Renaissance sculptures: photo and description

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The beginning of the Renaissance falls on the first quarter of the XIV century. Over the next three centuries, the culture of the Renaissance developed at a rapid pace, and only in the last decades of the 16th century did it decline. A distinctive feature of the Renaissance is that culture in all its guises was secular in nature, while anthropocentrism dominated in it, that is, in the foreground were a person, his interests and activities as the basis of existence. During the heyday of the Renaissance in European society, there was an interest in antiquity. The most noticeable manifestation of the Renaissance culture was the Renaissance style in architecture. The foundations of architecture, formed over the centuries, were updated, often taking unexpected forms.

Renaissance in architecture

Renaissance sculptures did not initially make themselves known. Their role was reduced to the decoration of architectural orders: bas-reliefs on cornices, capitals, friezes and portals. The beginning of the Renaissance was characterized by the influence of the Romanesque style on decoration.architectural structures, and since this style is inextricably linked with wall images, sculptures for a long time were used mainly for decorating facades. Thus, the "Renaissance" style of architecture arose, the unity of classical contours with a new aesthetic. During the Renaissance, the facades of houses were ennobled with sculptural compositions. Renaissance painting and sculpture became an integral part of architectural structures. Artistic frescoes were placed among sculptures made of marble and bronze.

High Renaissance architecture

The emergence of the Renaissance in the cultural spheres primarily affected architecture. The architecture of the High Renaissance was developed in Rome, where, against the background of the previous period, a national style began to take shape. Majesty, restrained nobility and signs of monumentality appeared in the buildings. Houses in Rome began to be built according to the principle of central-axial symmetry. The founder of the new style was Donato d'Angelo Bramante, a talented architect who created St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

Style Interaction

Over time, Renaissance sculptures began to take on more and more independent forms. The beginning of such images was laid by the Italian sculptor Viligelmo, who, while creating reliefs for the cathedral in Modena, significantly deepened the images of the sculptural group on the wall, and thus an independent work of art arose, connected with the wall only indirectly. One-piece sculptur althe image leaned against the wall, but nothing more. A dynamic rhythm appeared, the location of the statues between the buttresses added to the impression of independence from the environment. The architectural buildings and sculptures of the Renaissance were increasingly moving away without losing their relationship. At the same time, they organically complemented each other.

Then, the Renaissance sculptures completely separated from the plane of the wall. It was a natural process of searching for something new. The gradual liberation of plastic forms from the architectural plane ended with the emergence of several areas of independent sculptural art.

Famous sculptors of the Renaissance

During the historical period, which was called "Renaissance", sculpture received the status of high art. XVI sculptors of European origin acquired historical significance, namely:

• Andrea Verrocchio;
• Becerra Gaspar;
• Nanni di Banco;
• Nicolas' purse;
• Santi Gucci;
• Niccolò di Donatello;
• Giambologna;
• Desiderio da Settignano;
• Jacopo della Quercia;
• Arnolfo di Cambio;
• Michelangelo Buonarotti;
• Jan Pfister;
• Luca Della Robbia;
• Andrea Sansovino;
• Benvenuto Cellini;
• Domenico Fancelli.

The most famous Renaissance sculptors are:

• Michelangelo Buonarotti;
• Donatello;
• Benvenuto Cellini.

The most significant sculptures of the Renaissance came outfrom under the chisel of these unsurpassed masters.

Famous Florentine

Niccolò di Betto Bardi Donatello, the founder of the sculptural portrait, is considered the most realistic sculptor of his time, rejecting far-fetched "beautifulness" in the visual arts. Along with the realistic style, he was fluent in the canonical classics. One of Donatello's masterpieces is the wooden statue of the Magdalene (1434, Florence Baptistery). The emaciated, long-haired old woman is depicted with frightening authenticity. The hardships of life are reflected on the haggard face of the hermit.

Another sculpture by the great master - "King David", which is located on the facade of Giotto's tower in Florence. The marble statue of St. George continues the biblical theme, begun by the sculptor with the image of St. Mark the Apostle, also in marble. From the same series, the sculpture of St. John the Baptist.

From 1443 to 1453, Donatello lived in Padua, where he created the equestrian sculpture "Gattamelata" depicting the condottiere Erasmo de Narni.

In 1453 he returned to his native city of Florence, where he lived until his death in 1466.

