Renaissance Art Movement

Renaissance Art Movement, History, Renaissance Oil Paintings & Artists.

The Renaissance art movement has many sub-categories, broken into Early Renaissance, Northern Renaissance, and High Renaissance art. It all started in Italy. A large number of artistic centers in Italy during the fifteenth century was unmatched by any other country. During this period, Italy boasted five major states: Milan, Florence, Rome, Venice, and Naples, as well as other smaller ones. The lords of the smaller towns and the dynasties that established themselves in the larger cities all vied for prestige through wide-ranging artistic and cultural initiatives. The phenomenon peaked during the second half of the century, when many courts developed their own fine arts schools, thanks to the constant exchange of artists from other cities. In Urbino, the leading artist, Piero Della Francesca, achieved a consummate balance between the laws of geometry and a serene, monumental tone. In Ferrara, an international group of famous artists could be found, including Rogier van der Weyden who spent time there. In Mantua, Andrea Mantegna, a court painter, single-handedly transformed the small Lombard court into a groundbreaking workshop of Renaissance painting over a period of fifty years. Mantegna succeeded in changing the artistic style of the court, from the ornate fantasy of the late Gothic to humanism, which emphasized archaeology and perspective in the oil paintings.

The Early Renaissance.

At the end of the fifteenth century, the Venetian Republic took possession of Cyprus, which marked the height of its territorial expansion. During this period, it was one of the leading powers of the Mediterranean and a leader in political and commercial organizations. Until the middle of the century, the art of Venice drew inspiration from Byzantine models, such as the mosaics in the St. Mark's Basilica. This was followed by fanciful forms of the ornate Gothic style, but a radical change in painting, led by Giovanni Bellini, soon transformed the Venetian School. This new style is characterized by the use of atmospheric effects, where light, color, and the details of the landscape blend, and outlines are only defined. Thanks to the unparalleled generation of Giorgione, Lotto, Titian, and Sebastiano del Piombo, Venetian painting perfected the pictorial technique of tonal color (sfumato). With this technique, the paint was applied in thin, superimposed layers to create the soft, diffused effect of color blending with the natural atmosphere. The Schools (corporations with thousands of members) played a major role in the development of Venetian painting, by commissioning entire cycles of large narrative canvases depicting scenes from the lives of patron saints.

Renaissance = Rebirth.

The word "renaissance" signifies "rebirth". Following the Dark and Middle Ages and their related turmoil and stagnation, not to mention the Black Death, Europe experienced a rebirth of sorts. This was accompanied by a rediscovery of math, philosophy, astrology, astronomy, science, and literature. A restored energy for learning and for human accomplishment led to the influence of all these newly discovered studies in the development of greater art.

How to recognize paintings from the Renaissance art movement.

1. For the first time in art history, artists used a combination of exact and believable proportions and spaces to create, without precedent.

2. Look for geometric divisions of floors or ceilings: The geometric pattern in a painting accomplishes more than giving the illusion of deep space; it's also the reference point for the artist while composing the painting.

3. Foreshortening is another prominent technique utilized by artists. It's the point at which an object is compacted to give the illusion of depth.

4. Look for people with symbolic hand gestures, dressed in flowing, swirling robes, all in bright colors, and an unprecedented level of detail.

5. Continuous narrative: It's the illustration of many events at different moments from the same story within a single frame.

6. That period also witnessed the emergence of non-religious portraits of people who were rich and famous.

7. Oil painting on canvases became very popular during the Renaissance.

Other Renaissance artists: Carlo Crivelli, Jean Fouquet, Masaccio, Pietro Perugino, Luca Signorelli, Paolo Uccello, Tintoretto, and Paolo Veronese

Partly from: Identity This Art and TheArtist.me