Renaissance is a term brandished as a sharpened sword by a samurai. But, what was the renaissance? In Old French it means "rebirth" and traditionally Giorgio Vasari, the 16th century artist and historian, is credited with first applying the term to the period in Western Europe from the 14th to 17th centuries. Some experts credit Florence as the seat of the renaissance. What is certain is that each culture moved into the renaissance in its own time and contributed its own elements. Catalysts for the renaissance was the discovery of classical models, the unearthing of Greek and Roman statue from the Classical Period and a rich economy. Humanism and naturalism contributed to the renaissance as well, But, was everything that occurred in the period a "rebirth"?
Speaking in broad strokes, the renaissance restored the human nude to art after the Classical Period. Sculpturally, "Fortitude" on the pulpit in the Baptistery at the Cathedral of Pisa (1302 - 1310) by Nicola Pisano is considered by may experts to be the earliest of human nudes in the renaissance. Early paintings of import to be considered is the monumental female nude, Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli painted around 1486. The commission of the Sistine Chapel ceiling on May 10, 1508 brought nudity into the religious context with well known controversy. Previously, the innovation of oil paints into Western Europe were noted. As the origin of these posts is with artist safety, remember the inherent dangers of powdered pigment usage when blending paints. Improvements in oil paints may have spread from Northern Europe into Italy altering painting. Antonello da Messina, Naples, used oil paints for portraits and religious paintings possibly as early as 1450. Some credit Messina with taking oil paints into Venice. Without oil paint being introduced to Venice, Tiziano Vecelli, known as Titian, would not have become known as "the Sun Amidst Small Stars". Along with Giorgione, Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco (1477 - 1510), Titian is considered the founder of the Venetian School of painting. Giorgione's "Dresden Venus" or "Sleeping Venus" c. 1510 set a trend for female nudes that stood for centuries. Gorigione's use of landscape in the Sleeping Venus to frame the central figure is considered innovative by many experts. Giorgione and Titian were contemporaries and Titian is believed to have assisted Giorgione on some of his later works. Titian applied gossamer thin layers of oil paint in a process referred to as "glazing", sometimes as many as sixteen (16), to obtain the proper skin tones. Tempera allowed for thin layers of color, but is now being applied to the new oil medium.
Not everything was a rebirth during the renaissance. The Byzantine School maintained a formal, anti-naturalistic character which was counter to the renaissance ideal. Artists in the Western World had not painted night time scenes, sociologically, night was a time when nothing good could happen and was therefore avoided, especially in Christian art. Giotto di Bondone painted the crucifixion in the Arena Chapel in 1304 with a darkened blue sky that is interpreted to be a night sky. Giotto also used forced perspective in a manner not seen before the renaissance. Giotto's apprentice, Taddeo Gaddi, painted "The Angelic Announcement" c. 1332 - 1338 taking knowledge of the night time impact from his master to the next level.
The Byzantine School dictated that if a person was not looking at you then the person was malevolent. Observation of any number of last supper paintings, the one apostle with his back turned to the viewer is Judas. With the renaissance focus on naturalism things changed. Giotto, mentioned above, developed a manner of figurative painting that was unprecedentedly naturalistic, three-dimensional, life-life and classist unknown at the time. Consider "The Meeting at the Golden Gate" c. 1306 in the Scrovegni Chapel (Arena Chapel) in Padua. Notice how rounded the figures are as they meet at the gate, how Joachim and Anne kiss in greeting and how their halos intertwine. But, look at the black cloaked figure in the background, see how the face is concealed. The meaning of this draped figure remains contentious. Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone, call Masaccio, 12/21/1402 - 1428, is considered to be the first great painter of the Quattrocento. Masaccio is credited with making the human form more solid than his predecessor and used linear perspective in his paintings by using the concept of a vanishing point in art for the first time and used chiaroscuro, a strong contrast between light and dark, for a more naturalistic effect and the illusion of three-dimensional form. Leonardo da Vinci used chiaroscuro in the few surviving panels, consider the "Virgin of the Rocks" (1482 - 1485). Leonardo da Vinci was also a prominent user of the technique for softening the transition between colors referred to as sfumato, meaning "smoke". Purportedly, da Vinci used his study of optics as an explanation for his use of sfumato, the technique is a fine shading meant to produce a soft transition without lines or edges between colors and tones.
The architect and artist, Filippo Brunelleschi between 1415 and 1420 drew buildings in Florence in order to refine and correct perspective and creating the catalyst for other Florentine artist to use geometrical perspective in art. Sometime later Leon Battista Alberti wrote a treatise, "Da picture" (1435/1436), on perspective using Brunelleschi's studies and techniques.
Color theory was also expounded upon during the renaissance. Marcia B. Hall, art historian, suggests four modes of painting color in Italian High Renaissance; sfumato, chiaroscuro, cangiante, and unione. Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, known as Raphael, is credited with inventing unione. Similar to sfumato, unione is used on the transitional edges between colors and strives for harmony and unity between colors. Searching for the correct "tonal key" unione is softer than chiaroscuro creating harmony between the light and dark without excess.
Cangiante transitions color from light to darkness based upon the original color. Highlights are no longer created b y adding white to lighten the tone, nor are shadows created by adding black, cangiante utilizes the base tone at full strength for the highlight and adjacent colors to transition to shadow. Giotto was an early practitioner of cangiante, but Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, known as Michelangelo, is considered to be the master of the technique. Look at the transition of light into shadow on the robes in Michelangelo's "Doni Tondo" where the yellow is applied at full strength transitioning to orange, then burnt sienna, then umber to create shadow, hence depth and roundness.
In retrospect, the Renaissance, was it rebirth, or innovation?
In Service to the Dream
Addison
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