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The general motive, then, of
painting during the High Renaissance, though apparently religious from
the subject, and in many cases still religious in feeling, was largely
to show the beauty of form or color, in which religion, the antique,
and the natural came in as modifying elements.
In technical methods, though extensive work was still done in fresco,
especially at Florence and Rome, yet the bulk of High-Renaissance
painting was in oils upon panel and canvas. At Venice even the
decorative wall paintings were upon canvas, afterward inserted in wall
or ceiling.
[Illustration: FIG. 39.--ANDREA DEL SARTO. MADONNA OF ST. FRANCIS.
UFFIZI.]
THE FLORENTINES AND ROMANS: There was a severity and austerity about
the Florentine art, even at its climax. It was never too sensuous and
luxurious, but rather exact and intellectual. The Florentines were
fond of lustreless fresco, architectural composition, towering or
sweeping lines, rather sharp color as compared with the Venetians, and
theological, classical, even literary and allegorical subjects.


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