Activity #13: Movements and Styles

In 1445, Florentine painter Domenico Veneziano created “Saint John in the Desert” on the favorite medium of Medieval and Early Renaissance artists, tempera on panel (Getlein, 399). The Renaissance period, founded in Italy and spanning the time from the 15th to the 17tcentury, reflects an exciting era of renewal in the world of art where its culture and spirit returned to the Classical themes and styles of the great Roman and the Greek empires and new innovative and ingenuous artistic techniques began to emerge. Keeping in stride with the appearance and some of the common styles of the Renaissance as well as with his own personal stylistic preferences during the current phase of his career, Veneziano’s work is representational and naturalistic. Representational refers to artworks that depict form in the natural world and naturalistic is the descriptive approach to portraying the visible world that emphasizes the objective observation and accurate imitation of appearances (585). In other words: the way in which the form of Veneziano’s graceful nude saint is revealed by light and shadow, how his body accurately reflects bone and muscle, and how his cloak folds as he lowers it; all is naturalistic (29) and accurately represents the Renaissance artists’ fascination with the natural world, the human body and their efforts to accurately depict it. This was Veneziano’s preferred approach and style. Style refers to recurrent or constant characteristics that present in an artist, period, or movement’s work. Many of Veneziano’s other works include religious themes and the medium of tempera on panel. In addition, the upcoming Renaissance technique of linear perspective is evident in his work and the same brush technique utilized here to create the sharp ruggedness of the mountains is also visible in other creations by Veneziano. In relation to movements, Veneziano’s works do not apply. Movements refer to a succession of styles in art and roughly began after the end of the French Revolution in 1799. By this time, Veneziano had long passed.


In 1547, Titian Venetian created “Saint John the Evangelist on Patmos” using the most popular medium of the High Renaissance period, oil on canvas (399). During this time, popular and amateur artists had long retired the medium of tempera on panel. While Florentine artists such as Veneziano highlighted sound drawing over other artistic techniques Venetian painters such as Titian delighted in color and light. This new cultural artistic technique, coupled with the Renaissance’s burning desire to create natural and humanistic work is evident in Titian’s work. As a matter of fact, sumptuous colors and rich painterly textures are characteristic of his preferred style. Like Veneziano, Titian’s work is religious, representative and naturalistic. Stylistic elements of atmospheric perspective, an observation that distant objects appear less distinct, but more paler and bluer than nearer objects due to the effect of moisture and light as well as foreshortening, the visual phenomenon where an elongated object projecting toward or away from the viewer appears shortened and compressed are utilized by Titian in this painting (583,586). Titian’s works are also unspecific to any artistic movement but like Veneziano is representative of the great artistic period of the Italian Renaissance.