Welcome to my blog!
My name is Rogerio Estevo Fernandes, and I was born and still live in Portugal. My blog is all about Renaissance art and its impact on culture even now, particularly in Italy. I’ve also written about key artists of the period as well as a general history. I’ve included the popular galleries where you can see Renaissance Art for yourself, as well as some of the projects I’ve been involved that increases my love of Renaissance art, from its impact on art now, its realism in love and landscapes and so much more.
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I made this site with a clear idea, to present interesting facts from the Renaissance in an accessible way. Any art enthusiast is welcome, and if you are not, you can learn something new and like it :)
Read moreWhen I was at High School in Portugal in the 1980s, it was clear to us as we were growing up, that we needed to learn technical and specialist skills to be able to get what they considered at the time to be a “good job”. The focus of our further education, we were told, should be on the highly technical and specialised. Time spent studying art or literature was seen as “pointless”, without any practical application when it came to looking for gainful employment. On top of that, art appreciation was seen as effeminate and to be avoided by so-called “real” men. I was fortunate enough to question this school of thought.
Leonardo da Vinci is probably the best-known Renaissance artist, famous for his paintings of Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. A classic “Renaissance Man”, da Vinci was not solely an artist but also an inventor, scientist, architect and engineer. In his painting, he innovated techniques including the layering of paints, giving particular focus to light, shadow and the human form, with expression and gesture of great importance. This has led to much speculation about Mona Lisa’s inscrutable expression. His sketches of various prototypes for flying machines have been inspirational, but his most famous sketch is of The Vitruvian Man is shown to the right.
The Renaissance began in Italy before spreading across Western Europe. It was a time when people began to look back at the ancient Greek and Roman worlds with admiration. Beginning in the fifteenth century, many Italians thought that by reviving the ideas, art, and architecture from antiquity, they could bring about a “rebirth” of greatness in their own cities, leading to what was to become the Renaissance, defined as a new growth of activity or interest.
The Uffizi Gallery officially opened to the public in 1765, though it has been open to visitors since the late 16th century. It is one of the oldest Renaissance art galleries in Tuscany, with masterpieces from Early and High Renaissance eras collected by the Medici family and later enlarged by the Lorraine Grand Dukes before being completed by the Italian State authorities. It also includes the Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe degli Uffizi (GDS / Collection of Prints and Drawings), which holds more than 177,000 drawings and prints. Highlights at Uffizi include The Birth of Venus (c.1484) by Sandro Botticelli, just one of 20 paintings held by the gallery. There are also works from the three lead Renaissance artists, including The Annunciation and The Adoration of the Magi by Leonardo Da Vinci, The Doni Tondo by Michelangelo and Pope Leo X with Cardinals Giulio de' Medici and Luigi de' Rossi by Raphel.
Events around Renaissance art plentiful in 2019, as the year, celebrates the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci. There are exhibitions and events taking place at the world’s major museums to celebrate his life. Here are some other popular events around Renaissance art.
Early Italian Renaissance art was centred around Florence from around 1400-1490. Florentine and other Tuscan artists such as Filippo Brunelleschi, Donatello, Masaccio and Andrea Mantegna revolutionised public and private art in Italy and eventually further afield in Western Europe. The Early Renaissance was supported by the wealthy Florentine Medici family, evolving to become the High Renaissance period between around 1490 and 1530, with works by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo and Titian. Check details in the history of Renaissance Art.
I have been involved in a number of projects related to Renaissance art in which I have had the joy of sharing my passion and knowledge, most recently whilst on a long stay visit to London. This includes lectures on the Renaissance, talks updating current research on the period, introducing the Renaissance to young people, writing published and more.