The Idealising Quality of High Renaissance Style


*A dictonary definition of idealise or idealisation

Idealism, a theory of reality and of knowledge that attributes a key role to the mind in the constitution of the world as it is experienced. perfect type, or a conception of this.



What does the term idealisation mean in relation to High Renaissance?

The year 1500 marks a subtle shift in artistic style and objectives. To Vasari, writing in 1550, the key to the new artistic style was razia, meaning a refined grace and ease of manner. Even the most contrived details were made to appear effortless and unforced. Although artists aimed at increasing realism, a pedestrian realism was not the mark of the highest art. An aesthetic illusion of reality became the predominant aim of the High Renaissance.

Classical art brought about an idealisation of reality. It was a form of stylisation which defined beauty as the sum of all parts and equated physical perfection with spiritual and intellectual worth. Cinquecento people preferred to contemplate beauty, rather than reality.

By the time of the High Renaissance, the artists fully understood the application of perspective, the uses of colour and consistent light and the correct depiction of the anatomical human body in any position. High Renaissance artists, living in a period with no doubt and certainty, used these techniques to create vision of an idealised world and to glory about the churches. They tried to idealise the mankind, the universe, and go beyond the natural world, as they saw man had the potential and dignity to be God-like.

The above approaches and believes of the High Renaissance artists were driven by the Neo-Platonism, which is the philosophical mixture of Platonic ideas, Oriental mysticism and Christianity. These concerned the philosophers, poets, artists, architecturers, to integrate classical ideas with Christian thoughts and values. Physical beauty was used to express spiritual beauty. Classical architecture was used to create an ideal space for figures, rather than an exercise in perspective. Landscapes were beautifully idealised so as to create a setting fit for Divine Beings. Perfect beings were shown inhabiting a world beyond everyday surroundings.

The human body was the main preoccupation of High Renaissance artists and they often depicted it nude. The preferred figure type was more mature and monumental, with contrapposto being used to give movement to the large, solid figures. The aim was the perfect rendering of beautiful bodies. Mature models were preferred. Limbs were full and powerful. Women were shown with rounded torsos and broad hips and men were heavily muscled, showing the influence of antique statues. The figures will present with physical actions that are energetic and purposeful with nothing tentative or hesitant about them. These styles owed to the ideal concepts of a human figure.

As a legacy of Humanism, the Cinquecento set out with a new concept of human greatness and dignity. With this elevation of human nature came a feeling for the significant and the noble which was reflected in the solemn and at the same time deeply emotional style of High Renaissance art. -- *…the most beautiful style comes from constantly copying the most beautiful things** (Giorgio Vasari, from the Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects).


School of Athens The School of Athens (1510-1511) is one several frescoes that Raphael painted for the Stanza della Segnatura, in the Vatican. The fresco, which depicts Plato and Aristotle (centre), as well as other ancient Greek philosophers and scholars, marks the mature style Raphael achieved during his years in Rome (1508-1520). The work is considered a masterpiece in the use of perspective and in the portrayal of the artistic ideals of the High Renaissance.


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