by Una D'Elia
through the city.
most of the wealth and power during the
Renaissance, but a few exceptional noble
women became patrons too. Isabella d’Este
Applying for a Job
was a woman of noble birth who, at the age
At the beginning of his career, the
of 17, married the much older Francesco
famous Italian painter Leonardo da Vinci
Gonzaga, the marquis, or ruler, of the
applied to the Duke of Milan for work
northern Italian city of Mantua. Isabella
as a court artist. Leonardo wrote that
delighted in the arts. She played several
he could design weapons, fortifications,
musical instruments, hired a private tutor to
hydraulics, and bronze sculptures. Only
at the end of this letter did he mention,
teach her Latin literature, owned a collection
as if it were not important, that he could
of ancient and Renaissance jewels and
also paint. Leonardo wanted to show
sculptures, and commissioned portraits
that he had many skills to make himself
and paintings of religious and mythological
more useful than other artists wishing
subjects from famous artists, including
to work for the duke.
Leonardo da Vinci.
9
Becoming a Painter
In the Renaissance, most painters were
Michelangelo Buonarotti was apprenticed to
men, but a few were women. They began
the highly successful painter and expert in
their training as apprentices, paying to
fresco painting, Domenico Ghirlandaio, in
work under established painters, called
his busy workshop in Florence. Later in life,
“masters.” Many worked as assistants
however, he wanted everyone to think that
until they became masters themselves.
he was a natural artistic genius and had
needed no training, so he lied and denied
Life as an Apprentice
ever having been an apprentice.
Most apprentices were boys of about 12 to
14 years of age who trained in a workshop.
They lived in rooms attached to masters’
Odd Apprenticeship
workshops and, at first, did small jobs, such
Michelangelo’s father always wanted
as cleaning up the workshops and grinding
his son to become a musician, but
and mixing paints. They practiced drawing,
Michelangelo had other ideas. At the
age of 13, he became an apprentice
learned to work with different types of paint
to the painter Domenico Ghirlandaio.
and to copy the style of their masters. They
Unlike other apprentices, Michelangelo
also painted backgrounds and other less
did not have to pay for his apprenticeship.
important parts of their masters’ works.
Instead, because of his great talent, he
It could take about seven years for an
was paid by the master.
artist to finish an apprenticeship.
Michelangelo’s first large
painting was the ceiling of
the Sistine Chapel, which
was painted from 1508 to
1512 for Pope Julius II. Some
artists who were jealous of
Michelangelo hoped that the
young artist would not know
how to do a large fresco
painting, but Michelangelo
had learned all the techniques
as Ghirlandaio’s apprentice.
10
Several Skills
A workshop could make a wide variety of
the main parts of paintings. It was quite
artistic objects, such as stained glass, pottery,
common for an assistant to paint the entire
sculpture, and items in metal such as gold,
work, following a master’s drawing. The
silver, or bronze. A master might be hired to
master would then sign and sell the work
design a building or a set for a theater. An
as his own. This was acceptable at the time,
apprentice could study not only how to
since the assistant was painting the master’s
become a painter but also a wide range
idea in the master’s style.
of other skills, such as goldsmithing,
mathematics, engineering, and architecture.
Women as Painters
Female painters were mostly the daughters
An Assistant’s Work
of painters. They were usually trained at
After finishing their apprenticeships, few
home by their fathers, since it was not
painters could afford to set up their own
considered proper for young women
workshops, so most worked for at least a few
to move out of their homes and join
years as assistants. They helped masters by
workshops. The Italian painter Sofonisba
painting backgrounds, and sometimes even
Anguissola was an exception. The daughter
of a learned gentleman,
Sofonisba apprenticed in a
workshop, although she still
lived at home, and eventually
became a successful painter in
Italy and Spain. Sofonisba
painted self-portraits, images
of her sisters, and formal
portraits of the Spanish
royal family.
A self-portrait of Sofonisba
Anguissola at an easel in 1556.
She continued to paint even
after she was married and had
children, which was rare at a
time when most women stayed at
home to take care of their families
and households.
