High Renaissance Art
Italian Renaissance History & Artists Like Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo & Raphael.
Visual Arts Guide

Italian High Renaissance Period (c.1490-1530)

The period known as the High Renaissance roughly spans the four decades from 1490 to the sack of Rome in 1527. Although in many respects it represents the summit of Renaissance art, it unfolded against a back-drop of mounting religious and political tension, which affected painters and sculptors, as well as patrons of the arts, throughout Italy. The period was superceded after the fall of Rome by the more emotional and dramatic style of Mannerism.

Political Developments During the High Renaissance

For example, Christopher Columbus's discovery of the Americas in 1492, together with Magellan's first circumnavigation of the world in 1522, trashed the prevailing dogma of a flat earth; in 1512 Copernicus placed the sun (not the earth) at the centre of the visible universe. These discoveries rocked the foundations of theology along with many assumptions about human life.

In 1494, Charles VIII of France invaded Italy, causing upheaval throughout the country. In the same year, political rivalry in Florence led to the rise and fall of the fanatical cleric Girolamo Savonarola (1494-8), which severely shook Florentine art in the process. (During this time it is said that Botticelli actually pledged to renounce art.)

In 1517, Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses in Wittenberg, triggering the Reformation and plunging much of Europe into chaos. This led to a number of military conflicts between Charles V (ruler of Spain, Austria, the Low Countries and southern Italy), Francis I of France, Henry VIII in England and the Popes in Rome. The era ended with the sacking of Rome in 1527.

With such uncertainty at large, it seems incredible that the High Renaissance could have occurred at all. Yet it did. Indeed, the years between 1490 and the sack of Rome in 1527 saw a huge outpouring in Italy of all the visual arts. This golden age - perhaps the most creative era in the history of art - set the standards in both fine art painting and sculpture for centuries to come.

The Sistine Madonna (1513) by Raphael.

For information about building
design during the Renaissance,
see: Renaissance Architecture.

The Eternal City

In Rome, the 'Eternal City' which now superceded Florence - the focal point of the Early Renaissance - as the centre of events, the powerful and energetic patronage of Pope Julius II secured the services of Old Masters like Raphael, Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo, all of whom created works of startling novelty in both fresco and oil painting. Driven by a Pope who wished to use art to reinforce the glory of Rome, the High Renaissance marked the apogee of the return to classical humanist values based on ancient Greek art and culture. At the same time, the Church remained its biggest patron, thus religious narrative or history painting remained the major genre of the arts.

Artists Of The High Renaissance

The three genius artists of the High Renaissance were: Leonardo Da Vinci, the unique painter, sculptor, scientist, inventor and designer, responsible for the fresco The Last Supper and oil portrait The Mona Lisa; Raphael, the child prodigy who excelled in all aspects of painting such as draftsmanship, composition, structure, and perspective, and who was noted for his frescoes Disputà and The School of Athens in the Stanze, a suite of four rooms in the Vatican Palace; and Michelangelo Buonarroti, the greatest draftsman, painter and sculptor of the male nude, who dominated European art until Picasso with his Sistine Chapel fresco works illustrating Genesis and The Last Judgement, as well as his immortal sculptures Pietà and David). Other famous artists of the period include: Giorgione, the short-lived Venetian genius whose works of art are extremely rare; Paolo Veronese, the acknowledged master of large scale decorative painting; Tiziano Vecellio, better known as Titian, the finest painter of the High Renaissance in Venice, who displayed an unparalled ability with colour.

Further Information

For details of painting and sculpture in specific Italian cities during the 15th and 16th centuries, see:

• Renaissance Art in Florence
(Including: Masaccio, Donatello, Uccello, Brunelleschi, Piero della Francesca, Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo);
• Renaissance Art in Rome
(Including: Raphael and Michelangelo);
• Renaissance Art in Venice
(Including: Mantegna, Veronese, Titian, Bellini, Verrocchio, Tintoretto).

• For styles of painting and sculpture in Ireland, see: Irish Art

• How to Update This Mini Review of High Renaissance Period of Art

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