What New Styles Did Artists Develop? Renaissance art was very different from medieval art.
Artistic works of the Renaissance tried to show what people really looked like. They also tried to reveal people's feelings. In the early 1300s, an artist from Florence named Giotto (JAH • toh) was the first to show this change. His series of wall paintings showed the life of Francis of Assisi. The paintings used gestures and facial expressions to show people’s emotions. Renaissance painters found new methods to bring life, color, and action to their works. The most important method they used was perspective (puhr • SPEHK • tihv).
Perspective is a way of showing people and things as they appear at different distances. Artists had tried to use perspective in the past. However, Renaissance artists like Leonardo da Vinci perfected it. They gave paintings a realistic, three dimensional look. Renaissance artists studied the human body to learn how to draw it accurately, or correctly. Artists began to experiment with light, color, and shade. They used a technique called chiaroscuro (kee • ahr • uh • SKYUR • oh) to make their paintings more realistic. This technique used light and shadows instead of stiff outlines to separate objects. In Italian, chiaro means "clear or light," and oscuro means "dark." Chiaroscuro created drama and emotion in paintings.
Many Renaissance artists painted on fresh, wet plaster with watercolor paint. They produced a kind of painting called a fresco (FREHS • koh), which means "fresh" in Italian. Frescoes were painted in churches all over Italy. Who Were Leading Renaissance Artists? The period between 1490 and 1520 was the golden age of Italian Renaissance painting.
Three of the most famous artists were Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti (MY • kuh • LAN • juh • loh bwah • nah • RAH • tee), and Raphael Sanzio (rah • feye • EHL SAHN • zee • oh). Leonardo da Vinci was born in Florence. He is known for a painting called the Mona Lisa. It is a portrait of a young noblewoman whose smile makes people looking at the painting wonder what she is thinking.
Da Vinci also painted a wall painting of Jesus and his disciples called The Last Supper. He showed emotion through the way the apostles hold their heads and the way they sit in relation to Jesus. “Lionardo [Leonardo] undertook to paint for Francesco del Giocondo a portrait of Mona Lisa his wife, but having spent four years upon it, left it unfinished. This work now belongs to King Francis of France, and whoever wishes to see how art can imitate nature may learn from this head. Mona Lisa being most beautiful, he used, while he was painting her, to have men to sing and play to her and buffoons [clowns] to amuse her, to take away that look of melancholy [sadness] which is so often seen in portraits; and in this of Lionardo's there is a peaceful smile more divine than human.” —from Stories of the Italian Artists by Giorgio Vasari Michelangelo, another great Renaissance artist, began his career as a sculptor in Florence. In 1508, Pope Julius II hired him to work at the Vatican.
There, Michelangelo painted scenes from the Christian Bible on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The paintings remain famous today. A noted Renaissance biographer praised Michelangelo: "The work [Sistine Chapel ceiling] has been, indeed, a light of our art, illuminating the world which had been so many centuries in darkness. Oh, truly happy age, and oh, blessed artists, who at such a fountain can purge [remove] away the dark films from your eyes. Give thanks to Heaven, and imitate Michael Angelo [Michelangelo] in all things." —from Stories of the Italian Artists by Giorgio Vasari Raphael too worked at the Vatican, as did Michelangelo.
Raphael painted many frescoes for the palace of the pope. Perhaps his best-known fresco is the School of Athens. It shows Greek philosophers. People also admired his paintings of Mary, the mother of Jesus. These works were done in bright colors. They showed the Renaissance ideals of grace and beauty. Renaissance women had few roles independent of men. Some women, though, did contribute to the arts. Those who did were either daughters of artists or children of nobles. Artemisia Gentileschi (ahr • teh • MIHZ • ee • uh jehn • tih • LEHS • kee) was the most celebrated female artist. She was one of the first women to paint major historical and religious scenes.
How did the Renaissance change as it moved from Italy into northern Europe?
During the late 1400s, the Renaissance spread from Italy to northern Europe. War and trade helped spread humanist ideas. Travel and the printing press also helped spread these ideas. The people of northern Europe eagerly accepted Italian Renaissance style. Then they changed it to suit their own tastes and needs. Northern European Painters The term "Northern Renaissance" refers to the cultural changes in what is today Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Germany.
Northern artists wanted more realism in their works as did the Italian artists. However, they used different methods to achieve it. Northern artists began painting in oils rather than using water-based paints. Oils provided richer colors. They also allowed changes to be made on the painted canvas. Artists often used oils to show small surface details, such as gold trim on a robe. The Flemish painter Jan van Eyck (YAHN van EYEK) was skilled in using oils. One of his best-known paintings is The Arnolfini (ahr • nuhl • FEE • nee) Portrait. It shows a newly married couple standing together in a formal room. Van Eyck showed every fold in their richly colored clothes. He also showed every detail of the ceiling lamp above them.
Germany’s Albrecht Dürer (AHL • brehkt DYUR • uhr) was another important Northern Renaissance artist. His work blended Italian Renaissance methods and medieval German traditions. Dürer was skilled in showing perspective and fine detail. He is best known for his engravings. An engraving is produced from an image carved on metal, wood, or stone. Next, ink is placed on the surface. Then, the image is printed on paper. Dürer's Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (uh • PAH • kuh • lihpz) is an excellent example of a woodcut. A woodcut is a print made from carved wood.
The Four Horsemen shows four fierce riders who announce the end of the world. England's Theaters The Renaissance reached its height in England in the late 1500s. At the time, England was ruled by Elizabeth I. Renaissance English people enjoyed plays. The first theaters in England were built in about 1580. Their stages stood in the open air. Some wealthy people sat under a roof or covering. Admission was only one or two cents, so even the poor could attend. The poor stood in a large open area. English playwrights, or authors of plays, wrote about people's strengths, weaknesses, and emotions.
William Shakespeare (SHAYK • spihr) was the greatest English playwright of the time. He wrote histories, comedies, and tragedies. Shakespeare drew ideas for his plays from the histories of England and ancient Rome. His plays often included Italian scenes, characters, and plots. Many of his plays were about loyalty, family, friendship, or justice. Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and Henry V are just a few of Shakespeare’s famous works.