Caravaggio's Raking Light

Caravaggio's Calling of Saint Matthew, San Luigi dei Francesi, Rome
Picture taken by Cava H.

Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi) received commissions from Cardinal Francesco Del Monte to create paintings honoring Saint Matthew for the Contrarelli chapel in the church of San Luigi dei Francesi in Rome. In The Calling of Saint Matthew, the setting is a tavern, a commonplace setting typical of Caravaggio's paintings. In the scene, Christ emerges from the darkness on the right. He summons Levi, the Roman tax collector, and Levi's face is highlighted by a beam of light emanating from an unspecified source (raking light) outside the picture. Christ's hand gesture is similar to the hand gesture in Michelangelo's Creation of Adam in the Sistine Chapel. Caravaggio showed naturalism in his paintings by portraying unidealized figures set in harsh and realistic settings. The stark contrast of light and dark was a unique feature of Caravaggio's painting style. He manipulated light to heighten the emotional impact in his paintings. Caravaggio's painting style influenced many artists throughout Europe.

The Welcoming Arms of St. Peter's

St. Peter's, Vatican City, Rome
Picture taken by Cava H.

Colonnade of St. Peter's piazza, Vatican City, Rome
Picture taken by Cava H.

The energy of the Counter-Reformation was evident in the architecture of the 17^th century as several popes rebuilt Rome to showcase the power of the Catholic Church. In 1625, Gianlorenzo Bernini received a commission from Pope Urban VIII to design the piazza in front of St. Peter's in Rome. An obelisk brought from Egypt by the ancient Romans and a fountain constructed by Maderno in front of the church had to be incorporated into Bernini's design. Bernini designed two colonnades made up of four rows of huge Tuscan columns. The colonnades terminate in classical temple fronts. The colonnades symbolize the welcoming arms of the Roman Catholic Church and create a dramatic gesture of embrace to all who enter the piazza. The scale and theatricality of St. Peter's served the Catholic Church's desire to reestablish its authority. In contrast to the orderly rationality of Renaissance art, St. Peter's showcases the dramatic, theatrical, and elaborate style of Baroque art and architecture.

Raphael's “School of Athens” (Vasari)

Raphael's School of Athens (Philosophy), Stanza della Segnatura
Picture taken by Cava H. 

In 1509, Raphael was commissioned by Pope Julius II to decorate the papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican. One of the rooms Raphael painted was the Stanza della Segnatura, the papal library. Raphael painted images symbolizing the four branches of human knowledge and wisdom on the four walls of the Stanza della Segnatura – theology, law (justice), poetry, and philosophy. His philosophy mural, School of Athens, depicts a gathering of great philosophers and scientists. According to Vasari, “there are Aristotle and Plato...while around them a large school of philosophers form a circle.” Raphael included a portrait of the architect Bramante and his own self-portrait in the mural. The setting is a large hall with massive vaults. Vasari stated that Raphael “adorned this painting with perspective” and that “the entire scene is arranged with such order and measure that it truly proved his self worth.” The balance and clarity of Raphael's painting demonstrate the artistic style of the High Renaissance.

New Sacristy (Medici Chapel)

Medici Chapel, San Lorenzo
Picture taken by Cava H.

In 1519, Michelangelo was commissioned by the Medici popes to build a funerary chapel, the New Sacristy, attached to the Basilica of San Lorenzo. Michelangelo sculpted tombs of Giuliano and Lorenzo Medici at opposite sides of the New Sacristy. Instead of sculpting the likenesses of Giuliano and Lorenzo, Michelangelo sculpted Giuliano alert and clad in the armor of a Roman emperor, holding a commander's baton. Lorenzo is depicted deep in thought. The sculptures of Giuliano and Lorenzo illustrate the neo-platonic concept of active versus contemplative life. They also symbolize two ways for humans to achieve union with God. Below Giuliano's sculpture, Michelangelo carved a female and a male figure representing Night and Day. The muscular female figure appears masculine because Michelangelo used male models even for his female figures. The figures are tense and twisted in anguish, similar to the twisting of bodies in his “Bound Slave” sculptures and in his Sistine Chapel paintings. Michelangelo's style shows a gradual move from Renaissance art towards Mannerism. 

