
Renaissance art (1350 – 1620 AD) is the painting, sculpture, and decorative arts of the period of European history known as the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...
, which emerged as a distinct style in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
in about AD 1400, in parallel with developments which occurred in
philosophy,
literature
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to inclu ...
,
music
Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact definition of music, definitions of mu ...
,
science
Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...
, and
technology
Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, scie ...
. Renaissance art took as its foundation the art of
Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations ...
, perceived as the noblest of ancient traditions, but transformed that tradition by absorbing recent developments in the art of Northern Europe and by applying contemporary scientific knowledge. Along with
Renaissance humanist philosophy, it spread throughout Europe, affecting both artists and their patrons with the development of new techniques and new artistic sensibilities. For
art historians
The history of art focuses on objects made by humans for any number of spiritual, narrative, philosophical, symbolic, conceptual, documentary, decorative, and even functional and other purposes, but with a primary emphasis on its aesthetic vis ...
, Renaissance art marks the transition of Europe from the medieval period to the
Early Modern age.

The body of art, painting, sculpture, architecture, music and literature identified as "Renaissance art" was primarily produced during the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries in Europe under the combined influences of an increased awareness of nature, a revival of classical learning, and a more individualistic view of man. Scholars no longer believe that the Renaissance marked an abrupt break with medieval values, as is suggested by the French word ''renaissance'', literally meaning "rebirth". In many parts of Europe, Early Renaissance art was created in parallel with
Late Medieval art.
Origins
Many influences on the development of Renaissance men and women in the early 15th century have been credited with the emergence of Renaissance art; they are the same as those that affected philosophy, literature, architecture, theology, science, government and other aspects of society. The following list presents a summary of changes to social and cultural conditions which have been identified as factors which contributed to the development of Renaissance art. Each is dealt with more fully in the main articles cited above. The scholars of Renaissance period focused on present life and ways improve human life. They did not pay much attention to medieval philosophy or religion. During this period, scholars and humanists like Erasmus, Dante and Petrarch criticized superstitious beliefs and also questioned them. The concept of education also widened its spectrum and focused more on creating 'an ideal man' who would have a fair understanding of arts, music, poetry and literature and would have the ability to appreciate these aspects of life. During this period, there emerged a scientific outlook which helped people question the needless rituals of the church.
* Classical texts, lost to European scholars for centuries, became available. These included documents of philosophy, prose, poetry, drama, science, a thesis on the arts, and early Christian theology.
* Europe gained access to advanced mathematics, which had its provenance in the works of Islamic scholars.
* The advent of
movable type printing
Movable type (US English; moveable type in British English) is the system and technology of printing and typography that uses movable components to reproduce the elements of a document (usually individual alphanumeric characters or punctuation m ...
in the 15th century meant that ideas could be disseminated easily, and an increasing number of books were written for a broader public.
* The establishment of the
Medici Bank
The Medici Bank (Italian: ''Banco dei Medici'' ) was a financial institution created by the Medici family in Italy during the 15th century (1397–1494). It was the largest and most respected bank in Europe during its prime. There are some estim ...
and the subsequent trade it generated brought unprecedented wealth to a single Italian city,
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...
.
*
Cosimo de' Medici
Cosimo di Giovanni de' Medici (27 September 1389 – 1 August 1464) was an Italian banker and politician who established the Medici family as effective rulers of Florence during much of the Italian Renaissance. His power derived from his wealt ...
set a new standard for patronage of the arts, not associated with the church or monarchy.
*
Humanist
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term "humani ...
philosophy meant that man's relationship with humanity, the universe and God was no longer the exclusive province of the church.
* A revived interest in the
Classics brought about the first archaeological study of
Roman remains by the architect
Brunelleschi and sculptor
Donatello
Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), better known as Donatello ( ), was a Florentine sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Florence, he studied classical sculpture and used this to develop a complete Renaissance st ...
. The revival of a style of architecture based on classical precedents inspired a corresponding classicism in painting and sculpture, which manifested itself as early as the 1420s in the paintings of
Masaccio
Masaccio (, , ; December 21, 1401 – summer 1428), born Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone, was a Florentine artist who is regarded as the first great Italian painter of the Quattrocento period of the Italian Renaissance. According to Vasar ...
and
Uccello Uccello () is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Antonina Uccello (born 1922), American politician
*Julian Uccello (born 1986), Canadian soccer player
*Luca Uccello (born 1997), Canadian soccer player
*Paolo Uccello
Pao ...
.
* The improvement of
oil paint
Oil paint is a type of slow-drying paint that consists of particles of pigment suspended in a drying oil, commonly linseed oil. The viscosity of the paint may be modified by the addition of a solvent such as turpentine or white spirit, and varn ...
and developments in oil-painting technique by Belgian artists such as
Robert Campin
Robert Campin (c. 1375 – 26 April 1444), now usually identified with the Master of Flémalle (earlier the Master of the Merode Triptych, before the discovery of three other similar panels), was the first great master of Early Netherlandish paint ...
,
Jan van Eyck,
Rogier van der Weyden
Rogier van der Weyden () or Roger de la Pasture (1399 or 140018 June 1464) was an Early Netherlandish painting, early Netherlandish painter whose surviving works consist mainly of religious triptychs, altarpieces, and commissioned single and dip ...
and
Hugo van der Goes
Hugo van der Goes (c. 1430/1440 – 1482) was one of the most significant and original Flemish painters of the late 15th century. Van der Goes was an important painter of altarpieces as well as portraits. He introduced important innovations in pai ...
led to its adoption in Italy from about 1475 and had ultimately lasting effects on painting practices worldwide.
* The
serendipitous
Serendipity is an unplanned fortunate discovery. Serendipity is a common occurrence throughout the history of product invention and scientific discovery.
Etymology
The first noted use of "serendipity" was by Horace Walpole on 28 January 1754. I ...
presence within the region of
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...
in the early 15th century of certain individuals of artistic genius, most notably Masaccio, Brunelleschi,
Ghiberti,
Piero della Francesca
Piero della Francesca (, also , ; – 12 October 1492), originally named Piero di Benedetto, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. To contemporaries he was also known as a mathematician and geometer. Nowadays Piero della Francesca ...
