16th-Century Italian Renaissance Art: Architecture, Sculpture & Painting

Posted on Oct 9, 2024 in Arts and Humanities

XVI Century Italian Renaissance Art

Architecture

Quattrocento and Classicism

  • Renaissance architecture was innovative, with many outstanding religious buildings.
  • Architects sought the ideal city.
  • Classical decorative and structural elements were used freely, such as Tuscan columns, balustered columns, new capital orders, domes, and arches.
  • Symmetry, simplicity, and human-scaled spaces were valued.
  • Central-plan buildings with domes were preferred.
  • Light played a key role in creating clarity.
  • Walls regained their function as support and enclosure.

Mannerism

  • Emphasized fantasy and decorative richness.
  • Altered architectural space, making it dynamic.
  • Explored new ways of using traditional building materials.
  • Buildings were conceived as juxtapositions of different parts.
  • Set design elements like fountains, stairs, and fireplaces were developed.
  • Experimentation was central to the artistic approach.
Key Architects
  • Filippo Brunelleschi: Dome of Florence Cathedral, Santo Spirito, San Lorenzo, Hospital of the Innocents, Pitti Palace.
  • Leon Battista Alberti: Sant’Andrea in Mantua, Tempio Malatestiano in Rimini, Palazzo Rucellai.

Sculpture

Quattrocento and Classicism

  • Return to antiquity, inspired by nature, humanism, and idealism.
  • Influenced by Greco-Roman and Gothic sculpture.
  • Slender proportions and realistic detail.
  • Nudity, marble, bronze, and severity were favored.
  • Religious, mythological, and secular themes.
  • Bronze casting and marble carving techniques.
  • New techniques like stiacciato relief and the tondo.
  • Interest in perspective.

Mannerism

  • Serpentinata forms (twisting figures).
  • Elongated figures.
  • Crowded compositions.
  • Multiple viewpoints.
  • Open lines and centrifugal forces.
Key Sculptors
  • Lorenzo Ghiberti: Bronze doors of the Florence Baptistery.
  • Andrea del Verrocchio: Equestrian statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni.
  • Donatello: Equestrian statue of Gattamelata, St. George, Annunciation altar in Santa Croce.

Painting

Quattrocento and Classicism

  • Influenced by classical and Gothic painting.
  • Religious, mythological, historical, allegorical, and portrait themes.
  • Mastery of perspective.
  • Monumentality and naturalism.
  • Naturalistic backgrounds.
  • Introduction of nudes.
  • Fresco, tempera, and oil painting techniques.

Mannerism

  • Line over color.
  • Sophisticated use of light and color, often with oil paint.
  • Elongated figures.
  • Multiple and unreal spaces.
Key Painters
  • Fra Angelico: Madonna of the Star, Christ in Glory, Coronation of the Virgin, The Last Judgment, The Annunciation.
  • Masaccio: Brancacci Chapel frescoes, The Holy Trinity.
  • Benozzo Gozzoli: Chapel of the Magi frescoes.
  • Piero della Francesca: The Baptism of Christ, Madonna della Misericordia, frescoes in the Tempio Malatestiano.
  • Filippo Lippi: Feast of Herod, Madonna and Child with Two Angels.
  • Paolo Uccello: Equestrian Monument of Sir John Hawkwood, The Battle of San Romano.
  • Perugino: Adoration of the Magi, Sistine Chapel frescoes (Delivery of the Keys), Tondo of the Nativity.
  • Andrea Mantegna: Death of the Virgin, Lamentation over the Dead Christ.
  • Sandro Botticelli: Primavera, The Birth of Venus.