Bramante and High Renaissance Architecture

Saint Peter's, Vatican City
Picture taken by Cava H.

Donato D'Angelo Bramante was born in Urbino and trained as a painter. He went to Milan in 1481, and abandoned painting to become an architect. Bramante developed the High Renaissance form of the central-plan church under the influence of Filippo Brunelleschi, Leon Battista Alberti, and Leonardo. While the Early Renaissance style of architecture emphasized detailing flat wall surfaces, High Renaissance architecture was more sculptural. Bramante favored the architecture and art of classical antiquity. He was inspired by the round temples of Roman Italy, and his first major work in the classical style was the Tempietto (“Little Temple”). The Tempietto's dome, drum, and base are in balance and harmony to one another and to the whole. The plan is round and the elevated base isolates it from its surroundings. Bramante's Tempietto started the architecture style of the High Renaissance. Pope Julius II chose Bramante to design a replacement for the church of Old Saint Peter's. Bramante designed a central-plan church consisting of a Greek cross with each arm terminating in an apse. However, the construction of Saint Peter's was not completed in Bramante's lifetime. After his death, the work was passed to Michelangelo, who modified Bramante's design.

Painting the Sistine Chapel (Vasari)

Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo
Picture taken by Cava H.

The Sistine Chapel was built by Pope Sixtus IV in the Vatican palace. In memory of his uncle Sixtus, Pope Julius II asked Michelangelo to paint the vault of the Sistine chapel. Michelangelo did not welcome this task, and tried to recommend others for the job. He considered painting the vault a difficult task, and preferred to continue to work on Julius II's tomb. The more he refused, the more the pope insisted that Michelangelo paint the ceiling. In order to reach the ceiling, Michelangelo built his own scaffolding on poles which did not touch the wall. Vasari stated that the “frescoes were done with the greatest discomfort, for he had to stand there working with his head tilted backwards, and it damaged his eyesight so much that he could no longer read or look at drawings if his head was not tilted backwards.” Michelangelo painted figures in various poses, some holding garlands of oak and acorn leaves representing the coat of arms and insignia of Pope Julius II. According to Vasari, the “work has been and truly is the beacon of our art, and it has brought such benefit and enlightenment to the art of painting.”

The Eye of the Artist (Vasari)

Michelangelo's unfinished Pieta
Picture taken by Cava H.

Michelangelo was commissioned by a French cardinal in Rome to create a marble Pieta to be placed in Saint Peter's in the Chapel of the Madonna della Febbre. Vasari stated that no sculptor “could ever reach this level of design and grace, nor could he, even with hard work, ever finish, polish, and cut the marble as skillfully as Michelangelo did here, for in this statue all the worth and power of sculpture is revealed.” Michelangelo carved Mary cradling the dead body of Christ in her lap with a pyramid of drapery. The size of the figures are not proportional for the sake of the composition of the sculpture. According to Vasari, “Michelangelo departed in a significant way from the measures, orders, and rules men usually employ, following Vitruvius and the ancients, because he did not wish to repeat them.” Michelangelo believed that pleasing proportions could be identified with the artist's judgment. Vasari stated that Michelangelo declared “that it was necessary to have a good eye for measurement rather than a steady hand, because the hands work while the eyes make judgments....” Such beliefs marked the beginning of the ideas of artist as genius and conceptual art. Fifty years after carving the Roman Pieta, Michelangelo began carving another Pieta intended for his own tomb. This Pieta was left unfinished.

Michelangelo's David

Copy of Michelangelo's David at Piazza della Signoria
Picture taken by Cava H.