, Donatello and
Michelozzo
Michelozzo di Bartolomeo Michelozzi (1396 – 7 October 1472) was an Italian architect and sculptor. Considered one of the great pioneers of architecture during the Renaissance, Michelozzo was a favored Medici architect who was extensively empl ...
formed an ethos out of which sprang the great masters of the
High Renaissance
In art history, the High Renaissance was a short period of the most exceptional artistic production in the Italian states, particularly Rome, capital of the Papal States, and in Florence, during the Italian Renaissance. Most art historians stat ...
, as well as supporting and encouraging many lesser artists to achieve work of extraordinary quality.
[Frederick Hartt, ''A History of Italian Renaissance Art'', (1970)]
* A similar heritage of artistic achievement occurred in
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
through the talented
Bellini
Bellini is an Italian name, Italian surname, formed as a patronymic or plural form of Bellino (surname), Bellino.
People
*Family of Italian painters:
**Jacopo Bellini (c. 1396–c. 1470), father of Gentile and Giovanni
**Gentile Bellini (c. 1429� ...
family, their influential in-law
Mantegna Mantegna is a surname. Notable people with the name include:
* Andrea Mantegna ( – 1506), Italian painter
* Gia Mantegna (born 1990), American actress
* Joe Mantegna (born 1947), American actor
See also
* Mantegna Tarocchi
The Mantegna Tarocc ...
,
Giorgione
Giorgione (, , ; born Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco; 1477–78 or 1473–74 – 17 September 1510) was an Italian painter of the Venetian school during the High Renaissance, who died in his thirties. He is known for the elusive poetic quali ...
,
Titian
Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian (Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, n ...
and
Tintoretto
Tintoretto ( , , ; born Jacopo Robusti; late September or early October 1518Bernari and de Vecchi 1970, p. 83.31 May 1594) was an Italian painter identified with the Venetian school. His contemporaries both admired and criticized the speed wit ...
.
[Michael Baxandall, ''Painting and Experience in Fifteenth Century Italy'', (1974)]
* The publication of two treatises by Leone Battista Alberti
Leon Battista Alberti (; 14 February 1404 – 25 April 1472) was an Italian Renaissance humanist author, artist, architect, poet, priest, linguist, philosopher, and cryptographer; he epitomised the nature of those identified now as polymaths. ...
, '' De pictura'' ("On Painting") in 1435 and '' De re aedificatoria'' ("Ten Books on Architecture") in 1452.
History
Proto-Renaissance in Italy, 1280–1400
In Italy in the late 13th and early 14th centuries, the sculpture of Nicola Pisano
Nicola Pisano (also called ''Niccolò Pisano'', ''Nicola de Apulia'' or ''Nicola Pisanus''; c. 1220/1225 – c. 1284) was an Italian sculptor whose work is noted for its classical Roman sculptural style. Pisano is sometimes considered to be the ...
and his son Giovanni Pisano
Giovanni Pisano (c. 1250 – c. 1315) was an Italian sculptor, painter and architect, who worked in the cities of Pisa, Siena and Pistoia. He is best known for his sculpture which shows the influence of both the French Gothic and the Ancient R ...
, working at Pisa
Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the ...
, Siena
Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.
The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centur ...
and Pistoia
Pistoia (, is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of a province of the same name, located about west and north of Florence and is crossed by the Ombrone Pistoiese, a tributary of the River Arno. It is a t ...
shows markedly classicising tendencies, probably influenced by the familiarity of these artists with ancient Roman sarcophagi
A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...
. Their masterpieces are the pulpits of the Baptistery and Cathedral of Pisa
Pisa Cathedral ( it, Cattedrale Metropolitana Primaziale di Santa Maria Assunta; Duomo di Pisa) is a medieval Roman Catholic cathedral dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, in the Piazza dei Miracoli in Pisa, Italy, the oldest of th ...
.
Contemporary with Giovanni Pisano, the Florentine painter Giotto
Giotto di Bondone (; – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto ( , ) and Latinised as Giottus, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the Gothic/ Proto-Renaissance period. ...
developed a manner of figurative painting that was unprecedentedly naturalistic, three-dimensional, lifelike and classicist, when compared with that of his contemporaries and teacher Cimabue
Cimabue (; ; – 1302), Translated with an introduction and notes by J.C. and P Bondanella. Oxford: Oxford University Press (Oxford World’s Classics), 1991, pp. 7–14. . also known as Cenni di Pepo or Cenni di Pepi, was an Italian painter ...
. Giotto, whose greatest work is the cycle of the ''Life of Christ'' at the Arena Chapel in Padua
Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of t ...
, was seen by the 16th-century biographer Giorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work '' The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculp ...
as "rescuing and restoring art" from the "crude, traditional, Byzantine style" prevalent in Italy in the 13th century.
Early Renaissance in Italy, 1400–1495
Although both the Pisanos and Giotto had students and followers, the first truly Renaissance artists were not to emerge in Florence until 1401 with the competition to sculpt a set of bronze doors
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
of the Baptistery of Florence Cathedral
Florence Cathedral, formally the (; in English Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower), is the cathedral of Florence, Italy ( it, Duomo di Firenze). It was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to a design of Arnolfo di Cambio and was structurally c ...
, which drew entries from seven young sculptors including Brunelleschi, Donatello
Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), better known as Donatello ( ), was a Florentine sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Florence, he studied classical sculpture and used this to develop a complete Renaissance st ...
and the winner, Lorenzo Ghiberti. Brunelleschi, most famous as the architect of the dome of Florence Cathedral and the Church of San Lorenzo, created a number of sculptural works, including a life-sized crucifix in Santa Maria Novella
Santa Maria Novella is a church in Florence, Italy, situated opposite, and lending its name to, the city's main railway station. Chronologically, it is the first great basilica in Florence, and is the city's principal Dominican church.
The ch ...
, renowned for its naturalism. His studies of perspective are thought to have influenced the painter Masaccio
Masaccio (, , ; December 21, 1401 – summer 1428), born Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone, was a Florentine artist who is regarded as the first great Italian painter of the Quattrocento period of the Italian Renaissance. According to Vasar ...
