Art History
Late Medieval Art
The late medieval art was a piece of art designed by Giotto, and it existed from the late 12th century in Italy. Artwork from this era draws from many influences such as Late Antique, Byzantine, and Gothic French. There is much diversity in the art created during these two centuries (Nagel, n.d). However, art historians often discuss whether this period was the final phase was the ending of medieval art or the beginning of the Renaissance. Classic sculpture made a comeback during the 13thcentury. Pulpits were introduced and gave a new style to interested churches and select artists. A funny thing about this time is that artists were not known by their birth names but their first name and the city they lived in. This may or may not have helped art historians in their time matching artists to art. No matter what, this era definitely provided many great works of art that still exist today. The art was innovative, as well as considered to trigger the Renaissance. Giotto’s work was the turning point of the Byzantine art and the humanist and realistic, which flourished within the Renaissance. Symbolic and flat figures of the Byzantine art resulted in an individual and modeled form within perspective. The piece adopted visual languages within it6s sculptures by being provided with weight and volume.
Early Renaissance
Early Renaissance came into existence within Florence in Italy, in the 15th century, just after the late medieval art, and it was a break from the past. The piece of art was founded by Masaccio (Miles, 29). This was a socio-political, scholarly, and cultural movement that stressed the application and rediscovery of thought and texts from classical antiquity. Renaissance gave rise to new art forms such as sculpture, painting, and writing. As per the time, early Renaissance occurred, the churches were considered to be taking part in every aspect. The Renaissance was recognized as the “rebirth” from the dark ages. Most of the changes had already occurred which had never been seen before. In the early Renaissance, the crucial artists were Donatello and Brunelleschi. In the early Renaissance, there was restoration within the primacy of the liberal arts over religion. Brunelleschi contributed the architecture; Donatello took part in the sculpturing, while Massaccio performed the painting contribution; thus, changing the entire art form forever. During this time, the art had new methods as well as techniques. For instance, Masaccio would participate in the nude painting. This was a new thing as per the time.
High Renaissance
The high Renaissance was an artistic style that dominated Italy in the 16th century. It is within the same period that mannerism was developed. High Renaissance was unfolded against the mounting political as well as religious back-drop tension that affected the sculptors and painters, and patrons in entire Italy (Curran, 38). After Rome was sacked in 1527, dramatic and artificial mannerism style took over. The art was different from the early Renaissance; however, were similar in terms of realism and naturalism despite their usage being different between the two. The understanding of Renaissance was mainly determined by humanist antiquity revival in Florence and the Florentine artists of aesthetic ideals that accorded pictorial world new rationality. Venetian intellectuals and artists also took part in the recovery process of the ancient world. In this opulent republic, dominated by wealthy merchants, there was also a special need for paintings on a wholly new scale, vibrant with the richness of color to match the splendor of Venetian life. Critics throughout the centuries interpret Venetian painting as the art of the senses, focusing on paint application and color. Florentine painting is interpreted as the art of the mind, emphasizing careful design and preliminary drawing (disegno).
Mannerism
Mannerism in art is a style that emerges after the period called the High Renaissance, around the 1520s, and continues through the 16th century. Mannerism emerges out of Italy, though there were mannerists in Northern Europe as well. The term mannerism was first used by early 20th-century art historians to describe this work (Delbeke, 277). The term maniera was used to describe an artist’s style or manner. So, mannerist artists pursued individual styles. In general, mannerist art moves away from the naturalism of the Renaissance, and experiments with extreme proportions, irrational spaces, and complex symbolism. If we think of High Renaissance art (think of Raphael, Leonardo) as embracing a classical order and balance, the next generation of the artists moves away from that. The Baroque follows mannerism, and some aspects of some Baroque art continue what the mannerists had started. Mannerism also carries over into architecture, and scholars have applied the idea of mannerism to literature and theater as well. The best known mannerist architecture is probably Palazzo Te, near Mantua, and designed by Giulio Romano.
Baroque in Italy and Spain
The baroque art started to counter Catholic Churches as there was much criticism within the 16th-century protestant reform. It started in Italy and later on spread to Spain and other European states. Its founders were Caravaggio and Annibale Carracci. Stylistically, there were variations according to country (Wind, n.d). If you look at the culture, art, technology, and history of the time, you get a visual reference for the style that has come to be known as ‘baroque’ which emanated from what was known as Italy in that era, particularly Venice. It then spread to France, Germany, and England, and surrounding nations copied the fashion. It is believed that the word was taken from a Portuguese term that was understood as meaning ‘asymmetrical, irregular in shape’, and that gives you the basic concept of the music. It contained long, rambling phrases that also had daring polyphonic and harmonic effects that sound extremely modern even today. Old dance and psalm tunes were still being recycled into the bass line but not as simplistically as before. Ornamentation was used often, and performers would have an innate understanding of which went where. Ostinato was used a lot to provide a secure foundation for flourishing melodies and harmonies. Bach, Handel, Lully, Vivaldi, Telemann exemplify the style plus many more composers. It is said that being able to play their compositions can enhance brain-power, as both are intellectually and physically demanding. Yet, many of the composers worked for wages and had to produce many, many compositions for masses, special performances, and so on and so developed systems of recycling their music with complex variations. The instrumentation was broad, harpsichords in salons and organs plus orchestras in churches being both practical and popular. Traditional dance rhythms were formed into suites, and these were even used in religious cantatas.
Work Cited
Nagel, Alexander. Medieval modern: art out of time. Thames & Hudson, 2012.
Miles, Margaret R. “The Virgin’s One Bare Breast: Nudity, Gender, and Religious Meaning in Tuscan Early Renaissance Culture.” The Expanding Discourse. Routledge, 2018. 26-37.
Curran, Brian A. “Teaching (and Thinking About) the High Renaissance: With Some Observations on its Relationship to Classical Antiquity.” Rethinking the High Renaissance: The Culture of the Visual Arts in Early Sixteenth-Century Rome. Farham and Burlington, VT (2012): 27-56.
Delbeke, Maarten. “Mannerism and meaning in complexity and contradiction in architecture.” The Journal of Architecture 15.3 (2010): 267-282.
Wind, Barry. A Foul and Pestilent Congregation: Images of Freaks in Baroque Art. Routledge, 2019.