Background Information on The Statue of David

The statue of David was started in 1501 and completed in 1504 and was revealed to the public on September 8, 1504. It was originally supposed to be one of a series of statues positioned along the Roofline of Florence Cathedral. The Cathedral, however decided to place it in a public square. The original statue was replaced with a replica in 1873 after the original statue was moved to the Galleria dell’Accademia.

Interpretation of The Statue of David

When the statue was being planned, the original pose was supposed to be of David with the head of Goliath in his hands. When Michelangelo took over the project he decided that it would depict the moment David decided to kill Goliath before the battle actually took place. The amount of sheer detail present in the sculpture, from the veins popping out in his hands, to the perfect tone of his arms, has lead to many people saying this is the greatest sculpture ever created.

Background Information on Assumption of the Virgin

Created in 1516-1518 by painter Titian. This was Titian’s first major commission in Venice and probably his most famous piece of art. After this piece he was put in the position of head painter in Venice. When it was first finished many people were frightened to unveil it because of its never before seen color scheme and heroic nature. However when it was unveiled, and envoy to Charles was present and bought the painting so it wouldn't be destroyed. When Titian put his special marble frame around the painting it was moved to the Academia where it still remains.

Interpretation of Assumption of the Virgin

This huge piece of art is regarded as the biggest and best piece of Christian art standing a massive 22 feet tall. This piece has a deep, and rich color scheme that to this day is still stunning to look at. The religious nature of the painting has made it one of the most famous pieces of Christian art and to this day, still stands alone as one of the greatest pieces of High Renaissance art. This painting is bursting with life and color while other paintings similar in nature are very dull and serious. This piece pops out at you no matter how close or far away from it you are. The Assumption of the Virgin will go down in history as probably the greatest piece of Christian art ever made.

Background Information on Vitruvian Man

A drawing by Da Vinci in 1490 that depicts a man in two superimposed positions. The title translates into “"The proportions of the human body according to Vitruvius". The drawing and text are sometimes called the proportions of man. The drawing is based off the ideal proportions of a man based off ancient Geometry by ancient Roman architect Vitruvius. The ideal man is described as 8 heads tall in Vitruvius’ work and this drawing is named in his honor.

Interpretation of Vitruvian Man

he Vitruvian Man was a drawing that Leonardo da Vinci created to prove Vitruvius’ theory that the human body was created perfectly. Many other artist have tried to draw this too but what made da Vinci’s stand out was the fact that he made two poses instead of just one to encapsulate the way our body moves. The text surrounding the drawing itself is da Vinci paraphrasing Vitruvius’ theory and explaining how this drawing shows it is correct. This piece pretty much showed how much humans admired the design of our own bodies and how they were perfect

Background Information on School of Athens

Raphael painted this piece between 1509-1511 as part of a project to decorate rooms now known as Stanze di Raffaello in what is now the Vatican. This painting was the second one to be placed in the rooms by Raphael but is widely regarded as by far the best painting placed in those rooms. This piece of art is also regarded as Raphael’s greatest masterpiece and as one critic put it, "Raphael's masterpiece and the perfect embodiment of the classical spirit of the Renaissance".

Interpretation of School of Athens

Nearly every great philosopher up to his time was depicted in this piece. This piece brings all of the great thinkers of the time under one roof even though they all lived at different times. The two thinkers in the middle, Aristotle and Plato had a huge influence on Western culture and are the central figures in this portrait. Their philosophies have been incorporated into Christianity which is probably why it is placed inside the Vatican.

Background Information on Arnolfini Portrait (Northern Renaissance)

Created in 1434, this piece is an early Netherlandish work of painter Jan van Eyck. This is regarded as his most famous piece of art because of its complexity. This is the oldest work of art that used oils instead of temprae. This piece of art has been regarded by experts as a form of a marriage contract because it is a portrait of van Eyck and his then wife, signed with a date and the year 1434. The artist used a technique that requires layering layers of glaze on top of each other to create a very intense painting of color and tone.

Interpretation of Arnolfini Portrait

This painting is seen as a type of marriage contract because the women depicted has her hair up and if a woman isn't married her hair would be down. The women appears to be pregnant although that is not what many people think. This piece shows a man and a woman holding hands and this can viewed as the moment of their wedding. The man is also holding his right hand up in a way that a man would if he were taking an oath. This piece has a huge impact on art today because it was the first really famous painting using the technique of layering layers of glaze on top of each other to create a very intense coloring.

Background on St. Peter's Basilica

Built in the Vatican City is a Renaissance Church designed by Michelangelo, Donato Bramante, Carlo Maderno, and Gian Lorenzo Bernini. This was originally built as Saint Peter’s burial site as well as the first pope’s. Although it is the biggest church, it is not the mother church of the Christians, it is still regarded as the greatest work of architecture of the Renaissance. The construction of the current basilica started in 1506, replacing the old basilica made in 4 AD. This basilica is a very popular place for Christian pilgrimage and the pope will often give liturgies here to 15,000-80,000 people at a time.

Interpretation of St. Peter's Basilica

The St. Peter’s Basilica is regarded as the single greatest piece of architecture of the Renaissance for a reason. It is still standing to this day without any major renovations, which is extremely impressive. This is the largest standing church in the world and still holds masses of people without many problems. This place has influenced countless numbers of other architects all over the world and its influence can be seen in our society. For example, the capitol of the United States has a dome that was influenced by St. Peter’s Basilica. That is just one of the thousands of ways that St. Peter’s Basilica has influenced modern architecture.