The Renaissance, or Renaissance, is a historical milestone in European culture. This is a fateful stage in the development of world civilization, which replaced the darkness and obscurantism of the Middle Ages and preceded the emergence of the cultural values of the New Time. The Renaissance heritage is characterized by anthropocentrism - in other words, an orientation towards Man, his life and activities. Distancing itself from church dogmas and themes, art acquired a secular character, and the name of the era refers to the revival of ancient motifs in art.
The Renaissance, whose roots originated in Italy, is usually divided into three stages: early (“quattrocento”), high and later. Let us consider the features of the creativity of the great masters who worked in those ancient but significant times.
First of all, it should be noted that the creators of the Renaissance not only engaged in “pure” fine art, but also proved themselves to be talented researchers and discoverers. For example, an architect from Florence named Filippo Brunelleschi described a set of rules for constructing linear perspective. The laws he formulated made it possible to accurately depict the three-dimensional world on canvas. Along with the embodiment of progressive ideas in painting, its ideological content itself has changed - the heroes of the paintings have become more “earthly”, with pronounced personal qualities and characters. This even applied to works on topics related to religion.
Outstanding names of the Quattrocento period (second half of the 15th century) - Botticelli, Masaccio, Masolino, Gozzoli and others - rightfully secured their place of honor in the treasury of world culture.
During the High Renaissance (the first half of the 16th century), the entire ideological and creative potential of artists was fully revealed. A characteristic feature of this time is the reference of art to the era of antiquity. Artists, however, do not blindly copy ancient subjects, but rather use them to create and develop their own unique styles. Thanks to this, fine art acquires consistency and rigor, giving way to a certain frivolity of the previous period. Architecture, sculpture and painting of this time harmoniously complemented each other. Buildings, frescoes, and paintings created during the High Period of the Renaissance are true masterpieces. The names of universally recognized geniuses shine: Leonardo da Vinci, Rafael Santi, Michelangelo Buonarotti.
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The personality of Leonardo da Vinci deserves special attention. They say about him that he is a man far ahead of his time. Artist, architect, engineer, inventor - this is not a complete list of the incarnations of this multifaceted personality.
The modern man in the street knows Leonardo da Vinci primarily as a painter. His most famous work is the Mona Lisa. Using her example, the viewer can appreciate the innovation of the author’s technique: thanks to his unique courage and relaxed thinking, Leonardo developed fundamentally new ways of “revitalizing” an image.
Using the phenomenon of light scattering, he achieved a decrease in the contrast of minor details, which raised the realism of the image to a new level. The master paid remarkable attention to the anatomical accuracy of the embodiment of the body in painting and graphics - the proportions of the “ideal” figure are recorded in “Vitruvian Man”.
The second half of the 16th and first half of the 17th century is usually called the Late Renaissance. This period was characterized by very diverse cultural and creative trends, so it is difficult to judge it unambiguously. The religious trends of southern Europe, embodied in the Counter-Reformation, led to abstraction from the celebration of human beauty and ancient ideals. The contradiction of such sentiments with the established ideology of the Renaissance led to the emergence of Florentine mannerism. Painting in this style is characterized by a contrived color palette and broken lines. The Venetian masters of that time - Titian and Palladio - formed their own directions of development, which had few points of contact with the manifestations of the crisis in art.
In addition to the Italian Renaissance, attention should be paid to the Northern Renaissance. Artists living north of the Alps were less influenced by ancient art. Their work shows the influence of Gothic style, which persisted until the advent of the Baroque era. The great figures of the Northern Renaissance are Albrecht Durer, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Pieter Bruegel the Elder.
The cultural heritage of the great Renaissance artists is priceless. The name of each of them is reverently and carefully preserved in the memory of mankind, since the person who bore it was a unique diamond with many facets.
Sandro Botticelli(March 1, 1445 - May 17, 1510) - a deeply religious man, worked in all the major churches of Florence and in the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican, but remained in the history of art primarily as the author of large-format poetic canvases on subjects inspired by classical antiquity - "Spring" and "Birth of Venus". .
For a long time, Botticelli was in the shadow of the Renaissance giants who worked after him, until he was rediscovered in the mid-19th century by the British Pre-Raphaelites, who revered the fragile linearity and spring freshness of his mature canvases as the highest point in the development of world art.
