One of the common myths on understanding the difference in middle age and Renaissance period is that Christian elements disappeared in people’s life and that the community totally flipped from ‘religious’ to ‘secular’ society. However, with the change in the society through the extensive amount of trades and cultural contact with the vanished civilization of classical era, people of Renaissance realized how to be ‘human’. Previously, medieval people only express themselves through God and church because of the restrictions in society with the strong power of papacy. On the contrary, Renaissance movement allowed people to think apart from the religion and helped to see the potential of human. Still, just like the medieval paintings, most of the artworks in Renaissance overwhelmingly utilized and conveyed the religious theme with an extended adaptation of features outside of Christianity.
Birth of St. John the Baptist is a work of anonymous artist from medieval Europe. Overall, this panting has yellow tone with deep and strong colors. Since the painting is from middle age, the placement of figures and building are not necessarily the actual distance and perspective of real world. Rather, the figures or important figures are shown as larger than the figures in front of them. Due to the lack of perspective, the painting has two-dimensional structure with a simple or one color background. Also, figures have little movement with serious faces that show little emotion. They are
In subjects, such as the arts and literature, the involvement of religion was reduced. There was more focus on humans and life. This focus on humans is called Humanism. Humanism is the study of human behavior, abilities, and culture. In Document A, there are two paintings, one which was drawn during the Renaissance and one was drawn during the Middle Ages. The Mona Lisa, which was done by Leonardo da Vinci in the early 1500’s, portrays a beautiful woman. The painting drawn by Duccio di Buoninsegna in the late 1200’s is of a man and a child. The artwork which was done during the Middle Ages is very religious, as the two people are wearing halos. Not only is it religious, but it is also very plain. The image is 2-dimensional and very flat. There is hardly any creativity, nor any beautiful features. The painting from the Renaissance, on the other hand, depicts a beautiful woman with a nature-filled background. This shows how life was viewed as during the Renaissance. During the Middle Ages, life was poor and the afterlife was good. During the Renaissance, not only was the afterlife a “safe haven’, but life itself was also appreciable. “What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculty! In form and moving how express and admirable!” (Document B). This excerpt from the play Hamlet, written by Shakespeare in 1601,
The painting focuses on the Virgin Mary and two children; one we know is Saint John the Baptist from the title. We can assume that the
The Renaissance began in the 1300’s and brought with it many new ideas and ways of thinking. The main one of these ideas being humanism, or that the best that a man can be is greater than the idea of theology. The Italians began to spread this idea and it began to grow. The Italians decided that the best way to express and spread the idea of humanism during the Renaissance was through their sculptures and paintings. This can be seen in many works of art from this time period such as the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, The School of Athens by Raphael, and Michelangelo's David.
The Renaissance describes the period of European history from the 14th century to the late 16th century. During this time The Renaissance was only seen as a form of rebirth, it wasn’t until later in time where people viewed the period differently. Some say it was one of the greatest ages of human cultural achievement. Jules Michelet and Jakob Burckhardt, for example, view the period as being characterized by the rise of an individual, scientific inquiry, and geographical exploration, and the growth of secular values (La Renaissance). “Nicola “said that he had personally broken some tablets that had been placed as a decoration in a church not far from Porcia, declaring it was wrong, and that they did not belong there and were...merchandise...and that figures should not be placed in church.”” (The Cheese and the Worms, Page 20) The Renaissance gave birth to many artistic views and skills. Much of the art involved religion in which Ginzburg points out that no one is supposed to worship any images of God. This points to one thing that Menocchio learned from
Art was one thing that quite drastically changed man's view of man. Art in the Middle Ages was extremely religious in fact that was what every painting revolved around. They all included halos and angels. They were all 2D and didn't care about individuality at all. At the end of the Renaissance there was barely any religion included in art.
People during the Renaissance learned to value individuality. According to Document A, medieval artists made paintings more focused on religion before the Renaissance started. For example, Duccio Di Buoninsegna made a painting that shows the Mother Mary on the throne while holding the baby Jesus in her arms.
During the shift from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, humanist thinkers and writers showed distinct changes in the areas such as art and literature. After the shift, men developed different viewpoints on status and individuality. Moreover, life on the earth was being enjoyed by a simple Renaissance men. The responsibility of power was shifting from the church to the royals during the movement. By looking at the various outlooks of men, what men focused on, and why power was shifting, one could see that the Renaissance was not just a high point but the rebirth of opportunities.
