Art appreciation Individual Project

Renaissance

Art Appreciation IP3

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Renaissance Paintings

Abstract

The following essay will discuss two pieces of art from the Renaissance period. The first is Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa which is the most well known painting of all times. The other piece of art that will be discussed was also created by the Renaissance by the great Michelangelo. Both of the pieces of art provide an important record of art during this time period.

Renaissance Art

The Renaissance was the rebirth of society after the Middle Ages. Believed to have begun in 14th Century Italy, the Renaissance was a revival of classical learning and the arts. New techniques in art and science began a new cultural movement focused on gaining and spreading knowledge. Art and science was intertwined during this era with great artists, such as Leonardo da Vinci who applied polymath to his drawings, resulting in some of the most visually spectacular art created in human history. Two of the greatest artist during the Italian Renaissance was Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. Da Vinci greatest masterpiece was the Mona Lisa while Michelangelo’s greatest works are the paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel especially the Last Judgment.

Mona Lisa

The Mona Lisa was created by one of the greatest artist in the Italian Renaissance. Leonardo da Vinci painted the very famous Mona Lisa between the dates of 1503-1506 in Florence, Italy and currently hangs in the Louvre. The Mona Lisa is painted in oil on poplar wood and is two dimensional. This painting is owned by the French government and is the most well known painting in the world. It is believed the portrait is of the wife of a wealthy Florentine merchant who commissioned da Vinci to create the portrait but for some reason the merchant never received the portrait so it was carried to France when da Vinci went to work for King Francis I.

The fascination with the painting is in part due to the mysterious smile of the Mona Lisa. Many have speculated what she was smiling about with some believing the smile is for her husband’s while others believed the smile was for da Vinci. The painting was created in the realist school applying perception as taught by Master painter, Verocchio. The Mona Lisa is painted in this style. The Mona Lisa is painted from the frontal view point displaying three fourths of her body. The painting is created applying the scientific study of light and shadow and the chiaroscuro technique. This technique involves creating a more three dimensional figure by applying shadows and light to the painting.

The painting is painted in oil using darker colors to shadow and lighter colors to highlight distinct features of the painting. Leonardo uses his characteristic sfumato which is the use of a smoky haziness, to soften outlines and create an atmospheric effect around the figure (Lichfield, 2006). The subject matter, a woman believed to be the wife of a merchant, could be anyone but must have been wealthy to be able to afford to have a portrait painted. The woman in the portrait is sitting in a marble chair with her arms crossed in her lap. She has a small secret smile on her face which has resulted in many theories about what she is smiling about. In the painting her eye droop as if she is tired

In the background of the portrait are rock and sea landscapes. It appears she is sitting a great distance from large rocks and mountain ranges and a large body of water that appears to be an inlet to the sea. The landscape in the portrait is rarely discussed but it location is unknown if it exists at all. It appears the background is a grouping of different backgrounds creating a unique landscape. The lighting and shadowing used in the background sky makes it appear to be at twilight.

In the Mona Lisa Leonardo uses shadow in the lowest areas of the picture plane, at the edges, and background of the landscape to blur detail and draw attention to the detailed focus area of the face (Meattle, 2001). This gives it the appearance of a soft focus as with a camera lens. The art work was created for the enjoyment of the person who had it commissioned but it became an important possession of Leonardo da Vinci which he gifted to French King Louis I.

The art represents a realistic portrayal of the subject with a hint of romanticism due to the fabricated landscape in the background. The Mona Lisa is believed to be painted of a wealthy merchant’s wife posed similar to art works of the Mother Mary in previous centuries. In Italy beauty of woman was based on their virtue because of the Mother Mary and the example she set for expected morality of women. The smile on the face of the Mona Lisa reflects the inner beauty of a virtuous woman. The Mona Lisa is Leonardo da Vinci’s most famous painting and shows his amazing ability to capture the life like qualities of the human body.

The Mona Lisa is an important piece of art from the Renaissance because it helped to change how people in society viewed art. Before the Mona Lisa was painted most portraits were painted in profile displaying only the head and neck. The art of da Vinci also introduced mathematical and scientific approaches to creating art. He used his art to explore his scientific curiosities on the human body, astronomy, botany, and geology.

