New version of Renaissance but in a separate section and including images.

1. Renaissance Sculpture
Revision

2. Renaissance Sculpture
• The discovery of the nature and the human body were
more important than the imitation of Antiquity.
• The polychromes, the gilding and the various techniques
employed emphasize the pictorial quality of the works.
• An innovation was that the artist was no longer content to
be a mere craftsman, but he had the mission of adorn.
• Sculpture and painting are going to be together many
times.
• Projects were important in cities such as Florence were
competitions were hold when they had to command an
important work, as in the case of the Doors of the
Baptistery.

3. Renaissance Sculpture
• During the Quattrocento there is an intention to
define an idealized, perfect bur naturalistic
representation of the human body.
• The novelty is the concept of beauty embodied by
youth, whereas the gerontocracy in power strove
to relegate the young and adolescent to the
sidelines of social life.
• The sculptures have three characteristics:
– Gothic tradition
– Renewal of Antiquity
– Resource to the single point of view that
underlines frontality.

4. Renaissance Sculpture
• Tomb sculpture.
– The wall tomb was the favourite framework used by the
Renaissance sculpture.
– The backed tombs were contaminated by the successive
forms taken by altarpieces: the recess was surrounded by
statuette aligned vertically on the pilasters.
– Artists adopted a tripartite structure, contrasting the
central arcade, which emphasized the image of the
deceased with lateral niches containing statues of saints
or virtues.
– The development of the representation of the dead
denoted a new conception of the portrait. Depiction of
faces was often dictated by the concept of the ideal

5. Renaissance Sculpture
• Tomb sculpture.
– The wall tomb was the favourite framework used by the
Renaissance sculpture.
– The backed tombs were contaminated by the successive
forms taken by altarpieces: the recess was surrounded by
statuette aligned vertically on the pilasters.
– Artists adopted a tripartite structure, contrasting the
central arcade, which emphasized the image of the
deceased with lateral niches containing statues of saints or
virtues.
– The development of the representation of the dead denoted
a new conception of the portrait. Depiction of faces was
often dictated by the concept of the ideal

6. Renaissance Sculpture
• The portrait
– The art of medallist developed
– They tended to specify and define the
natural features of an individual, with
attention to physiognomy and its
psychological bearing, and without forgetting
the course of the time.
– Female portraits implied a searching focus on
the beauty of woman, and inspired the artist
to a celebration of beauty, with a softer and
more tender treatment.

7. Renaissance Sculpture
• Nude
– There is a predominance of male nudes. They follow
the Gothic tradition.
– Female nudes appear in small bronze statues,
imitating the antique statuary.
– Male nude kept the workshops especially busy.
– Some of the models are those made by Michelangelo:
Bacchus and, later on, David.

8. Renaissance Sculpture
• Mannerism
– Works oscillated between the fantastic and the
maniera (following the example of Michelangelo)
– Sometimes the ideal took preference
– Powerful images opposed to elongated weightless
ones
– Undulating spirals animated groups and twisted
sinuous bodies
– Exaggerated expression to the point of morbidity
and the bizarre was preferred
– Instead of being a sign of decadence, the diversity
shows an art in search of itself.

9. Renaissance Sculpture
• Materials and technique
– Bronze substituted other precious
materials. It was casted and finished by
chisel. At the beginning it was not highly
polished
– Extensive use of marble and fine calcareous
stones
– Details of images are sometimes gilded
– Backgrounds can be coloured

10. Renaissance Sculpture
• Authors and examples:
– Ghiberti: Doors of the Baptistery in
Florence (East Doors and Paradise Doors)

11. Renaissance Sculpture
Donatello: David, Condottiero Gattamelata

12. Renaissance Sculpture
– Michelangelo: (Terribilita) Pieties, David,
Medici’s Tombs

13. Renaissance Sculpture

14. Renaissance Sculpture

15. Renaissance Sculpture
• Mannerism:
– Materials: stucco, a mix of plaster, lime and
sometimes powdered marble is well suited for
modelling.
– The search for effect was often concentrate on
polychrome sculpture.
– Fountains appear combining sculpture with the
effects of water.
– In tombs marble and bronze are the main
materials.
– Artists were itinerant, attracted by rulers to their
courts.

16. Renaissance Sculpture
– Mannerism:
• Cellini: Perseus

17. Renaissance Sculpture
• Berruguete: Toledo’s Choir stalls

18. Renaissance Sculpture
• Leoni: Charles V’s portraits