Analyzing Classical, Medieval, and Renaissance Art

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Analyzing Classical, Medieval, and Renaissance Art

• Objective You will compare classical, medieval,
  and Renaissance art to see how classical
  traditions were revived during the Renaissance.

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Introduction to Classical Art

• Characteristics
• Perfect, ideal figures
• Bodies look active
• Bodies nude or dressed in togas
• No emotion on faces
• Scenes show heroes or people doing real tasks of
  daily life
• Little background or sense of perspective (when
  distant objects look small and far)

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Discobolus by Myron c. 450 B.C

• Man throwing discus
• Designed to celebrate Olympic victory
• Athletic skills important for Greeks
• Balanced in the midst of action
• Strong body arranged to create harmonious shape
• Represents ideal man in Greek society

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Introduction to Medieval Art

• Characteristics
• Subjects mostly religious
• Figures look flat and stiff with little real
  movement
• Important figures are large
• Fully clothed, draped in deeply carved,
  stiff-looking clothes
• Faces show little emotion
• Paintings use vibrant colors
• Flat, painted figures
• Backgrounds are 1 color, no realistic space

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Narthex Tympanum A.D. 1120

• Sculpture fits into an arching space over the
  entrance doors to a church in France
• Jesus in center, sending apostles (side of him)
  all over the world to preach
• People surrounding them are people waiting for
  preachers
• Jesus is largest and most important
• Bodies are not realistic

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Introduction to Renaissance Art

• Characteristics
• Subjects religious and non-religious
• Figures look ideal and perfect
• Bodies active and moving
• Fully clothed or nude
• Real people doing real tasks
• Expressive faces
• Paintings use natural colors
• Interest in nature
• Backgrounds are full and have perspective
• Paintings are symmetrical (balanced on both sides)

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School of Athens by Rafael A.D. 1510

• Decorates 1 whole wall of a room in the popes
  palace in Rome
• Pictures great thinkers of Greece
• Figures in motion
• Plato and Aristotle stand at the center of
  painting
• Classic architecture
• Uses perspective
• Symmetrical