HIGH RENAISSANCE ART

Even in the midst of the biggest creative explosion the world had ever known, three artists stood above the rest: da Vinci. Michelangelo. Raphael. Their names still inspire awe six centuries later. They even became the names of the leading characters in the popular children’s show, Mutant Ninja Turtles. How many artists can claim such high reward? Titian and a scant few others come to mind.

Perhaps the Renaissance’s greatest contributions to art history came at the tail end of its flame. Through the dedicated study of light and human form, High Renaissance artists took the amazing realism and humanism of the Early Renaissance and kicked it into a higher gear.

Over the course of three decades, a group of highly-skilled painters, sculptors and architects found ways to add spiritual beauty to the realistic images of the early Renaissance. Their work built on themes first explored in Byzantine and Medieval Art and, by grounding it in more realistic images, gave it the inspiration of genius. The latest of these artists, Titian, even laid the groundwork for a number of subsequent eras in art history, all the way through the 20th Century.

Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael were true Renaissance men. All were painters, sculptors and architects. Da Vinci took things even further with his many scientific explorations, including the world’s most comprehensive study of every human muscles. Many of his illustrations are still used in modern medical journals. He even invented a variety of military weapons and equipment. Titian broke the mold of traditional art and introduced flowing compositions, bold colors and unprecedented emotion into his paintings.

Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Raphael and Titian were the leaders of the High Renaissance, whose talents still inspire awe six centuries later.