Renaissance Art Influence

Fifteenth century Italy was composed of a mixture of differing regional entities: The States of the Church retained a significant amount of Central Italy while the whole of Southern Italy belonged to the Kingdom of Naples. These communities were ruled by a monarchy composed of many families and individuals, many of whom became important patrons of Renaissance Art. Sculpture has been an active part of the Romanesque era with sculptures produced throughout the middle ages in Italy and the rest of Europe. Its history and stylistic development are similar to Western art. It contributes to the cultural achievements of Classical Antiquity, and became an important influence of the development of Renaissance Art. The models for traditional sculpting
Peter’s Basilica. The art in which followed this commission was the creation of Pieta, “The scene of the Pieta shows the Virgin Mary holding the dead body of Christ after his crucifixion, death, and removal from the cross, but before he was placed in the tomb,” (Italianrenaissance.org). Michelangelo stated that the block of marble he used to produce this sculpture was the most perfect block he ever used. An indicator of its rarity and uniqueness is that the sculpture is multi-figured; this was something that was very rare in that period of time. Furthermore, the proportions of the Virgin’s body is larger that Christ’s body; however, this was caused by the garments on her lap flowing into an abundance of drapery making her appear much larger. It can be examined that the Virgin is experiencing utter sadness and devastation: she seems resigned to what has happened, and becomes enveloped in graceful acceptance. Furthermore, Christ is depicted almost as if he is in a peaceful slumber, and not one who has been bloodied and bruised after hours of torture and suffering. Overall, these two figures are beautiful and idealized, despite their suffering. This reflects the High Renaissance belief in Neo-Platonic ideals in that beauty on earth reflected God’s beauty, so these beautiful figures were echoing the beauty of
Therefore, “David,” is a fit symbol of courage and civic duty to guard the city. Standing 13’5″ tall, the double life-sized David is depicted patiently waiting for battle, prepped with slingshot in one hand and stone in the other. Michelangelo, in his mid twenties, carved the David after he had already carved the Pieta in Rome. He carved this sculpture from a huge block of marble that had been abandoned decades earlier by another sculptor: Michelangelo took on the challenge of living up to Donatello and other precursors who had sculpted the same heroic figure. Instead of creating David to look relaxed and confident after his victory, Michelangelo's David looks tense and ready for combat. His brow is furrowed, the tendons in his neck are taut, as are the muscles in his nose and lips, and his eyes are focused on something in the distance. Despite this mental concentration, he stands in a relaxed “contrapposto” position, with his sling casually thrown over his left shoulder. This combination of intense expression and calm pose is intended to capture the short period between the decision to fight and the fight itself. The statues hands and head appear to be disproportionally large for his body, possibly because they were deemed more visually important for viewers who would see the statue high up