The High Renaissance 1

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonard da Vinci was both prophet and arch-exponent of the High Renaissance, the oldest of its three supreme masters. His concern to convey emotion through subtleties of expression meticulously observed is clearly evident in the early portrait. The technical skill used in The Mona Lisa, with which tones and color are merged into volume and the mysterious individuality evoked were unparalleled.

The shadow of a great genius is a peculiar thing. Under Rembrandt's shadow, painters flourished to the extent that we can no longer distinguish their work from his own. But Leonardo's was a chilling shadow, too deep, too dark, too overpowering.

The Adoration of the Magi, 1481

Leonardo worked from dark to light, building up in oils – a new medium and a new technique in Italy. The almost monochrome underpaint reveals his methods. He created form by tonal blending “without lines or borders in the manner of smoke” – his famous sfumato technique. An elaborate perspective preparatory drawing has survived, but even there the mathematical grid is laden with creatures apparently of fantasy, full of inner life.

The of the rocks as commissioned in 1483 (a second and later version was produced with an assistant’s help). The pyramidal group of figures centered on the Madonna, set in a fantastic landscape illumined by a mysterious twilight, was to prove a recurrent source of inspiration, especially for Fra Bartolommeo’s and Raphael’s Madonnas.

The of the rocks, c. 1483-85

Strangeness – a nebulous metaphysical, even divine quality – is conveyed by the mysterious light and quiet expressions of the and the angel.

Raphael

The expulsion of Heliodorus is full of tempestuous movement – anticipating aspects of Mannerist, even of Baroque art. There are dramatic contrasts of light and dark, the colors are richer and stronger. Heliodorus, attempting to steal temple treasures, was thwarted by a miraculous horse and rider. For Julius II, borne on a litter to the left, anyone who threatened papal temporal power was a Heliodorus. The effect is most dramatic upon entering the room – the fresco is revealed from left to right.

Titian

For splendor of color, the climax was reached in some of Titian’s late mythologies painted for Philip II. His last works became sometimes somber in tone, but they are the most broadly painted, and the most emotional, of all.

“The Young Englishman”, c. 1540

Implicit in the whole is the aristocratic bearing and gentility of the young man. The blacks glow with splendor, set off by the light of smoldering eyes.

Andrei Rublev The Holy Trinity, c. 1411

Master Honore The death of the , c.1290?

Next article: The Grandeur of Renaisassance