hoakley General, Life, Painting

Rebirth: A timeline in paintings

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), The Virgin with the Infant Saint John the Baptist adoring the Christ Child accompanied by an Angel ('The Virgin of the Rocks') (Panel from the S. Francesco Altarpiece, Milan) (c 1491-1508), oil on poplar, thinned and cradled, 189.5 x 120 cm, The National Gallery (Bought, 1880), London. Courtesy of and © The National Gallery, London.

To round off this series of articles providing an outline of the Italian Renaissance, I here offer a timeline of some of the milestone paintings which marked most of the changes which took place. These inevitably exclude many of the finest paintings in favour of those which are the first surviving examples of the achievements of the Renaissance.

1320
Dante Alighieri (Florence) completes his Divine Comedy.

1338-39

lorenzettigoodgovernmentcity
Ambrogio Lorenzetti (1290–1348), Effects of Good Government in the City (1338-39), fresco, dimensions not known, Fondazione Musei Senesi, Siena, Italy. Wikimedia Commons.

Secular paintings with social and political commentary, commissioned for the Council Room of the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena: Effects of Good Government in the City, Ambrogio Lorenzetti (Siena).

1327-68
Petrarch (Francesco Petrarca) writes his Il Canzoniere.

1340
Plague in Florence.

1353
Giovanni Boccacchio (Florence) completes his Decameron.

-1420
Filippo Brunelleschi devises optically correct linear perspective projection (Florence).

1426-8

masacciotrinity
Masaccio (1401–1428), The Holy Trinity (1426-8), fresco, 640 x 317 cm, Basilica of Santa Maria Novella, Florence. Wikimedia Commons.

The earliest surviving painting in which Brunelleschi’s principles were fully utilised to create a rigorously correct perspective projection with a single vanishing point: Holy Trinity, Masaccio (Florence).

1436
Leon Battista Alberti’s Della pittura (On Painting) published, with a simplified technique of perspective (Florence).

1470-75

ghirlandaiomadonnachild
Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449–1494), Madonna and Child (c 1470-75), tempera on panel transferred to hardboard, dimensions not known, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. Wikimedia Commons.

High realism in figures and the folds in fabrics: Madonna and Child, Domenico Ghirlandaio (Florence).

1475

Antonello da Messina, Saint Jerome in his Study (c 1475), oil on lime, 45.7 x 36.2 cm, The National Gallery, London. Wikimedia Commons.
Antonello da Messina (c 1430–1479), Saint Jerome in his Study (c 1475), oil on lime wood, 45.7 x 36.2 cm, The National Gallery, London. Wikimedia Commons.

First masterpiece painted in oil paints, using walnut oil as its binder: Saint Jerome in his Study, Antonello da Messina (Messina, Sicily)

1482

Sandro Botticelli (Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi), Primavera (Spring) (c 1482), tempera on panel, 202 x 314 cm, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. Wikimedia Commons.
Sandro Botticelli (Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi) (1445–1510), Primavera (Spring) (c 1482), tempera on panel, 202 x 314 cm, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. Wikimedia Commons.

Mythological narrative, female nudes, patron Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’ Medici: Primavera (Spring), Sandro Botticelli (Florence).

1483

botticellinastagliodeglionesti1
Sandro Botticelli (1445–1510), The Story of Nastagio Degli Onesti I (1482-83), tempera on panel, 83 x 138 cm, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, Spain. Wikimedia Commons.

Contemporary literary narrative (Boccaccio’s Decameron, highly secular), female nude, commissioned as a wedding present by Lorenzo de’ Medici: The Story of Nastagio Degli Onesti I, Sandro Botticelli (Florence).

1500
Piero della Francesca’s De Prospectiva Pingendi (On Perspective for Painting) published, with the first complete account of perspective (Florence).

1503-

davincivirginchildstanne
Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne (c 1503-19), oil on poplar wood, 168 x 130 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris. Wikimedia Commons.

Pyramidal (triangular) composition, advanced oil techniques: The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne, Leonardo da Vinci (Florence).

1504-8

giorgionetempest
Giorgione (1477–1510), The Tempest (c 1504-8), oil on canvas, 83 × 73 cm, Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice. Wikimedia Commons.

First landscape (wholly secular), commissioned by Gabriele Vendramin, nouveau riche and collector: The Tempest, Giorgione (Venice).

1510-11

raphaelportraitcardinal
Raphael (1483–1520), Portrait of a Cardinal (1510-11), oil on panel, 79 x 61 cm, Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, Spain. Wikimedia Commons.

Lifelike modelling of flesh and surface textures of fabrics: Portrait of a Cardinal, Raphael (Florence, Rome).

1527-31

parmigianinomysticmarriage
Parmigianino (1503–1540), The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine (c 1527-31), oil on wood, 74.2 × 57.2 cm, The National Gallery, London. Wikimedia Commons.

Visible brushstrokes, Mannerism: Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine, Parmigianino (Parma, Florence).

1550
Giorgio Vasari’s Lives of the Artists published (Florence).

1594-96

caravaggionarcissus
Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio) (1571–1610), Narcissus (1594-96), oil on canvas, 110 × 92 cm, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica, Rome. Wikimedia Commons.

Baroque, chiaroscuro: Narcissus, Caravaggio (Milan, Rome).

Of the twelve painters named above, eight were born in, worked in, or had strong associations with Florence.