Renaissance

also: Rinascimento

movement c. 1400-1600 Italy Europe

Renaissance art is the painting, sculpture and decorative art of Europe's rebirth of classical learning, emerging as a distinct style in Italy around 1400 and spreading across the continent over the following two centuries. It took antiquity as its noblest model but transformed it: Brunelleschi's linear perspective gave pictures measurable depth, artists studied anatomy, light and drapery from nature, and humanist patrons wanted images honoring the dignity and individuality of human life. From Giotto's early spatial experiments through the High Renaissance balance of Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael, art moved from stiff medieval convention toward naturalism, harmonious proportion and psychological presence, while Northern painters such as Jan van Eyck answered with meticulous oil technique and observed detail. For art historians, Renaissance art marks Europe's transition from the medieval period to the early modern age.

Example work related to "Renaissance".
Example work related to "Renaissance".Public domain (credit: Albrecht Dürer) · source

Defining characteristics

  • Linear perspective and a coherent vanishing point organizing deep, measurable space
  • Classical vocabulary: columns, arches, rounded domes, and subjects from Greek and Roman myth
  • Anatomical naturalism, weight-bearing poses (contrapposto) and studied drapery
  • Balanced, symmetrical, often pyramidal composition and harmonious proportion
  • Subtle tonal modeling of flesh and light (chiaroscuro, sfumato) over medieval flatness
  • Individualized portraiture conveying psychology and status

Key figures

  • Giotto (c. 1270-1337) — Florentine pioneer whose weighty figures and spatial scenes broke with medieval flatness
  • Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) — Florentine master of lyrical mythological allegory
  • Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) — Universal genius of sfumato, anatomy and psychological depth
  • Michelangelo (1475-1564) — Sculptor-painter of the Sistine ceiling, the era's sublime anatomist
  • Raphael (1483-1520) — Master of harmonious, balanced composition at the High Renaissance peak

Example works

Sources

← Back to the catalog