Born into the family of a wealthy city dweller, Mariano di Vanni Filipepi. Received a good education. He studied painting with the monk Filippo Lippi and adopted from him that passion in depicting touching motifs that distinguishes Lippi’s historical paintings. Then he worked for the famous sculptor Verrocchio. In 1470 he organized his own workshop..
He adopted the subtlety and precision of lines from his second brother, who was a jeweler. He studied for some time with Leonardo da Vinci in Verrocchio's workshop. The original feature of Botticelli’s own talent is his inclination towards the fantastic. He was one of the first to introduce ancient myth and allegory into the art of his time, and worked with particular love on mythological subjects. Particularly impressive is his Venus, who floats naked on the sea in a shell, and the gods of the winds shower her with rain of roses and drive the shell to the shore.
The frescoes he began in 1474 in the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican are considered Botticelli's best creation. He completed many paintings commissioned by the Medici. In particular, he painted the banner of Giuliano de' Medici, brother of Lorenzo the Magnificent. In the 1470-1480s, the portrait became an independent genre in the work of Botticelli (“Man with a Medal,” c. 1474; “Young Man,” 1480s). Botticelli became famous for his subtle aesthetic taste and such works as “The Annunciation” (1489-1490), “Abandoned” (1495-1500), etc. In the last years of his life, Botticelli apparently abandoned painting..
Sandro Botticelli is buried in the family tomb in the Church of Ognisanti in Florence. According to his will, he was buried near the grave of Simonetta Vespucci, who inspired the most beautiful images of the master.
Leonardo di Ser Piero da Vinci(April 15, 1452, the village of Anchiano, near the town of Vinci, near Florence - May 2, 1519 - great Italian artist (painter, sculptor, architect) and scientist (anatomist, naturalist), inventor, writer, one of the largest representatives of High Art Renaissance, a shining example of the “universal man”.
Our contemporaries know Leonardo primarily as an artist. In addition, it is possible that da Vinci could also have been a sculptor: researchers from the University of Perugia - Giancarlo Gentilini and Carlo Sisi - claim that the terracotta head they found in 1990 is the only sculptural work of Leonardo da Vinci that has come down to us. However, da Vinci himself, at different periods of his life, considered himself primarily an engineer or scientist. He did not devote much time to fine art and worked rather slowly. Therefore, Leonardo’s artistic heritage is not large in quantity, and a number of his works have been lost or severely damaged. However, his contribution to world artistic culture is extremely important even against the background of the cohort of geniuses that the Italian Renaissance produced. Thanks to his works, the art of painting moved to a qualitatively new stage of its development. The Renaissance artists who preceded Leonardo decisively rejected many of the conventions of medieval art. This was a movement towards realism and much had already been achieved in the study of perspective, anatomy, and greater freedom in compositional solutions. But in terms of painting, working with paint, the artists were still quite conventional and constrained. The line in the picture clearly outlined the object, and the image had the appearance of a painted drawing. The most conventional was the landscape, which played a secondary role. .
Leonardo realized and embodied a new painting technique. His line has the right to be blurry, because that’s how we see it. He realized the phenomenon of light scattering in the air and the appearance of sfumato - a haze between the viewer and the depicted object, which softens color contrasts and lines. As a result, realism in painting moved to a qualitatively new level. . renaissance painting Botticelli Renaissance
Rafael Santi(March 28, 1483 - April 6, 1520) - great Italian painter, graphic artist and architect, representative of the Umbrian school..
The son of the painter Giovanni Santi underwent initial artistic training in Urbino with his father Giovanni Santi, but already at a young age he ended up in the workshop of the outstanding artist Pietro Perugino. It was the artistic language and imagery of Perugino’s paintings, with their attraction to a symmetrical, balanced composition, clarity of spatial solutions and softness in color and lighting, that had a primary influence on the style of the young Raphael.
It is also necessary to stipulate that Raphael’s creative style included a synthesis of the techniques and findings of other masters. At first, Raphael relied on the experience of Perugino, and later, in turn, on the findings of Leonardo da Vinci, Fra Bartolomeo, Michelangelo. .