Benvenuto Cellini

Vatican court sculptor Benvenuto Cellini was born in 1500 in the family of a master cabinetmaker. He is considered a follower of mannerism - a trend that reflects the style of pretentious forms in art. He mainly worked with bronze casting. The most famous sculptures by Cellini:

• "The Nymph of Fontainebleau"- bronze relief, cast in 1545, currently in the Louvre in Paris.
• "Perseus" - Florence, Loggia of Lanzi.
• Bust of Cosimo de' Medici - Florence, Bargello.
• "Apollo and Hyacinth" - Florence.
• Bust of Bindo Altoviti - Florence.
• "Crucifixion" - Escorial, 1562.

The great sculptor Benvenuto Cellini was engaged in the manufacture of state symbols, awards and coin designs. He, among other things, was a very talented and successful jeweler at the Vatican. The Pope ordered precious jewelry from Benvenuto.

Michelangelo Buonarroti

Genius Renaissance sculptor, author of immortal works in marble and bronze Michelangelo Buonarroti was born in 1475 in the small Tuscan town of Caprese. The boy learned to use a sculptural instrument before he could write and read. At the age of 13, Michelangelo was apprenticed to the artist Ghirlandaio Domenico. Then Lorenzo de Medici, a noble Florentine, learned about his talent. The nobleman began to patronize the teenager.

At the age of twenty, Buonarroti created several sculptures for the archway of the church of St. Dominic in Bologna. He then sculpted two sculptures ("Sleeping Cupid" and "Saint Johannes") for the Dominican preacher Girolamo Savonarola. A year later, Michelangelo receives an invitation from Cardinal Rafael Riario to work in Rome. There the sculptor creates the "Roman Pieta" and"Bacchus".

In Rome, Buonarroti fulfills several orders for different cathedrals and churches, and in 1505 Pope Julius II offers him a responsible job - to make a tomb for his Holiness. In connection with such a responsible order, Michelangelo leaves for Carrara, where he spends more than six months, choosing the right marble for the papal tomb.

For the tomb, the sculptor made four marble sculptures: "The Dying Slave", "Leah", "Moses" and "The Bound Slave". From 1508 until the end of 1512, Buonarroti worked on the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel. In 1513, after the death of Julius II, the sculptor receives an order from Giovanni Medici to make a statue of Christ with a cross.

The great Renaissance sculptor Michelangelo Buonarroti died in 1564 in Rome. He was buried in the Florentine Basilica of Santa Croce.

Cinquicento

The period of the High Renaissance organically fit into the overall picture of the Renaissance. At the same time, the term "cinquicento" appeared, which means "superiority". This period of take-off lasted for about forty years. He gave the world masterpieces that are forever inscribed in the tablets of high art. Portrait of Mona Lisa and "Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci, "Sistine Madonna" by Raphael Santi, "David" by Michelangelo Buonarroti - these and other works adorn the halls of prestigious museums.

Italian sculptor Andrea Sansovino (1467-1529) is one of the most notablerepresentatives of the High Renaissance. Sansovino's first work was a terracotta altarpiece for the church of Santa Agata, with images of St. Sebastian, Roch and Lawrence. Andrea sculpted a similar sculptural group for the altar of the church of San Spirito in Florence. The sculpture of the High Renaissance is distinguished by a pronounced spirituality and some special penetration.

Verocchio Andrea

This is the famous sculptor of the Early Renaissance, teacher of Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli and Pietro Perugino. The main subject of Verrocchio's work was sculpture, in second place was painting. Andrea was a famous director of court balls and a talented decorator. High Renaissance sculpture actually began with the work of Verrocchio.

The artist worked for a long time while in Florence. He created a tombstone for the Florentine nobleman Cosimo Medici, then for more than twenty years the sculptor worked on the composition "Assurance of Thomas". The famous statue of David was created by Verrocchio in 1476. The bronze statue was intended to decorate the Medici villa, but Giuliano and Lorenzo considered themselves unworthy of such a high honor and betrayed the sculpture in the Palazzo Signoria in Florence. The magnificent sculpture of the Early Renaissance thus found its place. In private homes, they tried not to keep unique works of art. No less valuable from the point of view of high art was also the later Renaissance. Benvenuto Cellini's sculpture "Perseus" is consideredunsurpassed masterpiece of the Late Renaissance.