by Una D'Elia
plaster was still wet. The artist then applied
extremely painful position, painting a
the paint. Once the day’s work was finished,
stick-figure on a ceiling.
any remaining unpainted plaster was cut
away, leaving a clean edge at which to
begin painting the next day.
Paint
Paint was made of rocks, plants, or even
Difficulties of Fresco
dirt ground up into a powder to make
Artists had to climb up on wooden
a pigment and then mixed with water.
scaffolding to reach the high parts of walls
This paint was applied to the plaster
using brushes. Small brushes made
and ceilings. They also had to endure plaster
of ermine tail tips glued to a wooden
and wet paint dripping down on them,
handle were used for fine details. Very
particularly when painting a ceiling.
large brushes made of hog bristles
Michelangelo hated painting the ceiling of
glued to a handle were used to paint
the Sistine Chapel, one of the most famous
large patches of color or backgrounds
frescoes from the Renaissance. He wrote a
with few details.
poem in which he complained that to paint
17
Altarpieces
In the Renaissance, altarpieces were like
watching over those in the painting. Painters
stage sets for church ceremonies. People
such as Jan van Eyck and Robert Campin
prayed, looking up at altarpieces for
made use of symbolism in this way. In the
inspiration while music played, perfumed
Mérode Altarpiece, Campin painted a kettle
incense burned, and priests in heavily
of water and a towel in order to symbolize
embroidered silk robes raised gold
the Virgin Mary’s purity.
chalices filled with wine.
Patrons and Saints
Patrons paid for altarpieces in order to honor
God and the saints, in particular their patron
saints. Every Christian had a patron saint,
who was usually the saint after whom the
person was named. They believed a patron
saint would help pass on a person’s prayers
to God. A patron saint could also be a
protector of a group of people, such as
travelers, children, sailors, or carpenters, or
be concerned with helping things, such as
animals, or creating things, such as music.
Patrons also paid for altarpieces as a way to
display their piety and wealth publicly.
Symbolism
Some artists used symbolism in their
This painting by Piero della Francesca was the
altarpieces. This means that a simple object
central panel of a larger altarpiece. It shows
can have a deeper meaning or stand for
the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ,
something else related to the Christian
protecting people by sheltering them under her
theme of the piece. For example, a candle
robe. The man whose face is covered by a black
that has been blown out can symbolize
hood is a member of a confraternity, a religious
Jesus’s life that was cut short by being
organization whose members hid their faces so
crucified on the cross. In contrast, a candle
that they would not seem too proud of their
that is lit can symbolize the presence of Jesus
acts of charity.
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Making an Altarpiece
surface, and was scratched with fine patterns
Altarpieces were made on wooden panels
to make the light reflect more brilliantly off
in Italy in the 1300s and 1400s. Often a
the surface. Sometimes, pieces of painted
carpenter built the panel and frame. The
glass or jewels were glued to the painting,
painter covered the panel with a fine cloth
adding to its rich effect.
and with gesso, a plaster-like paste that
makes a very smooth surface for painting.
Tempera paint was applied last. It was
made from pigments ground from rocks,
The painter drew the scene on the gesso,
dirt, charred wood, plants, and even beetles,
usually using charcoal, and marked which
which were the source for a common red
areas were to be painted and which were to
paint. The most expensive pigment, lapis
be covered with gold leaf, or thin pieces of
lazuli, was royal blue in color and was made
real gold. The artist applied the gold leaf to
from a rock found only in the mountains of
the panel using a reddish sticky substance
Afghanistan. The ground-up pigments were
called bole. The red showed through the gold
boiled and mixed with egg according to
leaf, giving it a rich, warm color. The gold
complex recipes. When the paint dried,
was carefully polished to create a shiny
it created a hard, shiny surface.
Simone Martini painted the Annunciation , the moment when the angel Gabriel tells Mary that she is pregnant with Jesus, on an altarpiece for Siena Cathedral. Gold leaf has been applied and then indented with punches to create complex and brilliant patterns in the gold.