Man has been creating art for over 30,000 years. There are cave drawings, sculptures, Egyptian art, Greek Art, Modern Art and plenty more but to many, the Renaissance Art period is considered to be most important. Never had so many geniuses in art lived at one time and never had so many pieces of cherished art been produced. Two examples of Renaissance paintings are Cigoli’s Adoration of the Shepherds and Moretto da Brescia’s Entombment. Both paintings posses the attributes that were popular during the Renaissance period which I will now contrast and compare.
Throughout Europe, the Renaissance period had various effects on art which can be broken down and seen from Southern (Italian) and Northern paintings. With the renaissance, came disinterest in dogma, and more of a focus on naturalism and humanism. However, the strong influence of religion never left either the Northern or Southern art works, due to the commission by the church. Giuliano Bugiardini’s, Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist, 1510, is a pristine depiction of what Southern European art during the renaissance contained, element by element. Northern artists kept most their roots, focusing heavily on religion while enhancing on the details and adding few aspects of naturalism; while Southern artists took
Art in the Medieval Times was dreary and bland. Many works of art were solely about God or holy figures. The most obvious change from the Renaissance to Medieval Times was the arts, according to Document A and also that “One begins to know the names of the artists ... feel stronger emotions in the subjects”. This shows that Renaissance art not only changed in style, in changed in how it made the viewer feel when seeing the art. Similarly, in Document A, Renaissance art is described as “new artistic styles would echo the broader movements and interests of the new age.…”. As compared to Medieval Times, the style of art became something similar to the time that people could relate to. In the Medieval Times, art was just meant to extol God’s many feats. People who viewed the painting were supposed to put that style of art on a pedestal. Medieval art was supposed to be worshipped, not so much understood. The individual in the Medieval Times was supposed to take away from the painting that the only thing that mattered in their life was the Roman Catholic church and God already had a plan for their lives. But in comparison, Renaissance art was supposed to empower and help people of the time to understand themselves and the fact that they can change their own lives.
Art during the Italian Renaissance differed from art during the Middle Ages. The two have contrasting characteristics and concepts. To the people in the medieval world, religion was their life. Everything in daily life focused around the church and God (Modern World 164). Medieval culture influenced the arts; this was evident in the religious themes. During the Italian Renaissance, painters and other artists focused on the portrayal of a more humanistic way of life. Renaissance artists’ work portrayed realism with “lifelike human figures in their paintings” (Modern World 164). Renaissance artists wanted to express ancient Greek and Roman cultures in their work (Modern World 162). Italian Renaissance
Avery Fletcher Humanities December 3, 2015 Renaissance Ideals in Art El Greco’s Disrobing of Christ is a great example of humanism and realism in the Renaissance time period. The Renaissance people valued the human body and the life of man in general, in other words, humanism.
During the shift from the middle ages into the Renaissance period new conceptions of the individual and the human mind quickly came to light. Although art in the Middle Ages was centered predominantly on religion and faith, the incoming art of the Renaissance underwent a drastic change. A vast amount of these changes mainly focused on individualism, secularism, and humanism. Following the collapse of the feudal system, thoughts of individualism quickly rose when people realized that they didn’t have to adhere to a specific group.Throughout the beginning of the Renaissance, religious figures and the Catholic Church began to lose authority which conducted in new ideas of secularism. Comparably, humanistic art and notions became preeminent when individuals focused on glorifying the human body, learning more about it and inclined more towards realistic art.
The renaissance or “rebirth” was a cultural awakening which spanned from the fourteenth to sixteenth century. A growing interest in humanist traits and classical ideas heavily influenced the art during the renaissance. A growing community of artists provided much needed competition for their profession. The renaissance introduced many different and modern ideas but also remained obedient to classical belief. The unique art of the renaissance spread throughout Europe. Northern European art differed tremendously from Italian art.
The Medieval Era was a time dominated by belief. People lived with such great superstition and fear of God. Many people were focused not on their lives her on earth, but rather their life after death. During the Renaissance people became more humanistic and focused more on their lives in the moment rather than their afterlife. We can see these changes of Ideas by studying the works of Saint Anselm of Canterbury, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Thomas a Kempis, and Caesarius of Heisterbach from the Medieval Era and compare it to the works of Marsilio Ficino, Leonardo Da Vinci, Niccolo Machiavelli, and Desiderius Erasmus of the Renaissance period we can see