Knowra High Renaissance High Renaissance The High Renaissance was a period of Italian art from the late 15th to early 16th century, marked by artists including Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael.
Renaissance humanism : An intellectual movement that renewed the study of classical texts and emphasized human capacities and worldly life. Humanist ideals shaped the period’s subjects and its treatment of human dignity.
Leonardo da Vinci : An Italian artist, engineer, and investigator whose works include the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. His paintings joined subtle observation with carefully controlled composition.
Mona Lisa : An oil portrait by Leonardo da Vinci, probably painted between 1503 and 1519, now held by the Louvre. Its delicate modeling and enigmatic expression exemplify Leonardo’s approach to portraiture.
Early Renaissance : The phase of Italian Renaissance art preceding the High Renaissance, flourishing chiefly in the 15th century. Its innovations in perspective and naturalism formed foundations that High Renaissance artists refined.
Renaissance architecture : European architecture from the 15th and 16th centuries that revived classical forms, proportion, and geometric order. High Renaissance projects helped define this broader architectural movement.
Linear perspective : A method for representing three-dimensional space on a flat surface through converging lines and a vanishing point. Artists used it to organize convincing, coherent spaces in paintings.
Michelangelo : An Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet whose works include the David and the Sistine Chapel ceiling. His monumental figures gave the period an especially forceful vision of the human body.
The Last Supper : A mural by Leonardo da Vinci depicting Jesus announcing that one of his disciples will betray him. Its perspective and arrangement focus attention on the figures’ reactions to the announcement.
Mannerism : A 16th-century style that often used elongated figures, complex poses, and deliberate departures from naturalistic balance. Mannerist artists challenged the harmony and proportion associated with the High Renaissance.
Saint Peter's Basilica : A major Catholic basilica in Vatican City, rebuilt from the 16th century onward with contributions from several architects and artists. Its rebuilding embodied the scale and institutional ambition of Renaissance Rome.
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