V&A SOUTH KENSINGTON COURSE

Artists of the Italian Renaissance aimed to create an entirely new style of art which emulated and appreciated the ancient art and architecture of Greece and Rome. It was in the wealthy merchant city of Florence during the early 15th century that this extraordinary flowering of the visual arts began with exceptionally talented artists transforming architecture, painting and sculpture. New religious practices placed greater emphasis on naturalistic art that could tell stories lucidly and the system of mathematical perspective, employed to create an illusion of depth, was invented in Italy.
Donatello was a pioneering sculptor, both in style and technique. He imbued his figures with a lifelike quality, movement and expression of emotion, whilst developing entirely new ways of carving and modelling in a variety of materials. By studying the human body from life, together with a vigorous observation of nature, Italian Renaissance artists, such as Michelangelo and Leonardo, brought art to life and achieved great innovations in the believable representation of the world around them, which would influence future generations of artists for centuries.

Renaissance is a French term which describes the ‘rebirth’ of interest in classical art, architecture, sculpture and literature above all in Italy during the 15th and 16th centuries. The close study of ancient classical architecture led to an innovative style of building which was an architecture of a new era, in which the forms of classical architecture were freely used to create new modes of harmony and beauty. This style of architecture, created by Brunelleschi in the early 15th century and continued by architects such as Sangallo in the later 15th century, went on to be followed by the architects of Europe and America for nearly 500 years.
High Renaissance masters of painting, including Perugino and Raphael worked in Florence, Urbino, Perugia and Rome, receiving many commissions from significant and influential patrons, including the popes. Beauty of line and colour, harmony in composition, spatial clarity, a sense of depth and the use of Leonardo’s soft ‘sfumato’ technique to model faces and figures, characterise the style developed by these painters. Raphael’s accomplished skill in painting developed further and his innovation was the achievement of perfectly harmonious compositions of moving figures.

Casts, or copies, made directly from notable original works of form a significant part of the V&A’s collections and provide the opportunity to study important works of art and architecture from across the world in London. The Italian Renaissance is particularly well-represented by casts at the V&A with the majority of the reproductions having been made and collected in the 19th century. Brunelleschi and Ghiberti’s Florence Baptistery Doors competition panels, Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise, numerous Donatello sculptures, including his and Verrocchio’s Bronze Davids, are just some of the highlights of this important holding.
Ghiberti, famous for creating the bronze doors for Florence’s Baptistery and a master of bronze sculpture, was interested in detail, skill, craftmanship, decorativeness, harmony and grace in his art. Whilst he absorbed the influence of other artists, such as Donatello, and the art of classical antiquity, he combined various elements to create his own style and never sacrificed his individuality. Verrocchio, or “true eye”, was a painter and sculptor who had famous pupils, e.g. Leonardo da Vinci, who trained in his successful workshop in Florence, which in the 15th century was one of the great cultural centres of the world.

Casts, or copies, made directly from notable original works of form a significant part of the V&A’s collections and provide the opportunity to study important works of art and architecture from across the world in London. The Italian Renaissance is particularly well-represented by casts at the V&A with the majority of the reproductions having been made and collected in the 19th century. Michelangelo’s David, Moses, Slaves, Madonnas and Medici Portraits, Cellini’s Perseus and Raphael’s School of Athens are among the replicas of iconic artworks displayed in the Cast Courts.
A giant of the High Renaissance, Michelangelo was recognised in his lifetime as an inspired genius and is one of the greatest artists who ever lived. His astonishing career encompassed the arts of painting, sculpture, architecture and poetry. Michelangelo’s reputation was secured by magnificent statues such as ‘David’ and ‘Moses’. Raphael painted with superlative skill, a beauty of line and colour and harmony in composition which made him a perfect High Renaissance artist. Enormously influential in the history of art, Raphael’s commissions included the decoration of the Pope’s rooms in the Vatican e.g. The School of Athens.