AP History of Art
Unit Six:
THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
Unit Six: Sixteenth Century STUDENT NOTES
HIGH RENAISSANCE
Leonardo da Vinci. Virgin of the Rocks, c. 1485, oil on wood
• Leonardo da Vinci
• the “Renaissance” man
• pyramidal configuration
• interlocking gestures
• chiaroscuro and sfumato
• atmospheric perspective
Leonardo da Vinci. Cartoon for the Virgin and Child
with St. Anne and the Infant St. John, 1498, charcoal
heightened with white on brown paper
• cartoon
• stable without being static
Leonardo da Vinci. The Last Supper,
c. 1495-98, oil and tempera on plaster
• depiction of a dramatic moment
• grouping of disciples
• Judas Iscariot
• isolation of Christ
• use of linear perspective
• poor condition of the work
Leonardo da Vinci. Mona Lisa, c. 1503-5, oil on wood
• “the world’s most famous painting”
• sfumato combined with warm flesh tones
• potential of the use of oil paint revealed
• use of ambiguity and mystery
• sprezzatura
Bramante. Tempietto, San Pietro in Montorio (Rome), 1502 (?)
• Bramante
Unit Six: Sixteenth Century STUDENT NOTES
• the location of St. Peter’s crucifixion
• emphasis on architectural mass vs. flat, linear planes
• elevated from its surroundings
• harmonious proportions of dome, drum and base
• use of the Doric order
Michelangelo. Pieta, 1498-1500, marble
• Michelangelo Buonarroti
• faithful adherence to “rules” resisted
• “terribilita”
• pieta emphasizing beauty, not horror
• agelessness of Mary
• altered proportion and scale
• signature of the artist
• a tree stump
Michelangelo. David, 1501-4, marble
• “the Giant”
• compositionally and emotionally
connected to an unseen presence
• pent-up passion vs. classical calm
• reinterpretation of classical antiquity
• emphasis on the hands
Michelangelo. Moses, c. 1513-15, marble
• Michelangelo’s tomb for Julius II
• expression of wrath...