Linear perspective is a method of representing three-dimensional objects and figures on a two-dimensional surface
Who discovered linear perspective?
Brunelleschi
After losing the Combattimento to Ghiberti, Brunelleschi left for Rome
Discovered the rules for linear perspective while studying in Rome
Brunelleschi became an important architect and designed the dome of Florence Cathedral
Considered an impossible feat because gap was too large to cover. No trees were big enough to create a scaffolding to support the dome as it was built. Brunelleschi devised new building methods.
He designed the Foundling Hospital in Florence based on simple mathematical proportions. Reinforced the horizontal with entablatures.
Brunelleschi’s plan for a palace for the Medici returning from exile was rejected because their political position was tenuous and the design was too imposing and ostentasious. The design might incite hostility from the populace. Brunelleschi destroyed the model.
Stones go from rusticated to smoother on 2nd and 3rd floor, making it appear lighter.
Heavy cornice is a lid on the structure defining the shape and volume
Interior arcaded courtyard was a frequently copied feature in subsequent buildings.
Leon Battista Alberti
Important architect of the Renaissance and well rounded man
Understood the principles of linear perspective and wrote about them
Renaissance artists read Alberti’s book and experimented with it for themselves
In Florence
Rucellai family made fortune from red dye. Hired Alberti to design his new palace and façade for his church.
Alberti previously wrote treatises “On Painting” and “On Architecture.” “On Architecture” was based on Vitruvius’s writings (Roman architect) for classical basis (like a good Renaissance artwork should).
Palazzo Rucellai
broken into three equal horizontal entablatures.
From Roman Colosseum he used Tuscan pilasters for ground floor, Ionic columns for second floor, and Corinthian columns on third floor. Why is this like the Colosseum?
2 lower squares frame classical portal (pilasters and round arch)
2nd story has 3rd square that supports a pediment.
Height = width of façade so it fits exactly in a square.
In Mantua
Marquis Gonzaga lured Alberti to Mantua to design Sant’ Andrea church
He wanted Mantua to be a center of Renaissance art and culture too.
Façade combined classical temple portico with Roman triumphal arch.
No statues or other Gothic features.
Pilasters go straight up 3 stories to support pediment
Alberti did not like columns in nave – blocked congregants’ view. Replaced columned arcade in nave with a barrel-vaulted nave. (Mr. F. thinks arch on top of pediment looks funny).
Decisive break with Christian building traditions. Christian temple combined classical forms with Christian uses. Strong influence on Renaissance and Baroque churches.
How does the human eye work?
Distant objects seem smaller than closer ones
Parallel lines seem to converge at a distance
How does linear perspective work? See Gardner’s page 547, Fig. 21-9
Orthogonals – converging diagonal lines
Vanishing point – place where orthogonal lines converge
Horizon line – drawn across the painting at the vanishing point, represents the viewer’s eye view and the far distance
Part of a cycle of paintings on the walls of the (new) Sistine Chapel, commissioned by Pope Sixtus IV.
Theme of the painting supports the power of the popes
Arches of Constantine shown in the distance – connection between the Roman emperor Constantine and Christianity
Helped mark the rise of Rome as an artistic center during the Renaissance
Raphael’s teacher. Raphael used similar composition in Marriage of the Virgin
Paolo Uccello’s Battle of San Romano
Uccello stayed up late at night trying to perfect perspective and paid less attention to developing the naturalism of the figures
Uccello’s wife overheard Paolo talk about his mistress “perspective” and thought he was having an affair with a woman named Perspective!
International Style
Secular side of Florentine art. Scene of a battle in which the Florentine army defeated the Sienese in 1432.
Hero of the battle: Nicola da Tolentino, a friend of Cosimo de Medici, who later died because of his affiliation with the Medici family
Lorenzo de Medici commissioned Uccello to commemorate the famous battle and his grandfather’s friend. The painting decorated Lorenzo’s bedchamber.
What familiar Medici symbol is shown in the painting? Medici means Doctor: Oranges were ”medicinal apples”.
Earlier International Style: Gentile da Fabriani, Adoration of the Magi, Uffizi, 1423, Tempera on wood.
Carlo Crivelli’s, Annunciation with Saint Emidius
The painting
Annunciation - Gabriel to Mary
Standing on a bridge, a town dignitary reads a message stating that the pope has granted Ascoli limited rights of self government. The message arrive on the Feast Day of the Annunciation, and so the angel Gabriel is join by Ascoli’s patron saint, Emidius, holding a magnificently detailed model of the town.
Incredible details –
The apple refers to man’s fall from grace and his subsequent redemption
The gourd is a symbol of Christ’s Resurrection
The peacock is another symbol of Christ’s Resurrection and eternal life
From its high perch, the bird watches over the house of Ludovico Gonzaga
Playful putti – associated with classicism, reflect the patron Ludovico Gonzaga’s interest in a humanism
Three Woman – maybe the graces
Moorish slave – symbol of wealth
Garland of leaves and fruit – signifies abundance and hospitality
Guests would walk under the oculus when greeting Ludovico on his throne; for the guests that Ludovico didn’t really care for, it has been suggested that he would envision the tub with the orange tree falling on the guest’s head.
Mantegna’s oculus is part of an amazing room of frescoes painted by Mantegna for Ludovico Gonzaga called the Camera degli Sposi (Room of the Newlyweds), in the Palazzo Ducale of Mantua
Scenes depict all aspects of Gonzaga’s court life – his wife, children, pets, courtiers, and attendants even the dwarf used as his children’s playmates.
Mantegna also painted the arrival of Cardinal Francesco Gonzaga – Ludovico’s second son – who became the top religious leader of the church of Sant Andrea in Mantua
Mantegna carried his desire for illusionism past the linear perspective. He painted the illusion of relief sculpture decorate the edges of the scenes in GRISAILLE – using grayish tones to simulate sculpture or architecture.
If you were Mantegna, how would you record your presence in the Camera degli Sposi?
Other examples of Mantegna’s interest in perspective and pictorial illusionism
The Lamentation over the Dead Christ
Feet made smaller than true foreshortening. Why?
Harsh colors appropriate for tragic scene.
What appears to be Mantegna’s approach to perspective?
