Significant Works from Renaissance Painters
Born 1267 in Florence, Giotto was renowned for his work in frescos—a painting technique where a mural is painted upon a fresh or wet lime plaster. Pictured below is No.…
Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337)
Born 1267 in Florence, Giotto was renowned for his work in frescos—a painting technique where a mural is painted upon a fresh or wet lime plaster. Pictured below is No. 6 Scenes from the Life of Joachim - 6. Meeting at the Golden Gate. Painted between 1304 and 1308, it depicts Anne and Joachim, the parents of the Virgin Mary. Giotto plays with proportion and cutting the Shepard off to draw the viewers’ attention to the action.[1]
No. 6 Scenes from the Life of Joachim - 6. Meeting at the Golden Gate. [2]
Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi “Donatello” (1386-1466)
Donatello was an Italian sculptor born and raised in Florence. His most famous work is his sculpture David from the biblical story of David and the Goliath. Made from bronze and completed in 1428, the sculpture is famous for being the first male nude statue since the Romans nearly one thousand years ago.[3]
Donatello's David, the first nude statue in over 1,000 years. [4]
Fra Angelico (1400-1455)
Born in Florence, Angelico was both the Dominican friar and an exceptional painter. His most celebrated work is a painting finished in 1422, The Annunciation, depicting the angel Gabriel informing Mary that she will give birth to a son by miraculous means.[5]
The Annunciation, Fra Angelico; the angel Gabriel tells Mary she will give birth to a son by miraculous means. [6]
Jan van Eyck: (1422-1441)
Jan van Eyck was an early painter from the Netherlands whose most famous works is The Arnolfini Portrait, depicting Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and his wife. Curiously, it is not a record of their marriage, but rather a chance for Van Eyck to show off his mastery of light—specifically how it glints off the brass chandelier.[7]
The Arnolfini Portrait, completed in 1434. [8]
Rogier van der Weyden (1399-1464)
From northern Belgium, the Flemish painter Rogier van der Weyden completed The Deposition in 1435. The scene depicts the grief of Christ's followers as he is lowered from the cross. The painting is renowned for its depiction of Christ—beautiful but not superhumanly muscular—as well as conveying the emotion of his followers.[9]
The deposition, removing Christ from the cross. [10]
Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510)
The Italian painter Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, better known as Botticelli, produced some of the most famous works in European history. Here is The Birth of Venus, painted as canvas was becoming more popular than wood.[11] After her birth, Venus rode a seashell to the island of Cythera; she was accompanied by Zephyrus, who carried the nymph Chloris, while the goddess of spring (Pomona) waited to greet her on shore.[12]
The birth of Venus by Botticelli. [13]
Giovanni Bellini (1435-1516)
Bellini was based in Venice and painted The San Giobbe Altarpiece, which depicted several saints in the same place with the Madonna Mary and her child Jesus. The altarpiece is significant because not only was this court of heaven a new trend, but the saints appear to be inviting the viewer to join them. “If you are as faithful as me,” St. Francis on the extreme left seems to say, “then you can join this group of saints.”[14]
San Giobbe Altarpiece, depicting Madonna with child. [15]
Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516)
Hieronymus Bosch worked in the Netherlands and was primarily a painter. Painted around 1503-1515, The Garden of Earthly Delights is a five-panel altarpiece—two exterior panels and three interior panels that depict the story of creation and sin. God introduces Adam to Eve, their children (humanity) engages in all sorts of sin and debauchery, and finally God delivers punishment in hell.[16] The painting almost seems to allude to Surrealist art four hundred years before Dali would paint the Persistence of Memory.
