HIGH AND LATE RENAISSANCE, 1495–1600
❚During the High (1500–1520) and Late (1520–1600) Renaissance periods in Italy, artists, often in the
employ of the papacy, further developed the interest in perspective, anatomy, and classical cultures
that had characterized 15th-century Italian art.
❚The major regional artistic centers were Florence and Rome in central Italy and Venice in the north.
Whereas most Florentine and Roman artists emphasized careful design preparation based on
preliminary drawing (disegno), Venetian artists focused on color and the process of paint
application (colorito).
❚Leonardo da Vinci was a master of chiaroscuro and atmospheric perspective. He was famous for
his hazy sfumato and for his psychological insight in depicting biblical narrative (Last Supper) and
contemporary personalities (Mona Lisa). His anatomical drawings are the first modern scientific
illustrations.
❚Raphael favored lighter tonalities than Leonardo and clarity over obscurity. His sculpturesque
figures appear in landscapes under blue skies (Madonna of the Meadows) or in grandiose
architectural settings rendered in perfect perspective (School of Athens).
❚Michelangelo, a temperamental genius, was a pioneer in several media, including architecture,
but his first love was sculpture. His carved (David, Moses) and painted (Creation of Adam) figures
have heroic physiques and great emotional impact. He preferred pent-up energy to Raphael’s calm,
ideal beauty.
❚The leading architect of the early 16th century was Bramante, who championed the classical style
of the ancients. He based his pioneering design for the Tempietto on antique models, but the
combination of parts was new and original.
❚Andrea Palladio, an important theorist as well as architect, carried on Bramante’s classical style
during the Late Renaissance. Famed for his villa designs, he had a lasting impact upon later
European and American architecture.
❚One of the great masters of the Venetian painting school was Giorgione, who developed the concept
of poesia,poetical painting. The subjects of his paintings (Pastoral Symphony, The Tempest) are
often impossible to identify. His primary goal was to evoke a pastoral mood.
❚Titian, the official painter of the Venetian Republic, won renown for his rich surface textures and
dazzling display of color in all its nuances. In paintings such as Venus of Urbino,he established
oil color on canvas as the typical medium of the Western pictorial tradition.
MANNERISM, 1520–1600
❚Mannerism emerged in the 1520s in reaction to the High Renaissance style. A prime feature of
Mannerist art is artifice. Renaissance artists generally strove to create art that appeared natural,
whereas Mannerist artists were less inclined to disguise the contrived nature of art production.
Ambiguous space, departures from expected conventions, and unique presentations of traditional
themes are common features of Mannerist art.
❚Parmigianino’s Madonna with the Long Neckepitomizes the elegant stylishness of Mannerist
painting. The elongated proportions of the figures, the enigmatic line of columns without capitals,
and the ambiguous position of the figure with a scroll are the antithesis of High Renaissance
classical proportions, clarity of meaning, and rational perspective.
❚Mannerism was also a sculptural style. Giovanni da Bologna’s Abduction of the Sabine Women,
which does not really have a subject, is typical. The sculptor’s goal was to depict elegant nude
figures in a dynamic spiral composition that presaged the movement of Baroque sculpture.
❚The leading Mannerist architect was Giulio Romano, who rejected the balance, order, and stability
that were hallmarks of the High Renaissance style. In the Palazzo del Tè in Mantua, the divergences
from architectural convention parody Bramante’s classical style and include triglyphs that slip out
of the Doric frieze.
THE BIG PICTURE
ITALY, 1500 TO 1600
Michelangelo, David,
1501–1504Bramante, Tempietto, Rome,
1502(?)Titian, Venus of Urbino, 1538Parmigianino, Madonna with
the Long Neck,1534-1540Giulio Romano, Palazzo del Tè,
Mantua, 1525–1535