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.