. Donatello became renowned as the greatest sculptor of the Early Renaissance, his masterpieces being his humanist and unusually erotic statue of David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
, one of the icons of the Florentine republic
The Republic of Florence, officially the Florentine Republic ( it, Repubblica Fiorentina, , or ), was a medieval and early modern state that was centered on the Italian city of Florence in Tuscany. The republic originated in 1115, when the Flo ...
, and his great monument to Gattamelata, the first large equestrian bronze to be created since Roman times.
The contemporary of Donatello, Masaccio, was the painterly descendant of Giotto and began the Early Renaissance in Italian painting in 1425, furthering the trend towards solidity of form and naturalism of face and gesture that Giotto had begun a century earlier. From 1425–1428, Masaccio completed several panel paintings but is best known for the fresco cycle that he began in the Brancacci Chapel with the older artist Masolino and which had profound influence on later painters, including Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was in ...
. Masaccio's developments were carried forward in the paintings of Fra Angelico
Fra Angelico (born Guido di Pietro; February 18, 1455) was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance, described by Vasari in his '' Lives of the Artists'' as having "a rare and perfect talent".Giorgio Vasari, ''Lives of the Artists''. Pengu ...
, particularly in his frescos at the Convent of San Marco
Museo Nazionale di San Marco is an art museum housed in the monumental section of the medieval Dominican convent of San Marco dedicated to St Mark, situated on the present-day Piazza San Marco, in Florence, a region of Tuscany, Italy.
The mus ...
in Florence.
The treatment of the elements of perspective and light in painting was of particular concern to 15th-century Florentine painters. Uccello Uccello () is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Antonina Uccello (born 1922), American politician
*Julian Uccello (born 1986), Canadian soccer player
*Luca Uccello (born 1997), Canadian soccer player
*Paolo Uccello
Pao ...
was so obsessed with trying to achieve an appearance of perspective that, according to Giorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work '' The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculp ...
, it disturbed his sleep. His solutions can be seen in his masterpiece set of three paintings, the Battle of San Romano, which is believed to have been completed by 1460. Piero della Francesca
Piero della Francesca (, also , ; – 12 October 1492), originally named Piero di Benedetto, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. To contemporaries he was also known as a mathematician and geometer. Nowadays Piero della Francesca ...
made systematic and scientific studies of both light and linear perspective, the results of which can be seen in his fresco cycle of '' The History of the True Cross'' in San Francesco, Arezzo.
In Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
, the painter Antonello da Messina
Antonello da Messina, properly Antonello di Giovanni di Antonio, but also called Antonello degli Antoni and Anglicized as Anthony of Messina ( 1430February 1479), was an Italian painter from Messina, active during the Early Italian Renaissance. ...
began using oil paints for portraits and religious paintings at a date that preceded other Italian painters, possibly about 1450. He carried this technique north and influenced the painters of Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
. One of the most significant painters of Northern Italy was Andrea Mantegna
Andrea Mantegna (, , ; September 13, 1506) was an Italian painter, a student of Roman archeology, and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini.
Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective, e.g. by lowering the horizon in ord ...
, who decorated the interior of a room, the Camera degli Sposi
The Camera degli Sposi ("bridal chamber"), sometimes known as the Camera picta ("painted chamber"), is a room frescoed with illusionistic paintings by Andrea Mantegna in the Ducal Palace, Mantua, Italy.. During the fifteenth century when the Came ...
for his patron Ludovico Gonzaga, setting portraits of the family and court into an illusionistic architectural space.
The end period of the Early Renaissance in Italian art is marked, like its beginning, by a particular commission that drew artists together, this time in cooperation rather than competition. Pope Sixtus IV
Pope Sixtus IV ( it, Sisto IV: 21 July 1414 – 12 August 1484), born Francesco della Rovere, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 August 1471 to his death in August 1484. His accomplishments as pope include ...
had rebuilt the Papal Chapel, named the Sistine Chapel
The Sistine Chapel (; la, Sacellum Sixtinum; it, Cappella Sistina ) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the pope in Vatican City. Originally known as the ''Cappella Magna'' ('Great Chapel'), the chapel takes its nam ...
in his honour, and commissioned a group of artists, Sandro Botticelli
Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), known as Sandro Botticelli (, ), was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 19th century, when he was rediscovered ...
, Pietro Perugino
Pietro Perugino (, ; – 1523), born Pietro Vannucci, was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Umbrian school, who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance. Raphael was his most famous pupil.
Ear ...
, Domenico Ghirlandaio
Domenico di Tommaso Curradi di Doffo Bigordi (, , ; 2 June 1448 – 11 January 1494), professionally known as Domenico Ghirlandaio, also spelled as Ghirlandajo, was an Italian Renaissance painter born in Florence. Ghirlandaio was part of ...
and Cosimo Rosselli
Cosimo Rosselli (; 1439–1507) was an Italian painter of the Quattrocento, active mainly in his birthplace of Florence, but also in Pisa earlier in his career and in 1481–82 in the Sistine Chapel in Rome, where he painted some of the large ...
to decorate its wall with fresco cycles depicting the Life of Christ
The life of Jesus in the New Testament is primarily outlined in the four canonical gospels, which includes his genealogy and nativity, public ministry, passion, prophecy, resurrection and ascension. Other parts of the New Testament – suc ...
and the Life of Moses. In the sixteen large paintings, the artists, although each working in his individual style, agreed on principles of format, and utilised the techniques of lighting, linear and atmospheric perspective, anatomy, foreshortening and characterisation that had been carried to a high point in the large Florentine studios of Ghiberti, Verrocchio, Ghirlandaio and Perugino.
Early Netherlandish art, 1425–1525
The painters of the Low Countries
The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...
in this period included Jan van Eyck, his brother Hubert van Eyck
Hubert van Eyck () or Huybrecht van Eyck ( – 18 September 1426) was an Early Netherlandish painter and older brother of Jan van Eyck, as well as Lambert and Margareta, also painters. The absence of any single work that he can clearly be said t ...
, Robert Campin
Robert Campin (c. 1375 – 26 April 1444), now usually identified with the Master of Flémalle (earlier the Master of the Merode Triptych, before the discovery of three other similar panels), was the first great master of Early Netherlandish paint ...
