115. Andrea del Verrocchio, c. 1435–1488, Early Renaissance, Florentine School, Italian, The Baptism of Christ, c. 1470, Oil on panel, 177 × 151 cm. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
116. Hugo van der Goes, c. 1440–1482, Northern Renaissance, Flemish, Diptych: The Fall of Man and the Lamentation (left panel), c. 1470–1475. Tempera on wood, 32.3 × 21.9 cm, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Contemporary of Piero della Francesca, van der Goes is resolute to depict reality while using refined colours. His painting is more and more illusionist here and betrays the artist’s like for details and depiction of light.
117. Sandro Botticelli (Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi), 1445–1510, Early Renaissance, Florentine School, Italian, Adoration of the Kings, c. 1470–1475. Tempera on poplar, Tondo, dia. 130.8 cm, National Gallery, London
This painting, in which the artist also depicted himself, shows the Magi but in reality it is the Medici family, his patrons and rulers of Florence. The Magi kneeling in front of Jesus Christ represents Cosimo the Elder, the founder of the dynasty. Cosimo’s son Piero can be seen from the back in red in the centre and Lorenzo the Magnificent is the young man on his right, wearing a black and red mantle.
118. Hans Memling, 1433–1494, Northern Renaissance, Flemish, Last Judgment Triptych, 1467–1471, Oil on oak panel, 222 × 160 cm, Muzeum Pomorskie, Danzig
This triptych takes its inspiration from van der Weyden’s Beaune Altarpiece. A semi-circular line of bodies runs through the three panels, figuring on one side the ‘Reception of the Righteous into Heaven’ and the ‘Casting of the Damned into Hell’ on the opposite side.
Hans Memling
(1433 Seligenstadt, Germany – 1494 Bruges)
Little is known of Memling’s life. It is surmised that he was a German by descent but the definite fact of his life is that he painted at Bruges, sharing with the van Eycks, who had also worked in that city, the honour of being the leading artists of the so-called ‘School of Bruges’. He carried on their method of painting, and added to it a quality of gentle sentiment. In his case, as in theirs, Flemish art, founded upon local conditions and embodying purely local ideals, reached its fullest expression.
119. Piero della Francesca, c. 1416–1492, Early Renaissance, Italian, Diptych: Portrait of Duke Federico da Montefello and Battista Sforza (left panel), c. 1465, Oil and tempera on panel, 47 × 33 cm. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
120. Piero della Francesca, c. 1416–1492, Early Renaissance, Italian, Diptych: Portrait of Duke Federico da Montefello and Battista Sforza (right panel), c. 1465, Oil and tempera on panel, 47 × 33 cm. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
As it was painted from the funeral mask of the chief warrior Montefeltro, the face of the sitter remains hieratic. The profile portrait takes its inspiration from the ancient medals and testifies to a certain will to preserve conventional aspects: Federico is blind in one eye and this representation enables not to offend. Nevertheless, he is depicted with great realism (bent nose and wart are shown). The elegance of the portrait rejoins the precepts of Alberti (enounced in De Pictura). The recent discovering of oil painting enables more realism and subtlety, especially in the illusionism one can see in the background landscape.
121. Leonardo da Vinci, 1452–1519, Early Renaissance, Florentine School, Italian, The Annunciation, c. 1472, Oil and Tempera on panel, 98 × 217 cm. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
Leonardo da Vinci’s The Annunciation, is one of the most popular versions of this subject. The angel, carrying white lilies, kneels to the Madonna, who is seated next to a building and has raised her left hand in a gesture of surprise. They both represent the ideal beauty and exuberance of youth. The Virgin’s right hand is resting on the page of a book, symbolic of her knowledge as Mary-Sophia, the personification both of Wisdom and of the Logos, the Word of God. Below her hand, the shell that adorns the furniture represents the connection between Mary and the ancient Roman goddess of love, Venus.
122. Martin Schongauer, 1450–1491, Northern Renaissance, German, Madonna at the Rose Bush, 1473, Oil on panel, 200 × 115 cm, Eglise Saint-Martin, Colmar
Schongauer, painter from Alsace, is linked to the circle of painters influenced by Flemish and Burgundy artists. Executed for the Church of Saint Martin in Colmar, this painting displays one of the most beautiful illustrations of the Virgin in German art.
123. Antonello da Messina, 1430–1479, Early Renaissance, Southern Italian School, Italian, Virgin Annunciate, 1475, Oil on panel, 45 × 35 cm, Museo Nazionale, Palermo
The half-length representation of Mary and the absence of the Archangel Gabriel make an exceptional iconography out of this painting of the Annunciation.
124. Antonello da Messina, 1430–1479, Early Renaissance, Southern Italian School, Italian, Portrait of a Man (Le Condottiere), 1475, Oil on panel, 36 × 30 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris
This three-quarters view portrait on a dark background moves away from the profiles from the Early Renaissance. The face of the man is deeply individualised and betrays the influence of Flemish painters such as van Eyck or Campin.
125. Antonio del Pollaiuolo, 1432–1498, Renaissance, Florentine School, Italian, Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian, 1475, Oil on poplar, 291.5 × 202.6 cm, National Gallery, London
The pyramidal composition and the attention paid to the quality of the drawing are characteristic of the Florentine researches at the time.
Antonello da Messina
(1430–1479 Messina)
If little is known about his life, the name of Antonello da Messina corresponds to the arrival of a new technique in Italian painting; oils. He used them especially in his portraits where they were very popular in his day, such as Portrait of a Man (1475).
Now, if this appears to be not exactly true, still his work influenced Venetian painters. His work was a combination of Flemish technique and realism with typically Italian modelling of forms and clarity of spatial arrangement. Also, his practice of building form with colour, rather than line and shade, greatly influenced the subsequent development of Venetian painting.
126. Leonardo da Vinci, 1452–1519, Early Renaissance, Florentine School, Italian, Madonna with a Flower (Madonna Benois), 1478, Oil on canvas, 49.5 × 33 cm, The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg.
127. Antonello da Messina, 1430–1479, Early Renaissance, Southern Italian School, Italian, San Cassiano Altar, 1475–1476, Oil on panel, 115 × 65 cm (central panel); 56 × 35 cm (left panel); 56.8 × 35.6 cm (right panel), Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
This painting was a model for painters such as Bellini, with his San Giobbe Altarpiece or Giorgione, the painter of the Castelfranco altar.
128. Nicolas