Renaissance+Art


 * [[image:Mona_lisa.jpg]] || [[image:horse_painting.jpg]] || [[image:sculpture.jpg]] || [[image:Baptistery.jpg]] ||
 * The High Renaissance produced some of the most recognizable art of the western world. By the 16th century, the Renaissance had reached full blossom in the works of its greatest masters: Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) and Michelangelo Buonarotti (1475-1564). These two men left a legacy of pure genius that would bring the Renaissance in Italy to its culmination. Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, a portrait of a mysterious woman, is arguably the world's most recognizable painting. This painting exemplifies Leonardo's subtle use of light and shadow to create an exquisite softness and realism in human flesh. Critics have long marveled at the psychological complexity of Mona Lisa's personality and her mysterious expression is she smiling?

//Beyond Books//. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 May 2010. . || One of the first artists was Giotto. People were amazed upon seeing the new Renaissance art. They said had never seen anything like it before. It was innovative in its design subjects. The new art was both realistic and beautiful. The city of Florence became the center of one of the most concentrated and productive periods in the history of the arts.The most significant innovation in painting during the Renaissance was the use of Linear perspective. Painting from the Middle Ages did not have a realistic sense of depth and tended to look flat. Early Renaissance artists developed a system for creating depth using the horizon line and the vanishing point.

//Beyond Books//. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2010. . || Although he lost the competition to carve the Baptistery doors, Brunelleschi won the commission to design and build the dome on Florence's central cathedral or Duomo. For years the Duomo had a large hole in the top of it because none of the architectural techniques of the day could handle this huge project. Brunelleschi's design which involved building two domes on top of each other, was not only successful, but can be described only as architectural genius. Today, his dome dominates the skyline of Florence and is still one of the largest free-standing domes in the world. Another artist of importance in the early Renaissance was Donatello (1386-1466) who worked mainly as a sculptor. Donatello sculpted the first free-standing nude since the times of Ancient Greece and Rome. The statue, David, depicts an adolescent David with the severed head of his Biblical foe, Goliath, lying at his feet. The statue is realistic and anatomically accurate, a general characteristic of most Renaissance art. David is also modeled after the Ancient Greek and Roman statues, a revival the classical past.

//Beyond Books//. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 May 2010. . || A new energy and excitement grew as artists and city-states competed against one another to see who could produce the finest works. In Florence, the city leaders held a competition to see who would sculpt the doors to the city's Baptistry. A great arcitech was Michelangelo (1475-1564)dubbed the Baptistery doors as worthy of being the gates to paradise. Although the doors carvings are only a few inches deep. Ghiberti successfully created a sense of tremendous depth and space. Ghiberti also carved a small likeness of himself into the doors. This act clearly demonstrates the rising importance of the artist, a phenomenon also seen in the new practice of artists signing their works.

//Beyond Books//. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2010. . ||