MASTERS OF THE RENAISSANCE LESSON PLAN

The Renaissance (from the French word “rebirth) is an artistic movement from 1470 to 1530.  "Rebirth," describes the radical changes that took place in European culture during the 15th and 16th centuries, bringing about the demise of the High Middle Ages. The Black Death (bubonic and pneumonic plague), which devastated Europe in the mid-14th century, reduced its population by as much as one-third, creating chaotic economic conditions.  Many Europeans came to Italy to study the Greek and Latin classics. European artists began to study nature more closely and to create lifelike people and animals. The artists became skilled at creating the illusion of depth and distance on flat walls and canvases by using the techniques of linear perspectives.  They studied the anatomy of the human body and attempted to bring to life the characteristics of the figures they painted and sketched, drawing their subjects to proportion, and often having the figures appear “in action”.

  1. Who has heard of Da Vinci and Michelangelo (6th grade Art Awareness covered Michelangelo Statue of David, Sistine Chapel, etc)?

  2. What are some of their famous works?

LEONARDO DA VINCI (1452 – 1519)

Leonardo Da Vinci was born in 1452 in the small town of Vinci, Italy . A “master artist” recognized by some as the greatest artist of the Renaissance.  Da Vinci was also known for his diversity as an acclaimed scientist, philosopher, inventor, architect, mathematician and inventor. (Show self-portrait)

 

He had so many talents that his work often led him into different directions, seldom finishing a picture and sometimes turning the work into technical experiments. He was one of the greatest painters of the Italian Renaissance, yet he left only a handful of completed paintings. Because he wrote down and sketched so many of his observations in his notebooks, we know that he was among the very first to take a scientific approach towards understanding how our world works and how we see it.  He studied human anatomy to learn how bones and muscles moved.  He wrote about and sketched the flight of birds and experimented with different designs for human powered flying machines.  (Pass around examples of his drawings of machines).   He was commissioned to study and invent military weapons to be used in war.  (Pass around examples of armored car, cannon and exploding projectiles). 

His notebooks not only reveal his mathematics and scientific genius; the sketches have become as popular as his paintings.  They captured the analytical artist who was centuries ahead of his time.

 

The Mona Lisa

One of his most important works is “The Mona Lisa” (1503-06).  This famous painting is housed in the Louvre museum in France .  Unfortunately this painting is so famous that it must be secured behind thick glass in order to prevent theft.  (It was stolen and recovered at one time.)  It is often considered the prototype for portrait painting and is a portrait of a woman, dressed in the Florentine fashion of her day and seated in a mountainous landscape.

  1. Why do you think it is so famous? (It is famous for her mysterious expression)

  2. What is it about her eyes and smile that enchant the viewer?  What mood is she in?

Da Vinci deliberately let the corners of her mouth and eyes merge into soft shadow.  That is why we are never quite certain in what mood Mona Lisa is in.

Even in photographs of the picture she seems to mock at us, and seem to catch something like sadness in her smile. Her eyes seem to follow the admirer of the painting from all directions.  These mysteries are the effects of a great work of art. Leonardo certainly knew how he achieved this effect. As a great observer of nature knew more about the way we use our eyes than anybody who had ever lived before him.

  1. How is color and light used to bring out the figure from the background? (Her face is intentionally lighter to bring the eye to the main subject matter (focal point) of the painting.

The Last Supper

Another of Da Vinci’s important works is “The Last Supper”(1495-98), a fresco painting (a method of painting on fresh, still wet plaster walls) on a wall in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan , Italy that took seven years to complete.  It has become the ideal pictorial representation of the most important event in the Christian doctrine of salvation - the institution of the Eucharist. Leonardo’s work has brought universal acceptance of Jesus sharing his Last Supper with the disciples.

  1. How does the artist make Jesus stand out? (The light is in the center of the painting, surrounding Jesus)

  2. Why do the figures seem alive? (figures are moving and bending, their hands and heads are very expressive and seem to be in motion)

  3. Which one of the apostles do you think is St. Peter (5th from left), Judas (4th from left), St. James the Greater (5th from right)?

The painting has also been subject to much controversy due to recent restorations.  Over the years in this fifteenth century church, this fresco painting has deteriorated. The most recent restoration lasted twenty years and is often referred to as "repainted", not "restored".  Although restoration may have altered Leonardo's painting to a degree, it has prolonged the life of this painting for future generations to appreciate and view.

 

Some other examples of da Vinci’s work are Ginevra deBenci (bought by US National Gallery in Washington for 5 million dollars in 1967), Lady with the Ermine, and two Madonna of the Rocks (one painted in 1483, the other in 1506).

   

MICHELANGELO BUONARROTI (1475-1564)

            Michelangelo was an artist famous in his own lifetime and often revered as one of the great masters of the Renaissance period.  He was born on March 6, 1475 in Florence , Italy .  He was recognized at age 13 to have a talent for drawing and sculpting and was sent to train with master artists.  By the age of 16, he was being commissioned (hired) to create works.  He had created numerous works of art by the age of 21, but most of them are lost or unidentified.

The Pietá

One of his important works is the Pietá (from the Italian word piety, meaning religious devotion).  When he was only 23 a French Cardinal commissioned him to make his marble tomb.  The Pietá was to be part of the tomb, but was never placed there.  Michelangelo finished the 69” statue in only two years.   It was a complex problem of how to extract two figures from one marble block.  It was polished several times, creating a sheen, so it is difficult to realize it originated from a block of stone.  It is considered a masterpiece. “The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection.”

 

Show the picture of the Pietá and bring in the reproduction sculpture on second shelf in box in Art Closet.   

  1. What is Michelangelo trying to show?

  2. Does Mary seem upset?

Michelangelo was not trying to show Mary’s anguish, but instead he meant this sculpture as an allegory.  Mary symbolizes the Church, and Jesus symbolizes the Eucharist.

 

3.   Do you think Mary’s age that’s depicted is really her age when Jesus died? (No, she would have been around 50.  Michelangelo stated that her youth and beauty were preserved by her holiness.)

 

In 1972 a crazed man attacked the statue, causing extensive damage.  Today it is behind a thick glass barrier.

 

Activity:

Soap Carving  (Examples in Art Closet)  Carving Sticks, Woodcraft Sticks, Carving Metals and Bars of Soap in Closet

OR

Blind Contour Drawings (See Next Page)