Renaissance Sacred Art
92 artworks found
The Renaissance did not make religious painting more worldly so much as more located. The same subjects the Middle Ages had shown against gold were given floors, distances, weather, and bodies that obey gravity.
Adoration of the Magi by Filippino Lippi - Framed Canvas
By: Filippino Lippi
Adoration of the Trinity by Albrecht Dürer - Framed Canvas
By: Albrecht Dürer
Altarpiece of the Church Fathers: St Augustine and St Gregory by Michael Pacher - Framed Canvas
By: Michael Pacher
Christ Among the Doctors by Bernardino Luini - Framed Canvas
By: Bernardino Luini
Adoration of the Shepherds by Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo - Framed Canvas
By: Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo
Christ Blessing by Giovanni Bellini - Framed Canvas
By: Giovanni Bellini
Baptism of Christ by Antoine Coypel - Framed Canvas
By: Antoine Coypel
Adoration of the Shepherds by Domenichino - Framed Canvas
By: Domenichino
Adoration of the Kings (Monforte Altarpiece) by Hugo van der Goes - Framed Canvas
By: Hugo van der Goes
Christ Carrying the Cross by Boccaccio Boccaccino - Framed Canvas
By: Boccaccio Boccaccino
Camino de Emaús by Lelio Orsi - Framed Canvas
By: Lelio Orsi
Carmignano Visitation by Pontormo - Framed Canvas
By: Pontormo
Christ Descending Into Limbo by Sebastiano del Piombo - Framed Canvas
By: Sebastiano del Piombo
Christ Embracing St. Bernard from the Cross by Francesc Ribalta - Framed Canvas
By: Francesc Ribalta
Christ between the Virgin and St John the Baptist by Jan Gossaert - Framed Canvas
By: Jan Gossaert
Christ in Glory by Antonio da Correggio - Framed Canvas
By: Antonio da Correggio
Christ blessing Saint John the Baptist by Moretto da Brescia - Framed Canvas
By: Moretto da Brescia
La Ascensión by Juan de Flandes - Framed Canvas
By: Juan de Flandes
Dives and Lazarus by Bonifazio Veronese - Framed Canvas
By: Bonifazio Veronese
Lamentation by David Teniers the Younger - Framed Canvas
By: David Teniers the Younger
Madonna and Child with St Justus of Volterra and St Margaret of Antioch by Bastiano Mainardi - Framed Canvas
By: Bastiano Mainardi
Lamentation over the Dead Christ by Giovanni Battista Naldini - Framed Canvas
By: Giovanni Battista Naldini
Madonna and Child by Giampietrino - Framed Canvas
By: Giampietrino
Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian by Antonio del Pollaiuolo - Framed Canvas
By: Antonio del Pollaiuolo
Nursing Madonna by Bartolomeo Vivarini - Framed Canvas
By: Bartolomeo Vivarini
Madonna col Bambino tra i santi Giovanni evangelista e Nicola di Bari by Cima da Conegliano - Framed Canvas
By: Cima da Conegliano
Martyrdom of St. Stephen by Juan de Juanes - Framed Canvas
By: Juan de Juanes
Madonna and Child by Giovanni Bellini - Framed Canvas
By: Giovanni Bellini
Crucifixion by Josse Lieferinxe - Framed Canvas
By: Josse Lieferinxe
Madonna of the Catholic Kings by Fernando Gallego - Framed Canvas
By: Fernando Gallego
Madonna and Child with Saint Roch and Saint Sebastian by Lorenzo Lotto - Framed Canvas
By: Lorenzo Lotto
Madonna with the Child and Two Angels by Filippo Lippi - Framed Canvas
By: Filippo Lippi
Resurrection of Christ by Raphael - Framed Canvas
By: Raphael
Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows by Adriaen Isenbrant - Framed Canvas
By: Adriaen Isenbrant
Madonna and Child with St Dorothy by David Teniers the Younger - Framed Canvas
By: David Teniers the Younger
Saint Florian by Francesco del Cossa - Framed Canvas
By: Francesco del Cossa
Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata by Jan van Eyck - Framed Canvas
By: Jan van Eyck
Sacred Conversation by Cima da Conegliano - Framed Canvas
By: Cima da Conegliano
Sacred and Profane Love by Titian - Framed Canvas
By: Titian
Saint Jerome in His Study by Antonello da Messina - Framed Canvas
By: Antonello da Messina
Saint Jerome in Penitence by Il Sodoma - Framed Canvas
By: Il Sodoma
Saint Lucy by Francesco del Cossa - Framed Canvas
By: Francesco del Cossa
Saint Philip Benizi by Pietro Perugino - Framed Canvas
By: Pietro Perugino
Saint Paul Writing by Pier Francesco Sacchi - Framed Canvas
By: Pier Francesco Sacchi
Saint Sebastian by Cima da Conegliano - Framed Canvas
By: Cima da Conegliano
Saints Genevieve and Apollonia by Lucas Cranach the Elder - Framed Canvas
By: Lucas Cranach the Elder
Salome with the Head of John the Baptist by Bernardino Luini - Framed Canvas
By: Bernardino Luini
St. Michael the Archangel by Pietro Perugino - Framed Canvas
By: Pietro Perugino
The Agony in the Garden by Benvenuto Tisi - Framed Canvas
By: Benvenuto Tisi
The Agony in the Garden by Ambrogio Bergognone - Framed Canvas
By: Ambrogio Bergognone
The Annunciation by Leonardo da Vinci - Framed Canvas
