The High Renaissance.
The flowering of Italian Art.

 The High Renaissance in Italy is generally described as the period from around 1500, although like the starting date of the Renaissance itself the dates are not set in stone.

 Work from ancient Greek and Roman sculptures and buildings had been admired and studied by generations of artists and the explosion in art and creativity reached its pinical in quite a narrow timescale, up to about 1530.

 During this period the classical arts of antiquity had been fully recaptured and the accumulation of knowledge that started with Giotto was fully expressed in the work of the Great masters, Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo and the Venetian painters Giorgione and Titian.

The Renaissance in Italy laid the foundation for the development of western art. The many iconic works in both painting and sculpture influenced successive generations of artists, an influence that continues to the present day. 

The Laocoon group. (P)

 The Laocoon group is a first century Roman sculpture copied from a Greek original dating from the second century B.C. Laocoon was a Trojan priest who was punished by the gods when they sent two serpents to suffocate him and his two sons to death.

 Michelangelo admired this work very much and it's clear to see why the artists of the Renaissance looked to the art of antiquity for inspiration. I have seen this statue in the grounds of the Vatican and in my opinion it is as fine a work as any Renaissance sculpture.

 After the sack of Rome in 1527 by German mercenary troops, and the death of Raphael in 1520, Pope Paul III Farnese oversaw possibly the final great High Renaissance work executed in Rome, Michelangelo's Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel.

 In Venice the painters Giorgione and Titian seem to have worked closely together in the early years of the sixteenth century and their work together ended on the early death of Giorgione. Titian's fame was almost the equal of Michelangelo and he is the superstar of Venetian painting.

The Bridge of Sighs, venice. (P)

 The early Renaissance years had belonged to the city of Florence but the High Renaissance in Italy is centered on the two citys of Rome and Venice. Eventually the Renaissance style was adapted by later painters and evolved into the style known as Mannerism.

 Western Art has grown and expanded from the lessons learned in the Renaissance, from the Baroque; Rococo; Romanticism; Impressionism (have a look at the Impressionist movement at, The Web Gallery of Impressionists ) and through to the Cubist and Surrealist movements and the `Modern` Abstract art of Pollock and Kandinsky. Learn more about Abstract Art at abstract-art-information-inspiration.com

From The High Renaissance to Early Renaissance History.
Michelangelo's page
Leonardo's page
Raphael's page
Titian's page
Giorgione's page
Home Page