11
Perspective and Light
Before the Renaissance, subjects in
that the closer an object is, the larger it
paintings looked flat and unrealistic,
appears to the viewer. Previously, artists had
not three dimensional and lifelike.
just made the most important figures in the
Renaissance artists began using
painting the largest.
perspective and new ways of painting
light to add depth to their paintings
Linear perspective also makes use of the
and to make their work more realistic.
illusion that parallel lines seem to meet as
they get closer to the horizon. The point
Linear Perspective
where the parallel lines appear to meet at
Linear perspective was invented in the early
the horizon is called the vanishing point.
1400s in Florence, Italy. The architect Filippo
Artists would ensure all horizontal lines were
Brunelleschi used mathematical formulas in
directed towards the vanishing point in the
two painted scenes of the city of Florence,
painting. Another element to creating linear
Italy, to create perspective. His scenes were
perspective is that the more distant objects
a big influence on later Renaissance artists.
are painted smaller and placed closer
Linear perspective is based on the principle
together than those closer to the viewer.
We do not know the name o
f the artists who painted this view, which is not of a real city but an imaginary place. It is painted in correct linear perspective, with all of the lines of the pavement and the buildings that head into the picture converging on one point, in order to create an illusion of depth.
12
Aerial Perspective
Artists also began to use aerial perspective.
They noticed that when they looked into the
distance, faraway objects appeared blue in
color and less clear than closer objects.
Scientists now understand that this is a
result of how light travels through the
atmosphere. To create this feeling in the
backgrounds of their works, artists painted
crisp-looking rivers, hills, trees, and buildings
fading into a blue haze in the far distance.
Light and Shade
In the Renaissance, painters began using
light and shade to help viewers picture the
shapes of objects and to imagine what the
objects would feel like. First, painters decided
This painting by Masaccio, from the early
on the direction the light was coming from.
1400s, uses light and shadow to add realism
Then, they painted all the objects facing the
and emotion to the painting.
light as bright and painted shadows on
the opposite sides. They also painted cast
shadows, the shadows that the objects
Masaccio
cast on the ground. This made painted
objects and figures look real and heavy,
One of the first Renaissance artists
just as though they could be touched.
since the ancients to use correct linear
perspective and realistic light and
shadow was Masaccio, from Florence.
Artists also used light to convey emotions,
Masaccio used light to make Jesus look
such as the cheerfulness of a bright day or
like a real baby, sitting on his mother’s
the sad mystery of darkness. The use of light
lap. Bright light on Jesus’s face makes
and shade for strong contrast is called
him glow and look divine. Shadow on
chiaroscuro. In Italian, the word chiaro
Mary’s face and the throne suggests
means “light,” and oscuro means “dark,” so
Mary’s sorrow, as if she knows that her
chiaroscuro is a technique that uses both
child will later suffer. Masaccio drew
the throne to make it seem as if Mary
areas of bright light with areas of dark
and Jesus are looming over the viewer.
shadow. Works by artists such as Leonardo
da Vinci and Raphael use this technique.
13
Religious Art
Most European paintings in the
scenes on the walls and ceilings of churches,
Renaissance were religious and depicted
and on altarpieces, which are paintings on
Christian scenes. Christians worship one
wooden panels or canvas that were placed
God and believe in the divinity of Jesus
up on altars in churches. Artists also painted
Christ. Until the 1500s, the main Christian
smaller religious paintings, which inspired
church was the Roman Catholic Church,
prayer in homes and monasteries.
which is led by the pope.
Scenes Come to Life
Uses for Christian Painting
Artists in the Renaissance often showed
Many people in the Renaissance did not
scenes of the lives of saints as if they were
know how to read, so looking at paintings
happening in their own towns and in
of religious scenes was one way for them
their own time. This helped people feel a
to learn about their religion. Artists painted
connection with the saints. Robert Campin’s
stories from the Bible and from the lives of
Mérode Altarpiece is an example of this. He
saints, as well as beautiful visions of Heaven
even put the painting’s patrons in the scene
and terrifying views of Hell, to teach people
as the couple peeking in the door at Mary
how to lead good lives. They painted these
and the angel Gabriel.