The exterior two panels of the altarpiece depicting God creating the world. The text reads “Ipse dixit, et facta su[n]t” (For he spoke and it was done) “Ipse mandate, et create sunt” (He commanded, and it stood fast). [17]
Hieronymus Bosch garden of earthly delights. [18]
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
Leonardo da Vinci is one of the most accomplished Italian artists in history. He was a brilliant artist, inventor, and mathematician whose works remain some of the greatest ever produced. The Last Supper depicts Christ’s final meal with his apostles before Judas identifies Christ to the authorities, who will arrest him. The scene captures the apostle's reactions during the moment when Christ says, “One of you will betray me.” At the same moment, Christ blesses the bread and wine, the sacrament of the Eucharist, which miraculously turns the bread into his flesh and the wine into his blood.[19]
The last supper by Leonardo Da Vinci. [20]
Albrecht Durer (1471-1521)
Durer was a painter and printmaker in the German Renaissance and is famed for introducing classical and biblical motifs into northern art. He has been widely acclaimed for his dramatic self-portraits and mastery of proportion, especially in his portrait below, which uses his orientation and hand gesture to imitate Christ.[21]
Self-Portrait Albrecht Dürer the Latin text reads "I, Albrecht Dürer of Nuremberg, portrayed myself in everlasting colors aged twenty-eight years." [22]
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (1475-1564)
Michelangelo has been regarded as one of the greatest artists of all time. He mastered painting, sculpture, architecture, and poetry. He has produced some of the most famous works of art in history, like the sculpture of David and designing the dome of St. Peter's Basilica.
However, one of his greatest triumphs was painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The Sistine Chapel is the official residence of the pope, the leader of the Christian world. In 1508, Michelangelo was commissioned by Pope Julius II to paint its ceiling with religious scenes. Nine stories of Genesis line the ceiling, bordered by nudes holding medallions and speaking passages from the Book of Kings.[23]
A break down of what frescoes were planned for which section of the ceiling. [24]
A flattened view of the Sistine Chapel ceiling. [25]
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino “Raphael” (1483-1520)
Raphael was one of the greatest painters to ever work for the Vatican. He and Michelangelo worked at the same time and had a rivalry of epic proportions. He completed the fresco The School of Athens in 1511, which immortalized and celebrated the intellectual accomplishments of the Greeks.[26] It features Plato and Aristotle in the center as they debate their respective perceptions of reality. Other notable figures include Pythagoras, Ptolemy, the Arabic philosopher Averroes, Euclid, and Persian astronomer and philosopher Zoroaster holding his celestial sphere. Curiously, Raphael himself is included, gazing directly at the viewer while his rival Michelangelo is represented as Heraclitus, a pre-Plato philosopher whose ideas had long since been discredited and rejected.[27]
School of Athens by Raphael. [28]
Matthias Grunewald (1470-1528)
Grunewald was a German painter who staunchly ignored the Renaissance to continue the style of Medieval painting. This is exemplified in his Isenheim Altarpiece. While it depicts Christ on the cross, gone are the idealized forms of the Renaissance Christ’s suffering in favor of showing all its horrible glory.[29]
Isenheim Altarpiece by Matthias Grunewald. [30]
Antonio da Correggio (1494-1534)
Correggio was a master of using color and space to breathe life into his work. His most magnificent work, The Assumption of The Virgin, was painted on the dome of the Cathedral of Parma in Italy. It portrays Mary’s ascent into heaven and her joyful reunion with Christ. The depiction of Jesus is unusual in that it focused on his physicality and reaffirming doctrines of the church that had come under attack during the first decade of the protestant reformation.
Assumption of the Virgin, Correggio. [31]
Tiziano Vecellio “Titian” (1487-1576)
Titian was recognized in his own life as the greatest painter of the Venetian school by setting the standard for physical beauty and erotic undertones that would carry on for centuries. The Death of Actaeon depicts the final scene of the *Metamorphoses, *a Latin poem (written by Ovid) in which Actaeon surprises the goddess Dianna and sees her in the nude. To punish him, Diana turns his head into a stag and Actaeon is mauled to death by his own dogs.[32]
The Death of Actaeon, Titian. [33]
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543)
Hans Holbein, called the Younger to distinguish him from his father, was also a painter of the late gothic school.[34] He was regarded as one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th century; he painted several important people, including King Henry VIII. One of his greatest works is The Ambassadors, finished in 1533. It depicts French ambassadors Jean de Dinteville on the left and on the right, Georges de Selve bishop of Lavaur who was an ambassador to Austria, the Venetian Republic, and the Holy See; both surrounded by scientific and mathematical instruments.[35] The distorted human skull’s refraction is corrected when the painting is viewed from the right.
