Painting #107 - Early Renaissance

Italian Renaissance :
The Early Renaissance  (1400-1499) - Part 2/2

The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian
- Antonio del Pollaiolo (1429–1498, Italian) & brother
Piero del Pollaiolo (1441–1496, Italian)
- oil on panel (292 x 203 cm) 1475
- National Gallery (London) 

Antonio and his brother Piero, also an artist, frequently worked together. Their work shows both classical influences and an interest in human anatomy; reportedly, the brothers carried out dissections to improve their knowledge of the subject. (They gave themselves a nick-surname of Pollaiolo, from the trade of their father, who sold poultry: pollaio means "hen coop" in Italian.)

Sandro Botticelli  (c.1445–1510, Italian)  

Adoration of the Magi
- Botticelli
- tempera & oil on poplar panel (68 x 102 cm) c.1478/82
- National Gallery of Arts (Washington, D.C.)

Piero di Cosimo  (1462–1522, Italian)

Visitation, with Saint Nicholas and Saint Anthony Abbot
- Piero di Cosimo
- oil on panel (184 × 189 cm) 1480-1490
- National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.)

Virgin Mary, Elizabeth, Anthony the Great, Saint Nicholas

Allegory
- Piero di Cosimo
- oil on panel (56 × 44 cm) c.1500
 - National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.) 

Piero della Francesca  (c.1415–1492, Florence)

The Resurrection
- Piero della Francesca
- mural in fresco and tempera (225 × 205 cm) 1463
- Museo Civico di Sansepolcro (Sansepolcro, Italy)

 The History of the True Cross
- Piero della Francesca
- fresco, c.1452-1466
- Basilica of San Francesco (Arezzo)

Center, from the top:

* Death of Adam

* Adoration of the Holy Wood; the Meeting of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba (335 x 747 cm)

* Battle between Constantine and Maxentius 

Left side, from the top:

* Burial of the Wood

* Constantine's Dream

Center, from the top:

* Exaltation of the Cross

* Discovery and Proof of the True Cross

* Battle between Heraclius and Chosroes

Right side, from the top:

* Torture of the Jew

* Annunciation

Andrea Mantegna (c.1431–1506, Italian) 

Portrait of a Man
- Andrea Mantegna
- tempera on panel (24 × 19 cm) c.1460
- National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC) 

Judith with the Head of Holofernes 
- Andrea Mantegna
- glue tempera on canvas (48 × 37 cm) c.1495
- National Gallery of Ireland (Dublin) 

Judith beheading Holofernes
- Andrea Mantegna 
- tempera with gold and silver on panel
(31 × 20 cm) c.1495
- National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.)

Agony in the Garden
- Andrea Mantegna
- oil on panel (63 × 80 cm) 1458-60
- National Gallery (London)

The Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane was an event in the life of Jesus from the New Testament, between the Farewell Discourse at the conclusion of the Last Supper and Jesus' arrest.

Giorgio Vasari  (1511–1574, Italian)

 The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects
- Giorgio Vasari  (1511–1574, Italian)
- published 1550 

Often called "the first art historian", Vasari dedicated this book to Grand Duke Cosimo I de' Medici.
* He was the first to use the term "Renaissance" (rinascita) in print, though an awareness of the ongoing "rebirth" in the arts had been in the air since the time of Alberti.
* He was responsible for our use of the term Gothic Art, though he only used the word Goth which he associated with the "barbaric" German style.
* The Lives also included a novel treatise on the technical methods employed in the arts.

In 1563, Vasari helped found the Florentine Accademia e Compagnia delle Arti del Disegno, with the Grand Duke and Michelangelo as capiof the institution and 36 artists chosen as members.

Source: Wikipedia