Raphael

Portrait of Pope Julius II by Raphael

For centuries Raphael (1483-1520) has been recognized as the supreme High Renaissance painter, more versatile than Michelangelo and more prolific than their older contemporary Leonardo. Though he died at 37, Raphael's example as a paragon of classicism dominated the academic tradition of European painting until the mid-19th century.
Raphael (Raffaello Santi) was born in Urbino where his father was court painter. He almost certainly began his training there. Noting his early talent his father placed him in workshops of several court painters. From 1500, when he became an independent master, to 1508, he worked throughout central Italy, particularly Florence, where he became a noted portraitist and painter of Madonnas.

In 1508, at the age of 25, he was called to the court of Pope Julius II to help with the redecoration of the papal apartments. In Rome he evolved as a portraitist, and became one of the greatest of all history painters.

He remained in Rome for the rest of his life and in 1514, he was appointed architect in charge of St Peter's. Although Raphael never married he had a long-lasting affair with the daughter of a baker; her name was Francesco Luti. His premature death on Good Friday was caused by a night of excessive sex with Luti, after which he fell into a fever and, not telling his doctors that this was its cause, was given the wrong cure, which killed him. During the weeks of his fever he was able to dictate a will in which he provided for his mistress.

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Titian, (Not Andre) the Giant

Madonna in Glory With The Christ Child by Titian

Tiziano Vecellio, known as, Titian, was the first Venetian artist to achieve fame in his own lifetime (c. 1487-1576) and to be employed by patrons outside Venice. Partly because he lived to the grand age of 90, he was able to produce a great body of work which ranged from dramatic mythological works to intensely human portraits. Few other artists had such an impact on their contemporaries and on the development of Western art in general. The impact, on artists of all generations, over the 500 years since his death, has been profound. He has been called, "The Sun Amidst Small Stars," the most perfect artist who ever lived.

Titian joined his teacher and mentor, Giorgione, as an assistant, but many Venetian patrons found his work more impressive. Titian came to be recognized as the leader of a new school of "arte moderna," which were paintings freed from the constraints of the conventions of earlier Renaissance painters.

What was Titian's astonishing secret? Why was he able to produce paintings that were light-years ahead of his contemporaries?

First and foremost, Titian had a wealthy clientele and so was able to afford the very finest pigments. Because Venice was the center of the European pigment trade it was possible to procure the finest grades of ultramarine (from lapis lazuli in Afghanistan), the best quality of azurite from Germany, and the much sought-after mineral pigments, including the yellow and orange arsenic-based colors. The extensive dye industries in Venice produced and imported superbly expressive pigments which were central to Titian's technique. The use of yellows and whites, for example, enabled Titian to produce breathtaking effects.

Another glimpse into the artist's method of working was that after finishing the underpainting of a scene, he would put the painting away and not look at it for months. Then he would retrieve it and, after much study, begin making corrections.

Titian was around 90 when the plague visited Venice and he succumbed to its ravishes. He was the only victim of the Venice plague to be given a church burial. Immediately after his death, his son and assistant, Orazio, died in the same epidemic. His large and elegant mansion was plundered by thieves shortly after his death.

Look here for a gallery of Titian's work. You will be mesmerized by their beauty.

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The Venetian Technique

Supper At Emmaus by Titian, 1535

The Venetian painting technique of artists like Titian and Giorgione during the Italian Renaissance was derived from the painting technique of Northern Renaissance artists, specifically the Dutch Masters. Italy during that time had two main centers of artistic creativity, Florence and Venice, and they competed with each other for having the best and brightest artists.

Italian artist Giovanni Bellini learned of the new technique developed in Flanders from Antonello da Messina who had traveled there. Bellini taught the Flemish style to his students, Giorgione and Titian, two of the greatest Venetian painters of the Renaissance. (More on Titian later).

The Italian painters developed their own style and technique out of necessity as the church desired large paintings of religious scenes to decorate their cathedrals, and wealthy dukes wished to adorn their palaces with large paintings of mythological themes and other subjects. The difficulties of constructing and transporting huge wooden panels influenced artists to seek an alternative. Canvas was soon adopted as the most convenient support for large paintings, as it could be rolled up and delivered, then reattached to the stretcher frame, and hung.

The primer used by the Dutch was not suitable for the more flexible canvas support, so after years of experimentation a new primer was settled upon - white lead ground in linseed oil. The linseed oil would rot the hemp canvas so it first had to be rendered nonabsorbent by a glue layer.

Titian began painting with soft edges which was in contrast to the Flemish style with their harder edges as it gave his paintings a more lifelike appearance. .This technique involved the use of an opaque underpainting, with the edges left soft and nebulous to allow for later adjustments where necessary. Once the forms were established to the artist's satisfaction, he would allow the underpainting to dry. The underpainting could then be painted over in color, beginning with the transparent glazes for the shadow areas, as in the Flemish Technique, and developed further with opaque passages representing the areas of light.

The Venetian Technique allows the widest range of possibilities of any oil painting method yet developed. Its systematic use of opaque passages, glazes, scumbles and semiglazes stretches the capabilities of oil paint to the absolute limits, and allows the artist the greatest latitude for adjusting the picture at any stage. How sad it is no longer taught in our university art schools.

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The Flemish Technique

Return of the Prodigal Son by Rembrandt

Oil painting as we know it today (that is, pigment suspended in an oil medium and brushed onto a surface) originated with the Dutch Masters in the 15th century. The Van Eyck brothers, Jan and Hubert, were disenchanted with the tempura technique (pigment suspended in egg yolk) because of its slow drying time and the difficulty in creating an illusion of depth. They began experimenting with various oils and resins and discovered that linseed oil had all the properties they were looking for - quicker drying time (paintings could dry in the shade), color could be applied either with thin transparent glazes or opaquely, which yielded a greater illusion of depth. To the oil was added a small amount of resin.

Other painters took up their technique and soon many were painting in the new "style," the Flemish Technique. Basically, it consisted of a wooden panel painted white onto which a detailed line drawing of the scene was drawn or traced. This drawing was sealed with varnish and the pigment applied over it. A brownish transparent underpainting was accomplished to develop the tonal values (bistre) over which they applied thin veils of transparent color. Many layers of these glazes allowed for glowing shadows, a hallmark of the Dutch Masters. The highlights were added with opaque color at the last.

The innovations of the Flemish painters soon spread over Europe where the Italians modified the technique even further. (More on their technique later).

So when you look at the paintings of Rembrandt, Vermeer, Van Eyck, and Bosch pay particular attention to the shadows and marvel at the way they were able to make them glow.

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The Razor of William

William of Ockham

William of Ockham was an English logician and Franciscan friar who, in the 14th century, developed a theory which stated that the explanation of any phenomenon should make as few assumptions as possible, eliminating those that make no difference. Entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity were his words. Today, this is known as Occam's Razor and is generally understood as, "All things being equal, the simplest solution tends to be the best one."

Thomas Aquinas made the argument that, "If a thing can be done adequately by means of one, it is superfluous to do it by means of several, for we observe that nature does not employ two instruments where one suffices." Excess, it would seem, is the artist's worst enemy. By leaving out the nonessential elements we are left with only that which is necessary to convey a thought or an emotion. The rest of the process is left to take place between our ears, both as the artist and as a viewer of art.

Leonardo da Vinci summed up the artistic process this way: "Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." The best art seems to be that which reduces reality to its simplest terms, extracting that which makes an emotional statement and discarding the rest.

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