Artistic Giants of the Italian Renaissance - A Special Course of Lectures

Artistic

GIANTS OF THE

ITALIAN RENAISSANCE A Special Course of Lectures

Course Description: What exactly was the Italian Renaissance, when was it, and why does it matter?

Who were its greatest artists, and what did they achieve? These are the questions addressed by this special series of online illustrated presentations. Each week we will spend two hours exploring the genius of Italian Renaissance artists in the company of art historian and long-time resident of Italy Dr. Kevin Murphy. His live discussions are blended with filmed micro-visits to galleries and churches in Italy, giving you that hands-on interactive feeling he brings to our students during classes at the Tuscany Campus in Italy.

Starting with the developments of artistic pioneers such as Masaccio, Donatello, and Brunelleschi in the early 15th century, Dr. Murphy’s narrative takes you through to the so-called High Renaissance achievements of Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo in the 16th century. Along the way you’ll learn about artistic techniques, the invention of linear perspective, the revival of classical antiquity, and the rise of the wealthy Medici family, and you’ll gain insights into the enduring legacy of Italian Renaissance art.

Instructor: Professor Kevin J.F. Murphy is a British art historian and instructor specializing in Italian Renaissance art. He is also the Dean of the University’s Tuscany Campus in Prato, Italy, just outside Florence. He has lived in Prato since 1995 and set up the campus in 2012.

Please contact him with any questions or comments at kmurphy@newhaven.edu.

Structure: The course is divided into three weekly sections: I. The First Generation: Masaccio, Donatello & Brunelleschi II. The Second Generation: Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, Ghirlandaio & Fra Angelico III. The High Renaissance: Leonardo, Raphael & Michelangelo

Class Meetings: Classes will be held live on Zoom. You will receive an invitation to all three meetings.

During class Professor Murphy will appear on video as well as share his screen so the class can view images as he discusses them. Participants are welcome to ask questions during class either via video or the chat function.

Reading: Although it isn’t necessary, if you would like to do some reading as part of this course, you might enjoy the following text widely available new and secondhand on Amazon: A. Richard Turner, Renaissance Florence: The Invention of a New Art. It has been published in several versions, including one in the Perspectives Series by Pearson and another as part of the Everyman Art Library under the title Renaissance in Florence.

They are all good.

Resources Online: There are countless good online resources out there, including the marvelous Web Gallery of Art, which is a good place to start: https://www.wga.hu/tours/italpain/index09.html.

ARTISTIC GIANTS OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE – A SPECIAL COURSE OF LECTURES

I. The First Generation: Masaccio, Donatello & Brunelleschi In 1435, the Florentine writer Alberti declared in his influential book On Painting that he lived in a revolutionary age of artistic endeavors, that the artists of Florence had broken with the medieval past and were forging a new style that could outdo even the famous achievements of ancient Greece and Rome. He observed this revolution especially in the works of Masaccio, Donatello, and Brunelleschi, whose groundbreaking work he witnessed every day in the churches and streets of the city. The characteristics of this new style were stark monumentality, a new level of emotional realism, anatomical naturalism based on observation of the human body, and a dramatic new sense of space and perspective based on mathematics.

Key Figures: Giotto, 1267–1337

Brunelleschi, 1377–1446

Donatello ca. 1386–1466

Alberti, 1404–72

Masaccio, 1401–28

Giorgio Vasari, 1511–74

Key artworks: Polykleitos, Doryphoros, 2nd century BCE, Archaeological Museum, Naples

Donatello, David (marble), 1408–9, Bargello, Florence

Cimabue, Maestà, 1290–1300, Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Donatello, St. John the Evangelist, 1408–15, Opera del Duomo, Florence

Giotto, Maestà, 1310, Uffizi Gallery, Florence Giotto, Lamentation, 1306, Arena Chapel, Padua

Donatello, David (bronze), 1460s, Bargello, Florence

Masaccio, Trinity, ca. 1425–27, Santa Maria Novella, Florence

Donatello, Zuccone, The Prophet Habbakuk, 1427–36, Opera del Duomo, Florence

Masaccio, Brancacci Chapel scenes, 1426–27, Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence

Donatello, The Penitent Magdalene, 1430s–50s, Opera del Duomo, Florence

Masolino, The Temptation, 1426–27, Brancacci Chapel, Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence

Donatello, Pulpit, 1428–38, Cathedral of Santo Stefano, Prato

Arnolfo di Cambio, Madonna and Child (Madonna with the Glass Eyes), 1300–5, Opera del Duomo, Florence

Brunelleschi, Innocenti Hospital, 1419–24, Florence

Donatello, St. Mark, 1411–16, Orsanmichele, Florence

Brunelleschi, Dome of Florence Cathedral, 1420–36, Florence

Donatello, St. George, ca. 1416, Orsanmichele, Florence

Michelangelo, David, 1504, Academy Museum, Florence

Brunelleschi and Ghiberti, Trial Panels, 1401–2, Bargello, Florence Brunelleschi, San Lorenzo Church, 1442–56, Florence

Donatello, St. George and the Dragon, ca. 1417, Bargello, Florence

Key themes: Contrapposto

Atmospheric/aerial perspective

Linear perspective

Emotional impact

Monumentality

Ingegno

Realism

Lost wax technique, fresco painting technique, tempera and egg tempera

Chiaroscuro Naturalistic treatment of human form

ARTISTIC GIANTS OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE – A SPECIAL COURSE OF LECTURES

II. The Second Generation: Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, Ghirlandaio & Fra Angelico As the 15th century progressed, the earliest achievements of the Renaissance developed in various directions in Florence.