, Hans Memling
Hans Memling (also spelled Memlinc; c. 1430 – 11 August 1494) was a painter active in Flanders, who worked in the tradition of Early Netherlandish painting. He was born in the Middle Rhine region and probably spent his childhood in Mainz. H ...
, Rogier van der Weyden
Rogier van der Weyden () or Roger de la Pasture (1399 or 140018 June 1464) was an Early Netherlandish painting, early Netherlandish painter whose surviving works consist mainly of religious triptychs, altarpieces, and commissioned single and dip ...
and Hugo van der Goes
Hugo van der Goes (c. 1430/1440 – 1482) was one of the most significant and original Flemish painters of the late 15th century. Van der Goes was an important painter of altarpieces as well as portraits. He introduced important innovations in pai ...
. Their painting developed partly independently of Early Italian Renaissance painting, and without the influence of a deliberate and conscious striving to revive antiquity.
The style of painting grew directly out of medieval painting in tempera
Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. Tempera also refers to the paintings done ...
, on panels and illuminated manuscript
An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, th ...
s, and other forms such as stained glass; the medium of fresco was less common in northern Europe. The medium used was oil paint
Oil paint is a type of slow-drying paint that consists of particles of pigment suspended in a drying oil, commonly linseed oil. The viscosity of the paint may be modified by the addition of a solvent such as turpentine or white spirit, and varn ...
, which had long been utilised for painting leather ceremonial shields and accoutrements because it was flexible and relatively durable. The earliest Netherlandish oil paintings are meticulous and detailed like tempera paintings. The material lent itself to the depiction of tonal variations and texture, so facilitating the observation of nature in great detail.
The Netherlandish painters did not approach the creation of a picture through a framework of linear perspective and correct proportion. They maintained a medieval view of hierarchical proportion and religious symbolism, while delighting in a realistic treatment of material elements, both natural and man-made. Jan van Eyck, with his brother Hubert, painted '' The Altarpiece of the Mystical Lamb''. It is probable that Antonello da Messina
Antonello da Messina, properly Antonello di Giovanni di Antonio, but also called Antonello degli Antoni and Anglicized as Anthony of Messina ( 1430February 1479), was an Italian painter from Messina, active during the Early Italian Renaissance. ...
became familiar with Van Eyck's work, while in Naples or Sicily. In 1475, Hugo van der Goes' '' Portinari Altarpiece'' arrived in Florence, where it was to have a profound influence on many painters, most immediately Domenico Ghirlandaio
Domenico di Tommaso Curradi di Doffo Bigordi (, , ; 2 June 1448 – 11 January 1494), professionally known as Domenico Ghirlandaio, also spelled as Ghirlandajo, was an Italian Renaissance painter born in Florence. Ghirlandaio was part of ...
, who painted an altarpiece imitating its elements.
A very significant Netherlandish painter towards the end of the period was Hieronymus Bosch
Hieronymus Bosch (, ; born Jheronimus van Aken ; – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch/ Netherlandish painter from Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, generally oil on o ...
, who employed the type of fanciful forms that were often utilized to decorate borders and letters in illuminated manuscripts, combining plant and animal forms with architectonic ones. When taken from the context of the illumination and peopled with humans, these forms give Bosch's paintings a surreal quality which have no parallel in the work of any other Renaissance painter. His masterpiece is the triptych ''The Garden of Earthly Delights
''The Garden of Earthly Delights'' is the modern title given to a triptych oil painting on oak panel painted by the Early Netherlandish master Hieronymus Bosch, between 1490 and 1510, when Bosch was between 40 and 60 years old. It has b ...
''.
Early Renaissance in France, 1375–1528
The artists of France (including duchies such as Burgundy
Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The ...
) were often associated with courts, providing illuminated manuscripts and portraits for the nobility as well as devotional paintings and altarpieces. Among the most famous were the Limbourg brothers, Flemish
Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium ...
illuminators and creators of the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
The Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry (; en, The Very Rich Hours of the Duke of Berry) or Très Riches Heures, is the most famous and possibly the best surviving example of Illuminated manuscript, manuscript illumination in the late phase of ...
manuscript illumination. Jean Fouquet, painter of the royal court, visited Italy in 1437 and reflects the influence of Florentine painters such as Paolo Uccello. Although best known for his portraits such as that of Charles VII of France
Charles VII (22 February 1403 – 22 July 1461), called the Victorious (french: le Victorieux) or the Well-Served (), was King of France from 1422 to his death in 1461.
In the midst of the Hundred Years' War, Charles VII inherited the throne of F ...
, Fouquet also created illuminations, and is thought to be the inventor of the portrait miniature
A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache, Watercolor painting, watercolor, or Vitreous enamel, enamel. Portrait miniatures developed out of the techniques of the miniatures in illuminated manuscripts, an ...
.
There were a number of artists at this date who painted famed altarpieces, that are stylistically quite distinct from both the Italian and the Flemish. These include two enigmatic figures, Enguerrand Quarton
Enguerrand Quarton (or Charonton) ( 1410 – 1466) was a French painter and manuscript illuminator whose few surviving works are among the first masterpieces of a distinctively French style, very different from either Italian or Early Netherland ...
, to whom is ascribed the ''Pieta of Villeneuve-lès-Avignon'', and Jean Hey
''The Moulins Triptych'', c. 1498, oil on panel, Moulins Cathedral
Jean Hey (or Jean Hay) (fl. c. 1475 – c. 1505),Brigstocke 2001, p. 338 now generally identified with the artist formerly known as the Master of Moulins, was an Early Nether ...
, otherwise known as "the Master of Moulins" after his most famous work, the Moulins Altarpiece. In these works, realism and close observation of the human figure, emotions and lighting are combined with a medieval formality, which includes gilt backgrounds.
High Renaissance in Italy, 1495–1520
The "universal genius" Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially re ...
was to further perfect the aspects of pictorial art (lighting, linear and atmospheric perspective, anatomy, foreshortening and characterisation) that had preoccupied artists of the Early Renaissance, in a lifetime of studying and meticulously recording his observations of the natural world. His adoption of oil paint as his primary media meant that he could depict light and its effects on the landscape and objects more naturally and with greater dramatic effect than had ever been done before, as demonstrated in the ''Mona Lisa
The ''Mona Lisa'' ( ; it, Gioconda or ; french: Joconde ) is a Half length portrait, half-length portrait painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described ...
