The Renaissance, shrouded in an aura of creativity and intellectual excitement, resurrected not only works of art, but also the spirit of creativity in the very depths of society. During this period, spanning the 15th-16th centuries, artists, philosophers and scientists awakened the forgotten traditions of antiquity, striving for harmony and perfection in every dimension of life. Renaissance masters such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo not only perfected the art of painting and sculpture, but also proclaimed new standards of proportion and harmony, rising to the pinnacle of creative greatness and leaving a legacy that continues to inspire and delight our imagination for centuries.

Renaissance of Art: Rebirth of Aesthetics in the XV-XVI centuries

"Art never ends, only it is forgotten." Leonardo da Vinci

 

 

The Renaissance began in the 14th century and lasted until the 16th century. The beginning of the Renaissance was influenced by the fall of the Byzantine Empire: people began to flee en masse to Europe, taking with them books by the authors of Ancient Greece and Rome. This is how Europeans began to remember and “regenerate” the culture of Antiquity. Moreover, the people of the Renaissance believed that the dawn of art, philosophy and science was during the times of ancient Greece and Rome. And they called the Middle Ages “dark times.”

In the Middle Ages, art had an applied nature. It was meant to decorate daily life, such as tapestries on walls, bowls for religious ceremonies or the architecture of cathedrals. During the Renaissance this changed dramatically. Art acquired its own value and became an independent area of beauty.

Renaissance Chronology:

• Proto-Renaissance (2nd half of the 13th century - 14th century)
• Early Renaissance (beginning of the 14th - 1st half of the 15th century)
• High Renaissance (XV - first third of the 16th century)
• Late Renaissance (mid-16th - 1590s)

Main features of the era:

• Since the time of the proto-Renaissance, an appeal to the ancient heritage: the art and philosophy of ancient Greece and Rome. If in the Middle Ages scholasticism turned to the works of Aristotle, then the Renaissance praised Plato and Neoplatonism;
• The Renaissance is a time of transition from an artist-craftsman to an artist-creator, from an anonymous master to an author. Man becomes like God, he is a creator on earth, he is a supreme being created by the Almighty. The uniqueness of the human personality is valued. This trait is called anthropocentrism (anthropos - man);
• The Renaissance puts art and philosophy at the forefront, not theology. The predominance of the secular over the religious. A Renaissance man is a universally educated person, hence the humanism of the Renaissance. Origin is no longer so important, but what matters is how talented you are. Therefore, many Renaissance figures were far from being from noble families.

Accordingly, the status of the artist changed. He became not a craftsman who simply does his job, but a creator, a genius, an author with a capital A. In Renaissance society, artists were believed to have the knowledge and talent to create masterpieces. There was also interest in their biographies: people became interested in how the creator lived and lives.

For example, Giorgio Vasari wrote the book “The Lives of the Most Eminent Italian Architects, Painters and Sculptors” in 1550. In this work, the author included biographies and even funny stories about people of art.

Renaissance artists were versatile and often experimented. Typically, they used fresco techniques for the walls, tempera for the panels, and oil for the canvas. Oil paints made it possible to show more details in the painting, because by the end of the 15th century AD. most major artists used them.

Depending on the location, there were different painting styles and techniques. For example, the technique of coloring (or colorito) was prevalent in Venice, where contrasting colors were used to create and define a harmonious composition. Other techniques refined by Renaissance artists include chiaroscuro (the contrasting use of light and shadow) and sfumato (the transition of light to darker tones).

 

The subject matter of the paintings was another opportunity for experimentation. Many works of art during the Renaissance depicted religious images, including the Virgin Mary or the Madonna. Today they are seen as great works of art, but at the time they were seen and used primarily as religious objects.

Many Renaissance works were painted as altarpieces for Catholic rituals. Artists gave such works to their patrons, who sponsored them. In addition to sacred images, many of the works depicted domestic themes such as marriage, birth, and daily family life.

Distinctive Features of the Renaissance Genius: Art, Science and Philosophy

“Sculpture is already in stone; art only liberates it.” Michelangelo

 

 

Italy is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, because Italy is the direct heir of ancient culture in Western Europe. The Proto-Renaissance, with its increased secularism compared to past traditions in painting during the times of the Ducento (1200s) and the Trecento (1300s), paved the way for a new humanism.

It is noteworthy that Rome, the eternal city that remained for a millennium under the yoke of barbarians, never forgot about its former glory, but the primacy in the revival of ancient thought belonged not to Rome, but to Florence. Titans of the Renaissance create in Florence: Brunelleschi, Alberti, Donatello, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael. In Florence, Plato and other Greek philosophers were first translated into Latin. The Byzantine philosopher Gemestius Pleto, the Florentines Marsilio Ficino, Pico della Mirandolla, with the light hand of the main philanthropist of the Renaissance Lorenzo Medici, Lorenzo the Magnificent, founded the so-called “Plato Academy”, where they shared their innovative humanistic ideas. Actually, the thinkers of the Renaissance are called not so much philosophers as humanists, since many of them did not have an integral philosophical system.

