target="_blank" rel="nofollow" href="#_142.jpg"/>142. Andrea Mantegna, 1431–1506, Early Renaissance, Florentine School, Italian, Madonna and Child (Madonna of the Caves), 1485, Oil on panel, 29 × 21.5 cm, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
143. Francesco Botticini, c. 1446–1498, Early Renaissance, Florentine School, Italian, Adoration of the Christ Child, c. 1485. Tempera on panel, Tondo, dia. 123 cm. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
144. Carlo Crivelli, 1430–1495, Early Renaissance, Venetian School, Italian, Annunciation with St Endimius, 1486, Oil on canvas transferred to wood, 207 × 147 cm, National Gallery, London
145. Domenico Ghirlandaio, 1449–1494, Early Renaissance, Florentine School, Italian, Adoration of the Magi, 1488. Tempera on panel, Tondo, dia. 171 cm. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
This pyramidal composition with Mary at the top was influenced by Leonardo’s uncompleted Adoration of the Magi (1481, Uffizi)
146. Piero di Cosimo, 1462–1521, Early Renaissance, Florentine School, Italian, Portrait of Simonetta Vespucci, c. 1485, Oil on panel, 57 × 42 cm, Musée Condé, Chantilly
Here is one of the artist’s finest portraits. Simonetta Vespucci is depicted as Cleopatra with the asp around her neck. The snake, also being a symbol of immortality, reinforces the strange atmosphere of this work.
147. Fra Filippo Lippi, c. 1406–1469, Early Renaissance, Florentine School, Italian, Madonna and the Child Enthroned with Saint John the Baptist, Victor, Bernard and Zenobius (Altarpiece of the Otto di Pratica), 1486. Tempera on panel, 355 × 255 cm, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
148. Sandro Botticelli (Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi), 1445–1510, Early Renaissance, Florentine School, Italian, The Coronation of the Virgin, c. 1490. Tempera on panel, 378 × 258 cm. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
149. Domenico Ghirlandaio, 1449–1494, Early Renaissance, Florentine School, Italian, An Old Man with his Grandson, 1488. Tempera on panel, 62 × 46 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris
This is the first time that a character is portrayed with such realism showing clearly disfiguring details. This portrait conveys the deep affection between the man and the boy. The motif of the open window on a landscape in the background was borrowed from the Flemish Renaissance and brought to Italy in the mid-fifteenth century by artists such as Filippo Lippi.
150. Andrea Mantegna, 1431–1506, Early Renaissance, Florentine School, Italian, The Lamentation over the Dead Christ, c. 1490. Tempera on canvas, 68 × 81 cm, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan
A nearly monochromatic vision of Jesus mourned by three figures was in Mantegna’s collection at the time of his death; this Dead Christ includes Saint John, Mary, and Mary Magdalene. His inventory of 1506 referred to a work fitting this description, presumably the very same picture, and it ended up in Gonzaga collections later in the century. This is a searing image of Christ laid out on his funeral slab, an intense vision of Christ’s suffering and death. The wounds in his hands are like torn paper, as is the spear gash in his side. Mantegna has played with the rules of perspective here, making the head large; it should be much smaller than the feet because the figure is strongly foreshortened. To make the work in proper perspective would have made the face of Christ too small to elicit strong empathy from the viewer. The monochromatic, golden-brown colouring helps to move this painting to another realm of passion and religious fervour. The viewers would sympathise with the sorrowful Mary, John, and Mary Magdalene who appear in truncated form on the left, pouring out their grief in open mourning.
151. Pietro Perugino, 1450–1523, High Renaissance, Florentine School, Italian, St Sebastian, c. 1490–1500, Oil on wood, 176 × 116 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris
152. Leonardo da Vinci, 1452–1519, Renaissance, Florentine School, Italian, The Last Supper, 1495–1498, Oil and tempera on stone, 460 × 880 cm, Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Refectori, Milan
The perfection of grouping achieved in The Last Supper would of itself be sufficient to mark an epoch in the annals of painting. Its ease and rhythm are sublime. The figures, placed on two planes in perspective, are further arranged in groups of three, with the exception of Christ, who, isolated in the centre, dominates the action. If we turn to expression and gesture, we must again do homage to the master’s extraordinary perception of dramatic effect. The Saviour has just uttered the fateful words: “One of you shall betray me,“ with sublime resignation. In a moment, as by an electric shock, he has excited the most diverse emotions among the disciples, according to the character of each. Sadly, Leonardo painted in oil and tempera on a dry wall, such a defective process that three-quarters of the work may be said to have been destroyed by the middle of the sixteenth century. The skill and the knowledge necessary in order not to destroy their balance, to vary the lines without detracting from their harmony, and finally to connect the various groups, were so tremendous that neither reasoning nor calculation could have solved a problem so intricate; but for a sort of divine inspiration, the most gifted artist would have failed.
153. Lorenzo di Credi, c.1458–1537, High Renaissance, Florentine School, Italian, Venus, c. 1493, Oil on canvas, 151 × 69 cm. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
154. Sandro Botticelli (Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi), 1445–1510, Early Renaissance, Florentine School, Italian, Lamentation over the Dead Christ with Saints, c. 1490. Tempera on panel, 140 × 207 cm, Alte Pinakothek, Munich
155. Giovanni Bellini, c. 1430–1516, Early Renaissance, Venetian School, Italian, Sacred Allegory, c. 1490, Oil on panel, 73 × 119 cm, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
156. Hieronymus Bosch, c.1450–1516, Northern Renaissance, Dutch, The Ship of Fools, after 1491, Oil on panel, 58 × 33 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris
Hieronymus Bosch
(c.1450–1516 ‘s-Hertogenbosch)
Born in the middle of the century, Bosch experienced the drama of the highly charged Renaissance and its wars of religion. Medieval traditions and values were crumbling, paving the way to thrust humankind into a new universe where faith lost some of its power and much of its magic. His favourite allegories were hell, heaven and lust. He believed that everyone had to choose between one of two options: heaven or hell. Bosch brilliantly exploited the symbolism of a wide range of fruit and plants to lend sexual overtones to his themes.
157. Vittore Carpaccio, c.1465-c.1525, High Renaissance, Venetian School, Italian, The Dream of St Ursula, 1495. Tempera on canvas,
