High Renaissance: Difference between revisions

The art historian [[Jill Burke]] was the first to trace the historical origins of the term ''High Renaissance''. It was first coined in German by [[Jacob Burckhardt]] in German (''Hochrenaissance'') in 1855<!-- ARE WE SURE ABOUT THIS DATE? - very early --> and has its origins in the "High Style" of painting and sculpture of the time period around the early 16th century described by [[Johann Joachim Winckelmann]] in 1764.<ref>Jill Burke, "[http://www.ashgate.com/pdf/SamplePages/Rethinking_the_High_Renaissance_Intro.pdf Inventing the High Renaissance from Winckelmann to Wikipedia: an introductory essay] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923185831/http://www.ashgate.com/pdf/SamplePages/Rethinking_the_High_Renaissance_Intro.pdf |date=2015-09-23 }}", in: ''Id.'', [http://www.ashgate.com/default.aspx?page=637&calcTitle=1&title_id=10751&edition_id=11076 ''Rethinking the High Renaissance: Culture and the Visual Arts in Early Sixteenth-century Rome''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108153848/http://www.ashgate.com/default.aspx?page=637&calcTitle=1&title_id=10751&edition_id=11076 |date=2014-11-08 }}, Ashgate, 2012</ref> Extending the general rubric of [[Renaissance]] culture, the visual arts of the High Renaissance were marked by a renewed emphasis upon the classical tradition, the expansion of networks of [[patronage]], and a gradual attenuation of figural forms into the style later termed [[Mannerism]].

Alexander Raunch in ''The Art of the High Renaissance and Mannerism in Rome and Central Italy'', 2007,<ref>Alexander Raunch "Painting of the High Renaissance and Mannerism in Rome and Central Italy" in ''The Italian Renaissance: Architecture, Sculpture, Painting, Drawing'', Konemann, Cologne, 1995. Pg. 308</ref> states the High Renaissance began in 1490, while [[Marilyn Stokstad]] in ''Art History'', 2008, states it began in the 1490s.<ref>Marilyn Stokstad ''Art History'', Third Edition, Pearson Education Inc., New Jersey, 2008, Pg 659.</ref> Frederick Hartt states that Leonardo's ''[[The Last Supper (Leonardo)|The Last Supper]]'', the painting of which began in 1495 and concluded in 1498, makes a complete break with the Early Renaissance and created the world in which Michelangelo and Raphael worked,<ref>Frederick Hartt, ''A History of Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture''; Harry N. Abrams Incorporated, New York, 1985, pg. 601</ref> while Christoph Luitpold Frommel, in his 2012 article "Bramante and the Origins of the High Renaissance," states ''The Last Supper'' is the first High Renaissance work but adds that the peak period of the High Renaissance was actually 1505 to 1513.<ref>Christoph Luitpold Frommel, "Bramante and the Origins of the High Renaissance" in ''Rethinking the High Renaissance: The Culture of the Visual Arts in Early Sixteenth-Century Rome'', Jill Burke, ed. Ashgate Publishing, Oxan, UK, 2002, pg. 172.</ref> [[David Piper (curator)|David Piper]] in ''The Illustrated History of Art'', 1991, also cites ''The Last Supper'' writing the work announced the High Renaissance and was one of the most influential paintings of the High Renaissance, but contradictorily states that the High Renaissance began just after 1500.<ref>David Piper, ''The Illustrated History of Art'', Crescent Books, New York, 1991, pg. 129</ref> Burchkardt stated the High Renaissance started at the close of the 15th century,<ref>Jacob Burchhardt, '' Cinerone'' 1841.</ref> while Franz Kugler, who wrote the first "modern" survey text, ''Handbook of Art History'' in 1841, and [[Hugh Honour]] and [[John Fleming (art historian)|John Fleming]] in ''The Visual Arts: A History'', 2009, state the High Renaissance started at the beginning of the 16th century.<ref>Franz Kugler ''Handbook of Art History'' 1841; Franz Kugler ''Handbook of Art History'' 1841.</ref><ref>Hugh Honour and John Flemming,''The Visual Arts: A History'', 7th edition, Laurence King Publishing Ltd., Great Britain, 2009, pg. 466</ref> Another seminal work of art which was created in the 1495–1500 timeframe was Michelangelo's ''[[Pietà (Michelangelo)|Pietà]],'', housed in [[St. Peter's Basilica]], [[Vatican City]], which was executed in 1498–99.

As far as the end of the High Renaissance is concerned Hartt, Frommel, Piper, Wundrum, and Winkelman all state that the High Renaissance ended in 1520 with the death of Raphael. Honour and Fleming stated the High Renaissance was the first quarter of the 16th century meaning it would have ended in 1525. By contrast, Luigi Lanzi, in his ''History of Italian Painting'', 1795–96, stated it ended with the [[Sack of Rome (1527)|Sack of Rome]] in 1527,<ref>Luigi Lanzi, ''History of Italian Painting'', 1795–96.</ref> when several artists were killed and many other dispersed from [[Rome]], and Stokstad agrees. Raunch asserts that 1530 has been considered to be the end of the High Renaissance. [[Frederick Hartt|Hartt]] adds that 1520 to 1530 was a transition period between the High Renaissance and [[Mannerism]]. Traditionally, the end of the High Renaissance in Florence is seen as marked by the end of the [[Republic of Florence]] and the beginning of the [[Duchy of Florence]] in 1532.

Painting of the High Renaissance is considered to be the absolute zenith of western painting<ref>Wundrum pg. 145</ref> and achieved the balancing and reconciliation, in harmony, of contradictory and seemingly mutually exclusive artistic positions, such as real versus ideal, movement versus rest, freedom versus law, space versus plane, and line versus colour.<ref>Wundrum pg. 147</ref> The High Renaissance was traditionally viewed as a great explosion of creative genius, following a model of art history first proposed by the Florentine [[Giorgio Vasari]].