Unlike the Greeks who strove to portray the ideal in their sculpture, Romans tried to capture reality. Bust of emperors, prominent statesmen and ordinary people were accurate representations of specific faces. Art historians sometimes describe Roman sculpture as "warts and all" portraiture. Still, sculpture was used to glorify Rome, and many large and imposing statues portray rulers in military dress to reflect the state's power and dominance in the ancient world. Romans also used relief sculpture on tombs and major monument to celebrate the history, conquests and accomplishments of the state.
During the Middle Ages, Constantinople was the center of civilization, and Italian artists took their cues from the East. God, faith and the spiritual world dominated Medieval art. Sculpture and paintings in this period show little concern for realism or perspective. Instead, artists focused on idealized types or icons. Large gilded altar pieces with bright colors depict symmetrical compositions of religious scenes and church leaders in stiff and stately poses. Figures and faces are elongated, and many have facial features associated with Eastern cultures. Towards the end of the 13th century, Giotto di Bondone, brought humanity back to Italian art with large frescoes that realistically portrayed subjects in relation to their surroundings. Historians credit Giotto with opening the door to the Italian Renaissance.
Italian renaissance art emphasized the beauty of humanity and the natural world.
Renaissance artists studied anatomy and depicted their subjects as full flesh-and-blood humans. While proportions were sometimes idealized, the saints, angels and Madonnas in paintings by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael portrayed real mothers with playful toddlers. Sculpture also emphasized the beauty and complexity of humanity. Michelangelo's "David" combines ideal concepts of beauty and strength with depictions of tension, anger and self doubt. A new understanding of perspective enabled painters to convey a sense of depth, and many incorporated details that showed off how well they had mastered the skill. In some paintings arms, elbows and hands appear to break through the surface and reach out to the viewer.
During the 16th century, Italian artists used a method of contrasting light and shadows called chiaroscuro. Caravaggio helped develop the technique that added emotional and psychological drama to a scene. Paintings that depict sunlight pouring into a darken room or candlelight illuminating a face are part of this era. During the 16th century, Italian artists embraced naturalism, a style that faithfully recorded all aspects of a scene. Italian painters often depicted brutal details of the executions of martyred saints or the death of mythological figures.