'' (1503–1506). His dissection of cadavers carried forward the understanding of skeletal and muscular anatomy, as seen in the unfinished ''Saint Jerome in the Wilderness
''Saint Jerome in the Wilderness'' or ''Saint Jerome in the Desert'' is a common subject in art depicting Saint Jerome. In practice the same subject is often given titles such as ''Saint Jerome in Penitence'' and ''Saint Jerome Praying'' (see :Pain ...
'' (c. 1480). His depiction of human emotion in '' The Last Supper'', completed 1495–1498, set the benchmark for religious painting.
The art of Leonardo's younger contemporary Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was in ...
took a very different direction. Michelangelo in neither his painting nor his sculpture demonstrates any interest in the observation of any natural object except the human body. He perfected his technique in depicting it, while in his early twenties, by the creation of the enormous marble statue of ''David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
'' and the group ''Pietà
The Pietà (; meaning "pity", "compassion") is a subject in Christian art depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus after his body was removed from the cross. It is most often found in sculpture
Sculpture is the branc ...
'', in the St Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal ...
, Rome. He then set about an exploration of the expressive possibilities of the human anatomy. His commission by Pope Julius II
Pope Julius II ( la, Iulius II; it, Giulio II; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope or the ...
to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling
The Sistine Chapel ceiling ( it, Soffitto della Cappella Sistina), painted in fresco by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512, is a cornerstone work of High Renaissance art. The Sistine Chapel is the large papal chapel built within the Vatica ...
resulted in the supreme masterpiece of figurative composition, which was to have profound effect on every subsequent generation of European artists. His later work, '' The Last Judgement'', painted on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel
The Sistine Chapel (; la, Sacellum Sixtinum; it, Cappella Sistina ) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the pope in Vatican City. Originally known as the ''Cappella Magna'' ('Great Chapel'), the chapel takes its nam ...
between 1534 and 1541, shows a Mannerist
Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Ita ...
(also called Late Renaissance) style with generally elongated bodies which took over from the High Renaissance style between 1520 and 1530.
Standing alongside Leonardo and Michelangelo as the third great painter of the High Renaissance was the younger Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual ...
, who in a short lifespan painted a great number of life-like and engaging portraits, including those of Pope Julius II
Pope Julius II ( la, Iulius II; it, Giulio II; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope or the ...
and his successor Pope Leo X
Pope Leo X ( it, Leone X; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521.
Born into the prominent political an ...
, and numerous portrayals of the Madonna and Christ Child, including the '' Sistine Madonna''. His death in 1520 at age 37 is considered by many art historians to be the end of the High Renaissance period, although some individual artists continued working in the High Renaissance style for many years thereafter.
In Northern Italy, the High Renaissance is represented primarily by members of the Venetian school, especially by the latter works of Giovanni Bellini
Giovanni Bellini (; c. 1430 – 26 November 1516) was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. He was raised in the household of Jacopo Bellini, formerly thought to have been his fath ...
, especially religious paintings, which include several large altarpieces of a type known as " Sacred Conversation", which show a group of saints around the enthroned Madonna. His contemporary Giorgione
Giorgione (, , ; born Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco; 1477–78 or 1473–74 – 17 September 1510) was an Italian painter of the Venetian school during the High Renaissance, who died in his thirties. He is known for the elusive poetic quali ...
, who died at about the age of 32 in 1510, left a small number of enigmatic works, including '' The Tempest'', the subject of which has remained a matter of speculation. The earliest works of Titian
Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian (Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, n ...
date from the era of the High Renaissance, including a massive altarpiece '' The Assumption of the Virgin'' which combines human action and drama with spectacular colour and atmosphere. Titian continued painting in a generally High Renaissance style until near the end of his career in the 1570s, although he increasingly used colour and light over line to define his figures.
German Renaissance art
German Renaissance art falls into the broader category of the Renaissance in Northern Europe, also known as the Northern Renaissance
The Northern Renaissance was the Renaissance that occurred in Europe north of the Alps. From the last years of the 15th century, its Renaissance spread around Europe. Called the Northern Renaissance because it occurred north of the Italian Ren ...
. Renaissance influences began to appear in German art in the 15th century, but this trend was not widespread. Gardner's ''Art Through the Ages'' identifies Michael Pacher, a painter and sculptor, as the first German artist whose work begins to show Italian Renaissance influences. According to that source, Pacher's painting, ''St. Wolfgang Forces the Devil to Hold His Prayerbook'' (c. 1481), is Late Gothic in style, but also shows the influence of the Italian artist Mantegna Mantegna is a surname. Notable people with the name include:
* Andrea Mantegna ( – 1506), Italian painter
* Gia Mantegna (born 1990), American actress
* Joe Mantegna (born 1947), American actor
See also
* Mantegna Tarocchi
The Mantegna Tarocc ...
.
In the 1500s, Renaissance art in Germany became more common as, according to Gardner, "The art of northern Europe during the sixteenth century is characterized by a sudden awareness of the advances made by the Italian Renaissance and by a desire to assimilate this new style as rapidly as possible." One of the best known practitioners of German Renaissance art was Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528), whose fascination with classical ideas led him to Italy to study art. Both Gardner and Russell recognized the importance of Dürer's contribution to German art in bringing Italian Renaissance styles and ideas to Germany. Russell calls this "Opening the Gothic windows of German art," while Gardner calls it Dürer's "life mission." Importantly, as Gardner points out, Dürer "was the first northern artist who fully understood the basic aims of the southern Renaissance," although his style did not always reflect that. The same source says that Hans Holbein the Younger (1497–1543) successfully assimilated Italian ideas while also keeping "northern traditions of close realism." This is contrasted with Dürer's tendency to work in "his own native German style" instead of combining German and Italian styles. Other important artists of the German Renaissance were Matthias Grünewald
Matthias Grünewald ( – 31 August 1528) was a German Renaissance painter of religious works who ignored Renaissance classicism to continue the style of late medieval Central European art into the 16th century. His first name is also given ...