This is a video that shows this optical illusion in real time.[36]
The Ambassadors, by Hans Holbein. [37]
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598- 1680)
Bernini was one of the greatest sculptors ever to live. His ability capture complex and dynamic emotion and feeling in stone put even Michelangelo’s David to shame. While his sculptures The Rape of Persephone and Apollo and Daphne boast of his talents, his final masterpiece *The Ecstacy of Saint Teresa *does the impossible, capturing ecstasy at the moment of spiritual orgasm.[38]
Saint Teresa was a Benedictine nun who experienced visions. In one vision, an angel appeared before her with an arrow tipped with fire that he then plunged into her heart several times, filling her with a great love of God.[39] Bernini captures in stone this moment of religious and spiritual transcendence. Simon Schama’s power of art presents a masterful exploration of Bernini’s life and work.[40]
The Ecstasy of St. Teresa. [41]
Works Cited
“(7) The Power of Art Bernini Complete Episode - YouTube.” Accessed May 16, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJsD8mmWjM8&t=1015s.
Alvesgaspar. English: The Ecstasy of Saint Theresa by Giancarlo Bernini. Church of Santa Maria Della Vittoria, Rome. September 11, 2015. Own work. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ecstasy_of_Saint_Teresa_September_2015-2a.jpg.
Angelico, Fra. The Annunciation. between and 1434 1433. Tempera on wood, Height: 150 cm (59 in); Width: 180 cm (70.8 in). Diocesan Museum in Cortona. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fra_Angelico_-Annunciation-_WGA0474.jpg.
Begoon, Sistine Chapel ceiling diagramA1 PNG: TTaylorCAPPELLA SISTINA jpg: Michelangelo Buonarrotiderivative work: Sistine Chapel, Diagram of the Scheme of Michelangelo’s Frescoes. August 31, 2013. This file was derived from: Sistine Chapel ceiling diagramA1.PNG: CAPPELLA SISTINA.jpg: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sistine_Chapel_ceiling_diagram.svg.
Bellini, Giovanni. Madonna with Child, Music Making Angels, and Saints Francis, John the Baptist, Job, Dominic, Sebastian and Louis of Toulouse. circa 1487. Oil on panel, 471 × 259 cm (15.4 × 8.4 ft). Gallerie dell’Accademia. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giovanni_Bellini_-San_Giobbe_Altarpiece-_WGA1704.jpg.
Bellini, San Giobbe Altarpiece. Accessed May 16, 2018. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/early-renaissance1/venice-early-ren/v/bellini-san-giobbe-altarpiece.
Bernini, Ecstasy of Saint Teresa. Accessed May 16, 2018. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/early-europe-and-colonial-americas/reformation-counter-reformation/v/bernini-ecstasy-of-st-theresa.
“Birth_of_Venus_Botticelli.Jpg (2435×1560).” Accessed May 16, 2018. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Birth_of_Venus_Botticelli.jpg.
Bondone, Giotto di. No. 6 Scenes from the Life of Joachim: 6. Meeting at the Golden Gate. between and 1306 1304. Fresco, Height: 200 cm (78.7 in); Width: 185 cm (72.8 in). Scrovegni Chapel. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giotto_di_Bondone_-_No.6_Scenes_from_the_Life_of_Joachim-_6.Meeting_at_the_Golden_Gate-_WGA09176.jpg.
Bosch, Hieronymus. Creation. Between and 1490 1480. Oil on panel, Height: 220 cm (86.6 in); Width: 195 cm (76.7 in). Museo del Prado. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hieronymus_Bosch_-The_Garden_of_Earthly_Delights-The_exterior(shutters).jpg.
———. The Garden of Earthly Delights. between and 1505 1480. Oil on panel, Height: 220 cm (86.6 in); Width: 390 cm (12.7 ft). Museo del Prado. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Garden_of_Earthly_Delights_by_Bosch_High_Resolution.jpg.
“Bosch, The Garden of Earthly Delights.” Khan Academy. Accessed May 16, 2018. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/northern/hieronymus-bosch/a/bosch-the-garden-of-earthly-delights.
“Botticelli’s Birth of Venus.” ItalianRenaissance.org, August 20, 2012. http://www.italianrenaissance.org/botticelli-birth-of-venus/.
“Ceiling - Vatican Museums.” Accessed May 16, 2018. http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/collezioni/musei/cappella-sistina/volta.html.
Correggio, Antonio da. English: Assumption of the Virgin. between and 1530 1526. Fresco, Height: 1,093 cm (11.9 yd); Width: 1,195 cm (13 yd). Parma Cathedral. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cathedral_(Parma)_-_Assumption_by_Correggio.jpg.
“Donatello’s David.” ItalianRenaissance.org, June 28, 2012. http://www.italianrenaissance.org/donatellos-david/.
Dürer, Albrecht. Self-Portrait. 1500. Oil on lime, 67.1 × 48.9 cm (26.4 × 19.2 in). Alte Pinakothek. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Albrecht_D%C3%BCrer_-1500_self-portrait(High_resolution_and_detail).jpg.
Eyck, Jan van. Untitled, Known in English as The Arnolfini Portrait, The Arnolfini Wedding, The Arnolfini Marriage, The Arnolfini Double Portrait, or Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and His Wife. 1434. Oil on panel, 82 × 59.5 cm (32.2 × 23.4 in). National Gallery. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Van_Eyck_-_Arnolfini_Portrait.jpg.
“File:Hans Holbein the Younger - The Ambassadors - Google Art Project.Jpg - Wikimedia Commons.” Accessed May 16, 2018. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hans_Holbein_the_Younger_-The_Ambassadors-_Google_Art_Project.jpg.
“File:Weyden Deposition.Jpg.” Wikipedia. Accessed May 16, 2018. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Weyden_Deposition.jpg.
“Great Works: Annunciation (1438-45), Fra Angelico | The Independent.” Accessed May 16, 2018. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/great-works/great-works-annunciation-1438-45-fra-angelico-2027376.html.
“Grünewald, Isenheim Altarpiece.” Khan Academy. Accessed May 16, 2018. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/early-europe-and-colonial-americas/renaissance-art-europe-ap/a/grnewald-isenheim-altarpiece.
Grünewald, Mathias. Retable d’Issenheim de Matthias Grünewald, (Vue Correcte Des Panneaux) - Colmar. 1512. Oil on panel. Unterlinden Museum. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grunewald_Isenheim.jpg.
“Hans Holbein the Younger | German Painter.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed May 16, 2018. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hans-Holbein-the-Younger.
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“Jan van Eyck | The Arnolfini Portrait | NG186 | National Gallery, London.” Accessed May 16, 2018. https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/jan-van-eyck-the-arnolfini-portrait.
July 4th, in Art |, and 2013 10 Comments. “The Genius of Albrecht Dürer Revealed in Four Self-Portraits.” Open Culture (blog). Accessed May 16, 2018. http://www.openculture.com/2013/07/the_genius_of_albrecht_durer_revealed_in_four_self-portraits.html.
“No. 6 Scenes from the Life of Joachim: 6. Meeting at the Golden Gate by GIOTTO Di Bondone.” Accessed May 16, 2018. https://www.wga.hu/html_m/g/giotto/padova/1joachim/joachi6.html.
Raphael. School of Athens, Raphael. 1511. Fresco, Height: 500 cm (16.4 ft); Width: 7.7 m (25.2 ft). Vatican Museums. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%22The_School_of_Athens%22_by_Raffaello_Sanzio_da_Urbino.jpg.
“Raphael, School of Athens.” Khan Academy. Accessed May 16, 2018. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/early-europe-and-colonial-americas/renaissance-art-europe-ap/a/raphael-school-of-athens.
Rodgers, original file by Patrick A. David. 32 1428. File:Florence - David by Donatello.jpg. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Donatello_-David-_Floren%C3%A7a.jpg.
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Titian. The Death of Actaeon. 75 1559. Painting, 178.4 cm x 198.1 cm (77.9 in). National Gallery. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Actaeon_FXD.jpg.
“Titian | The Death of Actaeon | NG6420 | National Gallery, London.” Accessed May 16, 2018. https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/titian-the-death-of-actaeon.
Vinci, Leonardo da. English: The Last Supper. 1498. Mixed technique, Height: 460 cm (15 ft); Width: 880 cm (28.8 ft). Santa Maria delle Grazie. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leonarda_da_vinci,_last_supper_02.jpg.
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