What are the main characteristics of Renaissance art?

1) Interest in depicting the basic elements of classical art, especially the shapes and proportions of the human body.

2) Interest in the history of contemporary art and a constant path of development.

3) A mixture of pagan and religious iconography, but with humanity at the center.

4) A penchant for monumentality and dramatic poses.

5) Development of an accurate mathematical perspective.

6) Interest in hyper-realistic and detailed portraits, scenes and landscapes.

7) Interest in using bright colors, shades and capturing light effects.

8) Using subtle shapes and everyday objects to add extra meaning.

9) Increasing the prestige of artists as the best masters, combining intellectual knowledge with practical skills.

Time for a turning point.

 

The Proto-Renaissance (XIII - XIV centuries) not only laid the foundations for a future revolution, it was the time of the birth of radically new ideas. On the one hand, the affirmation of scholasticism with its motto of Thomas Aquinas “Philosophy is the handmaiden of theology”, on the other hand, its denial. Philosophers such as the Scot Duns Scott, the German mystic Master Eckhart, and Nicholas of Cusa form a completely new idea of man and his place in the universe. Man becomes not just a creation of God (a created being), man is a person through whom God knows himself, through whom God manifests himself in all his fullness. The philosophy of Nicholas of Cusa had a huge influence on the art of the northern Renaissance, filled with pantheism and the divine.

In the works of the founders of the Northern Renaissance, Robert Campin and Rogier van der Weyden, one can clearly see how the same idea of pantheism was embodied in painting.

Robert Campin, "Madonna and Child with a Book by the Fireplace"

 

Rogier van der Weyden, "Altarpiece of Saint Colomb", Fragment

 

Also an excellent example is the work of the unknown Dutch master XV “Madonna of Humility”. This is no longer a schematic sacred image of Byzantine icons. The Madonna tenderly looks motherly at little Christ, in whose hands the apple fruit is a symbol of salvation. But he does not deliberately show it to the viewer, but, like a child, plays with it. Objects seem to live their own quiet life, unobtrusively revealing the image. This image of the Madonna in an enclosed garden alludes to the virgin conception of Mary, and the white lilies represent her innocence. Small red flowers are a symbol of the sacrificial blood of Jesus.

 

In general, to understand Renaissance painting, you need to look closely at it. Aby Warburg's famous phrase “God is in the details” has direct relevance to Renaissance art.

Geniuses of Brushes and Mosaics: Meet the Artists Laying the Foundations of the Renaissance

“Art is never to be understood completely. That is its greatness.”, Raphael

 

  

Leonardo Da Vinci was the ideal Renaissance man. He was an artist, mathematician, engineer, architect, botanist, sculptor and anatomist. Da Vinci's diaries show that he applied a scientific approach and observation to the outside world. Leonardo also had knowledge of anatomy, light, and botany, which helped him create masterpieces.

He made many contributions to the field of art, including the innovative technique known as sfumato - a smooth transition from light to shadow. Chiaroscuro is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark to achieve a three-dimensional effect.

Interestingly, Leonardo used the golden ratio in his paintings. This is a special number (equal to approximately 1.618) that appears many times in geometry, art and architecture.

 

Michelangelo Buonarroti was a "universal genius." In addition to painting and sculpture, he wrote more than 300 poems. During his lifetime, Michelangelo was often called Il Divino ("the divine"). After his death, artists tried to imitate the passionate, highly personal style, which led to Mannerism. Michelangelo was considered the greatest artist during his lifetime, and since then the opinion about him has not changed.

 

Raphael was the most popular artist of the Renaissance. Together with Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci, he forms the traditional trinity of Renaissance geniuses. Until the end of the 19th century, his work was revered more than any other artist. Raphael was a master of realistic depiction of emotions, which brought his paintings to life. Features of the style include clarity of form, ease of composition and visual splendor.

 

Botticelli was one of the greatest humanist artists of the early Renaissance. He sought to capture beauty and virtue in his works, and painted a wide range of paintings on mythological and religious subjects. His art is noted for its visual brilliance and decorative qualities not found in the paintings of subsequent Renaissance artists.

 

In the next article, we will introduce you to some more of the greatest artists of the Renaissance, whose works spanned a wide range of art genres, including sculpture, architecture, and even illustration. Diving into the work of these masters, we will look at how they made their unique contribution to art and what ideas they embodied in their works. We also remind you that our catalog contains paintings that embody the Renaissance and other historical eras, providing an opportunity to experience the greatness of the past through art.