19
Oil Paint
In the early 1400s, painters in Flanders,
Jan van Eyck
which is modern-day Belgium, discovered
The first person who perfected the use of
a new medium for painting: oil paint. Oil
glazes in oil paints to create brilliant colors
paint is made from pigments mixed with
was Jan van Eyck, who worked in Flanders
oil rather than egg or water. The use of oil
in the early 1400s. He began by making an
paint spread to Italy around 1500 and
underpainting, using a thin layer of oil paint
then all over Europe.
to create shadows on white gesso. After the
underpainting dried, van Eyck diluted some
Advantages of Oil
new oil paint with a lot of linseed oil and
Artists prefer to use oil paint because it
used this to paint over the underpaint so
remains wet for a long time, unlike tempera
that it formed a glaze. The shadows of the
which dries very quickly. With oil, artists
underpaint remained visible through this
could change their minds, wipe off one area
glaze. Van Eyck painted many layers of glazes
of their work, and repaint. Artists could also
in different colors. Light travels through the
create soft shadows by painting on an earlier
glazes and is absorbed by the deep layers of
wet layer and letting one color bleed into the
shadow. In areas without shadows, the light
other. In addition, they could apply oil paints
reflects off the white gesso underneath so
in thin, translucent layers, called glazes, so that the painting seems to glow.
that people looking at a
painting could see through
one layer of color to another
one underneath.
Madonna and Child with
Eyck painted in oil about
1435. He was one of the first
artists to make use of oil
paint, which became popular
because it allowed artists to
paint in translucent glazes
and so paint deeper darks
and more brilliant lights.
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Titian was working on this painting of the Virgin Mary mourning over the death of Christ for his own tomb. He died before finishing it, so the figure of Christ is still only roughly sketched out with a few quick strokes of paint. Had he finished the painting, Titian would have added more paint, not with careful fine strokes but rather with rough blobs, as he did at the end of his life.
A Mysterious Atmosphere
Leonardo da Vinci used oil paint, applied in
Painting with Blobs
glazes, to create soft-looking figures without
In the middle of the 1500s, Titian, an
sharp outlines. In paintings such as the Mona
artist who lived and worked in Venice,
Lisa, illustrated on the next page, Leonardo
Italy, decided to create paintings with
used oil glazes to blur the edges of the
an unfinished, energetic look. He began
figures in his paintings so that you cannot
painting on rough canvas rather than
tell where the skins ends and the hair
on smooth wooden panels or finely
begins, and so that the hills seem to rise out
woven canvas. He applied oil paint
quickly with a large brush and his
of the mist. The transitions of tones across
fingers. This left big, rough strokes on
this and other paintings is so subtle and
the canvas which, from close up, made
gradual that they are hardly noticed. This
the paintings look like blobs. From
gives his paintings a strange and mysterious
further away, the paintings looked more
atmosphere, called sfumato, a word which
alive than carefully finished paintings.
means “smoky” in Italian.
21
Portraits
Before the Renaissance, portraits were
in a war. When a king wanted to marry, he
very rare and were only painted of kings
sent an artist to paint portraits of possible
and other powerful people. Beginning
brides to see if they were beautiful. Not all
in the 1400s, Renaissance artists painted
portraits were flattering. To shame escaped
portraits not only of great rulers but
criminals, the government of Florence, Italy,
also of merchants, wealthy craftspeople,
had artists paint, on the outside walls of
bankers, and children from rich families.
public buildings, humiliating life-size
portraits of criminals dangling upside-down
Powerful Portraits
for all to see. The wife of the writer
A portrait of a powerful ruler could inspire
Baldassare Castiglione owned a portrait of
respect or even fear in his people. Portraits
her husband, which was painted by Raphael.
could also help people remember someone
When her husband was traveling, she spoke
who had died or was away, perhaps fighting
to the portrait, imagining it was real.
Piero della Francesca painted the duke and duchess of Urbino in profile. The duke was only ever painted from this side as he had lost his right eye in a hunting accident.
22
Kinds of Portraits
Portraits were painted on walls, wooden
Sitting for Portraits
panels, canvases, paper, and vellum with
Rich and powerful people did not want
fresco, tempera, and oil. The most expensive
to pose for hours while artists painted
ones were life-size portraits of the full body.
their portraits. Nobles usually posed for
Nobles also owned miniature portraits,
a brief time while artists made drawings
of their faces. Then, the nobles lent the
which were sometimes no more than 1 inch
artists fancy clothes and suits of armor.
