Ch 21 Renaissance quatrocento italy

-stumble blindly expelled from eden
-hazy backgroud=no specific location but
-cry from eve voices anguish
-substantial body weight

dome on florence cathedral
design hospital degli innocenti (hospital of the innocents-orphanage)

-across from church (madonna would watch over infants)
-first building to embody new renaissance architectural style
-cubical segments (10 wide, tall, deep)
-color scheme- all white stucco, grey stone w/ blue roudels terrracotta baby in swaddled clothes

by brunelleschi
-part of santa croce church, monks chapter house
-one of first independent renaissance central plan buildings
-capels were burial sites and spaces for liturgical celebrations/commemorative services

expressions of piety and devotion, and donors to enhance their stature in community

piero della francesca
portrait of Federico with deceased wife
-combine profile views of roman coins w/ flemish landscape portraiture
-concealed disfigured right side of the face

by andrea mantegna
-perspective
-seems realstic, but feet had to be reduced in size
-intensely poignant bible tragedy depiction

master of perspective

Donatello
-introduced contraposto back into quattrocento sculpture
-drapery falls naturally & moves w/ body
-first renaissance statue that doesn’t conceal but actually accentuates movement of arms, legs, shoulders and hips

by donatello
-marks intro of rationalized perspective space
-two arched courtyards show the open space in distance

made possible scale drawings, maps, charts, graphs, and diagrams (foundation for modern science and technology)

ghiberti
-used linear perspective to create the illusion of distance
-also used sculptural aerial perspective (forms less distinct the deeper they are in space)
-vanishing point on central axis of composition

donatello
-revival of freestanding nude, contraposto
-david was a symbol of the florentine republic
-sensuous beauty of the greek gods

Donatello
grandest/most costly quattrocento portraits in roman tradition
-over life size bronze equestrian statues
-stands on a lofty base, apart from it’s surroundings (celebrates liberation of sculpture from architecture)
-human is actually proportionate to his horse–> shows might by force of character instead of sheer size
-dauntless resolution and unshakeable will

by masaccio
-story divided into three parts (inventive arrangement- circular around Jesus in spacious landscape)
-figures have greater psychological/physical credibility
-light comes from a source outside the picture
-illusion of deep scuptural relief
-suggest bones, muscles and pression and tension of joints (living, real and natural)
-perspective, vanishing point, and decreases brightness of colors to represent distance

botticelli
inspired by humanist poem
-revived theme of female nude
-elegant & linear style, romantic representation of venus, born of sea foam
-lightness, bodies move with the wind,

piero della francesca
-roman guards sleep while jesus is resurrected, guards foreshortened
-compositional triangle
-christ’s body is similar to greco-roman nude statues, w/ pastel cloak standing out from dark colors
-portrait-like face features
-tired eyes and somber expression are only indications of suffering

-masaccio
-premier example of application of math to depiction of space w/ perspective
-two levels of height
-donors in paintings
-breath taking illusion (dimensions of chapel can be assumed beecause of how exact his proportions were)
vanishing point is at foot of cross

Fra Angelico
-simple & direct fresco (simplicity & serenity)
-figure/architecture are pristine clarity
-devotional image

Verrocchio
-brash confidence
-narrative realism
-sturdy, wiry apprentice in leather w/ jaunty pride
-easy balance of weight, thin and muscular w/ prominent veins (shows he studied psychology of young men)

Andrea mantegna
-viewer becomes the viewed–> figures from above look down
-first perspective view of a ceiling from below
-first completely consistent illusionistic decoration of an entire room
-strongly foreshortened angels