The Italian Renaissance Art Period Film Studies Essay

The Italian conversion dodge Period Film Studies EssayThe reincarnation was a cultural crusade that st nontextual mattered in Italy at the beginning of the 1400s and lasted approximately 200 years. The conversion broad stop full point was considered a transition achievement from the medieval age into Early redbrick atomic number 63. The Italian metempsychosis was characterized by a shift in some(prenominal) cultural areas, from literature to politics to religion. During the spiritual rebirth, Italian art underwent study delicious changes from the medieval period. The Italian Renaissance became bingle of the well-nigh productive and advanced term periods in the industry of art in image, sculpture and architecture. Raphael, Michelangelo and Da Vinci were the key figures that were responsible for bringing about the momentous changes in piece of musics, styles and post of Italian art from the medieval period. Although the cultural changes in areas such as relig ion, literature, and sciences were considered significant contri justions to the Renaissance period, the close to innovative and notable changes were do in the Italian art, which had taken a back seat in the diaphragm ages beca give of the political unrest that was going on in Europe. Given the arouse changes and revival of the hu art objectities, Italian art had the almost significant impact in the Renaissance that ultimately progenyed in the re-birth of Europe.The juvenile Middle Ages period which has been define as the snip period between the 1300s and archean 1400s was a challenging and trying time for Europe. During this time period, Europe went through a commodious famine caused by severe weather conditions as well as the bubonic plague (Black Death) in the late 1340s. (C pg 534). Both of these tragedies took a enormous toll in kind life. In addition to these two tragedies, Europe was in addition dealing with social unrest, warfare and the challenges facing the Catholic Church. The arts were not deemed significantly important during these challenging times and not lots advances were made in this field. However, as the end of the 14th century approached, a movement was beginning to emerge in the arts and sciences in Italy.The most obvious changes during the Renaissance period were seen in delineation and sculptures. Prior to the Renaissance, most of the Italian art revolved around religious subjects and contents. However, during the Renaissance, artists started to experiment with creating non-religious subjects such as creating portraits of living persons instead of just saints. Artists became to a greater extent(prenominal) comfortable with ontogenesis their own individual styles and challenged themselves to be innovative and try refreshed techniques. Painters began to positioning more focus on the kind-centeredic aspects of life and implemented assorted bleak techniques, including clementism and post, sfumato, chiaroscuro, fre sco and foreshortening in order to achieve their object glass in of realism. Realism became a popular symptomatic of Italian Renaissance. Anatomy also became of break outicular interest to many of the Italian Renaissance artists. The artists were also elicit in depicting the human form that mirrored real life. For the first-year time, Renaissance artists were producing art in Italy that reflected the real demesne. Painters used form, color, proportion, take fire, shade fundamental law and anatomy to depict human nature and reality into their artistic head for the hills creating images of real people with human appears and emotions.The Italian Renaissance was highlighted by trey dissolve periods, each of which contained distinct aspects that contributed to the cultural re-birth of Europe. The three periods of the Renaissance were the Early Renaissance (beginning of the 1400 to late 1400s), elevated Renaissance (Late 1400s to early 1500s) and Late Renaissance (early 150 0s to 1600). The period of the Renaissance was led by a number of artists who were intelligent, innovative and spry to delve into a new art form.The first period, know as the Early Renaissance, took place during the early fifteenth century. Early Renaissance art was heavily influenced by Donatello, an Italian artist and sculptor and Masaccio, an Italian catamount who scholars oft refer to as the confidential information innovator in early fifteenth century painting. (C pg 601)Donatellos artistic style and fashions represent the significant facets of Early Renaissance time period. Donatellos bronze statue of David, considered to be his most noted work of art, depicts a common theme of the era. David is representative of a hero, which became a staple of early renaissance art. Heroes, which were a popular aspect of the humanist movement, were commonly impersonateed in works of art during this the Early Renaissance. Donatellos preferably work also depicted the idea of youthfulne ss