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Last month, Bohème Magazine introduced you to Abstract Art, as the eleventh article of a series on the Great Pictorial Movements.

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Mona Lisa Leonardo da Vinci Buy this Art Print at AllPosters.com

The Renaissance (Rinascimiento in Italy, its country of origin) was much more than a pictorial or even a cultural movement; it was in fact a complete revolution of European society that arose in Italy in the late 14th century. The Renaissance had an influence on society in its entirety, in fields such as politics, philosophy, economy and, of course, arts. Turning its back on the medieval Dark Ages, the Renaissance rediscovered Antiquity, borrowing its aesthetic and philosophical values. The cultural fields received the influence of both Neoplatonism and Humanism. While Neoplatonism integrated the notion of beauty into Christian culture, Humanism re-placed man at the center of philosophical reflections. For the first time in a very long time, artists were granted a certain importance, and intellectuals in general started occupying a preponderant spot again. Renaissance art reflected this new conception of the world and of aesthetics in its compositions, offering a new, revolutionary style that was the starting point for Modern Art. Artists abandoned Byzantine aesthetics to establish more Realism, with the supply of relief and perspective. Also, it was during the Renaissance that oil paint started to be more widely used - even though it is believed that it had existed since the 12th century.

Renaissance art particularly spread over the course of two centuries, known as the Quattrocento (15th century) and the Cinquecento (16th century) in Italy. It was initiated in Florence and influenced not only painting but also sculpture and architecture. In painting, Giotto di Bondone (1266-1337), although he was prior to the Renaissance, is considered one of the very first great Florentine painters and his work highly influenced Renaissance painters for it progressively abandoned the Byzantine style and brought the concept of Realism through three dimensions. Giotto di Bondone also abandoned the usage of gold as the background colour of his paintings (The Epiphany, Pentecost, Madonna and Child). Outside of Italy, Flemish Jan van Eyck (1390-1441) remains a major figure of the pre-Renaissance era, as his work already broke with the medieval style and emphasized the individuality of the characters he depicted. Jan van Eyck also greatly helped the evolution of oil paint (Giovanni Arnolfini and His Wife Giovanna Cenami (The Arnolfini Marriage), Madonna from the Inn's Hall).

The Quattrocento (15th century)

The influence of Giotto can be found in the work of Masaccio (1401-1428), the first great Renaissance painter, who studied volume and perspective and painted many frescoes (Portrait of a Young Man, The Adoration of the Magi).

In Tuscany, and in Florence particularly, art flourished in all its forms, giving birth to a generation of masters. Paolo Uccello (1397-1475) was a Florentine painter who realized the mosaics of the St. Marc basilica in Venice. Uccello had a great sense of perspective and his compositions were often colourful (St. George and the Dragon, The Hunt in the Forest). Fra Angelico (1400-1455) was not only a painter but also a Dominican monk, and his work often reflects his religious fervour (San Marco Altarpiece: The Beheading of Cosmas and Damian, Madonna Surrounded by Angels, Madonna delle Ombre). Fra Filippo Lippi (1406-1469), also a painter and a monk, revealed a sobriety and refinement inherited from Masaccio. His style also announced Botticelli (Madonna and Child, The Adoration, with the Infant Baptist and St. Bernard).

Florentine-born Antonio del Pollaiuolo (1432-1498) was a painter, sculptor, engraver and goldsmith, who painted a few portraits and showed in all of his work a great knowledge of anatomy (Apollo and Daphne, Battle of Naked Men, Study for an Equestrian Monument). Andrea del Verrocchio (1435-1488) was also a Florentine-born sculptor, painter and goldsmith (Madonna and Child, Tobias and the Angel). He was also the master of Leonardo Da Vinci and Pietro Perugino. Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449-1494) worked a lot on perspective, as his work reveals (Old Man with a Young Boy, Last Supper).

In painting, he initiated the pyramidal structure in his compositions and developed the technique of sfumato. His most famous painting remains Mona Lisa (La Gioconda), but he also realized other outstanding works: Portrait of Cecilia Gallerani (Lady with an Ermine), The Proportions of the Human Figure (Vitruvian Man), The Annunciation).

Born with the school of Florence, Renaissance art soon spread throughout the rest of Italy, with artists such as Antonello da Messina (1430-1479), who popularized the usage of oil paint and painted many portraits and religious scenes (Portrait of a Man known as Il Condottiere, Christ Crowned with Thorns, Madonna and Child), Andrea del Castagno (1423-1457, Resurrection, Crucifixion), and Pietro Perugino (1445-1523, Mary Magdalene, St. Sebastian, Apollo and Marsyas), who later became Raphael's master.