Early works (“Madonna Conestabile” 1502-1503) are imbued with grace and soft lyricism. He glorified the earthly existence of man, the harmony of spiritual and physical forces in the paintings of the rooms of the Vatican (1509-1517), achieving an impeccable sense of proportion, rhythm, proportions, euphony of color, unity of figures and majestic architectural backgrounds..
In Florence, having come into contact with the works of Michelangelo and Leonardo, Raphael learned from them the anatomically correct depiction of the human body. At the age of 25, the artist ends up in Rome, and from that moment begins the period of the highest flowering of his creativity: he performs monumental paintings in the Vatican Palace (1509-1511), including the master’s undisputed masterpiece - the fresco “The School of Athens”, writes altar compositions and easel paintings, distinguished by the harmony of concept and execution, works as an architect (for some time Raphael even directed the construction of St. Peter's Cathedral). In a tireless search for his ideal, embodied for the artist in the image of the Madonna, he creates his most perfect creation - the “Sistine Madonna” (1513), a symbol of motherhood and self-denial. Raphael's paintings and murals were recognized by his contemporaries, and Santi soon became a central figure in the artistic life of Rome. Many noble people of Italy wanted to become related to the artist, including Raphael’s close friend Cardinal Bibbiena. The artist died at the age of thirty-seven from heart failure. The unfinished paintings of the Villa Farnesina, the Vatican Loggias and other works were completed by Raphael's students in accordance with his sketches and drawings.
One of the largest representatives of the art of the High Renaissance, whose paintings are characterized by an emphasized balance and harmony of the whole, balanced composition, measured rhythm and delicate use of color capabilities. Impeccable command of the line and the ability to generalize and highlight the main thing made Raphael one of the most outstanding masters of drawing of all time. Raphael's legacy served as one of the pillars in the formation of European academicism. Adherents of classicism - the Carracci brothers, Poussin, Mengs, David, Ingres, Bryullov and many other artists - extolled Raphael's legacy as the most perfect phenomenon in world art...
Titian Vecellio(1476/1477 or 1480s-1576) - Italian Renaissance painter. Titian's name ranks with such Renaissance artists as Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael. Titian painted paintings on biblical and mythological subjects; he also became famous as a portrait painter. He received orders from kings and popes, cardinals, dukes and princes. Titian was not even thirty years old when he was recognized as the best painter of Venice.
According to his place of birth (Pieve di Cadore in the province of Belluno), he is sometimes called da Cadore; also known as Titian the Divine...
Titian was born into the family of Gregorio Vecellio, a statesman and military leader. At the age of ten he was sent with his brother to Venice to study with the famous mosaic artist Sebastian Zuccato. A few years later he entered the workshop of Giovanni Bellini as an apprentice. He studied with Lorenzo Lotto, Giorgio da Castelfranco (Giorgione) and a number of other artists who later became famous.
In 1518, Titian painted the painting “The Ascension of Our Lady”, in 1515 - Salome with the head of John the Baptist. From 1519 to 1526 he painted a number of altars, including the altarpiece of the Pesaro family.
Titian lived a long life. Until his last days he did not stop working. Titian painted his last painting, Lamentation of Christ, for his own tombstone. The artist died of the plague in Venice on August 27, 1576, having become infected from his son while caring for him.
Emperor Charles V summoned Titian to his place and surrounded him with honor and respect and said more than once: “I can create a duke, but where can I get a second Titian?” When one day the artist dropped his brush, Charles V picked it up and said: “It is an honor even for the emperor to serve Titian.” Both the Spanish and French kings invited Titian to live at their court, but the artist, having completed his orders, always returned to his native Venice. A crater on Mercury was named in honor of Titian. .
The first harbingers of Renaissance art appeared in Italy in the 14th century. Artists of this time, Pietro Cavallini (1259-1344), Simone Martini (1284-1344) and (most notably) Giotto
(1267-1337) when creating paintings of traditional religious themes, they began to use new artistic techniques: building a three-dimensional composition, using a landscape in the background, which allowed them to make the images more realistic and animated. This sharply distinguished their work from the previous iconographic tradition, replete with conventions in the image.
