CARA'S TIPSGiotto, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael; Realism to Pop Art; linear perspective
JAMBWAECNECO
What the syllabus asks
JAMB: Renaissance (Early and High; Giotto, Donatello, Masaccio), 19th-century Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, 20th-century Cubism and the influence of African art. JAMB Section B 1(b)(c): Giotto, Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael; Impressionism, Realism, Futurism, Cubism, Bauhaus, Pop Art, Abstract Expressionism, Fauvism.
WAEC: Renaissance (Early and High; Giotto, Donatello, Masaccio), 19th-century Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, 20th-century Cubism and the influence of African art. JAMB Section B 1(b)(c): Giotto, Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael; Impressionism, Realism, Futurism, Cubism, Bauhaus, Pop Art, Abstract Expressionism, Fauvism.
NECO: Renaissance (Early and High; Giotto, Donatello, Masaccio), 19th-century Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, 20th-century Cubism and the influence of African art. JAMB Section B 1(b)(c): Giotto, Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael; Impressionism, Realism, Futurism, Cubism, Bauhaus, Pop Art, Abstract Expressionism, Fauvism.
What you will learn
- Explain the Renaissance and its characteristics.
- Compare Giotto, Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael.
- Differentiate 19th and 20th century movements.
- Analyse styles, techniques and innovations of each.
- Explain the influence of African art on Cubism.
Key points
- Renaissance: Italy, c. 1400–1600; perspective, naturalism, humanism.
- Giotto (Arena Chapel); Masaccio (Holy Trinity); Donatello (David); Brunelleschi (dome).
- Leonardo: Last Supper, Mona Lisa, sfumato.
- Michelangelo: Pietà, David, Sistine ceiling.
- Raphael: School of Athens, Madonnas.
- Realism: Courbet, Millet. Impressionism: Monet (1874).
- Post-Impressionism: Cézanne, van Gogh, Gauguin, Seurat.
- Fauvism (Matisse 1905); Cubism (Picasso, Braque 1907).
- Futurism (1909); Bauhaus (1919–33).
- Abstract Expressionism (Pollock); Pop Art (Warhol).
Start here: The Renaissance: meaning and background
Renaissance means “rebirth”: the revival of classical Greek and Roman learning and art in Italy from about 1400 to 1600 (with roots in the 1300s). It spread to northern Europe.
Causes
- Humanism: interest in human beings, reason and classical texts.
- Wealthy patrons: the Medici family of Florence, popes in Rome, merchants and guilds.
- Rediscovery of ancient art: ruins and statues in Rome (Laocoön, found 1506).
- Scientific study: anatomy, mathematics, optics; artists as scientists.
- Printing (Gutenberg, c. 1450) spread ideas.
New characteristics
- Linear perspective: mathematical system giving depth (Brunelleschi, described by Alberti in 1435).
- Naturalism: accurate anatomy, light and shade (chiaroscuro, sfumato).
- Classical subjects and forms: mythology, nudes, columns, domes.
- Pyramidal compositions, balance and harmony.
- Oil paint, perfected in Flanders by Jan van Eyck (Arnolfini Portrait, 1434), allowed rich colour and detail.
- Artists became famous individuals, not anonymous craftsmen.
Phases
Proto-Renaissance (c. 1300: Giotto), Early Renaissance (c. 1400–1490: Brunelleschi, Masaccio, Donatello, Botticelli in Florence), High Renaissance (c. 1490–1527: Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, Bramante; centred on Rome), Late Renaissance/Mannerism (after 1520: elongated, artificial figures, such as Parmigianino). WAEC’s “Early, Low and High Renaissance” refers to these stages; read “Low” as the earlier phase.
The Northern Renaissance
North of the Alps, artists in Flanders, the Netherlands and Germany developed their own Renaissance, with emphasis on minute detail, everyday objects and oil glazes.
- Jan van Eyck (c. 1390–1441): The Arnolfini Portrait (1434), with its convex mirror reflecting the room; the Ghent Altarpiece (completed 1432, with his brother Hubert).
- Albrecht Dürer (1471–1528, Germany): master of woodcut and engraving (The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Melencolia I, the Rhinoceros of 1515), and watercolour studies of nature; he brought Italian proportion theory north. He is an important figure for printmaking (va13).
- Hieronymus Bosch: fantastic moralising images (The Garden of Earthly Delights); Pieter Bruegel the Elder: peasant life and landscapes (Hunters in the Snow, 1565).
- Hans Holbein the Younger: portraits at the English court (The Ambassadors, 1533, with a distorted skull, an example of anamorphosis).
Worked example 10.1 Give four reasons why the Renaissance began in Italy.
- Wealthy city-states (Florence, Venice) and patrons such as the Medici family and the popes paid for art.
- Ancient Roman ruins and sculptures were all around, inspiring study of classical forms.
- Humanism: scholars revived Greek and Roman texts and placed human beings at the centre of interest.
- Scholars fleeing the fall of Constantinople (1453) brought Greek manuscripts; printing (from the mid-1400s) spread ideas.
Answer: Patronage, classical remains, humanism, and the spread of learning (any four with explanation).
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Practice questions
- rebirth
- reform
- revolution
- realism
Show answer
A: rebirth
Rebirth of classical learning.
- France
- Germany
- England
- Italy
Show answer
D: Italy
Florence especially.
- Raphael
- Monet
- Brunelleschi
- Giotto
Show answer
C: Brunelleschi
Florentine architect.
- fresco
- sfumato
- impasto
- pointillism
Show answer
B: sfumato
Mona Lisa.
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Michelangelo
- Raphael
- Giotto
Show answer
A: Leonardo da Vinci
Milan.
Key words
- Renaissance
- Rebirth of classical art.
- Humanism
- Focus on human value and learning.
- Patron
- Sponsor of artists.
- Linear perspective
- Vanishing-point depth system.
- Sfumato
- Smoky blending.
- Pietà
- Mary holding dead Christ.
- Cartoon
- Full-size preparatory drawing.
- Giornata
- A day’s fresco section.
- Realism
- Truthful everyday subjects.
- En plein air
- Painting outdoors.
- Impasto
- Thick paint.
- Pointillism
- Painting with dots.
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