No Fear o' Eras

The Renaissance

The idea behind No Fear o' Eras is to discover what makes up the style of certain artistic eras. Explore the three examples below to see if you can find what makes them all fit into this era.

If this is your first time doing No Fear o' Eras, read the instructions.


The Paintings

Ginevra de' Benci
Leonardo da Vinci
Florentine, 1452 - 1519

The Adoration of the Magi
Botticelli
Florentine, 1444/1445 - 1510

Bindo Altoviti
Raphael
Umbrian, 1483 - 1520


Questions

  1. What kind of people are the subjects of the paintings?
  2. How much skill do you think it takes to make paintings like these?
  3. What do you notice by looking closely at details like skin, facial expressions, backgrounds, etc.?
  4. How do you think the painters felt about the people they painted?

Would you like to read general questions for looking at art?


Internet Resources

More about the style & artists

Raphael's The School of Athens Khan Academy
Raphael's The School of Athens from the Vatican
Plato's "The Allegory of the Cave"
Biography of Aristotle

Sampling more examples

Look at 1 2 and 3 other paintings by Raphael.
Leonardo Da Vinci - on Pinterest
Michelangelo - the National Gallery UK
Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel Ceiling from the Vatican

Historical or cultural issues

Brief definition of the High Renaissance from the Web Museum
Learn about Raphael
Exploring Leonardo da Vinci at the Museum of Science, Boston
Art and Science in the Renaissance Khan Academy

Current versions

Time Magazine's Top 100 People of the Century
People Magazine's Featured people
CBS announces 50 Most Beautiful People
Buckminster Fuller Institute Challenge Winners

Coming to an Opinion

Now that you have studied the three paintings by looking, questioning, and exploring related Internet resources, it's time to show what you've discovered. Fill in the fields below, then click the "I Fear No Eras" button to post your page. Print out, present, and discuss your ideas with other art historians.


    Your name:

    What are the Three main things artworks of this era have in common?
    (Would you like some tips or to see the feedback rubric?)


     


First Posted December 1995
Last revised February, 2014
Created by Tom March, tom at ozline dot com