The term used to denote their creativity Proto-Renaissance (1300s - "Trecento")
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Giotto di Bondone
(c. 1267-1337) - Italian artist and architect of the Proto-Renaissance era. One of the key figures in the history of Western art. Having overcome the Byzantine icon painting tradition, he became the true founder of the Italian school of painting and developed a completely new approach to depicting space. Giotto's works were inspired by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo.
Early Renaissance (1400s - Quattrocento).
At the beginning of the 15th century Filippo Brunelleschi
(1377-1446), Florentine scientist and architect.
Brunelleschi wanted to make the perception of the baths and theaters he reconstructed more visual and tried to create geometrically perspective paintings from his plans for a specific point of view. In this search it was discovered direct perspective.
This allowed artists to obtain perfect images of three-dimensional space on a flat painting canvas.
_________Another important step on the path to the Renaissance was the emergence of non-religious, secular art. Portrait and landscape established themselves as independent genres. Even religious subjects acquired a different interpretation - Renaissance artists began to view their characters as heroes with pronounced individual traits and human motivation for actions.
The most famous artists of this period are Masaccio (1401-1428), Masolino (1383-1440), Benozzo Gozzoli (1420-1497), Piero Della Francesco (1420-1492), Andrea Mantegna (1431-1506), Giovanni Bellini (1430-1516), Antonello da Messina (1430-1479), Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449-1494), Sandro Botticelli (1447-1515).
Masaccio
(1401-1428) - famous Italian painter, the largest master of the Florentine school, reformer of painting of the Quattrocento era.
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| Fresco. Miracle with statir. |
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| Painting. Crucifixion. |
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| Fresco. The story of the Queen of Sheba. Church of San Francesco in Arezzo |
Sandro Botticelli(1445-1510) - great Italian painter, representative of the Florentine school of painting.
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| Spring. |
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| Birth of Venus. |
High Renaissance ("Cinquecento").
The highest flowering of Renaissance art occurred for the first quarter of the 16th century.
Works Sansovino (1486-1570), Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Rafael Santi (1483-1520), Michelangelo Buonarotti (1475-1564), Giorgione (1476-1510), Titian (1477-1576), Antonio Correggio (1489-1534) constitute the golden fund of European art.
Leonardo di Ser Piero da Vinci (Florence) (1452-1519) - Italian artist (painter, sculptor, architect) and scientist (anatomist, naturalist), inventor, writer.
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| Self-portrait |
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| Lady with an ermine. 1490. Czartoryski Museum, Krakow |
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| Mona Lisa (1503-1505/1506) |
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| Madonna Litta. 1490-1491. Hermitage Museum. |
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| Madonna Benois (Madonna with a Flower). 1478-1480 |
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| Madonna with Carnation. 1478 |
During his life, Leonardo da Vinci made thousands of notes and drawings on anatomy, but did not publish his work. While dissecting the bodies of people and animals, he accurately conveyed the structure of the skeleton and internal organs, including small details. According to clinical anatomy professor Peter Abrams, da Vinci's scientific work was 300 years ahead of its time and in many ways superior to the famous Gray's Anatomy.
List of inventions, both real and attributed to him:
Parachute, toOlestsovo Castle, inbicycle, tank, llightweight portable bridges for the army, pprojector, toatapult, rboth, dVuhlens telescope.
These innovations were subsequently developed Rafael Santi (1483-1520) - a great painter, graphic artist and architect, representative of the Umbrian school.
| Self-portrait. 1483 |
Michelangelo di Lodovico di Leonardo di Buonarroti Simoni(1475-1564) - Italian sculptor, artist, architect, poet, thinker.
The paintings and sculptures of Michelangelo Buonarotti are full of heroic pathos and, at the same time, a tragic sense of the crisis of humanism. His paintings glorify the strength and power of man, the beauty of his body, while simultaneously emphasizing his loneliness in the world.
Michelangelo's genius left its mark not only on the art of the Renaissance, but also on all subsequent world culture. His activities are connected mainly with two Italian cities - Florence and Rome.
However, the artist was able to realize his most ambitious plans precisely in painting, where he acted as a true innovator of color and form.
Commissioned by Pope Julius II, he painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (1508-1512), representing the biblical story from the creation of the world to the flood and including more than 300 figures. In 1534-1541, in the same Sistine Chapel, he painted the grandiose, dramatic fresco “The Last Judgment” for Pope Paul III.
