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III. HIGH RENAISSANCE

HISTORY OF ART AND MANNERISM
C.1500-1600
QUESTIONS
• What's the difference between the early and high Renaissance?
• What's the difference between high Renaissance and Mannerism?
• What was the Northern Renaissance?
• Which were the greatest paintings of the Renaissance?
 Established powers
High Renaissance +The fall of Constantinople in 1453
effectively left the Roman Church as the
and Mannerism sole defender of Christenpom. A
C.1500-1600 succession of energetic popes made Rome
an artistic showpiece that proclaimed their
spiritual and political might.
 + This period, there was a certain equilibrium between these rival power blocks:
Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor, Francis I of France, Henry VIII of England,
High Renaissance and their wish to outdo each other culturally, with virtually no limit on expense,
and Mannerism was profoundly beneficial for the arts.
C.1500-1600 + The achievements of the artists of the High Renaissance marked the pinnacle
that subsequent generations constantly revered and tried to emulate.
High Renaissance and Mannerism
C.1500-1600
Mannerism
The voyages of discovery showed the world
to be much larger than had been imagined
and full of curious new lands and creatures.
In 1543, Copernicus published his proof that
the Sun, not the Earth, was the center of the
planetary system. Long-held scientific
beliefs were being challenged as well as
religious ones. Against this turbulent
background, the art of the High Renaissance
gave way to the uncertainties of Mannerism,
whose principal characteristics were a
deliberate flouting of rules as well as wilful
eccentricity and distortion.
1. The High •The years between about 1500 and the Sack of Rome in 1527
saw a prodigious outpouring in Italy in all the visual arts. In Rome,
Renaissance under the energetic patronage of an exceptionally able (and self-
promoting) pope, Julius II, Raphael and
c.1500-27 Michelangelo simultaneously created works of startling novelty. In
Venice, the celebrated Titian redefined the possibilities of painting. ​
1. The High Renaissance Idealization is the benchmark of
the High Renaissance but it
c.1500-27 manifests itself in different ways.
1. The High Renaissance
c.1500-27

Subjects
+ The visionary go{t of High Renaissance art was a
perfect union of the human and Divine, Christian
and pagan antique, nature and imagination. Thus
the male nude "made in God's image," the central
motif of Michelangelo's painting and sculpture,
heroic and often deliberately distorted, has an
extraordinary power, which the Church used to
convey a spiritual ideal.
 1. The High Renaissance
c.1500-27
+ Yet, although religious subjects
generally remained pre-eminent in
High Renaissance works, other
subjects-whether classical scenes,
landscapes, or portraits ­became
increasingly important,
significantly widening the
repertoire of Western art. Titian's
poesie, lyrical and dreamlike
"visual poems," began to explore
The Emperor Charles Von Horseback in Hiihlberg Titian, 1548, the relationship between the
131 x 110 in (332 x 279cm), oil on canvas, Madrid: Museo del
Prado. Drama, idealization, and huge scale are unified
human figure and landscape.
by brilliant coloring and daring brushwork.
 1.The High Renaissance - c.1500-27
What to look for
+ The greatest triumph of the High
Renaissance was the rebuilding of St.
Peter's in Rome and its decoration
under the leadership of Pope Julius II.
+ As a complement to Michelangelo's
religious theme in the Sistine Chapel,
Raphael decorated the Pope's library
with four subjects: Philosophy,
Theology, Poetry, and Law. For his
interpretation of Philosophy, Raphael
drew exclusively on the inspiration
and precedents of Greek and Roman St. Peter's in Rome
Antiquity.
 Leonardo da Vinci
1452-1519 - ITALIAN - OILS; DRAWINGS; SCULPTURE; FRESCO

+ Leonardo was the universal

Renaissance man-scientist,
inventor, philosopher, writer,
designer, sculptor, architect, and
painter. He changed the status of
the artist from artisan to
gentleman and was pivotal in the
creation of the High Renaissance
period of Florentine art.
Leonardo da Vinci
1452-1519 - ITALIAN - OILS; DRAWINGS; SCULPTURE;
FRESCO

+ Leonardo was born in Vinci, near

Florence.
+ He trained with Verrochio, but much
of his life was spent working at the
courts of foreign dukes and princes
who, at times, were at war with
Florence. After 1483, he worked for
Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, but
returned to Florence following the
French invasion of Milan in 1499.
Between 1500 and 1516, he produced
many of his most famous paintings. Two Horsemen after 1481, 5 3/s X 5 in (14.3 X 12.8
cm}, metal point drawing, Cambridge: Fitzwilliam
Museum. An exa rnple of Leonardo's life­long
fascination with animals.
Leonardo da Vinci
1452-1519 - ITALIAN - OILS; DRAWINGS; SCULPTURE;
FRESCO

