Italian Renaissance.

Renaissance Art - Venetian Renaissance Style (Notion of color) vs Central Italian (Design)?

• In the 16th century, the central Italian conception of art was having an emphasis on good design and drawing whereas the Venetian artistic tradition was viewed as having more painterly quality. Please discuss this notion of color (Venetian Renaissance style) vs. design (central Italian) with specific examples, what is significant about this comparision?

• Answer:

  The Venetian School of painting was one of the first since the beginning of the Renaissance to adopt the practice of using colour to express emotion. The idea would later surface in different forms with the Baroque painters, the Romantic painters, the Impressionists, Post-Impressionists and artists who had adopted Fauvism. It also was an influence on Abstract Expressionism. Linear precision vs. colour and emotion has been one of the recurring themes in the history of art. Examples are Baroque Romantic vs. Baroque Classic (e.g. Caravaggio vs. Poussin), Romanticism vs. Neo-Classicism (e.g. Géricault vs. David), and Post-Impressionism vs. Impressionism (e.g. van Gogh vs. Manet). The linear style of the central Italian artists was consistent with their wide use of sculpture. Form itself was important to them, and it could be used to concentrate on epic themes and didactic messages. Some classic examples of the use of accuracy in linear representation to convey a message can be found in the 'School of Athens' (1510 to 1511) by Raphael. The painting is a good example of balance, sculptural quality, architectural perspective and a fusion of Christian and pagan elements. In it Raphael pays homage to the classical and traditional four schools of knowledge, (which were Jurisprudence, Theology, Medicine and Philosophy) while depicting the character and ideals of the Renaissance movement. The tones are much duller than those used by the Venetian artists. The Michelangelo paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel were painted in much duller hues than were used by the Venetian artists. However, the colours became much more vivid after they were cleaned. The Venetian artists, in contrast, valued the use of colour, texture and mood in painting. Colour especially was used to convey emotion. They concentrated on painting rather than sculpture. With the emphasis on colour came an increased integration of figure and landscape, as is demonstrated in the work of Bellini, one of the first artists to adopt the Venetian style. The best known figure to paint in the Venetian style was Titian. He use red for warmth, and through vivid and toned down hues and layers of glazes, was able to portray many different textures. He was one the the first artists to use canvas rather than wood. After Titian's wife died, his paintings became more monochromatic. With an emphasis on colour came an increased quality of theatricality to the paintings. For example, in Giorgone's 'The Tempest' a storm cloud creates a sense of gloom and mystery. The paintings of the Venetian School were not always balanced in the way that the artists such as Raphael, Michelangelo and da Vinci painted. An example of this type of asymmetry can be found in the Titian painting 'Bacchanal of the Adrians' (1518).