, Albrecht Altdorfer
Albrecht Altdorfer (12 February 1538) was a German painter, engraver and architect of the Renaissance working in Regensburg, Bavaria. Along with Lucas Cranach the Elder and Wolf Huber he is regarded to be the main representative of the Danube Sc ...
and Lucas Cranach the Elder.
Artisans such as engravers became more concerned with aesthetics rather than just perfecting their crafts. Germany had master engravers, such as Martin Schongauer
Martin Schongauer (c. 1450–53, Colmar – 2 February 1491, Breisach), also known as Martin Schön ("Martin beautiful") or Hübsch Martin ("pretty Martin") by his contemporaries, was an Alsatian engraver and painter. He was the most important ...
, who did metal engravings in the late 1400s. Gardner relates this mastery of the graphic arts
A category of fine art, graphic art covers a broad range of visual artistic expression, typically two-dimensional, i.e. produced on a flat surface. to advances in printing
Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ...
which occurred in Germany, and says that metal engraving began to replace the woodcut during the Renaissance. However, some artists, such as Albrecht Dürer, continued to do woodcuts. Both Gardner and Russell describe the fine quality of Dürer's woodcuts, with Russell stating in ''The World of Dürer'' that Dürer "elevated them into high works of art."
Britain
Britain was very late to develop a distinct Renaissance style and most artists of the Tudor court were imported foreigners, usually from the Low Countries
The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...
, including Hans Holbein the Younger, who died in England. One exception was the portrait miniature
A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache, Watercolor painting, watercolor, or Vitreous enamel, enamel. Portrait miniatures developed out of the techniques of the miniatures in illuminated manuscripts, an ...
, which artists including Nicholas Hilliard
Nicholas Hilliard () was an English goldsmith and limner best known for his portrait miniatures of members of the courts of Elizabeth I and James I of England. He mostly painted small oval miniatures, but also some larger cabinet miniatures, ...
developed into a distinct genre well before it became popular in the rest of Europe. Renaissance art in Scotland was similarly dependent on imported artists, and largely restricted to the court.
Themes and symbolism
Renaissance artists painted a wide variety of themes. Religious altarpiece
An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting ...
s, fresco cycles, and small works for private devotion were very popular. For inspiration, painters in both Italy and northern Europe frequently turned to Jacobus de Voragine
Jacobus de Voragine (c. 123013/16 July 1298) was an Italian chronicler and archbishop of Genoa. He was the author, or more accurately the compiler, of the '' Golden Legend'', a collection of the legendary lives of the greater saints of the me ...
's ''Golden Legend
The ''Golden Legend'' (Latin: ''Legenda aurea'' or ''Legenda sanctorum'') is a collection of hagiographies by Jacobus de Voragine that was widely read in late medieval Europe. More than a thousand manuscripts of the text have survived.Hilary ...
'' (1260), a highly influential source book for the lives of saints that had already had a strong influence on Medieval artists. The rebirth of classical antiquity and Renaissance humanism
Renaissance humanism was a revival in the study of classical antiquity, at first in Italy and then spreading across Western Europe in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. During the period, the term ''humanist'' ( it, umanista) referred to teache ...
also resulted in many mythological
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...
and history painting
History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and Bible ...
s. Ovidian stories, for example, were very popular. Decorative ornament
An ornament is something used for decoration.
Ornament may also refer to:
Decoration
* Ornament (art), any purely decorative element in architecture and the decorative arts
* Biological ornament, a characteristic of animals that appear to serve ...
, often used in painted architectural elements, was especially influenced by classical Roman motifs.
Techniques
* The use of proportion – The first major treatment of the painting as a window into space appeared in the work of Giotto di Bondone, at the beginning of the 14th century. True linear perspective was formalized later, by Filippo Brunelleschi
Filippo Brunelleschi ( , , also known as Pippo; 1377 – 15 April 1446), considered to be a founding father of Renaissance architecture, was an Italian architect, designer, and sculptor, and is now recognized to be the first modern engineer, p ...
and Leon Battista Alberti
Leon Battista Alberti (; 14 February 1404 – 25 April 1472) was an Italian Renaissance humanist author, artist, architect, poet, priest, linguist, philosopher, and cryptographer; he epitomised the nature of those identified now as polymaths. ...
. In addition to giving a more realistic presentation of art, it moved Renaissance painters into composing more paintings.
* Foreshortening
Linear or point-projection perspective (from la, perspicere 'to see through') is one of two types of graphical projection perspective in the graphic arts; the other is parallel projection. Linear perspective is an approximate representation, ...
– The term foreshortening refers to the artistic effect of shortening lines in a drawing so as to create an illusion of depth.
* Sfumato
Sfumato (, ) is a painting technique for softening the transition between colours, mimicking an area beyond what the human eye is focusing on, or the out-of-focus plane. It is one of the canonical painting modes of the Renaissance. Leonardo da ...
– The term ''sfumato'' was coined by Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci and refers to a fine art painting technique of blurring or softening of sharp outlines by subtle and gradual blending of one tone into another through the use of thin glazes to give the illusion of depth or three-dimensionality. This stems from the Italian word ''sfumare'' meaning to evaporate or to fade out. The Latin origin is ''fumare'', to smoke.
* Chiaroscuro
Chiaroscuro ( , ; ), in art, is the use of strong contrast (vision), contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts ...
– The term ''chiaroscuro'' refers to the fine art painting modeling effect of using a strong contrast between light and dark to give the illusion of depth or three-dimensionality. This comes from the Italian words meaning light (''chiaro'') and dark (''scuro''), a technique which came into wide use in the Baroque period.
List of Renaissance artists
Italy
* Giotto di Bondone (1267–1337)
* Filippo Brunelleschi
Filippo Brunelleschi ( , , also known as Pippo; 1377 – 15 April 1446), considered to be a founding father of Renaissance architecture, was an Italian architect, designer, and sculptor, and is now recognized to be the first modern engineer, p ...
(1377–1446)
* Masolino (c. 1383 – c. 1447)
* Donatello
Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), better known as Donatello ( ), was a Florentine sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Florence, he studied classical sculpture and used this to develop a complete Renaissance st ...