By: Leonardo da Vinci
St. Thomas More by Hans Holbein the Younger - Framed Canvas
By: Hans Holbein the Younger
The Annunciation by Fra Angelico - Framed Canvas
By: Fra Angelico
St. Florian's Martyrdom by Albrecht Altdorfer - Framed Canvas
By: Albrecht Altdorfer
The Church of St Jacques in Dieppe by Camille Pissarro - Framed Canvas
By: Camille Pissarro
The Blind Leading the Blind by Pieter Bruegel the Elder - Framed Canvas
By: Pieter Bruegel the Elder
Supper at Emmaus by Pontormo - Framed Canvas
By: Pontormo
Mysteries of Christ's Passion by Antonio Campi - Framed Canvas
By: Antonio Campi
Portrait of a Musician by Leonardo da Vinci - Framed Canvas
By: Leonardo da Vinci
Madonna of the Rose Garden by Bernardino Luini - Framed Canvas
By: Bernardino Luini
St. Joseph Cupertino by Ludovico Mazzanti - Framed Canvas
By: Ludovico Mazzanti
Eucharist (The Seven Sacraments) by Nicolas Poussin - Framed Canvas
By: Nicolas Poussin
The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist (Madonna Stroganoff) by Agnolo Bronzino - Framed Canvas
By: Agnolo Bronzino
The Assumption of the Virgin by Francesco Botticini - Framed Canvas
By: Francesco Botticini
The Last Supper by Hans Holbein the Younger - Framed Canvas
By: Hans Holbein the Younger
The Nativity by Fra Diamante - Framed Canvas
By: Fra Diamante
The Golden Stairs by Louis Janmot - Framed Canvas
By: Louis Janmot
The Marriage of the Virgin by Luca Signorelli - Framed Canvas
By: Luca Signorelli
The Nativity by Federico Barocci - Matte Canvas
By: Federico Barocci
The Nativity of Christ by Albrecht Altdorfer - Framed Canvas
By: Albrecht Altdorfer
The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian by Andrea Mantegna - Framed Canvas
By: Andrea Mantegna
The Road to Emmaus by Altobello Melone - Framed Canvas
By: Altobello Melone
The Last Judgment by Michelangelo - Framed Canvas
By: Michelangelo
The Holy Family by Juan Simón Gutiérrez - Framed Canvas
By: Juan Simón Gutiérrez
The Virgin and Child Enthroned among Angels and Saints by Benozzo Gozzoli - Framed Canvas
By: Benozzo Gozzoli
The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist by Leonardo da Vinci - Framed Canvas
By: Leonardo da Vinci
The Way to Calvary by Jacopo Bassano - Framed Canvas
By: Jacopo Bassano
The Virgin and Child with Saint John by Filippino Lippi - Framed Canvas
By: Filippino Lippi
Three Scenes from the Story of Esther by Filippino Lippi and Sandro Botticelli - Matte Canvas
By: Filippino Lippi and Sandro Botticelli
Virgin and Child with Two Angels by Cimabue - Framed Canvas
By: Cimabue
Transfiguration of Jesus by Raphael - Framed Canvas
By: Raphael
Veronica Veronese by Dante Gabriel Rossetti - Framed Canvas
By: Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Visitation by Domenico Ghirlandaio - Framed Canvas
By: Domenico Ghirlandaio
Visitation by Mariotto Albertinelli - Framed Canvas
By: Mariotto Albertinelli
Virgin Annunciate by Antonello da Messina - Framed Canvas
By: Antonello da Messina
Última Cena by Juan de Juanes - Framed Canvas
By: Juan de Juanes
Madonna of the Pear by Giovanni Bellini - Framed Canvas
By: Giovanni Bellini
The Magnificat by James Tissot - Framed Canvas
By: James Tissot
The Presentation in the Temple by Master of Liesborn - Framed Canvas
By: Master of Liesborn
The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne by Leonardo da Vinci - Framed Canvas
By: Leonardo da Vinci
The Vision of St Bernard by Fra Bartolomeo - Framed Canvas
By: Fra Bartolomeo
The Virgin and Child by Giovanni Bellini - Framed Canvas
By: Giovanni Bellini
What changed in the Renaissance
Linear perspective, worked out in Florence in the early fifteenth century, is the technical change underneath everything else. Once a painter could construct a room that recedes convincingly, a sacred scene could be placed inside it, and the viewer stood in a fixed relation to the event rather than outside time looking in. Masaccio's figures cast shadows and take up space, and after that gold ground was a choice rather than a default.
The recovery of classical sculpture changed the bodies. Painters studied anatomy, sometimes by dissection, and the saints acquired weight, musculature and plausible articulation. This is why a Renaissance martyrdom can be harder to look at than a medieval one: the figure is convincingly a body, so what is being done to it is convincingly happening.
None of this was secularisation. The overwhelming majority of the period's painting was commissioned by churches, confraternities and devout patrons for devotional use, and the new techniques were understood as better instruments for an old purpose — making the events of scripture present to someone standing in front of them.