Surely you've heard of Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael and Leonardo. But these names don't just refer to the cartoon Tartarugas Ninjas, which was a hit on Brazilian television during the 1990s. These names also refer to four exponent artists of the Rebirth, a movement against medieval values that transformed Europe's cultural and scientific scene between the 14th and 16th centuries. Will we get to know more about the Renaissance and some characters?
Certainly the best known artist of the Renaissance is Leonardo da Vinci, mainly due to the fact that he has dedicated himself to a large amount of activities, such as painting, sculpture, architecture, astronomy, music and several other areas. What can be highlighted here in Leonardo da Vinci's work is the centrality of man as the main object of his work. O anthropocentrism, which has man as the center of the universe, is one of the characteristics of the Renaissance, in contrast to the art of the medieval period, whose center was God and art portraying religiosity.
It was the centrality of man that led da Vinci to produce, for example, the work "The Last Supper", which, despite the religious theme, exposes Jesus Christ and his apostles more as men than as sacred beings, mainly through the representation of bodies on the screen. It was this anthropocentric goal that led him to study the human body through anatomy, using empirical research to represent it.
Donatello sculpture depicting the biblical episode of Judith and Horlofenes
Anatomy also served to Donatello for the production of his sculptures, mainly with regard to the proportionality between the members of the body. The sculptor produced several works at the beginning of the 15th century, of which he stands out Judith and Horlofenes, portraying the biblical episode in which Judith seduces and decapitates General Horlofenes to save the Hebrew people. The symbolic value given by Donatello to the work was intended to show chastity overcoming lust, or even the republic overcoming tyranny.
“Alba Madonna” by Rafael Sanzio
Rafael Sanzio he became known as the painter of the Madonnas, the Italian name for the mother of Jesus. Rafael's contribution consisted in the development of some painting techniques that highlighted the contrast of lights. The shadings managed to give greater realism to the contours of the human body, also imprinting human expressions on the madonnas, contrasting with their religious figure.
Sistine Chapel ceiling painted by Michelangelo
Michelangelo Buonarroti stood out for his artistic production in the areas of painting and sculpture. In the painting, we can highlight the frescoes carried out on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, in Vatican City, mainly the portrayal of the genesis episode, the Adam's Creation. His most famous sculptures were David and also pieta, is representing Mary with Jesus dead in her lap.
David, sculpture by Michelangelo produced in the 16th century
By Tales Pinto
Graduated in History
