The most important art schools of the Renaissance

The Italian Renaissance has produced one of the greatest revolutions in painting. Strictly speaking, from this moment people for the second time since the time of Ancient Rome "learned to draw". Until the fourteenth century, icon painting was strong in the European tradition.

An icon is a picture that did not reflect events in the earthly world. The artists painted the heavenly world as they imagined it. A special feature of the icon is a golden background with a lack of air and depth. And it was with the replacement of this background with a conditional realistic background, in which there is perspective, earth and sky, that the search for the masters of the Renaissance began. The pioneer in this art was Pietro Cavallini, and it all began with the fact that the artist was commissioned to restore ancient early Christian mosaics. Working on them, he willy-nilly had to master the ancient Roman system of mosaic images, which assumed greater realism than icons. So the early Christian art of the 5th century became one of the sources of knowledge about painting in the early Renaissance. However, at that time there was a strong influence of the Byzantine tradition, which was characterized by frozen,passive postures, lack of action and ignorance of space. A century and a half passed from that time before the painting of the Renaissance reached its heyday, but the first steps of the painters already look more harmonious and beautiful than the images of medieval European art, which are almost forgotten today. In different countries, and even in different cities of Italy, the Renaissance had a different stylistic coloring, and the degree of mastery of science, humanistic philosophy, anatomy and perspective in different parts of Europe is very different.In different countries, and even in different cities of Italy, the Renaissance had a different stylistic coloring, and the degree of mastery of science, humanistic philosophy, anatomy and perspective in different parts of Europe is very different.In different countries, and even in different cities of Italy, the Renaissance had a different stylistic coloring, and the degree of mastery of science, humanistic philosophy, anatomy and perspective in different parts of Europe is very different.

Icons

Local painting schools of the Renaissance

Sienna

In the Republic of Siena, religiosity persists during the Renaissance. Therefore, Siena follows a special path. Local painters have long been faithful to Byzantine traditions, later they mixed with Gothic. The paintings of the Sienese are characterized by a much greater interest in the spiritual than other schools. The painting by the Sienese artist Simone Martini "St. Martin’s Denial of Weapons" is notable. This painting, painted quite in the spirit of the Sienese convention, shows the everyday details typical of the Renaissance (the treasurer counts the coins).

But, nevertheless, the main master of Siena was Duccio . Siena’s painting is original. However, with the death of the regime came the end of painting, which has since become secondary to more realistic traditions. The not quite usual system of the Siena Republic for its time was glorified by the artist Amborjo Lorenzetti in his most famous works - "The fruits of good government" and "The fruits of bad government". Such names were given by modern scholars to two frescoes that adorn the interior of the building of the Parliament of Siena. Of course, in our time, the meaning of all the symbols represented in these complex paintings is not fully known, but some suspect that Good Rule is a freer feudal republic, and Bad Rule is an image of neighboring monarchies.

Florence

Contrasted with the traditional school of Siena is the painting of Florence, which has always and everywhere been experimental and advanced. It was there that Giotto was born or worked first, then Brunneleschi, Masaccio, Uccello, and, finally, Michelangelo, Da Vinci and Donatello. The first revolution was the Giotto reform. In his works, attempts to use angles and perspectives are still timid, but he set the general direction. In Uchello’s painting "The Battle of San Romano", one can already see the real pleasure that the artist received from the depiction of perspective effects. The first portraits are also rather constrained. The look is not in the eyes of the viewer, but to the side, the position of the face is only in profile, and all this is on a black background. But later, a complex three-quarter turn of the head appears, and the background turns into beautiful, sophisticated scenery. A beautiful landscape was depicted in the background. By the way,it was in Florence that Michelangelo and Leonardo created the most important works of art, painting the walls of the Grand Council with scenes of the Battle of Anghiari. The thought that Leonardo put into his work also contains a revolutionary idea for that time. In the "Battle for the Banner" scene, both people and horses are presented so cruel and feral that there is no room for any glory or sympathy for "their own". Leonardo shows the whole horror of the war. War is terrible in itself. There is no place for anything high in it.that there is no room for any glory or sympathy for "their own". Leonardo shows the whole horror of the war. War is terrible in itself. There is no place for anything high in it.that there is no room for any glory or sympathy for "their own". Leonardo shows the whole horror of the war. War is terrible in itself. There is no place for anything high in it.