(c. 1386 – 1466)
* Pisanello (c. 1395 – c. 1455)
* Fra Angelico
Fra Angelico (born Guido di Pietro; February 18, 1455) was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance, described by Vasari in his '' Lives of the Artists'' as having "a rare and perfect talent".Giorgio Vasari, ''Lives of the Artists''. Pengu ...
(c. 1395 – 1455)
* Paolo Uccello (1397–1475)
* Masaccio
Masaccio (, , ; December 21, 1401 – summer 1428), born Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone, was a Florentine artist who is regarded as the first great Italian painter of the Quattrocento period of the Italian Renaissance. According to Vasar ...
(1401–1428)
* Leone Battista Alberti
Leon Battista Alberti (; 14 February 1404 – 25 April 1472) was an Italian Renaissance humanist author, artist, architect, poet, priest, linguist, philosopher, and cryptographer; he epitomised the nature of those identified now as polymaths. ...
(1404–1472)
* Filippo Lippi (c. 1406 – 1469)
* Domenico Veneziano (c. 1410 – 1461)
* Piero della Francesca
Piero della Francesca (, also , ; – 12 October 1492), originally named Piero di Benedetto, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. To contemporaries he was also known as a mathematician and geometer. Nowadays Piero della Francesca ...
(c. 1415 – 1492)
* Andrea del Castagno (c. 1421 – 1457)
* Benozzo Gozzoli (c. 1421 – 1497)
* Alessio Baldovinetti (1425–1499)
* Antonio del Pollaiuolo (1429–1498)
* Antonello da Messina
Antonello da Messina, properly Antonello di Giovanni di Antonio, but also called Antonello degli Antoni and Anglicized as Anthony of Messina ( 1430February 1479), was an Italian painter from Messina, active during the Early Italian Renaissance. ...
(c. 1430 – 1479)
* Giovanni Bellini
Giovanni Bellini (; c. 1430 – 26 November 1516) was an Italian Renaissance painter, probably the best known of the Bellini family of Venetian painters. He was raised in the household of Jacopo Bellini, formerly thought to have been his fath ...
(c.1430–1516)
* Andrea Mantegna
Andrea Mantegna (, , ; September 13, 1506) was an Italian painter, a student of Roman archeology, and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini.
Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective, e.g. by lowering the horizon in ord ...
(c. 1431 – 1506)
* Andrea del Verrocchio (c. 1435 – 1488)
* Giovanni Santi (1435–1494)
* Carlo Crivelli (c. 1435 – c. 1495)
* Donato Bramante (1444–1514)
* Sandro Botticelli
Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), known as Sandro Botticelli (, ), was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 19th century, when he was rediscovered ...
(c. 1445 – 1510)
* Luca Signorelli (c. 1445 – 1523)
* Biagio d'Antonio (1446–1516)
* Pietro Perugino
Pietro Perugino (, ; – 1523), born Pietro Vannucci, was an Italian Renaissance painter of the Umbrian school, who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance. Raphael was his most famous pupil.
Ear ...
(1446–1523)
* Domenico Ghirlandaio
Domenico di Tommaso Curradi di Doffo Bigordi (, , ; 2 June 1448 – 11 January 1494), professionally known as Domenico Ghirlandaio, also spelled as Ghirlandajo, was an Italian Renaissance painter born in Florence. Ghirlandaio was part of ...
(1449–1494)
* Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially re ...
(1452–1519)
* Pinturicchio (1454–1513)
* Filippino Lippi (1457–1504)
* Andrea Solari (1460–1524)
* Piero di Cosimo (1462–1522)
* Vittore Carpaccio (1465–1526)
* Bernardino de' Conti (1465–1525)
* Giorgione
Giorgione (, , ; born Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco; 1477–78 or 1473–74 – 17 September 1510) was an Italian painter of the Venetian school during the High Renaissance, who died in his thirties. He is known for the elusive poetic quali ...
(c. 1473–1510)
* Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was in ...
(1475–1564)
* Lorenzo Lotto (1480–1557)
* Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual ...
(1483–1520)
* Marco Cardisco (c. 1486 – c. 1542)
* Titian
Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian (Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, n ...
(c. 1488/1490 – 1576)
* Antonio da Correggio, Corregio (c. 1489 – 1534)
* Pietro Negroni (c. 1505 – c. 1565)
* Sofonisba Anguissola (c. 1532 – 1625)
Low Countries
* Hubert van Eyck
Hubert van Eyck () or Huybrecht van Eyck ( – 18 September 1426) was an Early Netherlandish painter and older brother of Jan van Eyck, as well as Lambert and Margareta, also painters. The absence of any single work that he can clearly be said t ...
(1366?–1426)
* Robert Campin
Robert Campin (c. 1375 – 26 April 1444), now usually identified with the Master of Flémalle (earlier the Master of the Merode Triptych, before the discovery of three other similar panels), was the first great master of Early Netherlandish paint ...
(c. 1380 – 1444)
* Limbourg brothers ( 1385–1416)
* Jan van Eyck (1385?–1440?)
* Rogier van der Weyden
Rogier van der Weyden () or Roger de la Pasture (1399 or 140018 June 1464) was an Early Netherlandish painting, early Netherlandish painter whose surviving works consist mainly of religious triptychs, altarpieces, and commissioned single and dip ...
(1399/1400–1464)
* Jacques Daret (c. 1404 – c. 1470)
* Petrus Christus (1410/1420–1472)
* Dirk Bouts (1415–1475)
* Hugo van der Goes
Hugo van der Goes (c. 1430/1440 – 1482) was one of the most significant and original Flemish painters of the late 15th century. Van der Goes was an important painter of altarpieces as well as portraits. He introduced important innovations in pai ...
(c. 1430/1440 – 1482)
* Hans Memling
Hans Memling (also spelled Memlinc; c. 1430 – 11 August 1494) was a painter active in Flanders, who worked in the tradition of Early Netherlandish painting. He was born in the Middle Rhine region and probably spent his childhood in Mainz. H ...
(c. 1430 – 1494)
* Hieronymus Bosch
Hieronymus Bosch (, ; born Jheronimus van Aken ; – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch/ Netherlandish painter from Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, generally oil on o ...