The Mérode Altarpiece , by Flemish artist Robert Campin, shows the Annunciation, when the angel Gabriel told Mary she was pregnant with Jesus. Although Christians believed this event happened in the Middle East 1,400 years before, the figures are painted in a Belgian living room.
14
Other artists painted this scene, which
shows the angel Gabriel telling Mary that
she is pregnant with Jesus. Fra Angelico
chose a simple setting and costumes, so
that the friar who would pray in front of
the painting would not be distracted.
Religious attacks against art also took
place in Northern Europe in the 1500s.
At the time, some Christians felt that the
church, led by the pope, had become
corrupt. They decided to form their own
Religious At acks Against Art
branch of Christianity, which became
Most Christians believed that paintings
known as Protestantism. Protestants
helped people be good, but some attacked
believed in praying directly to God and in
paintings. Around 1500, a friar in Florence
reading God’s word in the Bible, rather
named Savonarola preached that Christians
than using ceremonies and art to express
should be humble and not lead lavish lives,
their devotion, as Catholics did. Protestants
or own expensive works of art and sculpture.
also feared that uneducated people might
The famous painter, Botticelli, apparently
think that the paintings themselves were
heard Savonarola’s preaching and was so
gods, and worship the paintings instead of
inspired that he burned some of his own
worshiping God. Crowds of Protestants burst
nonreligious pictures and painted only
into churches, smashed works of art, and
religious ones after that.
scratched out the eyes of painted figures.
Fra Angelico
Guido di Pietro, who lived in Florence in
There, he painted scenes of Jesus Christ
the 1400s, earned the name Fra Angelico
and the saints on the monastery’s bedroom
or “angelic friar,” because he lived like a
walls. Fra Angelico’s paintings had no
saint. A master of his own shop, he gave
gold, expensive pigments, ornaments,
up his income and home to become a friar
or background details that might
and live in a monastery.
distract the friars from their prayers.
15
Walls and Ceilings
Renaissance artists painted on walls
made many drawings of the subject. The
and ceilings using fresco, an ancient
painter then made a drawing of the whole
technique in which paint is applied to wet
painting, called a cartoon, which was the
plaster. When the plaster dries, it forms
same size as the finished work.
crystals around the bits of pigment in the
p
aint, so frescoes become part of the wall.
From Drawings to Fresco
To transfer the image, artists placed
Preparing to Paint
the cartoon on the wall or ceiling, then
“Fresco” is Italian for fresh. Renaissance
drew over the lines with a pointed metal
artists painted in buon fresco, or fresh plaster.
instrument called a stylus, pushing on
The frescoes had to be painted quickly, while
the paper to create indentations in the soft
the plaster was wet, so artists had to know
plaster. Another technique was to prick tiny
beforehand exactly what it was they wanted
holes along the lines of the cartoon, then
to paint. The only way to correct a mistake
dust charcoal over the holes so that it went
was to chip out a section of the plaster and
through the holes and formed dotted lines
begin again. To prepare for a fresco, artists
along the wall.
Raphael painted this fresco of
the ancient Greek philosophers
discussing ideas and teaching
students. In the center, Plato
points up to the heavens as
the source for truth, whereas
Aristotle points down at the
ground, because he believes
that we need to observe the
natural world to find truth.
This fresco was painted in
the pope’s library. The pope’s
books of ancient philosophy
were kept below it.
16
Leonardo da Vinci did not
want to paint his Last Supper
in fresco, which dries very
quickly, since he was always
changing his mind about how
to pose figures in his works.
He tried painting on the dried
plaster instead, but almost
as soon as this painting was
finished, the paint started
falling off the wall. Artists
and conservation scientists
have been working to restore
it ever since.
Using the indentations or dots as a guide,
the fresco, he had to bend like a bow so that
the artist painted the scene’s outlines in one
his brain rested on his back. So much plaster
color. The artist then applied a fine top layer
and paint fell on his face that he looked like
of plaster to a small part of the image, as
a tiled floor. In a little sketch of himself next
much as he could paint in one day, while the
to the poem, he drew himself twisted into an