Periods, Cultures, Styles > Renaissance
Renaissance
Art in the Renaissance is defined by a new interest in the visible world, and attempts to reproduce that in paintings and sculpture. We also see the use of ancient Greek and Roman forms, especially in Italy, but even in Northern Europe in the early 16th century. The development of the use of oil paint was key, especially in Northern Europe, and in Italy (and later in Northern Europe) tools like chiaroscuro and linear perspective were used to create believable figures and spaces. Large-scale bronze sculptures, ambitious commissions, and the growing status of the artist also define this period.
Basics to get you started
Florence in the Early Renaissance
Early applications of linear perspective
Linear perspective interactive
Linear Perspective: Brunelleschi’s Experiment
Oil paint in Venice
How to recognize Italian Renaissance art
Devotional confraternities (scuole) in Renaissance Venice
Saving Venice
Types of renaissance patronage
Why commission artwork during the renaissance?
Guido Mazzoni and Renaissance Emotions
Renaissance Watercolours: materials and techniques
The role of the workshop in Italian renaissance art
Greek painters in renaissance Venice
Venetian glass, an introduction
Humanism in renaissance Italy
Humanism in Italian renaissance art
A primer for Italian renaissance art
The Italian renaissance court artist
Northern Renaissance art under Burgundian rule
Burgundy in the 15th century, an introduction
15th-century Flanders, an introduction
What is Melencolia?
Confronting power and violence in the renaissance nude
Printmaking in Europe, c. 1400−1800
Toward the High Renaissance, an introduction
Galileo Galilei
Galileo and the science of nature
Michelangelo: Sculptor, painter, architect, and poet
Chiaroscuro explained
Linear perspective explained
Atmospheric perspective explained
15th-century Spanish painting, an introduction
A brief history of the representation of the body in Western painting
A brief history of the representation of the body in Western sculpture
Tiny timelines: Michelangelo in context
The status of the artist in renaissance Italy
The Sack of Rome in 1527
The Rise and Fall of the Avis Dynasty in Portugal, an introduction
The Renaissance in Spain
The Medieval and Renaissance Altarpiece
The Medici collect the Americas
The life of Christ in medieval and Renaissance art
The Council of Trent and the call to reform art
The Protestant Reformation
Sex, Power, and Violence in the Renaissance Nude
Contrapposto explained
Henry VIII and the Reformation
Images of African Kingship, Real and Imagined
Introduction to the Protestant Reformation (part 1 of 4): Setting the stage
Introduction to the Protestant Reformation (part 2 of 4): Martin Luther
Introduction to the Protestant Reformation (part 4 of 4): The Counter-Reformation
Introduction to the Protestant Reformation (part 3 of 4): Varieties of Protestantism
Iconoclasm in the Netherlands in the 16th century
Retro style in the Renaissance
Leonardo: Anatomist
Raphael, an introduction
The role of the workshop in late medieval and early modern northern Europe
Foreshortening explained
Preparatory drawing during the Italian renaissance, an introduction
What made art valuable, in the Middle Ages and Renaissance vs. now
Manuscripts: major works of art
Leonardo and his drawings
Renaissance woman: Isabella d’Este
Coming Out: Queer Erasure and Censorship from the Middle Ages to Modernity
Who’s who? How to recognize saints…
Conserving Old Master Drawings
Classic, classical, and classicism explained
Musical imagery in the Global Middle Ages
Classical Architecture in Viceregal Mexico
How one-point linear perspective works
The Bug That Had the World Seeing Red
Tiny timeline: global Europe
Dante’s Divine Comedy in Late Medieval and Early Renaissance art
The Miracle of the Black Leg
Works of Art
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Bayon, the most notable temple at Angkor Thom (photo: Dmitry A. Mottl, CC BY-SA 4.0)
Periods, Cultures, Styles
Curated Guides to Renaissance
Introduction to Ancient Egypt
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Introduction to Ancient Egypt
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Introduction to Ancient Egypt
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Introduction to Ancient Egypt
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Introduction to Ancient Egypt
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25 Videos + Essays
Introduction to Ancient Egypt
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25 Videos + Essays
