Early Renaissance VS. High Renaissance

When looking through the art works of the Early Renaissance and the High Italian Renaissance you can see there are characteristic that are certainly the same and yet there are others that differ. In high renaissance there is less usage of religious figures and there is no more use of the halo around Jesus’ head. They create art to look more real, they have strong interest in anatomy.  Early renaissance art they were more interested in idealism along with naturalism. High renaissance also has moved away from the triangular compositions and started creating pyramidal compositions instead as you can see in the painting by Leonardo “The Virgin of the Rocks”.  There are some similarities between early and high renaissance art. As you see in the painting by Sandro Botticelli “Primavera” there are some great gestures that the people are making which creates harmony. Both early and high renaissance have that sense of harmony and balance.

In the painting by Botticelli you can see that there is the sense of the triangular composition. You see that Venus is in the center while there are other people on the left and right of her, thus creating that triangle. It looks as if some of the people are making eye contact with the viewer. That is also seen in the painting of “The Virgin of the Rocks”.  That is also another characteristic of the high renaissance period. You can see people coming out of the painting thus creating that pyramidal composition. There are four figures, the child, the virgin in the center, and then in the foreground there is the Christ child and the angle. The virgin’s hand is also foreshortened that it creates that illusion that they are coming out at you. They create that pyramid along with creating harmony. Another part of this painting that creates that harmony is the gestures of the people they are leaning in, kneeling and the angle pointing. Each gesture brings your eye around the painting. In Botticelli’s painting there is that sense of perfection with the figures. Each person has a natural stance and natural features. Each feature of the figures is painted with perfection, but with the painting by Leonardo there is more of realism. You can clearly see the natural flaws of the children’s skin and curves.

             Each period of Early and High renaissance have differences, the pyramidal and triangular compositions, but yet they also have their similarities, somewhat of a naturalism and realism. Idealism was used more in the early renaissance and high renaissance had more realism in the artwork.

            Dynamic unity I think has to do with the way that you can tell what is happening in each of the artwork.  There are helpful factors in early renaissance art and in high renaissance art. However with the two paintings I have mentioned I think there is more dynamic unity in the painting by Botticelli. I think you can tell more about what is going on because it looks like the people in the painting are having a celebration while in the painting by Leonardo it is hard to tell what they are doing. I think it has to do with their placement in the painting along with the use of sfumato, smoky look to the painting. I just feel it was harder to understand the story of this painting verse the Botticelli painting. Both have their unique characteristics and styles. Each creates that naturalism and realism look, but some have more illusionism. Both also have different composition styles. Both periods have created great works of art that tell stories of the past, and all are done with naturalism in mind. 

Early Renaissance in Italy

In the fifteenth-century Northern Renaissance art was composed of religious figures and they were created with such naturalism. Viewing art from Italy they still use naturalism and religious figures, but they also add other qualities to their art. Such as idealism and humanism. They even paint the Gods and Goddesses as well. Plato’s writings were popular in Italy and the artwork is a representation of his idealism.

In the painting by Sandro Botticelli “Birth of Venus” you can see a great deal of idealism and you also see naturalism. Venus is the roman Goddess of love. The painting tells the story of the birth of Venus and how she was blown to shore on a shell. In the painting you can see depth and balance in the painting.  Early renaissance created balance, depth, harmony and perfection. Also had an interest in illusionism.

There is one main figure in the center, Venus, and there are figures on each side of her, Zephyr’s on the left and a woman on the right.  Zephyr’s is the one blowing Venus to shore and the woman is welcoming her and is giving her a cloak. The two figures on each side of Venus give the painting more balance. Your eye looks at Venus first because she is in the center, and she is the most important in the painting. While your eye travels outward towards the others you gain more of the painting and its story.

The shoreline in the back gives you a sense that there is depth to the photograph. You can see that the use of colors also helps the effect of depth. The use of the whites, blues, and greens in the sea gives the viewer a sense of movement. The waves in the painting don’t look very natural they are more stylized. The waves being stylized show us again that there is that use of idealism. The leaves on the trees show this as well. There is so much perfection in the leaves and the waves that it takes away from the naturalism. The horizon line is fuzzier and has a bluish tint, and makes it seem further away. You can probably say that maybe the depth of this painting is just an illusion. That might be true but not everything is illusionistic.

Along with balance there is harmonious lines that create a triangle. The use of lines gives a movement from figure to figure; they move your eye throughout the painting. Since Zephyr is leaning in towards Venus and the woman is also leaning in towards her this created that sense of the triangle. The composition of the painting has more energy than just the figure of Venus. The lines of Venus seem to lead out into the other objects, which create that movement of energy.