Venice

Venetian painting stands out among others for its special relation to color and luscious picturesqueness. All the paintings of the Venetians are bright. In terms of its technique, this school was one of the most advanced in Italy. The features of the Renaissance in Venice are clearly visible in the painting of Giovanni Bellini. Bellini is a ramified family that has given mankind many famous painters, but some of Giovanni Bellini’s paintings are especially soft and tender. He often portrayed Mary with the baby, at different years and with varying degrees of perfection. In one of his paintings, you can see the timid first steps of a little boy and the warm smile of his mother. Such plots are the most accurate reflection of motherhood, because in the Renaissance, saints were portrayed with those simple human feelings that are inherent in all people in such situations, and the painting itself becomes more "alive".

Old Dutch painting

The Northern Renaissance was based on a very different ideology. The Dutch and Germans did not restrict religion in favor of science, but reformed Christianity. The great philosopher Erasmus of Rotterdam wrote the work "Praise of Folly". In it, the philosopher called for a return to the sincerity and unselfishness characteristic of early Christians. Christianity of the first centuries of our era by Erasmus of Rotterdam compares favorably with the cruel medieval Catholic Church. However, during the Reformation, during the decline of the Renaissance, a previously unknown idea arose, namely, the idea that wealth is pleasing to God. This idea contributed to the industrial upsurge in Lutheran countries, but at the same time laid the foundation for the modern greed for money, the idea of accumulation as the meaning of life inherent in modern capitalist states.In Holland and Germany, artists continued to ignore anatomy and humanism, but they also created great works. One of the most significant is "The Magnificent Book of Hours of the Duke of Beria". Despite the disregard for the proportionality of people and buildings (people in these paintings are sometimes slightly smaller than houses), "The Magnificent Book of Hours" amazes all viewers with its exquisite decorativeness. There are biblical scenes in this book, but miniatures dedicated to different months are especially famous. These miniatures depict holidays, hunting, peasant labor in the field, in a word, important parts of the life of a person of that time, and all this is depicted with extraordinary artistic taste. Bright, saturated colors were still possible in the luscious palette of the Gothic; later they will disappear.One of the most significant is "The Magnificent Book of Hours of the Duke of Beria". Despite the disregard for the proportionality of people and buildings (people in these paintings are sometimes slightly smaller than houses), "The Magnificent Book of Hours" amazes all viewers with its exquisite decorativeness. There are biblical scenes in this book, but miniatures dedicated to different months are especially famous. These miniatures depict holidays, hunting, peasant labor in the field, in a word, important parts of the life of a person of that time, and all this is depicted with extraordinary artistic taste. Bright, saturated colors were still possible in the luscious palette of the Gothic; later they will disappear.One of the most significant is "The Magnificent Book of Hours of the Duke of Beria". Despite the disregard for the proportionality of people and buildings (people in these paintings are sometimes slightly smaller than houses), "The Magnificent Book of Hours" amazes all viewers with its exquisite decorativeness. There are biblical scenes in this book, but miniatures dedicated to different months are especially famous. These miniatures depict holidays, hunting, peasant labor in the field, in a word, important parts of the life of a person of that time, and all this is depicted with extraordinary artistic taste. Bright, saturated colors were still possible in the luscious palette of the Gothic; later they will disappear.There are biblical scenes in this book, but miniatures dedicated to different months are especially famous. These miniatures depict holidays, hunting, peasant labor in the field, in a word, important parts of the life of a person of that time, and all this is depicted with extraordinary artistic taste. Bright, saturated colors were still possible in the luscious palette of the Gothic; later they will disappear.There are also biblical scenes in this book, but miniatures dedicated to different months are especially famous. These miniatures depict holidays, hunting, peasant labor in the field, in a word, important parts of a person’s life at that time, and all this is depicted with extraordinary artistic taste. Bright, saturated colors were still possible in the luscious palette of the Gothic; later they will disappear.

Renaissance is the time of geniuses, when science went hand in hand with imagination, and modern society was just taking shape. But still, the success in painting of this time is amazing, and this is certainly the best that painting in Italy and all of Europe could only achieve!