High Renaissance & Mannerism

Art is never finished, only abandoned. - Leonardo da Vinci
I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free. - Michelangelo

Key Ideas - High Renaissance

Key Ideas - Mannerism
  • Revitalization of the city of Rome under Pope Julius II
  • All about Roman Grandeur by producing awe inspiring artistic projects
  • Key Points: Symmetry, Balance, Ideal Proportions, Triangular compositions
  • Venetian Painters stress sensuous forms with sophisticated color combos
  • Portraits are of true likeness and personalities
  • Renaissance = Before sack of Rome
  • Mannerism = After 1527

Quick History

  • Renaissance means a "rebirth" suggesting that the 15th and 16th centuries marked an awakening from the "dark ages". The dark ages were actually a great time period where Europe gave rise to laws, language and economics. 
  • New rise to secularism- not a huge focus on the hereafter
  • After the Protestant Reformation in 1517, High Renaissance art was not reflective of so called perfect world. The complexities of Mannerist art better describe this period.
  • Rome was sacked in 1527 by Charles V against France, Milan, Venic, Florence, and the Papacy
  • The Council of Trent (1545-1563) or the Counter-Reformation, created a new order of priests, the Jesuits. 
  • Jesuits used art as a teaching tool and a religious statement.
AMAZING Renaissance information. Go do some exploring!
  • Mannerist art is deliberately intellectual, asking the viewer to respond in a sophisticated way to the spatial challenges 
  • Complicated compositions, distorted figures, complex allegorical interpretations

Sample Question

Whom did Pope Julius II commission to paint this work for his library? In what ways do the style and subject of the painting reflect the interests of its patron?
(From an early AP Exam question)
The relationship between an artist or architect and patron very often shapes the form and content of a work of art or architecture. Identify two works, each from a different art historical time period, and name the specific persons who commissioned them. Discuss how the specific interests and intentions of the particular patrons are revealed in each work.
(Artist and Patron- 2004 AP Exam)
<<< Art History Podcasts!
 The Last Supper (da Vinci),
 Mona Lisa (da Vinci)
the Creation of Adam (Michelangelo), 
The Last Judgement(Michelangelo)
 Bacchus and Ariadne (Titian) 

Additional Resources

Artwork List

Vocabulary
The Last Supper
Mona Lisa
Sistine Chapel
   -Delphic Sybil
   -The Flood
   -The Last Judgment
School of Athens
Venus of Urbino
Pieta (Michelangelo)
David
Entombment of Jesus
Il Gesù facade
Venus, Cupid, Folly, and Time
arcadian
canvas
cassone
chiaroscuro
cinquecento
entombment
flood story
genre painting
glazes
ignudi
Last Supper
sfumato
sibyl
​still life
​terribilita

Notecard Images

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