Mannerism and Renaissance

North

“Extreme Renaissance”

•What happened after the High Renaissance?•Time of crisis that gave rise to competing tendencies (kind of like today)•Originally “Mannerism” was a negative term- used for mid-16th century painters whose style was artificial but now seen as a group of artists who looked inward instead of at the natural world for their vision

Florentino, Descent From the Cross, 1521

•Rebel in Florence!•Unreal light, disquieting and creepy•Figures are agitated yet rigid

Parmigianino, Self Portrait, 1524

•Distortions are scientifically based•Showed that inner views are skewed-there is no single correct reality

Parmgianino, The Madonna with the Long Neck, 1535

•Influenced by Raphael’s paintings•His style changed to elongated figures, very smooth- ideal beauty does not copy nature•Artificial background- nothing is based on reality, unearthly perfection

Sofonisba Anguissola, Portrait of the Artist’s Sister Minerva, 1559

•First woman artist example since Greece!•First widely recognized celebrity woman artist

Tintoretto, The Maundy (Christ Washing The Feet of His Disciples), 1547

•Jacobo Titntoretto, Venetian, 1518-94•Very emotional, unreal light, sudden lights and darks•Michelangeloesque figures

El Greco, Burial of Count Orgaz, 1586

•Domenikos Theotocopoulos (1541-1614), worked in Venice•Settled in Spain, but saw the great works of the High Renaissance•Counter Reformation, which was intense in Spain effected his emotional work•Count Orgaz was a medieval benefactor of the church•Represented as a contemporary event•Top of painting- figures are sweeping and flamelike

•Color and texture rivals Titian•Painting fills an entire wall of a chapel•Below the painting is a box that looks like a coffin- meant to show that action continues- unites the visual world with the real world

El Greco, Portrait of a Cardinal, 1600

•Master at portraiture•Religious leaders were seen as mystics and intellectuals at the same time

Correggio, Jupiter and Antiope, 1523

•Correggio was seen as a “Proto-Baroque” Artist•Northern Italian but was influenced by the Renaissance masters•For him, spiritual and physical ecstasy were one and the same•Uses Leonardo’s sfumato•Beautiful sense of color like the Venetians (Titian)•Artist had no immediate successors but his work was widely appreciated unlike the mannerists

Bologna, Rape of the Sabine Woman, 1583

•The most important sculptor in Florence in the latter half of the 16th c.•Not really a lot of new sculptor talent in the later 16th c.- perhaps because of Michelangelo•Was untitled- the artist just wanted to show three figures in physical turmoil- critics gave it its name•Not really concerned with subject matter•Purpose was to solve a formal problem•Looks like choreography rather than pathos

Palladio, Villa Rotunda, 1567-70

•Mannerist architecture is hard to define•Palladio was 2nd only to Michelangelo during this time period•Thought that architecture should be governed by reason and by certain universal rules perfected during ancient times•Believed in cosmic significance of numerical rations-practiced classicism•Villa Rotunda is a residence, shaped like a temple (he was convinced that Roman buildings were also shaped like this)

Palladio, S. Giorgio Maggiore, Venice, 1565

•Made a classically integrated façade on a basilican church•Integrated a tall and a wide temple design

Grunewald, The Crucifixion, 1510

Renaissance North

•Italian ideas swept north around 1500•Germany had two masters- Grunewald and Durer•Grunewald remained relatively unknown•Main work was The Isenheim Altarpiece•Seen as the most impressive crucifixion ever painted•Grief shown is very Medieval•Jesus is both human and monumental

•Crucifixion is taken out of its familiar surroundings-in darkness yet bathed in bright light- symbolic and realistic at the same time

Grunewald, The Resurrection, 1510-15

•More jubilant mood•Light is extremely bold, full of vibrant energy•Color is rich and full•Knowledge of perspective came from Italy•Psychologically impacted by the Renaissance in Italy

Durer, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, 1497-8

•Albrecht Durer 1471-1528•Greatest printmaker of his time•Visited Italy and bought into the Artist as Genius idea and the rational rules of Renaissance art•Subject of the Four Horsemen suggests the work of Schoengauer, but figures are Renaissance-based•This is a woodcut, but the medium has become as expressive as engraving

Durer, Self Portrait, 1500

•First artist to be fascinated with his own image•Christ-like pose- showing not conceit, but how seriously Durer regarded his mission as artistic reformer•Invented a devise for producing an image by mechanical means to demonstrate the validity of perspective- first step towards the principle of the camera

Holbein the Younger, Erasmus of Rotterdam, 1523

•Hans Holbein the Younger 1497-1543•Continued the portrait tradition of Durer•Lived in Switzerland (German born)•Memorable image of a true Renaissance man

Holbein, Henry VIII, 1540

•Went to England and became court painter of Henry VIII•Immobile pose, air of unaproachability •Precisely rendered jewelry and costume•Molded British aristocracy’s taste for decades

Pieter Aertsen, The Meat Stall, 1551

•In the Netherlands, there were less and less commissions for religious paintings because of the strictness of the atmosphere (counter reformation)•Landscape, still-life, and Genre scenes became important•Meat stall- a completely secular picture- no interest in formal arrangements-just heaps of meat (mmm!)•Meant to impress us with its detail (4’X12’)

Bruegel The Elder, The Return of the Hunters, 1565•Explored landscapes and peasant life- know little about him. •Very educated, a humanist, never worked for the Church•Visited Italy, but was not impressed with the masters- returned with landscape drawings instead•This painting is a descendant of Lindbourg’s February- landscape is more important than the people- rhythm of nature is the subject matter

Bruegel the Elder, Peasant Wedding, c.1565

•Crude, heavy people yet respected in Bruegel’s view•Limited modeling and flat colors, space is in linear perspective-attention to detail makes the event seem as important as a biblical scene- maybe because peasant life is the ideal life for him?

Bruegal the Elder, Fall of Icarus

What is the philosophy behind this painting- What is Bruegal trying to say?

Chateau of Chambord, 1519

•France had a hard time adopting classical architecture- took a while for Gothic traditions to change•Based on Gothic design on the outside, but its plan is much more geometric and regular- more Italian

Pierre Lescot, Square Court of the Louvre, 1546

•Lescot was very influenced by Bramante and his ideas•This design is a blending of Italian and French ideas -can you pick each influence out?