The High Renaissance

Leonardo da Vinci
Raphael
Titian

Lotto

Lotto's early style seems sometimes more fifteenth- than sixteenth-century, and his pictures usually have some strangeness, whenever of proportion, pose or subject matter. Nevertheless his handling of paint, color and light was both sensitive and original, especially in his smaller-scale pictures, and he soon took advantage of the discoveries of his contemporaries in north and central Italy; he sometimes, too, seems to echo Netherlandish or German example. His originality tells most strikingly in his portraiture, in which he was concerned with the psychology and personal aura of the sitter as no previous painter had been.

The Madonna and Child with St John and St Peter Martyr, 1503

This is Lotto's earliest signed and dated work. The Madonna, in pose and in features, echoes Giovanni Bellini; so do the clear, glowing colors and detailed landscape.

Correggio

In the sixteenth century the smaller cities in northern Italy retained considerable independence of vision. Correggio's mature style is very antithesis of Mantegna&'s austerity; he retained, however, an impeccable accuracy in drawing. Fundamental was the legacy of Leonardo, and his modulation of line by shadow, of shadow by reflected light, so that the spectator's eye was also demonstrably aware of the classical High Renaissance in central Italy, and he was equally aware of Titian.

"La Notte" (The Adoration of the shepherds), c. 1527-30

"La Notte" (The Adoration of the shepherds), c. 1527-30

The traditionally peaceful subject is transformed by the arrival of angels and by supernatural emanating from the Child, which anticipates some of the light and dark effects to be exploited in the later 16^th century. Dawn streaking the distant sky and the dramatic diagonal recession can both be compared to Titian.

Girolamo Savoldo

He is perhaps an underestimated talent. He is recorded in Florence in 1508 and matriculated there. He delighted in rich textures shimmering in half light, brilliantly captured in his Mary Magdalen.

Mary Magdalen, c. 1530?

The down sky and silvery highlights on the robes of the Magdalen approaching the tomb are meticulously observed by the Brescian painter. Its realistic force relates the painting to the northern Italian provinces rather than to Venetian styles, though its virtuoso handling of light was surely influenced by Titian.

Dosso Dossi

Dosso Dossi in Ferrara painted weirdly lit, romantic paintings, some of them recalling Ferrarese paintings of fifteenth century, but touched by the influence of Giorgione. Dosso"s extremely opulent color range may have been stimulated not only by Venetian works at the court of Ferrara but also by the rich collection of Netherlandish painting there.

Mary Magdalen, c. 1530?

Alcina, c.1523

Dense in strange detail, resplendent in color, the picture may represent the sorceress Alicina.

Next article: Netherlandish and French Painting