Botticelli, The Fortitude, 1470, Uffizi

Depicts feminine beauty

Part of the 7 virtues

Diamond on breast plate - typical symbol  representing strength (hardest of all the stones)

• Botticelli, Pallas and the Centaur, 1482-85 c., Firenze, Uffizi
• Minerva-Athena
• Diamond ring as a heraldic emblem of the Medici
• Halberd a defense weapon
• Political allegory: Peace taming war
• Moral Allegory: Intelligence over animal instincts
• Athena (Minerva) - goddess of peace & Centaur
• Athena: born from the head of Zeus (her father) - he had a headache, and when they broke his head open, she jumped out as the cause of the headache

• Botticelli, Diptych,1472, Firenze, Uffizi
• The Discovery of the Body of Holofernes
• Body depiction of classical art - Nude
• Judith
• Dancing, Still-movement, elegant

• Leonardo, Adoration of the Magi, 1481, Firenze, Uffizi
• Celebration for Jesus dying for mankind
• Attention to facial expressions
• Scenes of battle as earthly struggle
• Stillness of divinity
• Left unfinished
• Gifts: Gold (Royalty), Mir (Illusion to human side of Jesus), Frankincense (Divinity - Tribute to the God)
• People looking on: Medici family, Self-Portrait of Leonardo

• Botticelli, Primavera, Uffizi
• Allegory of Spring time
• Features Venus, Cupid, Flora, Three Graces, Mercury, Zephyr
• Zephyr turns a woman into Flora
• Circle of Three Graces represents eternal life
• Love = based subject of image
• Portrays transformation

• The Birth of Venus, S. Botticelli, 1484-85, Firenze, Uffizi
• Concept of feminine beauty and love
• Venus is goddess of love
• Protagonist is the goddess - Venus reminds people that they have to feel love
• Contrasts with 'Primavera' because she represents higher power
• Allegorical
• Venus arrives on the shore of Tuscany
• Maiden holds floral fabric representative of Florence
• Antiquity: intended as a reproduction of Apelle's Venus anadiomene extolled by the ancient sources
• Platonic philosophy: double Venus
• Venus Urania ineffable object of the most sublime contemplation
• Venus humanitas

• Ghirlandaio, St. Jerome and Botticelli, St. Augustine, 1480 c., Firenze, Ognissanti Church
• St. Jerome
• Less inspired expression
• Love on narrative details
• Dated
• Greek and Hebrew languages known by the Saint author of the Vulgata editio
• Ghirlandaio rivals Flemish realism through his accurate descriptions of tools
• Giorgio Antonio Vespucci

• Ghirlandaio, St. Jerome and Botticelli, St. Augustine, 1480 c., Firenze, Ognissanti Church
 

Botticelli

• Many references to studies
• Intense facial expressions
• Clock marks sunset
• He stare at light indicating a vision
• Vespucci shield
• Armillary sphere a sign of Antonio Vespucci's astronomical interest
• In the open book a joke
• Ironically commenting the scarce friar's love of studies

• Ghirlandaio, Birth of St. John, 1486-90, Firenze, Santa Maria Novella
• Narrative tone
• Accurate depiction of a bedroom in a Renaissance noble palace
• Onlookers garbed in contemporary clothes
• Quotation from Antiquity

• Ghirlandaio, The Birth of the Virgin, 1486-1490, Firenze, SMN
• Narrative tone
• Onlookers real contemporary people
• Attention to costume and habits
• Antiquity
• Putti - inspired by roman monuments
• Candelabra inspired reliefs

• Ghirlandaio, Visitation, Firenze, Santa Maria Novella
• Narration
• Contemporary onlookers
• Paid according to the number of details and characters

• Ghirlandaio, The Portrait of Giovanna Tornabuoni, 1488 Madrid, Coll. Thyssen Bornemisza
• Excellent portrait of painter
• Accuracy from Flemish lesson
• Heraldic textile
• Ars utinam mores animum que effingere posses pulchrior in terris nulla tabella foret -
• Money had to go together with virtue and nobility since necessary for being generous
• In the niche her heritance
• Faith, Wealth

• Ghirlandaio, The Confirmation, 1482-86, Firenze, Santa Trinita, Sassetti chapel
• Contemporary onlookers in historical narrations of onorius iii confirming the Franciscan order
• A Florentine setting for a roman event
• Episodes of the life of St. Francis
• Receiving a document - Acknowledgement of the rule of the Franciscan order

• Verrocchio and Leonardo, The Baptism of Christ, 1473-78, Firenze, Uffizi
• Volume and light
• Angels - Drapery
• St. John the Baptist

• Leonardo, Annunciation, 1475-80, Firenze, Uffizi
• Sfumato in the background (natural - seen in ALL Leonardo's work)
• Attention to nature in the trees
• Wings of the Angel are realistic (borrowed from wings of a bird)
• Light
• Scenery
• Sfumato = device using different tones of gray in order to convey optic effect, reveals attention Da Vinci has to human perceptions

• Leonardo, Portrait of Ginerva dei Benci, 1475 c., Washington, National Gallery
• Three quarter position - Da Vinci innovation
• Natural background
• Light and shade
• Juniper - Conveys name of person in composition