(c. 1450 – 1516)
* Gerard David (c. 1455 – 1523)
* Geertgen tot Sint Jans (c. 1465 – c. 1495)
* Quentin Matsys (1466–1530)
* Jean Bellegambe (c. 1470 – 1535)
* Joachim Patinir (c. 1480 – 1524)
* Adriaen Isenbrant (c. 1490 – 1551)
Germany
* Hans Holbein the Elder (c. 1460 – 1524)
* Matthias Grünewald
Matthias Grünewald ( – 31 August 1528) was a German Renaissance painter of religious works who ignored Renaissance classicism to continue the style of late medieval Central European art into the 16th century. His first name is also given ...
(c. 1470 – 1528)
* Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528)
* Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553)
* Hans Burgkmair (1473–1531)
* Jerg Ratgeb (c. 1480 – 1526)
* Albrecht Altdorfer
Albrecht Altdorfer (12 February 1538) was a German painter, engraver and architect of the Renaissance working in Regensburg, Bavaria. Along with Lucas Cranach the Elder and Wolf Huber he is regarded to be the main representative of the Danube Sc ...
(c. 1480 – 1538)
* Leonhard Beck (c. 1480 – 1542)
* Hans Baldung (c. 1480 – 1545)
* Wilhelm Stetter (1487–1552)
* Barthel Bruyn the Elder (1493–1555)
* Ambrosius Holbein (1494–1519)
* Hans Holbein the Younger (c. 1497 – 1543)
* Conrad Faber von Kreuznach (c. 1500 – c. 1553)
* Lucas Cranach the Younger (1515–1586)
France
* Enguerrand Quarton
Enguerrand Quarton (or Charonton) ( 1410 – 1466) was a French painter and manuscript illuminator whose few surviving works are among the first masterpieces of a distinctively French style, very different from either Italian or Early Netherland ...
(c. 1410 – c. 1466)
* Barthélemy d'Eyck (c. 1420 – after 1470)
* Jean Fouquet (1420–1481)
* Simon Marmion (c. 1425 – 1489)
* Nicolas Froment (c. 1435 – c. 1486)
* Jean Hey
''The Moulins Triptych'', c. 1498, oil on panel, Moulins Cathedral
Jean Hey (or Jean Hay) (fl. c. 1475 – c. 1505),Brigstocke 2001, p. 338 now generally identified with the artist formerly known as the Master of Moulins, was an Early Nether ...
( c. 1475 – c. 1505)
* Jean Clouet (1480–1541)
* François Clouet (c. 1510 – 1572)
Portugal
* Grão Vasco (1475–1542)
* Gregório Lopes (1490–1550)
* Francisco de Holanda (1517–1585)
* Cristóvão Lopes (1516–1594)
* Cristóvão de Figueiredo (?-c.1543)
* Jorge Afonso (1470–1540)
* António de Holanda (1480–1571)
* Cristóvão de Morais
* Nuno Gonçalves (c. 1425 – c. 1491)
* Francisco Henriques (?–1518)
* Frei Carlos (?–1540)
Spain
* Jaume Huguet (1412–1492)
* Bartolomé Bermejo (c. 1440 – c. 1501)
* Paolo da San Leocadio (1447 – c. 1520)
* Pedro Berruguete (c. 1450 – 1504)
* Ayne Bru
* Juan de Flandes (c. 1460 – c. 1519)
* Luis de Morales (1512–1586)
* Alonso Sánchez Coello (1531–1588)
* El Greco (1541–1614)
Venetian Dalmatia (modern Croatia)
* Giorgio da Sebenico (c. 1410 – 1475)
* Niccolò di Giovanni Fiorentino (1418–1506)
* Andrea Aleksi, Andrea Alessi (1425–1505)
* Francesco Laurana (c. 1430 – 1502)
* Giovanni Dalmata (c. 1440 – c. 1514)
* Nikola Božidarević, Nicholas of Ragusa (1460? – 1517)
* Andrea Schiavone (c. 1510/1515 – 1563)
Works
* ''Ghent Altarpiece'', by Hubert and Jan van Eyck
* ''The Arnolfini Portrait'', by Jan van Eyck
* The Werl Triptych, by Robert Campin
* The Portinari Triptych, by Hugo van der Goes
* ''The Descent from the Cross (van der Weyden), The Descent from the Cross'', by Rogier van der Weyden
* ''Flagellation of Christ (Piero della Francesca), Flagellation of Christ'', by Piero della Francesca
* ''Primavera (painting), Spring'', by Sandro Botticelli
* ''Lamentation of Christ (Mantegna), Lamentation of Christ'', by Mantegna
* ''The Last Supper (Leonardo da Vinci), The Last Supper'', by Leonardo da Vinci
* ''The School of Athens'', by Raphael
* Sistine Chapel ceiling
The Sistine Chapel ceiling ( it, Soffitto della Cappella Sistina), painted in fresco by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512, is a cornerstone work of High Renaissance art. The Sistine Chapel is the large papal chapel built within the Vatica ...
, by Michelangelo
* ''Equestrian Portrait of Charles V'', by Titian
* Isenheim Altarpiece, by Matthias Grünewald
* ''Melencolia I'', by Albrecht Dürer
* ''The Ambassadors (Holbein), The Ambassadors'', by Hans Holbein the Younger
* Melun Diptych, by Jean Fouquet
* Saint Vincent Panels, by Nuno Gonçalves
Major collections
* National Gallery, London, UK
* Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain
* Uffizi, Florence, Italy
* Louvre, Paris, France
* National Gallery of Art, Washington, USA
* Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, Germany
*Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
* Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, USA
*Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Belgium, Brussels
* Groeningemuseum, Bruges, Belgium
* Old St. John's Hospital, Bruges, Belgium
*Bargello, Florence, Italy
* Château d'Écouen (National museum of the Renaissance), Écouen, France
*Vatican museums, Vatican city
* Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan, Italy
See also
* Danube school
* Forlivese school of art
* History of painting
* I Modi
* Mughal_painting, Mughal art
* Oriental carpets in Renaissance painting
* ''Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects''
References
External links
The Early Renaissance
"Limited Freedom"
Marica Hall,
Berfrois
', 2 March 2011.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Renaissance Art
Renaissance art,
Renaissance, Art
Western art
Catholic art by period