Whether you travel to Italy, page through a coffee-table book featuring Italian artists, or listen to opera on the radio, Italian art is unavoidable. Amazing Italian art predates the Roman Empire and stretches into the present day.

Famous Artists

Michelangelo, Raffaello, Leonardo, and Donatello have at least one thing in common: Most people nowadays know these artists by their first names. Obviously, they had cognomi (last names) too:

• Michelangelo Buonarroti
• Raffaello Sanzio
• Donato di Betto Bardi (Donatello)
• Leonardo da Vinci

Other well-known names include Giotto di Bondone, Tommaso Giovanni di Simone Guidi (Masaccio) and Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi (Sandro Botticelli).

Marble, Wood, Bronze

If it was solid and durable, chances are a Renaissance artist could grab a chisel and begin to sculpt. Donatello, for example, was an extremely influential Florentine sculptor of the Quattrocento. He did freestanding sculptures in marble, bronze, and wood and was also known for pioneering schiacciato (shallow relief). This new technique helped him achieve a sense of depth in his paintings using perspective rather than through the use of high relief.

Michelangelo believed it was his duty to liberate the figure that was straining to be released from the marble. His unfinished slave sculptures, several of which can be viewed in Florence's Galleria dell'Accademia, are perhaps the best examples of how he chipped away just enough marble to liberate the figures.

Artistic Vocabulary

You're standing in line at the Uffizi in Florence or the Capodimonte Museum in Naples and can't wait to see all that amazing artwork. Or you're a student in an art history class studying Michelangelo, Ghirlandaio, and Caravaggio. Put your free time to good use and review some vocabulary words that relate to art and museums.

VOCABULARY: AT THE MUSEUM