The Last Judgment

The Last Judgment is a painting, created by Michelangelo and commissioned by Pope Julius II. The art is located on the wall paint behind alter of the Sistine Chapel. This breathtaking art was created by Michelangelo in addition to the ceilings he previously painted. The subject is the Second Coming of Christ, where Christ returns to judge all of mankind (Vasari, 2003). In the Second Coming Christ will separate the sinners from those who will be allowed entry into heaven. This subject has been painted many times by many artists but none is more beautiful than Michelangelo’s depiction.

The Last Judgment is a two dimensional painting made on the interior wall of the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo painted the fresco between the times of 1536-1541 in the classical style and naturalism. Art during the High Italian Renaissance was heavily influenced by the church who commanded what artist created. The original painting behind the Sistine chapel alter featured all of the figures fully nude but this was later changed by the church when another artist, Daniele da Volterra, was commissioned to cover up the nudity of figures in the painting.

Michelangelo painted each figure in the painting in a way that displays the beauty of the human body. Michelangelo loved sculpture and preferred to work in this art form but was commissioned by the Catholic Church on two different occasions to first paint the ceilings of the Sistine Chapel and then the churches altar. The colors used in the painting are vibrant and the pictorial scheme is optically arranged around geometric shapes with negative space being used to define specific features. His realistic portrays of people either risen up to heaven or being dragged down to Hell in the common realism and romanticism styles of Renaissance period.

The painting the Last Judgment covers the wall behind the Sistine Chapel alter. The painting depicts the teachings of the Bible concerning the end of times. According to the Bible Jesus will come back to earth and determine who will go the heaven and who will go to hell. The painting shows hundreds of people surrounding Jesus Christ who is in the centered and surrounded by a holy light. In the painting Christ is separating the holy from the unholy. People to the right of Christ have been blessed while the ones above Christ are clinging to anything to stop from being drug down to hell.

In the painting the blessed are to the right of Christ while the damned are too the left. Some of the souls on the bottom of the painting are rising up from their graves to heaven while others are being dragged down to hell by demons. On both sides of Christ directly are important figures, like Eve, and also Saints, many of whom died particularly painful deaths (Vasari, 2003). The saints have specific instruments in their hands that point to the way they died. The Saints are important because it shows the faithful get to go to heaven while the unfaithful and immoral will be forced to suffer eternity in hell.

In the painting Michelangelo paints himself with sagging skin and in his older years. He sits on a cloud with a knife in one hand and his skin in the other. In the painting his skin is at risk of falling to hell but he sits diagonally from Christ and Heaven. Michelangelo has included his internal struggle with faith in his painting and hi struggle with morality. The art work is representational of an important Bible scene that in the Middle Ages could be found in the doorway of churches and many homes. The goal was to remind the worshipper of the risk of going to hell.

Michelangelo did not enjoy painting but the works he created at the Sistine Chapel are his best known works. These paintings have been carefully restored over the years to preserve the beauty and the wonder of the five hundred plus year old piece of art. Michelangelo was older and closer to death when he painted the Last Judgment showing his struggle with his faith in the afterlife and the question of whether or not he has been good enough to enter heaven. Michelangelo appeared to have some concern about his own last judgment.

Conclusion

Both pieces of art from the Renaissance were paintings created by Italian artists thirty years apart during the Renaissance. The two paintings have become important examples of art from the Renaissance and key examples of art of realism. These two talented artists will never be forgotten because of these masterpieces.

References

Lichfield, J. (2006). Unmasking the Mona Lisa: Expert claims to have discovered da Vinci's

technique. Retrieved April 6, 2014 from

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/unmasking-the-mona-lisa-expert-claims

Meattle, J. (2001). Mona lisa: Landscape and Background. Retrieved April 6, 2014 from

http://www.hepguru.com/monalisa/main_monalisa.html

Vasari, G. (2003). Life of Michelangelo. Translated by Gaston du C. de Vere. New York:

St. Pauls

Whitcombe, C. (2006). Da Vinci’s Code: Mona Lisa. Retrieved April 6, 201 from

http://witcombe.sbc.edu/davincicode/leonardo-mona-lisa.html