An Introduction to Renaissance Art

The "quella greca goffa maniera" and meet Giotto and let's guess together his genius.

This time, it is about linear perspective and how the artists of the first generation of the Renaissance in Italy invented a geometrical method to include/invite the viewer into the process of creation - never again in the story of picture-making will the spectator be so prominently indicated as it was in this early Renaissance period. It was short-lived but exciting - one can feel the joy of design and mastery of craftmanship in the paintings. Our artists and architects will be Fillipo Brunelleschi, Masaccio and Alberti. European consciousness is undergoing a thrilling transformation, and the pictures speak to it.

Here are the first generation of painters of the Renaissance who, alongside Masaccio, expressed the values of the Renaissance individual. Our journey will take us to Northern Europe and Italy to observe the contrast between the two regions and meet painters like Jan van Eyck, Fra Angelico, Rogier van der Weyden and Piero della Francesca. Next to the Christian ones, new stories will appear worthy of depiction, and a new medium will aid painters in bridging reality and imagination.

We’ll expand our horizon further with artists from Venice and Florence, Mantegna, Botticelli and Bellini. They were the first flowering of what we know as the Renaissance, an exciting period as they chart new means of expression and look back to the past for inspiration to revive Ancient ideas. They were inventors and teachers of later generations of painters.

Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.

The artists generally representing this period are Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian in Italy and Dürer and Grünewald in Germany. Each one is a departure from the youthfulness of Early Renaissance art. The mature Renaissance coincides with the Protestant Reformation. The crown jewel of the Catholic Church, St Peter's in Rome, was rebuilt with the money the Church collected by selling promises of salvation, a practice criticised by Martin Luther. The art arising of this time is some of the most revered of all times; the most expensive painting ever sold is a work by Leonardo da Vinci - or because it is believed to be by him.

Raphael and Titian. Two contrasting painters, both having long-lasting effects on the generations of artists following them. One will be the prime example of the academic tradition, and the other will influence, probably more than any other artist, the next wave of innovative painters.

We shall explore artistic responses from the German-speaking lands (Holy Roman Empire) during the Renaissance. Steeped in medieval traditions and on the eve of the Reformation, the artists were more interested in realism and expression than their Italian counterparts; Grünewald and Dürer will be our artists.

A turmoil in Europe related to religious conflicts and how that affected artists; we’ll focus on Tintoretto, Holbein, Bruegel and El Greco, and, if we have time, we’ll pay tribute to Veronese, who stood in front of a tribunal defending the rights of painters and individualism.