The Complete Louvre Part 5: The Grand Gallery & The Italian Renaissance

Botticelli’s (1445-1510) frescoes were discovered in 1873 under a coat of plaster at The Villa Lemmi, which was a country residence of the influential Tornabuoni family.

The Venus and Three Graces Offering Presents To A Young Girl,” looks like a bridal shower. A Young Man Introduced By Venus To The Seven Liberal Arts looks like the presentation of a groom.

Fra Angelico (1395-1455) painted this Crucifixion for the monk’s refectory at San Domenico di Fiesole.

Giotto di Bondone (1266–1337), revolutionized painting and kick started The Renaissance by creating figures with weight and the first glimmer of perspective. It would take painting 100 years to catch up with Giotto. Plague ravaged the 14th century and very little artwork of note was achieved until the next century.

Paolo Uccello (1397–1475) painted many Battles of San Romano and was infatuated with both perspective and horses. His wife would call him to bed while at his drafting table, to which he would reply; “Oh what a sweet thing this perspective is.”

Here is Fillipo Lippi’s (1406-1469) Scenes From The Story of Virginia.

Ghirlandaio’s (1449-1494) Portrait of An Old Man and Young Boy. Michelangelo was counted among his apprentices.

Andrea Mantegna (1431-1506) was primarily known by his realism. The Madonna Victory was commissioned by Francesco II Gonzaga. The victorious commander kneels before The Virgin.

Back to Mantegna, starting with Parnassus, where Apollo hung out with his muses. His Minerva (Athena) Expelling the Vices From The Garden of Virtue shows The Goddess chasing away a satyr (luxury) and her offspring as two nymphs attempt to rescue Venus from the centaur she is standing on.

Titian (1488-1586), from Venice, painted a slightly more realistic setting in his Pilgrims at Emmaus.

Lorenzo Lotto’s (1480-1557) Christ Carrying The Cross.

Raphael picked up Leonardo’s pyramidal multi-portrait and perfected it. Is there a prayer card that does not reflect Raphael’s influence?

We turn to Coreggio (1489-1534) and his Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine and his Venus and Cupid with a Satyr.

Parmigianino’s (1503-1540) mannerist Portrait of a Young Man hangs there on the corner watching all the girls go by.

Now we are knee deep in mannerism with Bronzino’s (1503-1572) Portrait of a Young Man With a Statuette. He looks peeved because his fingers are so damned long.

One of the great portraits of the Renaissance depicts Raphael’s friend, the diplomat and humanist Baldassare Castiglione, who is considered a quintessential example of the High Renaissance gentleman. In 1639 it was auctioned in Amsterdam. Rembrandt attended the auction with his friend, The Portuguese Jew, Alfonso Lopez, an art dealer.

Rembrandt made this sketch and Lopez won the bidding at the auction. He paid 3,500 guilders, $210,000 in today’s dollars. Now if you can handle that… Lopez owned another painting:

A Man with a Quilted Sleeve from 1512 by Titian, now in The National Galley of London is one of the three most important portraits of the Renaissance. If Lopez owned The Mona Lisa, he would have had all three. And look at that sleeve!

Rembrandt copied the pose of The Titian in his self portrait of 1640, also in The National Gallery. It gives him an air of majesty with a pose of a Renaissance man.

Daniel Voltera’s (1509-1566) Battle of David and Goliath faces you as you walk through the gallery. It is a two sided painting

One of the most curious artists of the time was the wildly imaginative Guiseppe Arcimboldo (1527-1593). This is a cycle of the four seasons.

The steady gaze of La Belle Ferrtonniere. It may be Beatrice d’Este, sister of the cultured Isabella.

I was surprised to see that the unfinished The Virgin and Child with St. Anne, St. Anne was a woman. Mary tries to pull the child away from the lamb which symbolizes Christ’s role as “The Lamb of God,” and his sacrifice.

The original Virgin of the Rocks was rejected for breaking the fourth wall and the finger pointing.

St. John The Baptist was painted in France just before Leonardo’s death.

Veronese’s The Marriage at Cana. Painted in and for the refectory of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice, It is one of the largest paintings in The Louvre.

Veronese has portrayed his fellow painters as the musicians: Tintoretto, Himself, Bassano, and Titian as the musicians.

When the wine ran out, Mary asked Jesus to turn water into wine. Typical Jewish mother. Does this place look like they were going to run out of wine?

And now what you’ve been waiting for: The pyramidal portrait, three quarter body turned, hands clasped, head facing you with no eyebrows, with a landscape in the background: The Mona Lisa.

Right behind her is Titian’s Concert Champetre.

This no doubt influenced Manet for his Luncheon On The Grass which you can see across The Seine in The Musee d’Orsay.