• Leonardo, Adoration of the Magi, 1481, Firenze, Uffizi
• Celebration for Jesus dying for mankind
• Attention to facial expressions
• Scenes of battle as earthly struggle
• Stillness of divinity
• Left unfinished
• Perfect stillness of Madonna contrasts with everything going on around her

• Leonardo, The Lady with the Ermine, 1485-90, Krakow, Czartorski museum
• Three quarter position - typical for Leonardo
• Detection of moods and character
• Anatomy
• Black necklace and white ermine
• Light and shade
• Conscious of her beauty
• Ermine symbolizes purity
• Elegant, Intense, Strong Hand

• Leonardo, The Virgin of the Rocks, 1483-86, Paris, Louvre
• Cave as symbolic of maternity
• According to John 1, 5 Jesus was delivered in a cave
• Also to the encounter of Jesus and John the Baptist told in another source
• Virginal conception - Miracle of pregnancy
• Sfumato in the background
• Light and Shade
• Made for a laical confraternity of the immaculate conception
• Angel pointing at St. John the Baptist (Patron Saint of Florence)
• No Halos to make more relatable - suggest the viewer should empathize and feel closer

• Leonardo, The Last Supper, 1497, Milano, Santa Maria delle Grazie
• Moment of revelation great turmoil
• Groups of three
• Detection of characters through facial expressions - reveals human feelings and thoughts
• Crucial Peter, Judas, John the Evangelist
• Details of banquet

• Michelangelo, The Battle of the Lapiths and the Centaurs, 1492,  Firenze, Casa Buonarroti
• Relief from Roman sarcophagi
• Classical subject
• Stiacciato technique
• Finished and unfinished
• Nudes as Michelangelo's signature - show heroical side of human nature
• Muscles

• Michelangelo, The Madonna of the Stairs, 1490 c.,Firenze, Casa Buonarroti
• The Stiacciato technique
• Virgin protecting her baby - human side of her divine character
• The baby is not blessing but searching a refuge
• Puttos-angels at the top of the stairs holding instruments of passion
• Symbolic stairs
• Classical profile
• Classical facial features
• Muscular baby

• Michelangelo, Bacchus, 1496-97, Firenze, Bargello
• For the Cardinal Riario
• Early work by Michelangelo
• Conceived as a classical fake
• Completely polished versus the later unfinished technique
• Bacchus a classical subject
• Satyr and Bacchus meaningful contrast
• More classical than a classical statue
• Posture and attributes help in identifying the subject
• Virgin depicted as large and protective
• Virgin with young appearance because divine creatures never get old

• Rafaello, The School of Athens, 1598-9, Vatican, Apartment of Julius II, Stanza della Segnatura
• Unfinished temple of philosophy
• Portrait of Michelangelo
• Plato and Aristoteles
• Natural truth as opposed to the revealed truth
• Portraits of contemporary people
• Philosophers of the time

• Michelangelo, Pieta, 1497-99, Vatican, San Pietro
• •Polished early technique
  •Unrivalled smooth effect
  •Spiritual depiction of pain
  •Perfect knowledge of anathomy
  •Discrepancy between the apparent age of the Madonna and the historical one.
  •Idealized classical beauty
  •Imposing volume of the Madonna as a symbol of the Church

• Michelangelo, The David, 1501-1504, Accademia
• Extremely large size
• Masterpiece of the time in terms of style
• Idealized - inspired by classical art
• Hero bound to act - not yet triumphant
• Sling on shoulder, gazing into the distance
• Renaissance, muscular body
• Large hands -
• Unrivaled knowledge of anatomy

• Leonardo, The Madonna and Child with St. Anne, Louvre, Paris
• Sfumato
• No Halos
• Intimate
• Maternal attitude towards baby

• Michelangelo, Stories of the Old Testament, 1508-12, Vatican, Vault of the Sistine Chapel
• Postures
• Movement and Anatomy

• Michelangelo, The Tondo Doni, 1503-04, Firenze, Uffizi
• Postures
• Nudes in background show paganism before arrival of Jesus Christ - spiritualism
• No Halos
• The holy family as a subject

• Raphael, The Disputa, 1508-09, Vatican, Apartment of Julius II, Stanza della Signatura
• Revealed truth

• Raffaello, Portrait of Agnolo Doni, 1504-5, Firenze, Palatine Gallery
• Sfumato landscape
• Status shown
• Merchant of Textiles

• Raffaello, The Portrait of Maddalena Doni, 1504-5, Firenze, Palatine Gallery
• Inspired by the Mona Lisa
• Maddalena Strozzi as an icon of modern elegance

• Leonardo, The Mona Lisa, 1506-8/1518, Paris, Louvre
• Possibly Lisa Gherardini wife of Francesco del Giocondo
• Invisible loggia
• Unusual background
• Sfumato for the landscape
• Sfumato for the contour of the sitter
• Light for an optical effect

• Raffaello, Portrait of a Young Woman (The Velata), 1516, Firenze, Palatine Gallery
• Margherita Luti the Fornarina
• Presented as a perfect roman noble woman
• An embodiment of femininity and elegance
• As a counterpart of the portrait of Baldassarre Castiglione
• Maybe painted for himself since it's never been delivered
• The sleeve!

• Rafaello, The Lady with the Unicorn, 1505-6, Roma, Galleria
• Raffaello version of the Mona Lisa