+ Leonardo's most remarkable

legacy is his notebooks filled
with writings and sketches, in
which he explored his private
thoughts about art and science,
observations from nature, and
diagrams for visionary scientific
and mechanical projects.
Leonardo da Vinci
1452-1519 - ITALIAN - OILS; DRAWINGS; SCULPTURE; FRESCO

Style
Leonardo had an insatiable
curiosity to find out how
everything operated. He then put
this into practice (as shown by his
keenly observed anatomical
drawings, his plans for flying
machines, and so on). His paintings
are multilayered, and "the motions
of the mind" (psychology). The last Supper 1495-97 (post-restoration}, 181 X 346 ½ in
(460 X 880 cm}, mixed media fresco, Milan: Santa Maria de/le
Grazie. More than a depiction of one event, the fresco refers
to other episodes narrated in the Gospels.
Leonardo da Vinci
1452-1519 - ITALIAN - OILS; DRAWINGS; SCULPTURE; FRESCO

What to look for

The Mona Lisa was lifelike in a
way that had never been seen
before. It comprises a brilliant
array of technical and perceptual
innovation I the use of oil paint, a
relaxed pose, soft and shadowy
figure with no outlines, and two
landscapes) and demands that the
viewer's imagination should
supply the inner meaning and
missing visual detail.
 Leonardo da Vinci
1452-1519 - ITALIAN - OILS;
DRAWINGS; SCULPTURE; FRESCO

"The mind of the painter should be like a looking-

glass that is filled with as many images as there are
objects Placed before him."
Leonardo da Vinci

The Virgin of the Rocks c. 1508, 74 x 47 in (189.5 x 120 cm), oil on panel,
London: National Gallery. Painted for the Milanese Foundation of
San Francesco Grande. This is the second version created by
Leonardo, showing the infant St. John the Baptist
adoring the infant Christ accompanied byan angel.
Leonardo da Vinci: Virgin of the Rocks. (a) The version from 1483-1486 located in
Louvre, Paris. (b) The version from 1495-1508 located in the National Gallery,
London.
Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio)
1483-1520- ITALIAN - OILS; FRESCO
+ "Il Divino." A child prodigy who
died young, but one of the
grea}est masters of the High
Renaissance and therefore of all
time. Profoundly influential, he
helped raise the social status of
artists from craftsmen to
intellectuals.
Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio)
1483-1520- ITALIAN - OILS; FRESCO

+ He had complete mastery of all

Renaissance techniques, subjects, and
ideas, and used and developed them with
apparent ease: deep, emotional, and
intellectual expression: total Christian
belief: harmony: balance: humanity;
superb draftsmanship.

• The Sistine Madonna Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio), 1513, 104 ½x 771/s

in (265 x 196 cm), oil on canvas, Dresden: Gemaldegalerie. This was
Raphael"s first major work on a theme that was to become a
central feature of his art-the Madonna and Child. He reworked
the subject with constant variation and invention.
Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio)
1483-1520- ITALIAN - OILS;
FRESCO

+ Pope Leo X with Cardinals Giulio de' Medici and Luigi

de' Rossi Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio), 1518-19, 60 3/s x
46 ¼ in (154 x 119 cm), oil on wood, Florence: Galleria
degli Uffizi.
Fra Baccio della
Porta Bartolommeo
c.1474-1517 - ITALIAN - OILS
+Fra Bartolommeo was a major
Florentine painter who influenced the
change in style between the early and
High Renaissance.

BACCIO DELLA PORTA, called FRA BARTOLOMMEO (1472-1517)

The Madonna and Child
 Andrea del Sarto
1486-1530 - ITALIAN - FRESCO; OILS

Lamentation over the Dead Christ Andrea de/ Sarto, 1524, 93 ¾ x

78 in (238 x 198 cm], oil on wood panel, Florence: Palazzo Pitti.
Forced to flee from the plague, Andrea painted this for the convent
where he took refuge.
Michelangelo Buonarroti
1475-1564 - ITALIAN- SCULPTURE;
FRESCO; TEMPERA
+ The outstanding genius (and infant prodigy),
Michelangelo cast his influence over all European art
until Picasso broke the spell and changed the rules. He
was a sculptor first, a painter and architect second. A
workaholic, melancholic, temperamental, and lonely soul,
he was also argumentative and belligerent and found
relationships with others difficult.
 Michelangelo Buonarroti
1475-1564 - ITALIAN-
SCULPTURE; FRESCO; TEMPERA
+ He had a profound belief in the human form as the
ultimate expression of human sensibility and
beauty. His early work shows the human being as
the measure of all things: idealized, muscular,
confident and quasi-divine. Gradually that image
becomes more expressive, more human, less
perfect, fallible, and flawed. More at ease with
drawing than painting, he conceived the figure in
sculptural terms and used light to model it