In 1501, the Florentine Cathedral building committee invited Michelangelo to create a David statue for the Pallazo della Signoria. Michelangelo carved the statue out of a large, tall, and narrow block of marble that had been previously used by another artist. While others had abandoned the piece of marble and deemed it useless, Michelangelo was able to carve a masterpiece out of it. Michelangelo represented David in heroic classical nudity, sternly watching his approaching enemy. Michelangelo admired Greco-Roman statues, and David's torso is derived from the 2^nd century sculpture of Apollo Belvedere. David's physique is rendered with skill, precision, and grace. While David's body appears classical, his head and facial expression capture Renaissance ideas. David's focused facial expression creates emotional tension and alludes to an opposing force beyond the statue. Instead of the calm, ideal beauty seen in earlier art, Michelangelo's sculpture channels pent-up emotion and tension. Michelangelo's passions and emotions are clearly evident in his beautiful sculptures. The David was moved from the Palazzo Vecchio to the Galleria dell'Accademia in the 19^th centurey to prevent further damage.

Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper" (Vasari)

Leonardo da Vinci
http://www.123rf.com

Leonardo da Vinci was commissioned by Dominican friars to paint Last Supper in the refectory of the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan. In the painting, Jesus and his twelve disciples sit at a long table in a large room. Vasari stated that Leonardo “had imagined and succeeded in expressing the suspicion the Apostles experienced when they sought to discover who would betray their master.” Leonardo was the quintessential “Renaissance man” and a true artist-scientist. His paintings benefited greatly from his scientific investigations and innumerable interests. To prepare for the painting, Leonardo read the Gospel story carefully and studied human figures using live models. He painted each figure to express a certain charge and emotion. According to Vasari, the disciples' “faces show their love, fear, and indignation, or, rather, sorrow, over being unable to grasp Christ's meaning.” Leonardo used his great knowledge about the world to create a psychologically complex painting.

Botticelli's "Birth of Venus"

Sandro Botticelli's Birth of Venus
Picture taken by Professor S. Haynes

Sandro Botticelli's Birth of Venus was inspired by a Greek myth in Angelo Poliziano's poem. In the painting, Venus is born of sea foam and standing on a cockle shell. Zhephyrus, god of the west wind, carries goddess Chloris and blows Venus to Cyprus, her sacred island. On Cyprus, the nymph Pomona meets Venus with a brocaded mantle. Nude figures were extremely rare in the Middle Ages, but the nude depiction of Venus was accepted in the more accommodating culture of the Renaissance, especially under the protection of the Medici. Birth of Venus also has Neo-Platonic interpretations as an allegory of divine love. Neo-Platonism attempted to reconcile pagan ideas with Christian beliefs. Marsilio Ficino, an influential humanist philosopher during the Renaissance, explained that when humans see physical beauty, they will reflect on spiritual and divine beauty. Unlike the advances in perspective demonstrated by many Renaissance painters, Birth of Venus has a flat background. Botticelli's linear style emphasizes his interest in two-dimensional images.

Masaccio's "Baptism of the Neophytes" (Vasari)

Masaccio's "Baptism of the Neophytes" (upper fresco)
Picture taken by Cava H.

Between 1424 and 1427, Masaccio worked with Masolino on the frescoes of the Brancacci Chapel in the church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence. After the death of Masolino, Masaccio was given the commission. In the “Baptism of the Neophytes,” Masaccio shows physical and psychological realism in the manner in which he paints the figures in the scene. The postures, musculature, and skeletal structures of the two nude figures are natural and realistic. In the kneeling figure, water is shown dripping down his hair, and his knees and feet are submerged in the cold water. The viewer feels empathy for the standing figure on the right as he stands shivering, arms around his body and knees bent. According to Vasari, “a very fine nude figure, shown shivering among those being baptized, numb with cold, is executed with the most beautiful relief and the sweetest style.” Masaccio contributed greatly to Italian Renaissance painting in a short span of six years. Countless painters, including Michelangelo Buonarroti, have studied his works in the Brancacci Chapel.

Fra Angelico's Simple and Direct Style

Fra Angelico's "Anunciation" at top of stairs in monastery of San Marco
Picture taken by Cava H.