which was also some other(prenominal) popular aspect of the humanist movement. Donatello utilized the technique of bronzing, and was notorious for his bronze pieces of art, such as his life size statue of David. David also displayed a new Renaissance style that is evident in both the Greco-Roman nudity and the use of the unstained contrapposto (twist of the hips), as well as the boldness of interpretation. galore(postnominal) of Donatellos sculptures are considered breakthroughs. For example, the statue of David was the first nude statute of the Renaissance (C pg 612). Another statue of Donatello, Gattamelata (the horseman statute of Erasmo de Narni), is considered to be one of the best proportioned sculptures ever constraind. (C pg 618). Donatello, who was considered to be a very keen observer of human life and behavior, was able to portray different types of figures in his work and make it them look very realistic. superstar of Donatellos remarkable achievements was his ability to move forward the naturalistic illusion and classical idealism in sculpture. (C pg 593). Donatello also holdd science of perspective through the use of bas-relief or low relief in his work where the image is intercommunicate with a shallow oerall depth which allows for exploitation of perspective and mystify a dramatic effect. The earliest example of the use of relief is the vile of the statute of ideal George, which is decorated with a relief of Saint George and the Dragon. In the bronze relief panel of Feast of Herod, Donatello uses central perspective station for the first time which allows for intensifying the actions and characterizations of the subjects and makes them look real. (B pg 36-37).Donatellos incorporation of Greek classical principles was evident in the marble statute of Saint Mark. In this sculpture, Donatello took a fundamental step toward displaying motion in the human figure by recognizing the principle of weight shift and stresses the movement o f the arms, legs, shoulders and hips. (C pg 599)Masaccio, one of Donatellos counterparts, was considered the best jaguar of the Early Renaissance. He showed a coarse skill at recreating life-like figures and movements. Scholars often identify Masaccio as the leading innovator in early 15th century painting. Most art historians acknowledge that no other mountain lion in history has contributed so much to the development of a new style in such a short a time as Masaccio. Masaccio was also a master of fresco technique. The frescoes Masaccio painted in Florence provide excellent examples of his innovations. One of his greatest contributions to art of fresco painting was the use of light and risque instead of lines to represent figures in his paintings which was depicted in the . (A pg 157 )He was also one of the first to use something called linear perspective in his painting using the vanishing point technique. In the painting reward Money, Masaccio uses chiaroscuro, an art form t hat uses strong contrast between light and dark to give the illusion of deep structural relief. (C pg 603) During his career, Masaccio transformed the direction of Italian painting, by moving it away from the idealizations of Gothic art, and, for the first time, presenting it as part of a more profound, natural, and humanist world 605)The next period of the Renaissance that influenced the cultural re-birth is known as the mettlesome Renaissance. The mettlesome Renaissance lasted from the late 15th century to about 1520. The most influential artists of this time of the senior high Renaissance period were Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael.Leonardo Da Vinci, arguably the most renowned artist in all of art history, made great, if not the greatest, contributions to the re-birth. Da Vinci often used religious themes in his paintings, which was reflective of the time and the impact religion had during this time period. During the High Renaissance time period, the Church was g oing through major changes as a result of the Protestant reformation that was underway. The Protestant Reformation, which naturalised the Protestant church in reaction to the corruption of the Catholic Church, also helped bring about the counter-reformation which established the Inquisition. The Inquisition established rules of visual imagery in the arts and essay to enforce these rules. This common theme of religion was represented throughout a majority of Leonardos paintings including two of his most famous ones, The pull round Supper and Saint Jerome. The Last Supper depicted the image of saviour and his 12 apostles seated at the altar, with Jesus in the center, breaking bread. This scene is representative of when Jesus informs the apostles he has been betrayed by one of them. In this painting, Da Vinci portrayed a common theme of Italian Renaissance art, humanism. Humanism placed more emphasis on Man and less stress on God. In The Last Supper painting, Da Vinci placed more of