(2.5 cm) wide. These were worn on a chain
An apprentice posed, wearing the
or as a brooch, or kept hidden as a token of
clothes or armor, so that the artist
a secret love.
could finish the painting when the
noble was no longer there.
Ideal and Real Portraits
In Italy, portraits painted in the 1400s
were usually profiles, seen from the side,
seem dignified and noble. In Flanders,
like the faces of Roman emperors on coins.
people were painted in a three-quarter view,
The subjects look distant, which makes them
looking out at viewers, which makes them
seem more real and friendly. To add to the
realism, Flemish artists painted details such
as wrinkles and the stubble on a man’s chin,
even though this may have made the portrait
less flattering.
Leonardo da Vinci wanted to create a sense
of movement in his portraits and to portray
a person’s thoughts. His most famous work,
the Mona Lisa, unlike other Italian portraits of the time, has her body facing to the side
with her head turned to the viewer, as if she
were smiling at someone walking into the
room. The movement is just a slight twist of
the body and a half smile, enough to make
the portrait come alive, as if she could speak.
The Mona Lisa is probably a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of the wealthy Florentine
merchant Francesco del Giocondo.
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The Human Body
Paintings made in the Middle Ages show
Contrapposto
the human body out of proportion and
Renaissance artists tried to capture
without the proper muscle and bone
movement of the human body in their
structure. In the Renaissance, artists
paintings rather than paint people standing
learned to paint the human body in a
stiffly, the way artists did in the Middle Ages.
newly realistic way by studying ancient
One pose that Renaissance painters copied
statues, nude models, and anatomy.
from ancient statues is called contrapposto,
which means “contrasting pose” in Italian.
Nudes
The contrapposto pose has one straight leg
Unlike the Middle Ages, when people
and one bent leg, which is more relaxed and
thought the body was sinful and something
makes figures look as if they are about to
to hide, educated people in the Renaissance
walk forward. Try standing with both legs
believed that a beautiful body was a sign of
stiff, and then with one leg bent, to see which
inner goodness. Artists painted heroes, gods,
feels more natural. The pose also involves
and even saints in the nude. Michelangelo
tilting the shoulders in one direction while
painted nudes in the scenes from the Bible
the hips tilt the other way. This creates a
on the ceiling and end wall of the Sistine
sense of movement and
tension in the figure.
Chapel. Paintings of nudes were kept in
the homes of wealthy patrons and even
in churches. Sometimes, church officials
objected to this display of nudity, particularly
in religious art, so some nudes were covered
with painted drapery.
Jesus Christ is wearing only a loincloth so that
he can be baptized with water from the Jordan
River by John the Baptist. Piero della Francesca
painted Jesus with a realistic contrapposto
pose and a beautiful, almost glowing white
body, to show that he is divine.
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Botticelli created a painting
of Primavera , which means
“spring” in Italian, by
painting a delightful garden
inhabited by mythological
gods and goddesses. The three
Graces, who dance on the left,
and Venus, in the center,
are made ideally beautiful
according to Renaissance
standards, with long necks,
small heads, rounded bellies,
and broad hips.
Idealizing the Body
Even though artists painted the human
Many women in paintings were portrayed
body realistically in terms of its anatomy
with these curves, making them look
and position, they also exaggerated certain
impossibly beautiful. Then, as now, real
features to make people look more beautiful
women tried to make themselves look like
than they really were. In the 1400s, men in
these ideal beauties. They covered their faces
portraits, in mythological paintings, and in
with white powder, dyed their hair blond,
paintings of saints were all shown as being
plucked hair from their foreheads, and
tall, slim, and graceful, which was what
wore high shoes.
people considered beautiful for men at the
time. In the 1500s, men were painted with
Human Anatomy
bulging, exaggerated muscles to make them
Andreas Vesalius wrote a seven-volume
look like superhuman heroes.
book on human anatomy in 1543. It
included detailed, carefully illustrated
Female Beauty
pictures done by well-trained artists to
Sometimes saints and other important
show the human skeleton and muscles.
Vesalius was also an anatomy teacher,
women were shown with huge muscles to
who used illustrations in addition to