Leonardo da Vinci’s mural painting
Leonardo da Vinci’s mural painting of The Last Supper illustrates High Renaissance art and one of the best-known works of Christian art – It shows the scene from the last days of Jesus Christ, as described in the Gospel of John 13:21. Flanked by his twelve apostles, Jesus has just declared that one of them will betray him. “One of you will betray me.” The picture depicts the reaction of each disciple to the news. Even though the surface looks like a straightforward piece of Biblical art, it is, in fact, an exceptionally complex work, whose mathematical symbolism, psychological complexity, use of perspective and dramatic focus. He simplified the architecture by eliminating unnecessary and distracting details so that the architecture can instead amplify spirituality. The window and arching pediment even suggest a halo — Leonardo’s emphasis on spirituality results in a painting that is more naturalistic than Castagno’s. From Leonardo da Vinci’s mural painting scientific advancements are evident through the layout of the art, the complexity of angles and the composition of the disciples and Jesus. The emotions the disciples hold are also advanced, full of agitation and confusion towards Jesus. The realism in this photo intensifies the humanism (Hales 1999)
Michelangelo was a Renaissance sculptor, painter, architect, poet, scientist, and was one of the most prominent artists in the High Renaissance to express the qualities of rationality and humanism. One of Michelangelo’s most famous pieces, the sculpture David, is a perfect example of individualism and humanism. First and foremost, David’ depicts rationality where Michelangelo describes David concentrating in the moments before he takes down the giant. From the statue, David appears to be concerned or thinking hence representing rationality. David is about to fight Goliath with skills and in an intelligent manner but not with brutality. Secondly, the statue portrays humanism due to the rationality that is depicted by David’s stance and facial expression. Instead of appearing victorious over an adversely, David’s face looked tense and prepared for a battle. The tendon in his neck emerge rigidly, his forehead is wrinkled, and his eyes appear to concentrate eagerly on something in the distance Veins bulge out of his lowered right hand, but his body is in a relaxed contrapposto pose, and he carries his sling casually thrown over his left shoulder. In the Renaissance, contrapposto poses were thought of as a distinctive feature of antique sculpture. In the narrative of David and Goliath, Goliath is a gigantic being who gets defeated by David in a fight, with a hit of a stone from a slingshot on the head. David represents the humanist ideal of a man who can become a hero by his intelligence and will power. Civic virtue is another humanism value that is represented by David. Michelangelo, the humanist, created David to symbolize the defense of civil liberties of the Florentine Republic. David not only described the ideal humanist man through civic duty but also rationality. In David story and Goliath, David is the only one to step up and fight Goliath confirming his symbolism of civic responsibility. David portrays a properly proportioned human but in an empowering way (Andrew 1995). Lastly, from the book; Jason art David sculpture is simple yet very powerful. It’s simplistic in that it depicts a man standing who is purely naked. The powerfulness comes from the symbolism and interpretation of the sculpture where the nude is an emulation of Greek and Roman statues. His nude body also conveys the humanistic and naturalistic ideas of the time. The dimension of detail in his body is unbelievable. His posture, bone structure, muscles, and joints, and are so incredibly human-like and accurate. Also, the work exhibits an interest in psychology, which was new to the High Renaissance, as the subject matter was also very special to Florence as David was traditionally a civic symbolism (Coonin 2014).
Raphael painting “School of Athens” is regarded by many as one of the greatest masterpieces of art man has ever created. It depicts the greatest scientists, mathematicians, and philosophers from classical antiquity. The work reflects how humanism and the affection for man have penetrated the Christ-loving Middle Ages and the separation between reason and faith, religion and science. From the fresco painting, we can see an ideal community wherein various intellects from the entire classical world come together under a single roof to share ideas and enlighten themselves. Also one can be quick to note that unlike previous art, Christ is not depicted anywhere in the painting. The painting contains 21 male individuals who are participating in work, discussion or, games in what appears to be a school. The focus is towards two prominent figures right in the middle of the central vanishing point of the architecture. These are none Aristotle (right) and Plato (left). While Plato is shown as an old and wise man with grey hair holding a bound copy of Timaeus, Aristotle is a young and handsome student looking to his teacher. These two thinkers played a significant role as far as Western thinking is concerned. Aristotle and Plato debate in an almost church-like room, displaying how highly the Renaissance valued the traditional pagan scholars. Everyone encompasses Aristotle and Plato and is associated with them in a radial pattern with undetectable beams stretching from the center out, demonstrating how Aristotle and Plato are the focal points of the painting. The old philosophers show the youthful and anxious, representing how young people of the Renaissance were disciples of the old, a classical idea from antiquity.
As seen in the painting, there are many statues within the school. One of the figures is of Apollo, the Greek God of music, light, and archery; he is seen holding a lyre (Janson 2004). The statue of Minerva the goddess of wisdom is also seen in the painting. The gods showed how the people of the Renaissance cared about and not only did they represent what the people in the painting believe, but Greek culture was almost worshipped. They speculated the Greeks and Romans as having the most significant inventions and knowledge in history and felt that their monuments could never match those of ancient history. The architecture also exemplifies this – curves are used throughout the painting, lots of marble was characteristic of Roman times, and the setting of being in the School of Athens also shows this.
As a viewer of the School of Athens, you will find that the painting is done in a way that you’d feel like you can step into space, like walking into a theatrical setting. There is a domed zone over the heads of Plato and Aristotle, checkered floor, even planes, and columns, giving it a through and through the rich feel of the place what clues at the non-presence of the school would be the utilization of the open sky overhead and the way that the design of the building is fragmented incomplete. Thus, this goes to show that the School of Athens is not a physical building which existed. Even though the painting is not defined by the way the colors are used in it, it has a wide variety of colors, thereby giving the fresco a very vibrant look.
Finally, we can see everyone’s desire to grow in knowledge. Alcibiades, for example, listens intently, although he is strong and does not seem like the type to be interested in it. He represents how everyone, not just scholars, desired knowledge and craved it. Many listen intently to Aristotle and Plato, for they are like a shining beacon of knowledge in a world of blindness.
All in all, the painting reflects the desire for a return to antiquity and classicism; it glorifies the ancient learners of the past and shows how everyone, including Raphael, wanted to know them again. It shows how the people of the Renaissance had a longing and intense interest in the Greek and Roman cultures and how the ideas of the past are not to be forgotten. It represents the humanist philosophy that the ancient world loved so much in that it values the teachings of the past, as opposed to others who found history useless before. Raphael demonstrates through his art that people wished to go back to the old but great society of ancient times. We can see the painting today as a depiction of a great desire for knowledge.
Reference.
ItalianRenaissance.org, “Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper,” in ItalianRenaissance.org, June 21, 2012, http://www.italianrenaissance.org/a-closer-look-leonardo-da-vincis-last-supper/.
(Phillip William 1999)
Ross King, Leonardo and the Last Supper (New York: Walker and Company, 2012).
David (Michelangelo).”Wikipedia”. Wikimedia Foundation, 06 Oct. 2014. Web. 12 June 2014.
Michelangelo, “David.” Khan Academy. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 June 2014.
rowanrt7. “How did Raphael’s School of Athens reflect the changing role of the artist in the Renaissance? ” eNotes, 26 Apr. 2016, https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/how-did-raphaels-school-athens-reflect-changing-644953. Accessed 7 Feb. 2019.
Kreis, Steven. “Renaissance Humanism.” Renaissance Humanism. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 June 2014.
Raphael’s School of Athens. Perf. Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris. School of Athens. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 June 2014. <http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/school-of-athens.html>