ITALIAN RENAISSANCE ART

Gorman Arts Centre

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1. 1350 – 1450, Early Renaissance in Venice and Florence: A new standard in architecture. The Renaissance style of architecture emerged in Florence, not as a slow evolution from preceding styles, but rather as a conscious development put into motion by architects seeking to revive the golden age of classical antiquity. In Venice, the architectural style moved away from Gothic influence to adhere to stricter classical forms.

2. 1350 – 1450, Early Renaissance in Venice and Florence: revival of the Greco-Roman sculpture. The demand for sculpture during the Quattrocento and Cinquecento remained largely ecclesiastical, even though mercenaries’ statues were also commissioned. Donatello was in many ways the most representative sculptor of the quattrocento. The chronology of his work reflects the changing aesthetic of the times. Andrea del Verrocchio produced the best metalwork of his day and was the greatest sculptor between Donatello and Michelangelo.

3. 1350 – 1450, Early Renaissance in Florence: The Masters of a new direction in painting. Early Renaissance painting was basically a period of experiments, characterized by the new notion of "Humanism," a philosophy that downplayed religious and secular dogma and instead attached the greatest importance to the dignity and worth of the individual. The first artist to interpret the new style is Giotto.

4. 1350 – 1450, Early Renaissance in Venice: The Masters of a new direction in painting. At the time of this new contact with Florentine artists, the most noted representatives of Venetian painting were the three members of the Bellini family, Jacopo and his sons Gentile and especially Giovanni, who became known as the Father of Venetian painting. They will be followed by Andrea Mantegna and Vittore Carpaccio who enriched hi scenes with a wealth of naturalistic detail that may have been influenced by his study of Northern painters

5. 1450 – 1550, High Renaissance in Florence and Venice: Architecture.  While the preceding Early Renaissance had been centred on Florence and largely paid for by the Medici family, the High Renaissance was centred on Rome and paid for by the Popes. Indeed, it very nearly bankrupted the city. In the High Renaissance, the focus of architecture moved physically from Florence to Rome and Venice, while its aesthetic objectives became the search for an all encompassing spatial experience. The three major architects of the century were Donato Bramante, Michelangelo, and Andrea Palladio.

6. 1450 – 1550, High Renaissance in Florence: Painting. the culmination of the exploratory research of the predecessors, characterized above all by the ideal qualities of harmony and balance, displayed in the works of Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. 

7. 1450 – 1550, High Renaissance in Venice: Painting. Painting in Venice followed a similar type of path to that of the Renaissance in Florence, albeit with a Venetian twist of Titian, Veronese, and Tintoretto.

8. 1550 – 1600, HIgh Renaissance in Florence: Sculpture and the birth of Mannerism. Michelangelo was, first and foremost, a skilled sculptor. This is where he became most respected during his career in the Italian-led artistic Renaissance. This artist would see a connection between the human form and the soul, carefully studying human anatomy throughout his long life. This knowledge would then bring his sculptures to life in a way not seen before at this stage of the Renaissance. He will open the way to a new style, a new era: "Mannerism".