Renaissance Painting
Few periods in history have encompassed such a wide spectrum of changes in society as the Renaissance. It was a wave that soaked the root of human thought, thus, changes occurred in art, science, philosophy, religion, and society. It began in Italy at the end of the Middle Ages (15th century), spread quickly throughout Europe, and lasted for two centuries.
Renaissance painting is a pictorial style characterized by its development during the Renaissance period and presenting a total opposition to the dark preceding period, the Gothic. For the first time, artists began to sign their works and became famous; universal masters of painting come from this period, and their works are appreciated to this day.
Most important painters:
- Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)
- El Greco (1541-1614)
- Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528)
- Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510)
- Raphael Sanzio (1483-1520)
- Pieter Brueghel (1525-1569)
- Titian Vecelli (?-1576)
- Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564)
- Jan van Eyck (1390-1441)
- Giovanni Bellini (1430-1516)
Renaissance Paintings
The masters of the Renaissance left us fabulous works, which remain in collective memory, among the most important paintings are:
-
"The Mona Lisa"
It is the best-guarded painting in the world, made by Leonardo da Vinci on a date that has not yet been established with accuracy, between the years 1503-1519, currently located in the Louvre Museum, Paris. There it is in a... read more
-
"The Virgin of the Yarnwinder"
Also known as The Virgin of the Spindle, it was painted in 1501, by Leonardo da Vinci. It shows a young Jesus moving away from the arms of His Mother and looking at the cross, as a sign of his destiny ... see
-
"The Disrobing of Christ"
An oil painting currently located in the Cathedral of Toledo, painted between 1577 and 1579. It is a complex work imbued with Christian symbolism, considered one of the pinnacle works of El Greco.
-
"The Veronica"
This work, along with "The Holy Face", displays one of the most important Christian relics, the Veronica's veil, painted in 1580 by El Greco.
-
"View of Toledo"
A canvas painted at some point between 1604 and 1614 by El Greco. It is one of the first landscape oil paintings in history, as the genre did not exist as such before the Renaissance. Although at first glance it does not show great detail or illuminated figures on the horizon, to which the modern Western eye is accustomed, the work is considered brilliant, especially in the achievement of the sky and the high contrasts used to depict it.
-
"The Birth of Venus"
This is one of the most representative paintings of the Italian Renaissance, painted between 1484 and 1486 by Sandro Botticelli. It is currently located in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence.
-
"Sistine Madonna"
An oil painting on a religious theme. Author: Raphael Sanzio, painted by commission from Pope Julius II in 1512.
-
"The Tower of Babel"
This canvas was painted in 1565 by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, a Dutch painter of the Flemish school, considered a prominent figure of the early Renaissance developed in Northern Europe.
-
"Venus of Urbino"
An oil on canvas painted in 1538 by Titian, regarded as one of the greatest proponents of Renaissance art.
-
"The Creation of Adam"
A fresco segment painted by Michelangelo (1512) on plaster, on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. It's the location of the most recognized works of painting and sculpture from the Renaissance.
-
"The Transfiguration of Christ"
This is the second of two works with the same theme painted by Giovanni Bellini. Completed in 1480.
The Disappearance of the Style and the Beginning of the Baroque
The disappearance of the Renaissance style occurred gradually between the 15th and 16th centuries. What had been considered an aesthetic and ideological revolution gradually became the norm; there was no longer any novelty, at this point giving way to Baroque art (see Diego Velázquez), which is considered a direct evolution of the Renaissance stylistic.
↑Back to top
Related paintings for sale:
