Great Artists - DVD 2 (Dürer, Michelangelo, Raphael)

Dürer (1471-1528)
Far from the cultural centers of Italy, the German artist Albrecht Dürer established his workshop in the city of Nuremberg, providing a centre for what was to become known as the northern Renaissance. Dürer's greatness lay in his ability to capture an unparalleled degree of reality in his art. Dürer was not only a master of the woodcut and the etching, with which he created nightmarish visions of the apocalypse, but also became one of the earliest masters of the oil painting. Among his most accomplished works in oil are a number of beautifully executed self-portraits, which represent the very first individual figure self-portraits in the history of art. These triumphant depictions of his own image are testament to Dürer's own confidence in the growing status of the artist within his society. Like his Italian contemporary Leonardo, Dürer carefully studied the world around him, often with a scientist's eye, making detailed studies of plants and animals, some of which remain unrivaled to this day. Though he began life as a lowly craftsman, increasingly Dürer became revered across Europe, employed to paint the portrait of the Holy Roman Emperor, Maximilian I. Dürer established the artistic traditions of Northern Europe as equal to those of Italy, and for that he remains Germany's greatest artist.
Works featured in this program include Self Portrait Holding a Thistle (1493, Louvre, Paris), Book of the Revelation of St John (1498, Durer's House, Nuremberg), Self Portrait at 28 (1500, Alte Pinakothek, Munich) and The Four Apostles (1526, Alte Pinkothek, Munich).

Michelangelo (1475-1564)
Of all the great artists that left their mark on the story of art, Michelangelo Buonarroti stands alone, so great were his achievements. His career as an artist spanned almost seven decades, during which time he was instrumental in the development of a style of art that has come to represent the pinnacle of the Italian High Renaissance. The unprecedented fame that he enjoyed in his lifetime endured and increased in the centuries that followed his death, as a succession of artists and art historians paid homage to his talent. His unrivalled genius, violent temper and singular determination to pursue his art meant that he often worked alone, undertaking great feats of physical and intellectual endurance. Michelangelo is the archetypal brooding artist, the romantic symbol of the creative spirit tortured by his own internal demons and antagonised by his influential patrons. As an architect, he designed the dome of St. Peter's in the Vatican, the single most important church in the whole of Christendom. As a sculptor he produced figures of unimaginable quality, such as his iconic statue of David. As a painter he single-handedly undertook the decoration of the ceiling of the Sistine chapel, regarded as one of the finest achievements in the history of art. For many, Michelangelo is the greatest artist.
Works featured in this program include David (1501-04, Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence), Frescoes, Sistine Chapel, (1508-12, Vatican, Rome), Bacchus (1496-97, Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence), Pieta (1499, St. Peter's, Vatican, Rome), Dying and Rebellious Slaves (1513-16, Louvre, Paris) and The Last Judgement, (1534-41, Sistine Chapel, Vatican, Rome).

Raphael (1483-1520)
Any young artist who had risen to artistic maturity overshadowed by the towering reputations of Leonardo and Michelangelo could easily have been discouraged. Not so Raffaello Santi, of Urbino, the young pretender to the mantle of Renaissance greatness, whose moderate temper, hard work and unique talent earned him a level of admiration equal to that of his older contemporaries. Raphael is renowned for the beauty of his portraits and the perfectly balanced composition of his larger historical paintings. His works are sensual and measured studies of the human form. Known for his numerous paintings of the Madonna and Child, Raphael became a favourite of the papal court, undertaking commissions from popes Julius II and Leo X. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Raphael did not simply copy from nature but formed a certain idealised concept of beauty. In his short life Raphael achieved an unprecedented level of artistic maturity and such was the admiration for his idealised forms that they were adopted by artists and art academies as the model of beauty until the end of the 19th Century.
Works featured in this program include La Belle Jardiniere (1507 or 1508, Louvre, Paris, ), The Niccolini-Cowper Madonna (1508, National Gallery of Art, Washington), The School of Athens, Stanza della Segnatura (1509-11, Vatican), Portrait of Pope Julius II (1512, National Gallery, London), Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione (1514-16, Louvre, Paris) and Portrait of Pope Leo X with Cardinals Giulio de' Medici and Luigi de' Rossi (1513-19, Palazzo Pitti, Galleria Palatina, Florence).