Renaissance
Throughout the Middle Ages man lived
in fear of God and within the omnipresence of the
Church. Art generally showed the heavens and saints,
and bore little relation to what was happening on
earth. From the fourteenth century, however, man
began to realize his importance and effect on the
world. This rebirth (or 'renaissance') was reflected
in art: figures became more life-like, space became
more real and the Christian story began to be told
from a human point of view.
As the decades continued artists were able to
recreate the world on panels, frescos and altarpieces
with increasing ease. Beginning with the stylized
works of Giotto and Masaccio, the Renaissance
culminated in the monumental creations of Leonardo,
Raphael and Michelangelo. Although generally
associated with Italy, the Renaissance also developed
independently north of the Alps in Germany and
Flanders.
While Italian Renaissance artists laid emphasis on
perspective and the illusion of space, Flemish and
German artists were more interested in a detailed,
jewel-like depiction of the world around them.
Representative painters:
-Early Renaissance:
Fra
Angelico, Botticelli, Donatello, Ghiberti,
Ghirlandaio, Giotto, Filippino Lippi, Mantegna,
Masaccio, Perugino, Piero della Francesca,
Pollaiuolo, Signorelli, Verrocchio;
-High Renaissance:
Andrea del Sarto,
Fra Bartolommeo, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael,
Titian;
-Northern Renaissance:
Altdorfer,
Dürer, Elsheimer, Grünewald, Mabuse, Massys, Van
der Weyden