The High Renaissance

The High Renaissance is considered the culmination of the goals and techniques developed during the Early Renaissance. Centered in Rome, it lasted from about 1490 to the Sack of Rome in 1527. While earlier Renaissance artists would stress the perspective of a work and the technical aspects of a painting, High Renaissance artists were willing to sacrifice technical principles in order to create a more beautiful, harmonious whole. In this course, we explore the factors that contributed to this development, including the introduction of oil paint and a growth in the number and diversity of patrons. We study the artists most well-known and featured during this phase—Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael in Rome, Titian in Venice—and their paintings, frescoes, and sculptures, which are among the most widely known works of art in the world. Da Vinci’s Last Supper, Raphael’s The School of Athens and Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling paintings are the masterpieces of this period and embody the elements of the High Renaissance. This course will be recorded. Students will have access to videos for the duration of the course.