Renaissance Art Essay

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Discussion: Chapter 17 - The Renaissance and Mannerism in Cinquecento Italy

Why do works of art from the High Renaissance continue to be understood as the most famous art in the western world?

A: Works of art from the High Renaissance continue to be understood as the most famous art in the western world due to the fact that the High Renaissance brought with it the perfection of Renaissance art. As aesthetics were mastered, some of the most famous works of art come from the High Renaissance.

New techniques were established as well, such as da Vinci’s sfumato shading. Humanism and classical Greco-Roman were infused with realism (to portray the world as it were). Much attention was given to the human body/shape/pose (the perfect human) . *The primary mediums used were tempera, oil, and fresco. With the use mediums, artists were able to show distance via tonal variations (aerial/atmospheric perspective), and the expert skill of "colorito" (color or "colouring").

Sources:

http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/painting/colorito.htm

http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/high-renaissance.htm

http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/renaissance-paintings.htm#high

What are the significant features of Michelangelo's Pieta?

French cardinal Jean de Billheres commissioned Michelangelo for a statue to be made for the cardinal's funeral monument (later moved to its current location of Saint Peter’s, Vatican City, Rome). It represents Christ in his Mother’s arms after being taken down from the cross.

Michelangelo Buonarroti of Florence’s first masterpiece (at age 24) was Pieta.

A: This piece was significant due to its unprecedented level of realism, with its sadness, grief, gentleness, and love (raw emotion). Add to ...

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...g upon the style of Mannerism, against the Church that needed reform (via the outspoken Martin Luther). It was ‘an artistic image that arose within the artist’s soul’.

A:

Mannerism’s stylisitc characteristics were that of

Darker Tone;

Elongated Figures;

Strange Composition;

Fantasy ;

Conflicting;

Overlydramatic/Unreal Countenance ;

Emotionalism,;

Strained/ Poised But Unnatural/Inhuman Poses;

Unusual Effects;

Contradiction Of All Classical/Traditional Aesthetic ‘Law’;

Gaudy/Vivid/Clashing/ Intense Colors;

Distortion;

‘Individual Vision’;

‘Uncomfortably Contorted’;

Small Heads;

‘Bizarre Themes’;

Sources:

http://library.thinkquest.org/C0118063/time/mannerism.htm

http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/mannerism.htm

http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Mannerist+style

http://arthistory.about.com/cs/arthistory10one/a/late_ren.htm

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