The period from about the 1490s to the 1530s in painting,
sculpture, and architecture in Europe, esp in Italy, when the
Renaissance ideals were considered to have been attained through
High Renaissance the mastery of Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael
A man who has broad intellectual interests and is accomplished
in areas of both the arts and the sciences. A cultured man of the
Renaissance who was knowledgeable, educated, or proficient in
a wide range of fields.
Uomo universale (Renaissance man)
-Leonardo da Vinci
A cultural and intellectual movement of the Renaissance that
emphasized secular concerns as a result of the rediscovery and
study of the literature, art, and civilization of ancient Greece and
A system of thought that rejects religious beliefs and centers
on humans and their values, capacities, and worth
A system of philosophical and theological doctrines composed of
elements of Platonism and Aristotelianism and oriental mysticism
Neoplatonism that both rivalled and influenced Christianity
One can see the brush strokes in a painting, and it is rendered in
an impressionistic way
The technique of allowing tones and colors to shade gradually into
one another, producing softened outlines or hazy forms Contrapposto A human figure standing with most of its weight on one foot so
that its shoulders and arms twist off-axis from the hips and legs
The Ignudo is the phrase coined by Michelangelo to describe the
twenty seated male nudes he incorporated into the Sistine Chapel
The treatment of light and shade in drawing and painting.
An effect of contrasted light and shadow created by light falling
Chiaroscuro unevenly or from a particular direction on something
An effort, at least at first, to protest against some of the practices
of the Catholic Church and to reform the Church (started by
The Reformation Martin Luther)
The Church's response to the threat from Luther and others during
this period is called the Counter-Reformation. Church called the
Counter-Reformation Council of Trent to deal with the issues raised by Luther. The
Council of Trent was an assembly of high officials in the Church.
Artist's manner or method of working, to describe a personal or
group style. An interpretation/deviation from the natural world.
Mannerism A human figure which spirals around a central axis, so that the
lower limbs face in one direction and the torso almost in the
opposite direction, in a graceful if sometimes contorted pose.
Is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child,
usually nude and sometimes winged.
Putto / Putti
Architectural finish, lying to viewer about age of a building…
making it look older than it is
Science + Art. A form of chemistry and speculative philosophy
practiced in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and concerned
principally with discovering methods for transmuting baser metals
Alchemy into gold and with finding a universal solvent and an elixir of life.
A deep, pensive, and long-lasting sadness
A woodcut print falls under the category called relief
printmaking whereas engraving belongs to intaglio printmaking.
Printmaking (Engraving vs. Woodcut) The most notable difference between the two is that a relief block
& is printed in much the same manner as a rubber stamp or those
Intaglio potato prints you did when you were in school.
Whereas, in intaglio the lowered surfaces take the ink with the
raised surface of the plate wiped clean. In other words, it is the
exact opposite of relief printing Baroque Relating to or denoting a style of European architecture, music,
and art of the 17th and 18th centuries that followed mannerism
Absolutism A political theory holding that all power should be vested in one
ruler or other authority
Having the sun as the center
an association of 40 French scholars and writers, founded by
Cardinal Richelieu in 1635, devoted chiefly to preserving the
The French Academy purity of the French language
A canopy of fabric carried in church processions or placed over an
altar, throne, or dais.
Architecture A stone or marble structure built in the form of a
Baldacchino canopy, especially over the altar of a church.
Aedicule an opening such as a door or a window, framed by columns on
either side, and a pediment above A circular opening at the apex of a dome
Rectilinear characterized by a straight line or lines
a low wall surrounding the arena of an ancient amphitheater, a
plinth that supports a colonnade or wall
a school, style, or method of painting, adopted chiefly by 17th-
century Spanish and Neapolitan painters, esp Caravaggio,
characterized by large areas