Sistine Chapel 3D.
The works of Giorgione and Titian are distinguished by their interest in landscape and poeticization of the plot. Both artists achieved great mastery in the art of portraiture, with the help of which they conveyed the character and rich inner world of their characters.
Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco ( Giorgione) (1476/147-1510) - Italian artist, representative of the Venetian school of painting.
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| Sleeping Venus. 1510 |
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| Judith. 1504g |
Titian painted paintings on biblical and mythological subjects; he also became famous as a portrait painter. He received orders from kings and popes, cardinals, dukes and princes. Titian was not even thirty years old when he was recognized as the best painter of Venice.
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| Self-portrait. 1567 |
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| Venus of Urbino. 1538 |
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| Portrait of Tommaso Mosti. 1520 |
Late Renaissance.
Following the sack of Rome by imperial forces in 1527, the Italian Renaissance entered a period of crisis. Already in the work of late Raphael, a new artistic line was outlined, called mannerism.
This era is characterized by inflated and broken lines, elongated or even deformed figures, often naked, tense and unnatural poses, unusual or bizarre effects associated with size, lighting or perspective, the use of a caustic chromatic range, overloaded composition, etc. The first masters mannerism Parmigianino
, Pontormo
, Bronzino-
lived and worked at the court of the Dukes of the Medici house in Florence. Mannerist fashion later spread throughout Italy and beyond.
Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola
(Parmigianino
- “resident of Parma”) (1503-1540) Italian artist and engraver, representative of mannerism.
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| Self-portrait. 1540 |
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| Portrait of a woman. 1530. |
Pontormo (1494-1557) - Italian painter, representative of the Florentine school, one of the founders of mannerism.
In the 1590s, art replaced mannerism baroque (transitional figures - Tintoretto And El Greco ).
Jacopo Robusti, better known as Tintoretto (1518 or 1519-1594) - painter of the Venetian school of the late Renaissance.
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| Last Supper. 1592-1594. Church of San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice. |
El Greco ("Greek" Domenikos Theotokopoulos ) (1541-1614) - Spanish artist. By origin - Greek, native of the island of Crete.
El Greco had no contemporary followers, and his genius was rediscovered almost 300 years after his death.
El Greco studied in Titian's studio, but, however, his painting technique differs significantly from that of his teacher. El Greco's works are characterized by speed and expressiveness of execution, which bring them closer to modern painting.
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| Christ on the cross. OK. 1577. Private collection. |
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| Trinity. 1579 Prado. |
Renaissance (Renaissance). Italy. XV-XVI centuries. Early capitalism. The country is ruled by rich bankers. They are interested in art and science.
The rich and powerful gather around them the talented and wise. Poets, philosophers, artists and sculptors have daily conversations with their patrons. For a moment it seemed that the people were ruled by wise men, as Plato wanted.
They remembered the ancient Romans and Greeks. Who also built a society of free citizens. Where the main value is people (not counting slaves, of course).
Renaissance is not just copying the art of ancient civilizations. This is a mixture. Mythology and Christianity. Realism of nature and sincerity of images. Physical beauty and spiritual beauty.
It was just a flash. The High Renaissance period is approximately 30 years! From the 1490s to 1527 From the beginning of the heyday of Leonardo's creativity. Before the sack of Rome.
The mirage of an ideal world quickly faded. Italy turned out to be too fragile. She was soon enslaved by another dictator.
However, these 30 years determined the main features of European painting for 500 years to come! Up to .
Realism of the image. Anthropocentrism (when a person is the main character and hero). Linear perspective. Oil paints. Portrait. Scenery…
Incredibly, during these 30 years several brilliant masters worked at once. Which at other times are born once every 1000 years.
Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian are the titans of the Renaissance. But we cannot fail to mention their two predecessors. Giotto and Masaccio. Without which there would be no Renaissance.
1. Giotto (1267-1337)
Paolo Uccello. Giotto da Bondogni. Fragment of the painting “Five Masters of the Florentine Renaissance.” Beginning of the 16th century. . XIV century. Proto-Renaissance. Its main character is Giotto. This is a master who single-handedly revolutionized art. 200 years before the High Renaissance. If it were not for him, the era of which humanity is so proud would hardly have come.