+ Ideal Head c. 1518-20 1504-05, 8 X 6 1/z in

(20.5 x 16.5 cm), red chalk on paper, Oxford:
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, UK.
Michelangelo Buonarroti
1475-1564 - ITALIAN- SCULPTURE; FRESCO;
TEMPERA

+ In paint, he used fiery reds and yellows

against gray or blue; employing a wet-in-wet
oil paint technique. In his brilliant drawings
he explored outline, contour, and volume;
twisting poses, full of latent energy; faces,
hands, and limbs expressing the full range of
human emotions.

The Last Judgement 1536-41, 576 X 528 in

(1,463 x 1,341 cm/, fresco, Vatican City: Sistine Chapel.
In the center of the composition, Christ raises the good with his right hand and
dismisses the damned with his left.
Michelangelo Buonarroti
1475-1564 - ITALIAN- SCULPTURE; FRESCO; TEMPERA

+ Pieta 1500, height 68 ½ in (174 cm}; width at

base 76 ¾ in (195 cm}, marble, Rome: St.
Peter·s Basilica. Comissioned by the French
cardinal Jean de Bilheres for his
funeral monument, it is the only sculpture that
Michaelangelo signed (along the sash across
Mary's chest).
Michelangelo Buonarroti
1475-1564 - ITALIAN- SCULPTURE; FRESCO; TEMPERA

David is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture, created in marble between 1501 and 1504 by
the Italian artist Michelangelo. David is a 5.17-metre (17 ft 0 in)[a] marble statue of the Biblical
figure David, a favoured subject in the art of Florence
 Benvenuto Cellini
1500-71 - ITALIAN -
SCULPTURE; ENGRAVING

+ Cellini was a sculptor and engraver, and a

pupil of Michelangelo. Many of his
famous works are monumental, but these
lack the precision and excellence of his
smaller pieces, such as Francis l's golden
saltcellar.
 Paolo Veronese
c.1528-88 - ITALIAN -OILS

+ Paolo Caliari, born in Verona

and known as Veronese, was
one of the major Venetians and
one of the greatest-ever
creators of decorative
schemes.

Marriage at Cana Paolo Veronese, 1563, 2621/sx 389¾in {666 x 990 cm), oil on canvas, Paris: Musee du
Louvre. The scene is a fantasy interpretation of the occasion when Christ turned water into wine.
 Titian
c. 1487-1576 - ITALIAN - OILS; FRESCO

+ Born into a humble family, Tiziano

Vecellio, usually known by the
shortened version Tiziano, or Titian,
was the supreme master of the
Venetian School and arguably the
greatest painter of the High
Renaissance, and of all time.
Probably a pupil of Giovanni Bellini,
he also worked with Giorgione. He is
one of the few painters whose
reputation has never been eclipsed or
Venus and Adonis 1553, 73 ¼ x 81 ½ in (186 x
overlooked. 207 cm}. oil on canvas, Madrid: Museo del Prado.
Titian's sensuous color tones accentuate the
soft and shimmering beauty of the lovers· flesh.
Titian
c. 1487-1576 - ITALIAN - OILS; FRESCO

+ Titian had a miraculous ability with

rich color and luscious paint, and
constantly innovated, using new
subjects or brilliant reinterpretations.
+ The greatest painter of the Venetian
school, Titian was based in Venice
for his entire life, inspired by its
magical union of light and water.
+ He was one the most successful
painters in history, the Renaissance
master of color.
Bacchus and Ariadne 69x75in(175x 190cm), oil on canvas, London: National GaUery.
Titian's crowning achievements are his mythological poesie [poem) paintings. This work
was one of a series commissioned by Alfonso d'Este, the duke of Ferrara in northern Italy,
to decorate his country house.
Mannerism
c.1520-1600

This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA.

 +Mannerism is the name given to
the predominant artistic style of the
period bridging the High Renaissance and
the Baroque. The term comes from the Italian
Mannerism c.1520- word maniere, meaning "manner" or "style."