Reaching its height, the Renaissance started influencing art schools in Rome and Venice, giving birth to many more great painters such as Piero della Francesca (c. 1416-1492), whose work initiated the evolution of painting and helped it progress through his outstanding use of perspective and colours in both landscapes and portraits (The Resurrection, Legend of the True Cross: the Queen of Sheba Meeting with Solomon). Andrea Mantegna's contribution was also important. A painter and an engraver, he was the one to introduce Antique themes and scenes in his paintings, as well as interesting effects of perspective (Dead Christ, Portrait of Carlo de'Medici). His work influenced both Venetian and Germanic art.

Venitian Giovanni Bellini (1430-1516), brother of painter Gentile Bellini (1429-1507, The Recovery of the Relic of the True Cross at the Bridge of S. Lorenzo), greatly influenced Venitian art by being particularly attached to effects and tones as well as chromatic unity (Dead Christ Supported by Angels, Pietà, Allegory of Prudence). One of his followers was Vittore Carpaccio (1455-1525), a master of the Renaissance era (The Dead Christ Supported by Angels, The Legend of St. Ursula: Martyrdom and Funeral of St. Ursula, Birth of the Virgin, The Madonna Reading). Bellini was also Giorgione's master (1477-1510), another Venitian figure who later became Titian's master himself. His work reveals an unique atmosphere with remarkable light effects (Adoration of the Shepherds, Sleeping Venus).

The last years of the 15th century saw the decline of Florence with popular revolts and invasions by the French. It was also when Renaissance art started to spread further throughout Europe, showing a real evolution in the subjects and the techniques applied.

The Cinquecento (16th century)

During the 15th century, Italy lost the preponderant spot it had been occupying on the artistic scene as other European countries were taking over. However, Italy did not entirely lose its grandeur, thanks to a few great artists.

Andrea del Sarto (1486-1530, Portrait of a Young Man, Charity, Head of Saint John the Baptist) initiated with his paintings a new trend called Mannerism, which would deliberately distort proportions for emotional and artistic effect, and to emphasize the feelings of the artist. Mannerism was an evolution of the artistic mentality and marked the transition between Renaissance and Baroque styles, by setting a priority on light and the research of style. Also, subjects started becoming slowly more diverse. This trend was further developed by Paolo Veronese (1528-1588), who elaborated a style that initiated Baroque art (The Wedding Feast at Cana, Mars and Venus United by Love, The Repentant Magdalen, The Martyrdom and Last Communion of Saint Lucy).

Oustide of Italy, several schools were formed. They received the influence of the Italian Renaissance while developing at the same time their very own style. The production of the Flemish school was particularly interesting, with painters such as Quentin Massys (1465-1530, Pietà, The Money Changer and His Wife, Portrait Présumé du Médecin Paracelse), who brought expression and psychological features to Northern European painting, Bernard van Orley (1488-1541), who was both a painter and a decorator (The Marriage of the Virgin, The Last Supper), and Jan Gossaert (Danae, Neptune and Amphitrite, Madonna and Christ).

Germany also contributed to the Renaissance era with great artists such as Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), a painter and an engraver, famous for the richness of his colours and the quality of his drawings and engravings (Pond in the Woods, Self-Portrait at 26, A Young Hare, Self-Portrait at 28, Madonna with a Siskin). Lucas Cranach (known as The Elder, 1472-1553) was also a German painter and engraver, who painted many outstanding compositions inspired by Biblical and mythological scenes, as well as portraits (Venus and Cupid, Judith with the Head of Holofernes, Venus Standing in a Landscape, Cupid Complaining to Venus). Last, Albrecht Altdorfer (1480-1538) paid a lot of attention to detail in his landscapes (Landscape with Satyr Family, The Rest on the Flight into Egypt, Susanna at Her Bath and The Stoning of the Old Men).

In Spain, Pedro Berruguete (1450-1504), highly influenced by the Flemish and Venitian schools, remains an important figure of the Spanish Renaissance (Virgen de la Leche, Saint Peter The Martyr). His son Alonso (1490-1561) also joined the tendency although his work also announced the Spanish Baroque era (Click here to see a selection of his works).

The Renaissance was an essential era and a necessary evolution not only in artistic fields but in all the aspects of European societies. Freed from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance found its inspiration in Antiquity, thus explaining the many Biblical and mythological depictions. The Renaissance marked the beginning of more modern times, where artists were celebrated and valued again, and could express themselves with a creativity that had no boundary; many Renaissance artists were in fact multi-talented, and could reveal their genius in several art forms at a time, like Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Michelangelo.

Although the Renaissance artworks may appear as very distant in style from today's art, it is important to point out that the Renaissance was an essential phase in the evolution of art, with the development of oil paint and of new techniques such as relief, perspective and facial expression. Two centuries were necessary to the evolution of the Renaissance, but far from being an end in itself, it soon opened up to new techniques and started representing more diverse subjects, particularly with the birth of the Baroque era.

In Next Month's Issue of Bohème: Baroque

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