Before Giotto there were icons and frescoes. They were created according to Byzantine canons. Faces instead of faces. Flat figures. Failure to comply with proportions. Instead of a landscape there is a golden background. Like, for example, on this icon.
Guido da Siena. Adoration of the Magi. 1275-1280 Altenburg, Lindenau Museum, Germany. And suddenly frescoes by Giotto appear. They have voluminous figures. Faces of noble people. Sad. Mournful. Surprised. Old and young. Different.
Frescoes by Giotto in the Church of Scrovegni in Padua (1302-1305). Left: Lamentation of Christ. Middle: Kiss of Judas (fragment). Right: Annunciation of St. Anne (Mother Mary), fragment.
Giotto's main work is the cycle of his frescoes in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua. When this church opened to parishioners, crowds of people poured into it. Because they have never seen anything like this.
After all, Giotto did something unprecedented. It was as if he translated biblical stories into simple, understandable language. And they have become much more accessible to ordinary people.
Giotto. Adoration of the Magi. 1303-1305 Fresco in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Italy. This is precisely what will be characteristic of many masters of the Renaissance. Laconic images. Lively emotions of the characters. Realism.
Read more about the master's frescoes in the article.
Giotto was admired. But his innovations were not developed further. The fashion for international gothic came to Italy.
Only after 100 years will a master appear, a worthy successor to Giotto.
2. Masaccio (1401-1428)
Masaccio. Self-portrait (fragment of the fresco “St. Peter on the pulpit”). 1425-1427 Brancacci Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence, Italy. Beginning of the 15th century. The so-called Early Renaissance. Another innovator is entering the scene.
Masaccio was the first artist to use linear perspective. It was designed by his friend, the architect Brunelleschi. Now the depicted world has become similar to the real one. Toy architecture is a thing of the past.
Masaccio. Saint Peter heals with his shadow. 1425-1427 Brancacci Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence, Italy. He adopted Giotto's realism. However, unlike his predecessor, he already knew anatomy well.
Instead of blocky characters, Giotto has beautifully built people. Just like the ancient Greeks.
Masaccio. Baptism of neophytes. 1426-1427 Brancacci Chapel, Church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence, Italy. 
Masaccio. Expulsion from Paradise. 1426-1427 Fresco in the Brancacci Chapel, Church of Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence, Italy. Masaccio lived a short life. He died, like his father, unexpectedly. At 27 years old.
However, he had many followers. Masters of subsequent generations went to the Brancacci Chapel to study from his frescoes.
Thus, Masaccio’s innovations were taken up by all the great titans of the High Renaissance.
3. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Leonardo da Vinci. Self-portrait. 1512 Royal Library in Turin, Italy. Leonardo da Vinci is one of the titans of the Renaissance. Which had a tremendous impact on the development of painting.
It was he who raised the status of the artist himself. Thanks to him, representatives of this profession are no longer just artisans. These are creators and aristocrats of the spirit.
Leonardo made a breakthrough primarily in portraiture.
He believed that nothing should distract from the main image. The gaze should not wander from one detail to another. This is how his famous portraits appeared. Laconic. Harmonious.
Leonardo da Vinci. Lady with an ermine. 1489-1490 Czertoryski Museum, Krakow. Leonardo's main innovation is that he found a way to make images... come alive.
Before him, characters in portraits looked like mannequins. The lines were clear. All details are carefully drawn. The painted drawing could not possibly be alive.
But then Leonardo invented the sfumato method. He shaded the lines. Made the transition from light to shadow very soft. His characters seem to be covered with a barely perceptible haze. The characters came to life.
. 1503-1519 Louvre, Paris. Since then, sfumato will be included in the active vocabulary of all the great artists of the future.
There is often an opinion that Leonardo, of course, is a genius. But he didn’t know how to finish anything. And I often didn’t finish paintings. And many of his projects remained on paper (in 24 volumes, by the way). And in general he was thrown either into medicine or into music. And at one time I was even interested in the art of serving.
However, think for yourself. 19 paintings. And he is the greatest artist of all time. And some are not even close to greatness. At the same time, having painted 6,000 canvases in his life. It is obvious who has the higher efficiency.