an emphasis on Jesus Christ by placing him in the center of the painting, focusing the attention on him. Humanism seek to attach faces or visual beings to religion, which is why there was such a rise in paintings of religious figures such as evangelists and saints.In Saint Jerome, once again the theme of religion can be seen on with the humanistic view of the time period. Saint Jerome is as close as Da Vinci came in a painting to his numerous anatomical drawings. These were a logical development of the Classical revival and the humanist view of mens centrality, beauty of form and superior intellect. In the painting, Saint Jerome is shown holding a shiver with which he appears prepared to strike the lion with, showing mans dominance over animals. Saint Jerome is also very detailed which furthers the emphasis placed on man. The detail and realistic view that Da Vinci places in his art is another popular characteristic of Italian Renaissance art known as realism. Italian Renaiss ance artists, not just Da Vinci, all strived to fall greater realism in their works of art. Unlike the art of the thirteenth and early 14th centuries, the art of the Italian Renaissance appeared far more realistic. Art strayed away from the flat, stiff images of the previous ages, to more life-like figures that displayed real emotions. In order to produce this greater realism in art, artists such as Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael all used a technique known as sfumato, which literally means lost in smoke. Sfumato was an artistic technique that uses light and shade to place emphasis and some areas and defer it from other areas of lesser importance. Humanistic artists used this technique to aid in the emphasis of man in their paintings. Da Vinci combined the sfumato technique with his skill with chiaroscuro and perspective to create the mysterious smile in his most famous portrait, Mona Lisa.Michelangelo is another Italian Renaissance artist whose artistic themes and style contrib uted to the Renaissance being known as a period of re-birth. Michelangelo, like Da Vinci and many other artists of this time period, took a humanistic approach to his art work. Michelangelo was interested in definite form, and the human body alone seemed worthy of representation. Michelangelo aimed primarily for ducking and precise details, similar to Da Vinci, and attempted to capture emotion with each stroke of the brush. For example, in Michelangelos sculpture of David, David is depicted not with an emotionless expression on his face. Instead, David is shown with a very detailed anger, as he prepares to face Goliath, in their infamous showdown. Michelangelo is also notable for his use of the contrapposto pose, which was also reflected in the sculptures of Donatello in the Early Renaissance. One of Michelangelos famous works in which he uses the contrapposto pose, which once again is the twisting of the hips, is his Bacchus. Bacchus is sculpted nude with a glass of wine-coloure d in hand, which is representative of the fact that Bacchus is the Greek god of wine and intoxication. (Need Notation from your book)Michelangelo was not only a brilliant sculpture but also a great painter whose work was a major contributor to the Renaissance. The paints on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel are one of the most famous artwork that was created during the Renaissance. Although Michelangelo has studied painting, sculpture was where his interest was. At the prayer of Julius II, he agreed to paint the Sistine Chapel even though painting was not his profession. His inexperience on with the magnitude of the project were going to be a challenge, but a challenge that he quickly overcame because of his ignorant talents and desire to produce uncanny work. The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was an enormous fresco depicting various passages from the Book of Genesis including the Creation of Adam in the ceiling and the Last Judgment at the alter. Similar to his sculptures, his paintings also focus on the human figure and its natural beauty. (C pg 648-651)Raphael, the youngest of the three great contributors to High Renaissance at, was an Italian painter and architect. Raphaels work took the artistic innovations that had been developed by Da Vinci and Michelangelo and created his own style in depicting the ideals of the Renaissance.