Two painter-priests, Fra Angelico and Fra Filippo Lippi, dominated the art scene in the mid-century, while the Medici oversaw an artistic boom by sponsoring upcoming artists such as Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, and Andrea del Verrocchio, as well as youngsters such as Leonardo and Michelangelo. By now Florence was an international byword for artistic excellence as well as wealth and politics.

As we will see, revolution, war, and religious reform shook Florence to its core in the 1490s but did nothing to weaken the quality of the Florentine art scene.

Key Figures: Guido di Piero (Fra Angelico), ca. 1395–1455

Domenico Ghirlandaio, 1449–94

Fra Filippo Lippi, ca. 1406–69

Andrea del Verrocchio, 1435–88

Filippino Lippi, 1457–1504

Lorenzo de’ Medici, ‘il magnifico’, 1449–92

Sandro Botticelli, 1444/45–1510

Girolamo Savonarola, 1452–98

Key artworks: Fra Angelico, Descent from the Cross, ca. 1434, Museum of San Marco, Florence

Sandro Botticelli, Birth of Venus, Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Fra Angelico, San Marco Altarpiece, 1438–40, Museum of San Marco, Florence

Sandro Botticelli, Judith’s Return to Bethulia, ca. 1472, Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Fra Angelico, Annunciation, ca. 1432–34, Museo Diocesano, Cortona

Filippino Lippi, Apparition of the Virgin to St. Bernard, 1485–87, Badia Fiorentina, Florence

Fra Angelico, Annunciation, ca. 1438–45, Convent of San Marco, Florence

Filippino Lippi, Madonna del Ceppo, 1452–53, Museo Civico, Prato

Fra Filippo Lippi, Madonna and Child with Angels, St. Augustine & Frediano (Barbadori Altarpiece), ca. 1437–39, Louvre, Paris

Domenico Ghirlandaio, Last Supper, 1480, Convent of San Marco,

Sandro Botticelli, Primavera, ca. 1482, Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Fra Filippo Lippi, Annunciation, 1440, San Lorenzo, Florence

Domenico Ghirlandaio, Birth of the Virgin, Tornabuoni Chapel, Santa Maria Novella, Florence

Fra Filippo Lippi, Funeral of St. Jerome, 1452–60, Opera del Duomo, Prato

Andrea del Verrocchio, Christ and Doubting Thomas, 1466–83 Orsanmichele, Florence

Fra Filippo Lippi, Frescoes for the cappella maggiore, 1452–65, Cathedral of Santo Stefano, Prato

Andrea del Verrocchio, David, ca. 1474, Bargello, Florence

Fra Filippo Lippi, Madonna and Child with Two Angels, ca. 1455–1460s, Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Andrea del Verrocchio, Baptism of Christ for the Monastery of San Salvi, ca. 1472, Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Paolo Uccello, Battle of San Romano, ca. 1435–60, National Gallery, London

Key themes: Medici Family

Triptych

Guild patronage

Savonarola and the Bonfire of the Vanities

ARTISTIC GIANTS OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE – A SPECIAL COURSE OF LECTURES

III. The High Renaissance: Leonardo, Raphael & Michelangelo The origins of the label ‘High’ Renaissance are not clear. It doesn’t really have a set of precise dates, nor does it all happen in just one place. It refers primcipally to the type of art created by Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo (and their followers), principally in Florence and Rome. Duing this time the ‘royal’ patronge of popes and Dukes now prevails over private commissions, and grand projects such as the construction of St.Peter’s or Ducal palaces dominate. The artistic output of this period has often been described by critics as attaining the grandeur, naturalistic and expressive ‘perfection’ always sought by Renaissance art.

Key Figures: Leonardo da Vinci, 1452–1519

Leo X, 1575–1521 (pope 1513–21)

Michelangelo, 1475–1564

Clement VII, 1478–1534 (pope 1523–34)

Raphael, 1483–1520

Cosimo I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, 1519–74

Julius II, 1443–1513 (pope 1503–13)

Key artworks: Leonardo da Vinci, Last Supper, 1498, Refectory, Santa Maria della Grazie, Milan

Michelangelo, Bacchus, ca. 1496–7, Bargello, Florence

Leonardo, Ginevra de’ Benci, ca. 1474, National Gallery, Washington Leonardo, Mona Lisa, 1503–1513, Louvre Museum, Paris

Agesander, Athenodoros and Polydorus, Laocoon, Roman copy of bronze original, 1st century BCE, Cortile del Belvedere, Vatican

Leonardo, Vitruvian Man, ca. 1490, Academy, Venice

Apollonio of Athens, Belvedere Torso, 1st century BCE, Vatican

Raphael, The School of Athens, 1511, Stanza della Segnatura, Vatican

Michelangelo, David, 1501–4, Academy, Florence

Raphael, Portrait of Julius II, 1512, Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel Ceiling, 1508–12, Sistine Chapel, Vatican

Raphael, Portrait of Leo X, 1518, Uffizi Gallery, Florence Michelangelo, Madonna of the Stairs, ca. 1491, Casa Buonarroti, Florence Michelangelo, Battle of the Centaurs, 1491–2, Casa Buonarroti, Florence

Michelangelo, Pietà, 1498–99, Vatican

Michelangelo, Doni Tondo, 1503–4, Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Michelangelo, New Sacristy, 1519–34, San Lorenzo, Florence Michelangelo, The Last Judgement, 1536–41, Sistine Chapel, Vatican

Michelangelo, Kneeling Angel on the Tomb of Saint Dominic, 1495, San Domenico, Bologna

Key themes: Papal patronage

Mannerism

The Reformation

Oil painting

Portraiture

Figura serpentinata

Vasari’s Lives of the Artists and the birth of art history

Sfumato

Nonfinito

ARTISTIC GIANTS OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE – A SPECIAL COURSE OF LECTURES