Read about the master's most famous painting in the article.
4. Michelangelo (1475-1564)
Daniele da Volterra. Michelangelo (fragment). 1544 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Michelangelo considered himself a sculptor. But he was a universal master. Like his other Renaissance colleagues. Therefore, his pictorial heritage is no less grandiose.
He is recognizable primarily by his physically developed characters. Because he portrayed a perfect man. In which physical beauty means spiritual beauty.
That’s why all his heroes are so muscular and resilient. Even women and old people.
Michelangelo. Fragments of the fresco “The Last Judgment” in the Sistine Chapel, Vatican.
Michelangelo often painted the character naked. And then he added clothes on top. So that the body is as sculpted as possible.
He painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel himself. Although these are several hundred figures! He didn’t even allow anyone to rub paint. Yes, he was a loner. Possessing a cool and quarrelsome character. But most of all he was dissatisfied with... himself.
Michelangelo. Fragment of the fresco “The Creation of Adam”. 1511 Sistine Chapel, Vatican. Michelangelo lived a long life. Having survived the decline of the Renaissance. For him it was a personal tragedy. His later works are full of sadness and sorrow.
In general, Michelangelo’s creative path is unique. His early works are a celebration of the human hero. Free and courageous. In the best traditions of ancient Greece. What's his name David?
In the last years of life these are tragic images. Intentionally rough-hewn stone. It’s as if we are looking at monuments to the victims of 20th century fascism. Look at his Pietà.
Michelangelo's sculptures at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence. Left: David. 1504 Right: Palestrina's Pietà. 1555
How is this possible? One artist in one life went through all stages of art from the Renaissance to the 20th century. What should subsequent generations do? Well, go your own way. Realizing that the bar is set very high.
5. Raphael (1483-1520)
. 1506 Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy. Raphael was never forgotten. His genius has always been recognized. And during life. And after death.
His characters are endowed with sensual, lyrical beauty. It is his who is rightfully considered the most beautiful female images ever created. Their external beauty also reflects the spiritual beauty of the heroines. Their meekness. Their sacrifice.
Raphael. . 1513 Old Masters Gallery, Dresden, Germany. Fyodor Dostoevsky said the famous words “Beauty will save the world” about. This was his favorite painting.
However, sensual images are not Raphael’s only strong point. He thought through the compositions of his paintings very carefully. He was an unsurpassed architect in painting. Moreover, he always found the simplest and most harmonious solution in organizing space. It seems that it cannot be any other way.
Raphael. Athens School. 1509-1511 Fresco in the Stanzas of the Apostolic Palace, Vatican. Raphael lived only 37 years. He died suddenly. From a caught cold and medical error. But his legacy is difficult to overestimate. Many artists idolized this master. Multiplying his sensual images in thousands of his canvases..
Titian was an unsurpassed colorist. He also experimented a lot with composition. In general, he was a daring and brilliant innovator.
Everyone loved him for such brilliance of his talent. Called “The King of Painters and the Painter of Kings.”
Speaking about Titian, I want to put an exclamation point after every sentence. After all, it was he who brought dynamics to painting. Pathos. Enthusiasm. Bright color. Shine of colors.
Titian. Ascension of Mary. 1515-1518 Church of Santa Maria Gloriosi dei Frari, Venice. Towards the end of his life he developed an unusual writing technique. The strokes are fast and thick. I applied the paint either with a brush or with my fingers. This makes the images even more alive and breathing. And the plots are even more dynamic and dramatic.
Titian. Tarquin and Lucretia. 1571 Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, England. Doesn't this remind you of anything? Of course, this is technology. And the technique of 19th century artists: Barbizonians and. Titian, like Michelangelo, would go through 500 years of painting in one lifetime. That's why he's a genius.
Read about the master's famous masterpiece in the article.
Renaissance artists are artists of great knowledge. To leave such a legacy, you had to know a lot. In the field of history, astrology, physics and so on.
Therefore, every image of them makes us think. Why is this depicted? What is the encrypted message here?
Therefore, they almost never made mistakes. Because they thoroughly thought through their future work. Using all your knowledge.
They were more than artists. They were philosophers. Explaining the world to us through painting.
That is why they will always be deeply interesting to us.