(C pg 654) The School of Athens, one of Raphaels most famous paintings, displays the classical spirit of the High Renaissance. This painting along with three others completed along the walls of the Stanza della Segnatura room, which was the library in the papal flat tire at the Vatican, show great philosophers and scientists of the ancient word coming unitedly to discuss their theories and ideas.. Aristotle and Plato, the two great philosophers of ancient Greece, are portrayed as the key figures in these paintings. (C pg 653) In line with the realism theme of this time period, the figures in Raphaels paintings are known for th eir display of realistic emotions. Another characteristic of Raphaels work was the perfection and grace that he portrayed in his paintings and drawings.A theme throughout Raphaels work is the Christian devotion and heathenish beauty. This theme is brought out in his series of Madonna paintings where Christian devotion and pagan beauty are brought together. In one of Raphaels best frescoes, Galatea, which Raphael based on ancient Roman poet Orvids Metamorphoses, the pagan joy and excitement is displayed praising human beauty and passionate love. (C pg 656)Raphael also excelled at portraiture. The subjects of his portraits were primarily scholars and courtiers surrounding the Pope. His portraits tended to screening the increasing attention that High Renaissance artists paid to the subjects personality and psyche. In addition, Raphael also revived the gods and heroes of classical times and the world they lived in, not to wonder them but to transform them into art. (C pg 656)The Late Renaissance period experienced a slow down in the arts. A number of factors including political instability, the preachings of Martin Luther leading many to question the authority of the Church, and especially the Churchs response to the Luthers Protestant Reformation put a freeze on any type of Renaissance innovation. In order to protect itself against further criticism, the Church started to censor literary or artistic ambitions.The Late Renaissance movement which became known as Mannerism, represents the winding down of the Renaissance period and a departure from the ideals of the High Renaissance. The mannerist paintings, sculptures and architecture decided to challenge rules of the Renaissance and change them to a authoritative extent. The rules of perspective, nudity, and lighting that were developed during the High Renaissance were pushed to the side. Instead the artists of Mannerism opted to create art that showed elegance and beauty but not really realistic. (C pg 673-675 )The three pioneers of Mannerism were Pontormo, Fiorentino and Bronzino. During this period, artists shifted from the realistic forms of the art completed in the High Renaissance to a more artificial form with distortions and exaggerations. In contrast to the natural, calm, and relative art of the High Renaissance, Mannerism art was full of bizarre colorize and images where figures are shown with abnormally elongated limbs and strange poses. (C pg 673-674). For example, in one of his paintings, Lamentation, Pontormo distorts the figures bodies by stretching them, exaggerating their postures and applying unreal colors. Mannerist painters also used portraiture to create train elegance.(C pg 676)Mannerism was not limited to painting. It also included sculpture and architecture. Benvenuto Cellini, a mannerist sculptor, tended to exaggerate the characteristics of his work in accordance with the rules of mannerism. This was evident in his sculpture of Genius of Fontainebleau. Similar t o the Mannerism paintings, the characteristics of the sculptures also exaggerated and out of proportion.(C pg 678)The Renaissance was a period of incredible achievements and innovations in the arts. A few artists with exceptional talent, an amazing level of imagination and an ability to express themselves through their work, changed the world of art forever in a relatively short period of time. They took advantage of the opportunity that history had given them to put man and the human figure at the center of their work. The Renaissance was a time of great artistic development where painters and sculptors were discovering individualism, harmony, perspective and realism in their portrayal of human being. The Renaissance began relatively slow during the Early Renaissance but sprang into full gear during the High Renaissance waned during the Late Renaissance.Although the Renaissance was a period of major achievements in literature, philosophy and the sciences, the most dramatic accompli shments were achieved in the Arts. This period of rebirth is most and foremost associated with the artistic accomplishments of Masaccio, Donatello, Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael. The High Renaissance represented an outstanding pool of talent that surfaced in the alike(p) area around the same time. These artists were individual geniuses who combined classical work and realism to transform the art. They took the flat and stiff images from the previous periods and converted them into more life-like figures that displayed emotion and reality. Italian artists and sculptors were innovative, creative, ambitious, and bold. They dared to go above and beyond to achieve their goals and were driven to achieve greatness in their field. As a result of the extraordinary artistic accomplishments, Italian art had the most significant impact in the Renaissance that brought about the re-birth of Europe.