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A Lesson in Renaissance Art

The collection in the Uffizi Galleries started in the 16th century as that of the Medici family, and has grown to become one of the greatest in the world, comparable to the Louvre, the Prado and the Hermitage. Our guide selected certain specific pieces to give us a two hour lesson in the history of art. It would have taken two months to see everything in the museum.

Cimabue - Santa Trinita MadonnaCimabue - Santa Trinita Madonna (c. 1260/1280)

This is the first of three similar Madonnas displayed together. It is in the style of a Byzantine icon. We see the beginnings of a more natural style of art as done by his student Giotto, but it is still rooted in the past.
Duccio Madonna

Duccio - Rucellai Madonna (c 1285)

Number two: The position of the Virgin is more naturalistic, but the angels are still stacked up on either side.

Giotto - Ognissanti Madonna

Giotto - Ognissanti Madonna (Madonna in Maestà) (c. 1310)

Giotto gets it and ushers in the Renaissance! Proportion, shading, expression perspective all are used to make this a more life-like Madonna with a real baby on her knee. But the composition is still that of the past centuries.

Fra' Filippo Lippi - Madonna and Child

Fra' Filippo Lippi - Madonna and Child (c. 1455)

Now we see a young mother looking at her baby. Lippi puts emotion into the art. The contrast with the three preceding stylized Madonnas is striking.
Piero della Francesca - Paired portraits

Piero della Francesca - Paired portraits (c. 1472) of Federico da Montefeltro and Battista Sforza

This is a posthumous portrait of the wife. The background landscape shows the artist's command of perspective. The moles and wrinkles show his attention to swrail.
Leonardo da Vinci - The Annunciation

Leonardo da Vinci - The Annunciation (c. 1472)

An exercise in perspective: All those straight lines lead to a vanishing point between the mountains and the trees.

Botticelli - SpringtimeBotticelli - Springtime (c. 1482)

Classical mythology inspired this allegory of young love. On the left is Mercury, then the three graces. In the center is a more mature Venus than in the next painting with Cupid overhead. On the right. springtime arrives in the form of the goddess Flora. Her story is told by the final two figures: Chloris and Zephyr.

Botticelli - Birth of VenusBotticelli - Birth of Venus (c. 1485)

One of the hallmarks of the Renaissance is a renewed interest in the classics, and the famous "Venus on the Half Shell" is a prime example.

Raphael - Madonna of the GoldfinchRaphael - Madonna of the Goldfinch (c. 1505)

From the beginning of his Florentine period, the regular composition, attention to detail, and lush colors foreshadow Raphael's more mature Roman period.

Raphael - Portrait of Pope Leo XRaphael - Portrait of Pope Leo X with two Cardinals (c. 1518)

Now at the peak of his power, Raphael uses light, color, texture, and composition to show the powerful pope with cardinals in attendance, including an ornate bell and book. It tells so much about the man that it is almost a biography. This is often cited as among Raphael's most admired and significant works.

Michelangelo - Doni TondoMichelangelo - Doni Tondo (c. 1507)

Michelangelo was a sculptor, so this is one of the few paintings of his that we have. It is still a masterpiece.

Titian - Venus of UrbinoTitian - Venus of Urbino (1538)

The title may be "Venus", but the painting displays none of the attributes of the goddess. This is not simply a naked woman as Botticelli painted fifty years previously, this is a sexy nude staring right back at you with a "come-hither" look. Titian, with his mastery of the art, was the culmination and the completion of the Renaissance.

Caravaggio - Head of MedusaCaravaggio - Head of Medusa  (1597)

Now we get into the Baroque school. Intense emotion, dramatic lighting, strong contrasts make Caravaggio the first modern painter.