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| In the Renaissance, an emphasis on education and expanding knowledge (especially of classical antiquity); the exploration of individual potential and the desire to excel, and a commitment to civic responsibility and moral duty. |
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| A platonic idea which suggests that looking at and contemplating beautiful objects, sacred images, and architecture leads one's soul to a closer union with the Divine. |
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| A Florentine banking family: humanist thinkers and great patrons of the arts. |
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| Italian for "light / dark" which refers to the modeling which begins to appear at the beginning of the Trecento (1300s) with artists such as Cimabue, Duccio, and Giotto, and develops to a high level of sophistication in the sfumato of Leonardo da Vinci. This modeling becomes the vehicle for creating the illusion of three-dimensionality with consistent light sources, explainable spaces, a development of perspective, and ultimately, suggesting atmospheric effects. The process includes light (bright areas), half-tones, and shadows with differences between form and cast shadows (soft to hard) [ Virgin of the Rocks, Virgin and Child with St. Anne and the Infant Saint John the Baptist ] |
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| Italian for "drawing" and "design." Renaissance artists considered drawing to be the external physical manifestation (disegno esterno) of an internal intellectual idea of a design (disegno interno). [ Virgin and Child with St. Anne and the Infant Saint John the Baptist ] |
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| Italian for "smoky" or "hazy" which refers to the style of modeling developed and perfected by Leonardo da Vinci which is without line and left somewhat undefined; it is the antithesis of central Italian disegno which emphasized line and design. Except for in drawings, it required a build-up of layers of glazes on top of layers of applications of oil painting. Sfumato unites all of the figures and elements within the composition by creating a common atmospheric effect; it integrates the figures with the landscape. Sfumato veils and reveals the figures. A good example is the Mona Lisa. [ Mona Lisa] |
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| One-point "scientific" perspective |
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| Refers to compositions which have a single vanishing point and are "constructed" with orthogonal (see below) which converge upon that point. It is used in conjunction with chiaroscuro. Compositions with one-point perspective create the illusion of depth and perspective and endow human figures in this space with substance. It reflects the Renaissance artists' new awareness of man's place in the world reflected in the increased interest in and expression of logic, scientific observation, mathematics, etc. [ Last Supper ] |
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| The lines (imaginary, suggested, and painted or indicated) which can be traced from architectural features, tessellated floors, and other compositional elements converging upon a single vanishing point. [ Last Supper ] |
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| The use of perspective to represent in art the apparent visual contraction of an object that extends back in space at an angle to the perpendicular plane of sight. The extended arm of the Virgin Mary in Virgin of the Rocks is a good example. [ Virgin of the Rocks ] |
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| In the High Renaissance, it was a composition in painting or sculpture which was based upon the pyramid. It endowed the work with a sense of calmness and stability, which appealed to the viewer's sense of logic, while also contributing towards developing its space or perspective. [ Virgin of the Rocks ] |
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| Italian for "fresh." It refers to the medium and process of applying a thin layer of fresh plaster on an existing plaster surface and then immediately applying color pigments (tempera) which, upon drying, become a permanent part of the wall surface. [ Last Supper, Philosophy, Galatea ] |
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| a full-size drawing made for the purpose of transferring a design to a painting or tapestry or other large work. They often reveal the artist's ideas as they evolve. [ Virgin and Child with St. Anne and the Infant Saint John the Baptist ] |
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| Literally means "serpentine figure." It refers to a new interpretation of the relaxed stance or contrapposto which is animated, dynamic, and twisting. The figures in Raphael's Galatea are good examples of this. |
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| The so-called "Warrior Pope" was a powerful spiritual and political leader and avid patron of the arts during the High Renaissance. Julius commissioned work for the Vatican and for his tomb from artists such as Michelangelo and Raphael. |
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| Literally means "serpentine figure." It refers to a new interpretation of the relaxed stance or contrapposto which is animated, dynamic, and twisting. Good examples are Raphael's Galatea and Michelangelo's Bound Slave. |