Fra Angelico was a Dominican monk who lived and worked in the church of San Marco in Florence from 1438 to 1450. The abbot of the monastery of San Marco asked Fra Angelico to paint frescoes for the monastery in the late 1430s. At the top of the cells leading to the friars' cells, Fra Angelico painted “Anunciation,” the scene of the Virgin Mary and the Archangel Gabriel. The scene is simple and serene, appropriate for its function as a devotional image. The figures in the scene are slender and elegant in the international Gothic style. The angel's wings are colorful and resemble bird wings, suggesting that Fra Angelico had studied bird wings while he painted. At the base of the image is an inscription cautioning passersby to honor Mary: “As you venerate, while passing before it, this figure of the intact Virgin beware lest you omit to say a Hail Mary.” The fresco shows Renaissance perspective in the classical architecture and the way the columns recede towards a vanishing point, but its primary concern was not humanism. The simple and direct paintings of Fra Angelico served the Roman Catholic Church.    

Brunelleschi's Dome (Vasari)

Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore towering above Florence
Picture taken by Cava H.

Filippo Brunelleschi designed and solved the problem of building the massive dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. According to Vasari, the dome “appears equal to the mountains around Florence.” The dome was the highest ever built at the time, and had to be as light as possible. Brunelleschi solved the weight problem by designing a double shelled dome. To better disperse the weight of the dome, Brunelleschi used the herringbone pattern of brickwork that he learned from the Romans. Brunelleschi also invented many devices to aid in the construction of the dome, such as cantilever scaffolding and a hoisting machine. Vasari describes how it was disruptive and time-consuming for workers to go down the dome to eat and drink, so Brunelleschi “found a way to open eating places with kitchens on the dome, where he sold wine as well, and in this fashion no one left the work until the evening.” Brunelleschi's engineering skills, innovations, and devotion enabled him to reach new heights in Renaissance architecture.

Harmony in Architecture

Church of Santa Maria Novella
Picture taken by Cava H.

Ancient ideals of beauty based on harmony and proportion were revived in Italian Renaissance architecture by Leon Battista Alberti. Alberti studied the ancient Roman architectural treatise of Vitruvius, and applied the classical formula to his works. According to Vitruvius, the circle and the square derived from the human body provided the model for proportion. Harmony is achieved when parts of a building are proportionally related to the whole. Alberti applied such principles when he designed the facade of the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. The facade of the church fits into a square (its width equals its height). The upper structure fits into a square that is one-fourth the size of the square of the entire facade. To cover the sloping roofs on the sides of the church, Alberti designed two scrolls that frame the upper “classical temple” part of the facade. The scrolls also unite the narrow upper part with the broad lower part of the church facade. The mathematical proportions of the building create a sense of calmness and balance that demonstrate the Renaissance ideal of beauty and harmony.

Siena's Palazzo Pubblico

Palazzo Pubblico in Siena
Picture taken by Cava H.

Examples of secular themes in late Trecento Italian art were Ambrogio Lorenzetti's frescoes in Siena's Palazzo Pubblico. Ambrogio's frescoes on three walls in the Sala della Pace (Hall of Peace) of the Palazzo were commissioned by council members and addressed Sienese civic concerns. The subjects of the frescoes are Allegory of Good Government, Bad Government and the Effects of Bad Government in the City, and Effects of Good Government in the City and in the Country. In Effects of Good Government in the City and in the Country, Ambrogio depicts the city with walls, towers, churches, palaces, markets, and streets. Life is peaceful as people chat in groups, men work on the roof of a building, merchants sell their goods, and girls dance in a circle. There is order, unity of elements, and people are happy. Outside the city walls, the Tuscan countryside is lush with crops. A hunting party with dogs sets out, while peasants are busy at work in the farmlands. There is an abundance of food, and people live their lives freely and without fear. An allegorical figure of Security holds a scroll with a message promising safety to all who live under Sinese law. The fresco illustrates a peaceful, well-run state, and shows the Sienese tradition of detail and color.

