RENAISSANCE
Insofar as the protorenesans is related to the specific circumstances of the competition for the doors of the Baptistery in Florence, the right era has begun, as it is commonly believed, from the wall painting The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). In addition to spatial values and illusionist effects, the picture is characterized by a detailed psychological characterization of the character and stopping the action to capture the mood of a specific moment. Application of sfumato, i.e. blurring the outline at a gradual, but imperceptible transition of tones from light to dark, was a key means of painting to show the figures as real, of soulful beings, this technique is best seen in Leonardo's portraits..
The most original painter of the Poleonardian generation in Florence was Fra Bartolomeo della Porta (Ok. 1474-1517), who succumbed to the mood of religious fanaticism, which had such a strong influence on Boticelli. To show the difference of the divine dimension, he clothed figures on his religious compositions in simple draperies. and not in colorful period costumes, what was in fashion among his contemporaries. He also gave up extensive backgrounds and anecdotal details., focusing instead on expression and gestures. Mariotto Albertinelli (1474-1515), who worked in the studio in San Marco once run by Fra Angelico. painted in a similar, though less austere style. Z kolei Andrea del Sarto (1486-1530) was a Florentine artist, who shared the Venetian view, saying that the most important components of the image are color and shadow. His figures are classic in drawing, and the composition tends to the harmony of details, proportions and monumentality.
These Florentines, however, remained deep in Michelangelo's shadow. (1475-1564). in whose art the Renaissance reaches its zenith. Michelangelo's first love was marble statues. He had little interest in relation to the bas-relief, and none in relation to works in bronze and clay, Taking care, that slowly building forms was too simple a task for a great artist. His technique is most vividly illustrated in the unfinished Slaves group at the Florentine Academy., where the figures seem to flex in stone, to get out into the wild. Giant Early David, also at the Academy, shows a perfect mastery of the form of the act. which later became the most important element of the artist's work. Although he himself claimed. that he is reluctant to take up painting orders, Michelangelo's greatest achievement is the frescoed covering of the sistine Chapel with plafonds, one of the greatest individual achievements in the history of mankind. The cheerful and solemn mood of the paintings is balanced by the sadly imbued Last Judgment, painted thirty years later on the back wall of the chapel. Michelangelo's later works are more abstract, for example, the Pieta found in the Museo dell Opera in Florence and the Castello in Milan. which strongly contrast with the formal beauty of the youthful interpretation of this theme in the Basilica of St.. Peter.
The almost complete opposite of Michelangelo is his rival Raphael. (1483-1520); his more compromising attitude and the bonds of personal friendship that bind him to the patrons, explain the status achieved by him. He was a pupil of Perugino. but he quickly outgrew his master and went to Florence., where he became famous primarily as the creator of numerous versions of the theme Madonna and Child and the Lioness Family. Raphael also became a portraitist of the highest flight in time. . skillfully showing both physical, as well as the psychological characteristics of the portrayed. However, his greatest works are frescoes from the Roman period, and especially stanze della Segnatura in the Vatican and in Villa Farnesina. In his late works, Raphael's style becomes more dramatic and mannered., but premature death meant, that the work of continuation fell to his disciples.
Closely related to raphael's classicizing trend is the Florence-born sculptor Andrea Sansovino (Ok. 1467-1529), whose elaborate tombstones in Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome, with standing personifications of virtues, became an obligatory form of sixteenth-century funerary sculpture. His disciple. Jacopo Sansovino (1486-1570). borrowed his name and continued his tradition; later in his career he stayed in Venice, and although he worked there primarily as an architect, he also made many monumental sculptures organically fused with buildings, which decorate. In turn, Sebastiano del Piombo (Ok. 1485-1547) acted as Raphael's Roman rival, striving to transfer the heroic style of Michelangelo into the field of panel painting. He succeeded with fluctuating luck.. however, he was also a very sensitive portraitist..
Meanwhile, Antonio Correggio (1489/94-1534) he was very successful in Parma. On the three plafond frescoes of his brush located there, Mantegna's illusionist effects are unfolded.. which makes Correggio a precursor of the Baroque. He was one of the most outstanding painters dealing with mythological subjects., being at the same time a tireless researcher of the possibility of using chiaroscuro to enhance the drama of scenes. Another artist who efficiently operated light contrasts was Dosso Dossi. (147890-1542). a painter endowed with a romantic soul, populating fanciful landscapes with richly dressed figures.