1600 The cradle of Mannerism was Rome, where

the style was developed by artists influenced
by the late works of Raphael
and Michelangelo. Mannerist tendencies can
be noted throughout Europe until after 1700.

This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA.

Mannerism c.1520-
1600
+ Mannerism was a reaction to social,
political, and religious upheaval.
The art of the period became
violent, excitable, unnerving, often
with a nightmarish, conflicting
style; a huge step away from the
harmony of High Renaissance. Key
figures include Rosso Fiorentino,
Jacopo Pontormo, Tintoretto,
El Greco, Agnolo Bronzino,
and Girolamo Parmigianino.
Self-Portrait in a Con_vex Mirror Girolamo Parmigianino, c.
1523-24, diameter 9 ¾ in (24.4 cm}, oil on wood, Vienna:
Kunstbistorisches Museum.
 Mannerism c.1520-1600
+ After the violent Sack of Rome in
1527, Mannerism spread throughout
Italy, as terrified artists fled from the
city. The subjects of Mannerist works
include religious scenes viewed from
an unusual aspect; portraits whose
sitters wear unexpected expressions;
and mythological or allegorical
scenes, often characterized by a
sinister form of symbolism. Cosimo de' Medici (II Vecchio/ Jacopo Pontormo, 1518,
33¾ x 25 ¾ in (86 .x 65 cm}, tempera on wood, Florence:
Galleria deg Ii Uffizi. A posthumous portrait of Cosimo ii
Vecchio 11389-1464). founder of the Medici dynasty.
 What to look for ​
+Look for distorted or elongated figures, artificial
poses, complicated or obscure subject matter,

2. Mannerism
uneasy symbolism, deliberate distortion of space,
vivid color, unreal textures, deliberate lack of
harmony and proportion, voyeuristic sexual
c.1520-1600 scenes. Faces in Mannerist works are rich
with expression. Figures look deliberately tense
or as though suspended halfway through an action.
In sculpture, look for sense of movement, realism,
exaggerated postures, strongly muscled anatomy.
In architecture, look for anti-classicism and
distortion of the viewer's expectations.

This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA.

 Mannerism
c.1520-1600

+ In paintings, look for a similar style

to Raphael, but exaggerated; also
look for realism, muscular anatomy,
and a strong sexual overtone. In
architecture, look for deliberate
"mistakes:" missing expected
features, such as central motifs;
optical illusions, for instance,
columns that are sturdy but look
ready to tumble; or stonework left
rough, instead of being smoothly Madonna and Child Giulio Romano, c. 1530-40,
33 ½ x 30 ½ in {105 x 77 cm), oil on wood, Florence: Galleria degli
carved and finished. Uffizi. The Christ child reaches for grapes-a symbolic reference to the
Eucharist, the central Christian sacrament.
 Giorgio Vasari
1511-74 - ITALIA-FRESCO; OILS

+ Vasari was a Mannerist painter,

architect, writer, art historian, and
collector. In his time he was a highly
successful painter, often decorating the
houses of aristocratic families. He was
also a respected architect, best known
for designing the Galleria degli Uffizi
in Florence.

The Annunciation
Giorgio Vasari, C. 1564-67, 85 X 65 ½ in {216 x 166 cm/, oil on
panel, Paris: Musee du Louvre. This intimate scene formed
the center panel of a triptych for the dominican church of Santa
Maria Novella at Arezzo.
 Agnolo Bronzino
1503-72 -TALIAN - OILS

+ Bronzino was best known for his

aloof and icy portraits. He sums it up
in works with rare beauty: note the
body language of the poses and faces,
which communicate such arrogance,
contempt, or insolence; and the
equally arrogant ease of his
technique, with its superb facility,
deliberately complex and artificial
compositions, and intense, insolent Venus and Cupid Agnolo Bronzino, C. 1540-50, 571/, X 45 in
(146.5 x 116.8 cm/, oil on panel, London: National Gallery.
colors. Designed for King Francis I of France; the meaning of
Bronzino's allegory is unclear.
 Giambologna
529-1608 - FLEMISH - SCULPTURE

+ Also called Giovanni da Bologna or

Jean de Boulogne, Giambologna
was a Mannerist sculptor, capable of
producing both miniatures and
The Rape of the Sabines
Giambologna, c. 1583,
monumental statues with equal
bronze, Florence: Museo ability. Patronized by the Medici, he
Nazionale de Barge/lo. established his reputation with The
This_ Is a brilliant
resolution of the problem
Fountain of Neptune in Bologna and
of Uniting several figures in the equestr ian statue of Cosimo de
a single sculpture. Medici in Florence. light.
Girolamo Francesco
Maria Mazzola Parmigianino
- 1503-40 - ITALIAN - FRESCO;
OILS; ENGRAVINGS; DRAWINGS