Gates of Paradise

Lorenzo Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise
Picture taken by Cava Hadikusumo

When the Merchants' Guild and the Signoria of Florence decided to build the doors for the east entrance of the Baptistery of San Giovanni, they held a competition inviting all the greatest masters in Italy. The consuls of the guild chose Filippo di Ser Brunellesco, Donatello, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Jacopo della Quercia, Niccolo d'Arezzo, Francesco di Valdambrino, and Simone da Colle to produce a bronze panel to submit in the competition. They would receive a salary, and were given a year to produce a scene in bronze as a sample of their skill. The chosen scene was the story of Abraham sacrificing his son, Isaac. While most of the artists kept their projects a secret, Lorenzo showed the townspeople his models and asked for their opinion. Thirty-four painters, sculptors, and goldsmiths were summoned by the consul to judge the competition. The judges awarded the commission to Lorenzo for his beautiful design and composition, and the lively and graceful poses of his figures. Lorenzo was recognized and highly praised by his fellow citizens, indicating the increasing importance of fame and individual achievement in Quattrocento Italy. Lorenzo continued to receive many commissions after completing the doors. His skill was so renowned that the Merchants' Guild decided to commission him to do the third set of doors for the Baptistery of San Giovanni. Michelangelo described the doors as “so beautiful that they would do nicely at the entrance to Paradise.” Lorenzo worked on the two sets of doors for a total of forty-nine years.

Cimabue and Giotto

Painting in Chapterhouse of Santa Maria Novella
Picture taken by Cava Hadikusumo

Detail of above painting, showing Cimabue and Giotto
Picture taken by Cava Hadikusumo

Giovanni Cimabue was born in 1240 in Florence, and was one of the first artists to break away from the Italo-Byzantine style of painting. According to Vasari, Cimabue “greatly improved upon [the Italo-Byzantine style of] painting, removing from it a good deal of their awkwardness....” Among Cimabue's accomplishments in Florence include the altar dossal at Santa Cecilia, a panel of Our Lady in Santa Croce, a large panel for the monks of Vallambrosa in the abbey of Santa Trinita, a large wooden crucifix in Santa Croce, three small arches on the life of Christ in the Cloister of Santo Spirito, and a panel of Our Lady in Santa Maria Novella. Vasari stated that “although Cimabue still had the Greek manner, he was gradually approaching, in some ways, the lines and style of modern times.”

Giotto di Bondone was born in 1267 in Vespignano, and was discovered and taken in as a student by Cimabue. Giotto is considered the father of Renaissance painting and a master of naturalism. According to Vasari, Giotto “became such an excellent imitator of Nature that he completely banished that crude Greek style and revived the modern and excellent art of painting, introducing good drawing from live natural models, something that had not been done for more than two hundred years.” Giotto designed the bell tower of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, and received numerous painting commissions in Arezzo, Assisi, Pisa, Rome, Avignon, Verona, Ferrara, Ravenna, Urbino, Lucca, Naples, Gaeta, Rimini, Padua, and Florence.

Virgin Hodegetria

A Virgin Hodegetria painting on a corner
of Piazza Santa Maria Novella
Picture taken by Cava Hadikusumo

During the Dugento and Trecento, the increased importance of the Virgin Mary was apparent in Italian art. There was a growth of the cult of the Virgin in Europe, and the Order of the Servites was founded in 1233. The Servites were devoted to the Virgin Mary and performed good deeds in cities. Several artists were commissioned to create large-scale panel paintings of Mary. Coppo di Marcovaldo painted a seven-feet tall Madonna Enthroned (Madonna dei Servi) in 1261. Around 1280-1290, Cimabue painted Madonna Enthroned with Angels and Prophets, a large panel painting for Santa Trinita (Holy Trinity) in Florence. Giotto di Bondone's panel depicting the same subject, Madonna Enthroned, was painted for the Church of the Ognissanti (All Saints) in Florence around 1310. Duccio di Buoninsegna, a painter from Siena, completed his most famous painting, Maesta (Virgin Enthroned in Majesty), in 1311. The Virgin was the religious focus of Siena because the Sienese believed that she had brought them to victory at the battle of Monteperti. The paintings depict Mary as a Virgin Hodegetria as she holds the baby Jesus on her side and points to him, showing that he is the way to salvation. In the paintings, Mary often wears a red gown and a blue cape. Blue represents heaven, while red represents passion and earth.  

