Paintings of the Early and High Renaissance

In southern Europe, the beginning of the fifteenth century sparked one of the greatest art movements in history: The Renaissance. Italian artists didn’t simply conform to the “new thing”; rather there was a slow transition from the Early Renaissance to the High Renaissance. Two works of art that hold the characteristics from each period are: Portrait of a Woman and a Man by Fra Filippo Lippi of the Early Renaissance and Venus By Tiziano Vecellio (AKA Titan) of the High Renaissance.

          A few techniques that became evident in the Early Renaissance are those derived from the philosophical writings of Plato. Artists aimed for the ideal and perfection was beautiful. Portraiture became all the rage in the rising century and most were executed in profile view of the subject. In Lippi’s painting, the two figures are in profile facing each other. Lippi painted them realistically; however there is a sense of perfection with the lines used throughout the piece. For instance, the woman is painted in a way that doesn’t seem dimensional. There is one line that travels from the top of her hairline to the scrunched fabric of her dress which detracts from the illusion of dimension. Although the woman seems a bit flat, her environment implies space. Artists in the early renaissance developed ways to create depth in painting by the use of atmospheric perspective and linear perspective. Here, Lippi uses a little bit of both. For example, the ceiling of the room is lined with square panels that recede into space using linear perspective. The far wall on the other side of the woman is a window revealing the world outside the room which demonstrates atmospheric perspective.

          Artists in the high renaissance continued some of these techniques, but also utilized new ideas. Art during this time had more focus on idealism and naturalism through human anatomy. Titan’s Venus is a great example of art in the high renaissance because it illustrates popular methods of painting and anatomy. The woman painted stands out so much because of a new approach called chiaroscuro. This is the combination of light and dark used against one another to create a high contrast. This is one step that high renaissance artists took to emphasize naturalism. The contrast between the white sheets that the woman is laying on and the darkly shaded drapery behind her gives her skin a glowing affect and makes her seem more realistic. The shape of her body from her neck to her breast and down her left arm is so prominent against the almost black drapes and it really gives the viewer a sense of her anatomy and femininity.  Her arm is simply draped over her body and resting on her pelvis as she lies back, relaxed. This is so much different than the stiff perfect outline of the woman in Lippi’s portrait. Titan also utilized linear and atmospheric perspective. The lines created by the pattern of the floor in the background travel farther into space and meet a window. Because the viewer can see trees and sky through the window, the illusion of space is more believable. One thing that really stands out with this piece is that the Venus is staring right at the viewer. The use of eye contact is another thing that high renaissance art acquired, whereas, profile portraits painted before depicted the model staring straight forward, similar to the Portrait of a Woman and a Man. Lippi’s painting doesn’t seem to portray dynamic unity. However, the shape of the woman’s face is repeated with the shape created by the man’s hat. Vertical lines are also repeated with the woman’s veil and the architecture in the background. Titan’s painting however reflects a better sense of dynamic unity than Lippi’s. For example, the drapes behind the Venus as well as the sheet below her are mocking the way she is propped up on her right elbow as the rest of her body is draped along the couch. The parallel vertical lines display unity as well because they intersect with the horizontal line of the couch bringing the piece as a whole together and dynamically unifying it.