci
Oil on canvass

Gentleness and motherly love is what is shown in this work by Leonardo Da Vinci depicting

Mary, Jesus, and St. Anne. One thing that has always intrigued me regarding Renaissance period

is the tones of the skin and how beautiful woman were depicted. Much unlike models today,

most women of the renaissance were slightly plump

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Fig 7
St. John in the Wilderness (Bacchus)
Leonardo Da Vinci
1510-15
Oil
Musee Du Louvre, Paris France

Fig 8
Adoration of the Magi
Leonardo Da Vinci
n.d.
Galleria Degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy

Fig 9
Visitation
Raphael
1517
Oil painting
Museo del Prado
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Fig 10
The Last Judgment
1534-1542
Michelangelo
Fresco
Sistine Chapel, Vatican
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References
Biography: Sandro Boticello. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.answers.com/topic/sandro-

boticelli

Pioch, N. (2002). Giotto di Bondone. Retrieved from http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/auth/giotto/