+ He also produced small-scale panel paintings,

large frescoes, and brilliant, prolific drawings.
Notice the recurrent bizarre, elongated human
figures, their impossibly long necks

The Madonna of the Long Neck Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola

Parmigianino, 1534-40, 84¾x52in/215x 132 cm/, oil on
canvas, Florence: Galleria degli Uffizi. This work is a union of artificial
elegance and spirituality.
Francois Clouet - c. 1510-72 -
FRENCH 16 OILS; DRAWINGS

Charles IX Francois Clouet, 1550-74, 9'/sx 8 ¼ in /25 x 21 cm}, oil

on wood, Vienna: Kunsthistorisches Museum. At the time of
painting, the young French king was only aged 11 but had
already been reigning for a year. Clouet's portrait invests the
young face with firmness and maturity, whilst retaining
the bloom of youth.
 El Greco - 541-1614 -
GREEK/SPANISH - OILS; SCULPTURE

+ El Greco real name was Domenikos Theotocopoulos.

He was born in Crete and trained in Venice but worked
in Spain.
+ El Greco excelled as a portraitist, painting mainly
ecclesiastics or gentlemen; his works reveal the essence
and idea of a personrather than a strict likeness. Look
for the thrilling draftsmanship and the tense, probing
line that profiles his forms.

TThe Burial of Count Orgaz, from a Legend of 1323 El Greco, 1586-

88, 192x141¾in (488 x 360 cm), oil on canvas, Toledo: Church of Santo
Tome. The mourners for the saintly Count are portraits of
contemporary gentlemen of Toledo. The boy 1n the bottom left-hand
corner may be the eldest son of El Greco.
Maerten van Heemskerck - 1498-1574 -
DUTCH - OILS; ENGRAVINGS

Family Group Maertenvan Heemskerck, 1530,

45½x55in(118x 140 cm}, oil on wood, Kassel (Germany}:
Staatliche Museen. This portrait is in a vigorous and
relatively sober style and dates to before van
Heernskerck's visit to Ronne. He spent most of his life in
Haarlern and became Dean of the Painters" Guild.
Pieter Bruegel (the elder)- 1525-69 -
FLEMISH - OILS; DRAWINGS
+ Nicknamed "Peasant" Bruegel
because of the subject matter of
his paintings, he was the leading
Flemish artist of his dayClick
whose
to add text
subjects reflected contemporary
religious and social issues. He
paved the way for the Dutch
masters of the 17th century.

Hunters in the Snow-February Pieter Bruegel {the elder/, 1565, 46 x 63 ¾ in

/117 x 162 cm}, oil on canvas, Vienna: Kunsthistorisches Museum. This
famous series of depictions was commissioned by Niclaes Jonghelinck. a
wealthy merchant.
Pieter Bruegel (the elder)- 1525-69 - FLEMISH
- OILS; DRAWINGS

Pieter Bruegel the Elder - The Tower of Babel

(Vienna), 1563, oil.
 Albrecht Altdorfer - c.1480-
1538 - GERMAN - OILS; ENGRAVINGS

Beheading of Saint Catherine Albrecht Altdorfer. c. 1505-10, 22 x

14 1/s I (56 x 36 cm/, oil on panel,
Vienna: Kunsthistorischs Museum. Altdorfer appealed
to German humanists wanting to revive native traditions.
Giuseppe Arcimboldo
1527-93 - ITALIAN - OILS

Water Giuseppe Arcimboldo, /566, 26 1/s X 20 in (66.5 X 50.5

cm/, oil on canvas, Vienna: Kunsthistorisc hes Museum. The
four elements-earth, air, water, and fire-were popular
subjects for series paintings.
 Hans Eworth - c. 1520 -
1574 - FLEMISH - OILS
+ Antwerp-born, Hans Eworth arrived in
England in 1549. His works are difficult
to identify. Look for very pale faces with
tight, hard eyes: carefully observed and
outlined figures, encased in lavish
costumes and jewellery.

Queen Mary I Hans Eworth, 1554, London: Society of Antiquaries.

Painted shortly after her marriage to Philip II of Spain, Mary
wears his gift of the famous Peregrina pearl.