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| The notion of the Sublime (a concept, thing, or state of exceptional awe-inspiring beauty and moral or intellectual expression) shadowed by the awesome and the fearful, often associated with Michelangelo and his works. |
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| evokes the ideas of both pity and piety. It was an artistic subject developed first in Germany which depicted the body of the dead Christ Jesus on the lap of his mourning mother Mary. These Northern examples were often rather graphic and presented Christ as a broken martyr but the Italians came to popularize the theme and preferred to present it in a more gentle, less graphic, and Neoplatonic way. [Pieta] |
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| literally means (in Italian) to "stand against." In its fullest meaning contrapposto is the scientifically understood distribution of the weights and balances of the body with corresponding higher or lower hip and shoulder to the weight bearing leg or side. [David] |
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| Etchings, engravings, and wood cuts. [ Fall of Man ] |
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| Paintings realistically depicting scenes of everyday life. [ Money Changer and his Wife, Meat Still Life, Hunters in the Snow ] |
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| The Protestant Reformation began in 1517 under the leadership of a German religious reformer named Martin Luther. Luther's attempted reform of Catholicism resulted in a movement to break away from the Centralized Catholic church and establish a new branch of Christianity, known as Protestantism. |
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| A reminder of human mortality, usually represented by a skull. [ The French Ambassadors ] |
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| A distorted image that must be viewed by some special means, such as a mirror, to be recognized. [ The French Ambassadors ] |
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| The study of the symbolic meaning of objects, persons or events depicted in works of art. |
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| Non-religious subject matter, theme, or mood. |
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| Depictions of an idyllic place of rural peace and simplicity. Derived from Arcadia, an ancient district in Southern Greece. [ Feast of the Gods, The Tempest ] |
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| The Italian term for large, lavishly decorated chests made in Italy from the 14th through the 16th centuries. Usually commissioned in pairs for a bride to store her trousseau. [ Venus of Urbino ] |
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| Color or painted. A term used to describe the application of paint, characteristic of Venetian Renaissance art. It is distinguished from disegno, which emphasizes careful design based on preliminary drawing. |
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| A small-scale depiction of a scene or composition using figurines, often made of clay and viewed through a window or from one side. Tintoretto used dioramas for preparatory studies, as did the 20th-century American artist Thomas Hart Benton. [ Last Supper ] |
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| The study of the symbolic meaning of objects, persons or events depicted in works of art. [ Venus of Urbino ] |
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| When an abstract idea or object is given human form. [ Pastoral Symphony ] |
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| A glaze with a color which is lighter in value than the underlayer and is semi-transparent. Venetian artists such as Titian often began their paintings with monochromatic warm underpainting, over which they applied a velatura in translucent white to lighten the underpaint. Then they glazed over the velatura with transparent pigments, giving their works unique nuances of color. [ Venus of Urbino ] |
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| Although influenced by the "Manner" of the High Renaissance Masters, Mannerism is a style that emphasizes artifice and contrived imagery not derived directly from nature. The characteristics of Mannerism include hyper-idealization, distorted human forms; staged, awkward movement; exaggerated poses; crowded, unorganized compositions; nervous, erratic line; sour color palettes, and ambiguous space. As for subject matter and theme, the Mannerists favored provocative nudes, mythological subjects, allegories, and Catholic mysticism. |
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| The 1527 attack of Rome by Spain and France where an estimated 45,000 men, women and children either fled the city or were killed by the army of Charles V. Roman churches, shrines and other historic monuments were looted or destroyed. Only the Sistine Chapel was spared. |
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| A symbolic representation or story where the meaning in not immediately clear. [ Venus, Cupid, Folly, and Time ] |
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| Refers to compositional arrangement that lacks "believable space" such as one-point perspective; fore, middle and background, etc. [ Decent from the Cross, Madonna with the Long Neck ] |
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