How did renaissance artist differ from medieval artists?
Medieval art was often flat with no perspective and was mainly
religious in nature. Egg tempera was used on wood and gold would
often be added to it. When Da Vinci painted his painting The Last
Supper he was one of the first to use perspective in his painting.
In the painting Jesus is the center, but there is a scene behind
him and in earlier work this would have not been there. The other
people in the work also create a "V" as they lean towards Jesus
bringing the eye first to Jesus and then to the rest of the
painting. The use of reflective surfaces was shown in Dutch
painting and this hadn't been there before. Mirrors, water, and
windows reflect light and images like a painting within a painting.
This is a new use of perspective .
The use of oils brought more color and the use of different
colors to art. The use of different chemicals to bring out the art
was also began. The Renaissance painters would use glazes in their
work to bring out the flesh tones and colors. The use of thicker
paint was also introduced and pallet work to create texture in the
art.
Art also began to show classical scenes and the body as beauty.
The physical understanding of muscles and of science also began to
show in art. Titian and Rubens with their fleshy cherubs and full
bodied woman show the beauty of the body. The themes often focused
on Greek backgrounds but would depict women and men as they
normally appeared. The use of symbols would tell about the person
featured in the art. In much of the Renaissance art women were
often shown as either wife/mother or slut. They were also painting
as classical beauty with a high forehead and full lips.
The use of movement in art was also new. In some paintings the
viewer can sense the movement of people and things. The drape of a
satin dress or a flutter of wings on the putti in the corner.
Again, in the Sistine the figures seem to move as you look at
them.
All of this and more ( I have just covered some of the basics)
make Renaissance art so wonderful. I can never see enough of it and
so I travel the world to look at the great masters and their work.
To stand in front of a Da Vinci's St. Ann is to be awe and to
wonder how could one man paint such beauty.