This article about the development of themes in Italian Renaissance painting is an extension to the article Italian Renaissance painting, for which it provides additional pictures with commentary. The works encompassed are from Giotto in the early 14th century to Michelangelo's Last Judgement of the 1530s.
The themes that preoccupied painters of the Italian Renaissance were those of both subject matter and execution – what was painted and the style in which it was painted. The artist had far more freedom of both subject and style than did a Medieval painter. Certain characteristic elements of Renaissance painting evolved a great deal during the period. These include perspective, both in terms of how it was achieved and the effects to which it was applied, and realism, particularly in the depiction of humanity, either as symbolic, portrait or narrative element.
Themes
The Flagellation of Christ by Piero della Francesca (above) demonstrates in a single small work many of the themes of Italian Renaissance painting, both in terms of compositional elements and subject matter. Immediately apparent is Piero's mastery of perspective and light. The architectural elements, including the tiled floor which becomes more complex around the central action, combine to create two spaces. The inner space is lit by an unseen light source to which Jesus looks. Its exact location can be pinpointed mathematically by an analysis of the diffusion and the angle of the shadows on the coffered ceiling. The three figures who are standing outside are lit from a different angle, from both daylight and light reflected from the pavement and buildings.
The artistic execution of the figures depicted is tied to the painting's immediate historical context. The figure of Pontius Pilate (seated, on the far left) is a portrait of the visiting Emperor of Byzantium. Flagellation is also called "scourging". The term "scourge" was applied to the plague. Outside the hall, in the foreground of the painting, stand three men representing those who buried the body of Christ. The two older men, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathaea, are believed to be portraits of acquaintances of Piero della Francesca who had recently lost their sons, one of them to the plague. The third figure, the young disciple St. John the Evangelist, may be a portrait of one of the sons, or else represent both of them in a single idealized figure, painted in a similar style to Piero's angels in other paintings.
Elements of Renaissance painting
Renaissance painting differed from the painting of the Late Medieval period in its emphasis upon the close observation of nature, particularly with regards to human anatomy, and the application of scientific principles to the use of perspective and light.
Linear perspective
Primarily through the depiction of architecture, Renaissance artists were able to practice the art of three-dimensional illusion using linear perspective, which gave their works a greater sense of depth. The pictures in the gallery below show the development of linear perspective in buildings and cityscapes. In Giotto's fresco, the building is like a stage set with one side open to the viewer. In Paolo Uccello's fresco, the townscape gives an impression of depth. Masaccio's Holy Trinity was painted with carefully calculated mathematical proportions, in which he was probably assisted by the architect Brunelleschi. Fra Angelico uses the simple motif of a small loggia accurately drafted to create an intimate space. Gentile Bellini has painted a vast space, the Piazza San Marco in Venice, in which the receding figures add to the sense of perspective. Leonardo da Vinci did detailed and measured drawings of the background Classical ruins preparatory to commencing the unfinished Adoration of the Magi. Domenico Ghirlandaio created an exceptionally complex and expansive setting on three levels, including a steeply descending ramp and a jutting wall. Elements of the landscape, such as the church on the right, are viewed partly through other structures. Raphael's design for Fire in the Borgo shows buildings around a small square in which the background events are highlighted by the perspective.