High Renaissance Research Paper

The High Renaissance was a period in time (although some historians believe it to be a movement) where the Renaissance culminated. It took place in the “quarter century between 1495 and the death of Leonardo da Vinci in 1519 and Raphael in 1520” (Kleiner 600). During these times, artist reached what is now known as “fine arts” and their artwork gave them prestige because it paired with the high status that only poetry had held. Artist-genius emerged in Italy during the Renaissance and they became known internationally, some great examples are Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Michelangelo. The artist where seen as individuals who got divine inspiration. The renaissance was characterized for the focus that artist had in the Greco-Roman classical

His great ambition was to “discover the laws underlying the process and flux of nature” (Kleiner 601). This also reflects the focus of the artist of the renaissance in nature. He believed that individuals could grasp reality most directly and profoundly through the eyes (Kleiner 601). Leonardo experimented with new combination of mediums on his work. The Last Super is a representation of Jesus and his twelve disciples breaking bread before Judas betrayed Jesus. This artwork is an example of Leonardo’s experimentation; he mixed oil and tempera on plaster in order to make it look like oil on canvas instead of fresco. Because of this, the wall did not absorb the pain and the mural began to flake. The painting had to be extensively restored and most of what is visible is being done in the restoration rather than by da

There, he was commissioned to do the altar piece in the chapel of the Immaculate Conception in San Francesco Grande. He painted Madonna of the Rocks (1483), a representation of the Holy virgin with young John the Baptist and Christ Child with and angel, with a nature landscape in the background. Leonardo creates a connection between the beauty of nature and the religious figures. Away from the usual, the figures are displayed in a cross rather than a triangle. The Holy Virgin serves as a copula from where the light descends to the rest of the figures on the painting. She is also the unifying character of the four. The rocky and rough background and landscape balances with the softness of the human figures. In this painting, da Vinci shows his fascination with the illuminations and shadows that create a greater realistic look to the paintings. It also reflects his beliefs that an artist should portrait “a man and the intention of his soul”, and that this second aspect should be “expressed by gestures and the movement of the limbs” (Kleiner 601). John the Baptist is praying to Christ Child, in return he gives him a blessing, while Mary maternally holds John and reaches out to Jesus that is also being protected by the angel. The figures’ body language reflects their intentions and characters. The light that passes through the rocks creates a sacred mystery in