Evolution of Italian Renaisssance Art

Cimabue's Madonna Enthroned with
 Angels and Prophets
Picture taken by Cava Hadikusumo

According to Giorgio Vasari, Italian Renaissance art developed in three stages. The first stage was initiated by the groundbreaking styles of Giotto and Cimabue. Cimabue's Madonna Enthroned with Angels, the Patriarch Abraham, and Prophets Jeremiah, David and Isaiah shows a sense of depth not seen in Byzantine paintings. Although Cimabue used a gold background common in Byzantine art, the Virgin's throne shows three-dimensionality and one-point perspective. Gold is used to show the folds in the Madonna's robe, and the heads and bodies of the angels overlap, depicting a sense of depth. The second stage of development was marked by more advanced techniques in perspective and design. Increasingly sophisticated skills in painting, sculpture, and architecture were demonstrated by Ghiberti, Donatello, Masaccio, and Brunelleschi. After several centuries of growth and development, Italian Renaissance art reached the third stage. Art of this stage possessed an ephemeral quality, and the artists who created the masterpieces were regarded by Vasari as geniuses. Vasari believed that talent improved with education and training, but training was inadequate to explain the work of geniuses such as Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo. 

The Franciscans and the Dominicans

Basilica di Santa Maria Novella, a Dominican 

church in Florence

Picture taken by Cava Hadikusum

The largest and most influential monastic orders of the 14th century were the mendicants, or begging friars. Francis of Assisi founded the Franciscans, and Dominic de Guzman founded the Dominicans. Unlike earlier monastic orders who tended to isolate themselves, the Franciscans and Dominicans settled in cities and towns. Every city had a Franciscan and a Dominican church, with a degree of rivalry between the two orders. In Florence, the Franciscan church, Santa Croce, and the Dominican church, Santa Maria Novella, are on opposite sides of the city. As cities developed and built churches, demand for works of art for the churches grew.
The Franciscans and Dominicans renounced worldly goods and committed themselves to a life of piety and charity. They encouraged a more personal and emotional relationship with God. Crucifixion, a painting by Coppo di Marcovaldo, shows a dying, suffering Christ with eyes closed and arms drooping. The viewer feels more empathy and sense of loss compared to earlier depictions. The emotion evident in such paintings during the proto-Renaissance paved the way for humanism in Renaissance art.

Giorgio Vasari

Who is Giorgio Vasari and why am I reading his book?  Giorgio Vasari was a painter, architect, and biographer who was apprenticed to Michelangelo in Florence. The first edition of his book, Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, was published in 1550.  There were very few art books at the time and Vasari did not have any references guide him, so writing his book must have been a formidable challenge.  Even attempting such a daunting task deserves admiration.  Relying on his visual memory and oral tradition, Vasari explained the evolution of Italian Renaissance art. 

Vasari's interpretations transformed the status of the artist during the Renaissance.  Previously, artists were considered laborers because they worked with their hands.  Vasari believed in the value of artistic education, and saw the artist as a scholar, a man of learning.  During the Renaissance, the artist's status changed from a craftsman to a divine artificer.  Vasari revolutionized the concept of artist as genius.  He believed that artists should have a concept or idea behind the art that they created, a notion that is still prevalent today.

Humanism and the Renaissance

I have known that the word, Renaissance, means rebirth, but rebirth of what? I did not know the answer.  In my first week of art history class, I learned that the Renaissance describes the rebirth of Greco-Roman naturalism and the revival of classical values in art and culture.  It began in Italy and spanned the 14th to 16th centuries.  A distinctive concept during the development of the Italian Renaissance was humanism.  In contrast to religion's emphasis on otherworldly values, humanism focused on earthly fulfillment and human values.  To the humanists, the classical Greek and Roman cultures provided a model for living that was derived from reason instead of authoritative religious dogma.

As I embark on this journey through art history, I am excited to see the paintings, sculptures, and architecture of this significant period. I hope to learn to recognize the styles of the various artists and to make connections between the art and the societal changes of the time. I hope to see the dramatic yet gradual changes in art and their influences on the way we see art today.  Perhaps my rich learning experience will lead me to begin a renaissance of my own.

Florence is an ideal place to study Renaissance art history

Giorgio Vasari's The Lives of the Artists