A nude young woman with gold hair illustrates Venus. Botticelli’s Venus is one of the first non-biblical female nudes. People being nude is said to be classical and it celebrates the human body, along with idealism.  Woman in the nude is usually associated with sexuality. The convention Venus pudica is the modest Venus, you can see her trying to cover up her breast with her hands, and she is even using her hair to cover her genitalia. Her trying to cover herself up draws attention to her sexuality. In the painting you see Venus standing on a shell. She is standing with her legs slightly bent and this creates that weight shift which makes her look more naturalistic. She looks very naturalistic in her stance but her body still seems to have a great deal of perfection. Her hair also shows great perfection how it is blowing in the wind and its long and gold. Her golden hair sweeps gracefully over her body to hide her modesty.  Zephyr and the woman also show the idealism in the painting along with the waves and the roses, and leaves on the trees. The waves and the leaves are paint with such detail that they are more idealistic.

Early renaissance art has both naturalism and idealism, you can tell because everything looks so real but yet the people just look so perfect. Idealism came to play when people read the works of Plato. There are many works of art in the early renaissance that had balance, depth, harmony and perfection. As you can see in Botticelli’s painting the “Birth of Venus.” 

Northern Renaissance: The Supreme Art

      After watching the documentary “Northern Renaissance: The Supreme Art.” I realized that the Northern Renaissance showed a very naturalistic style of art. The works of art such as the “The Ghent Altarpiece” by Jan Van Eyke, you get the sense that the people in the painting are there with you rather than just a painting. As they said in the documentary it looks as if the portrait of Adam is going to walk right off the painting. It was also very interesting that Jan Van Eyke put so much detail into this piece; he even made light reflections on the gems from the room in which the piece is made for. The size of this work of art is something important as well; it was made for a church in Belgium so it has to be big. The hierocracy of God is shown in the piece. He is directly in the center and is the biggest. This work of art is another that shows great importance in religion.

       In all these paintings there is another shared quality they all have and that is they are showing great importance in the Christian religion. Especially when you look at the sculpture of the “Well of Moses”. In this statue there it shows the large Biblical figures. Each of the prophets carries a scroll and Moses has a long flowing beard. There is so much detail in the sculptures as well as the paintings done in the northern renaissance. Many of the works of art in this era have very clear and elegant style and look to them. Jan Van Eyke was the creator and made painting into the ultimate art. His work of art was so real looking and he would include himself in his own work. In the documentary they said with art the dead could be seen again, they were referring to the portrait of Adam on the Ghent Altarpiece. I think that it is an interesting point to bring up because it is so true. It is crazy to think that people can picture history and then recreate it. Jan Van Eyke does a really great job at creating art. Everything has so much detail and looks naturalistic. Even in the self-portrait looks so real, and the painting “The Arnolfini Portrait” there is a chandelier hanging and there is only one candle on it. I am not quit sure of the meaning behind the single candle, but I am sure there is one. As you look closer into the painting you see that in the mirror he goes to great detail of painting their reflections. Also on the mirror there is scenes from the Bible, again showing religion is important in Northern Renaissance. 

       I think that the paintings that were created were there to reproduce the historical events, especially ones from the bible. Each of the naturalistic paintings, sculptures, or tapestries has allowed viewers to see them as if they were real. There are several fine details and you have to really look in the painting because at first glance they are unnoticed. This goes to show that naturalism and religion play a big part in the culture of Northern Renaissance. 

Northern Renaissance: The Supreme Art

Intro to Renaissance Art

The Renaissance era is held at such high standards to because it was such a beautiful part of history.  The beautiful artwork, sculptures, and architecture that came from the Renaissance era are what make our culture embrace it. The art mostly came around the middle ages but the artwork was made after the wealthy or religious. I think people are drawn to the art from the Renaissance because the clarity and use of colors in their art. Some of the portraits they have of people are so well done they look like photographs. In the 15^th century I think that people are intrigued over the large statues. There is so much detail in them, and lots tell stories of the past. Most people like the 16^th century artwork because it has to do with religion or the church.  For example many people know about The Last Super done by Leonardo Da Vinci. People know about The Last Super because it has been seen over and over in their lives. Another famous artwork of his from this century in the Mona Lisa; people are drawn to these artworks because they are so clear and have a great use of color.

I think people like Renaissance art better than other art because that is seen as original art and that they might think that art today is just not the same. I think that we are so familiar with the big named artist of the Renaissance period because they have been seen in movies, or their names have been in movies. We have become so familiar with these names and their works of art because of society tells us we should. I am not so sure exactly why Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Raphael are the most important artists from the Renaissance but I have heard their names more often than not.