Renaissance Ideals

In Europe, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, much of the continent fell into a cultural recession. For many centuries science, mathematics and the arts were extremely stagnant. Beginning in the mid 14th century, the Italian Peninsula began to undergo a transformation evident in the works of artists, writers and scholars. This era is known as the Renaissance and was a revival of the classical world following the appropriately named Dark Ages. Renaissance thinkers became known as humanists, interested in learning about religious and non-religious studies and celebrated worldly achievements. Florence, Italy was the center for many of the advancements that took place during this time period and was the birthplace of many of the Renaissance individuals we know today. The economic, political and artistic influences of the Medici family, combined with it’s ideal geographical location for trade, made Florence emerge as the birthplace of the Renaissance.

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Italy was considered the birthplace of both the Renaissance, specifically the Artistic Renaissance. The Renaissance was a period of rebirth (14th to the 17th century) of learning classical knowledge, which then went more specifically into the formation of ideals and thoughts such as the focus on man and their achievements, man being fundamentally “good”, the use of measurements and science in art and the overall shift into what is more appearance oriented as well as somewhat of a realistic art style. These ideals of the Renaissance were presented through the work that artists of this period were producing.

The word “renaissance” which is the Latin word for rebirth refers to the flourishing of literature and arts in fifteenth century Italy. Ancient culture played a big role in this new and exciting movement. It was the source of creativity for the new up-and-coming Italian artists, it set a platform of ideas for these new artists to use as a blueprint. Competing with ancient Greek and Roman art, Italian artists were aiming to emulate the achievements of the ancient culture and were looking for a new form of expression; therefore, they used the ancient Greek and Roman art for inspiration.

The Italian Renaissance was the era of when Italy was the center of the humanistic revival of classical art, architecture, literature, and learning. Breaking from the medieval period in Europe, the Italian Renaissance became the center of philosophical thinking and scientific study. Numerous enlightened minds prospered, giving rise to the intelligent mind of Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni. More commonly known simply as Michelangelo, he was one of the Renaissance’s most notable figures due to his vast knowledge as a painter, sculptor, architect, a poet, and even a military engineer. He was the epitome of the Italian Renaissance through his innovative work and revealed a divinity of humanity. His works met the ideals of the renaissance

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

During the Renaissance, the people of Europe experienced a rebirth of culture and study of classical antiquity. New ideas arose that transformed every aspect of European life. Beginning in Italy, the Renaissance spread northward to the rest of Europe. Italy had the advantage of not being hit by the Black Death or the Hundred Years War, in comparison to the rest of Europe, and therefore was able to trade to Asia and maintain prosperous cities during the Middle Ages. The Italians, as a result, had merchants who were proud of their success in business, which they believed was possible because of their merit as an individual. The merchants were able to fuel the Renaissance in Italy by commissioning artists and writers to produce specific works. Northern Europe still needed to recover from the Black Death and Hundred Years War to gain political and economic stability to have a Renaissance. While both the Italians and Northern Europeans went through a Renaissance, they experienced the Renaissance differently, and the similarities and differences between their experiences in terms of how they each developed the ideals of humanism, individualism, and secularism is evident in Renaissance artists’ works, specifically Michelangelo’s David and van Eyck’s The Madonna of Chancellor Rolin.

Throughout the Renaissance, there was an rise of new attitudes, ideas, and especially art work. Leonardo Da Vinci was a main figure in these new ideas and paintings during this period in time. " The Last Supper," by Leonardo Da Vinci is a fresco painting, suggesting that it is directly painted on a wall.

The Renaissance began in Italy where the culture was surrounded by the remnants of a once glorious empire. A lot of Italians rediscovered philosophy, art, the writings, and architecture of the ancient Greeks and Romans and began to see

During the Renaissance time, it was full of new ideas and art. Writings were written to portray a certain message of nationalism and spiritual gain.

How did Renaissance art express the new concept of the individual? The art during the Renaissance period reflected the individual as somebody with potential and has the ability to do anything they believe. Painters,Sculptures, and Architectures had a very different way of thinking during the Renaissance there were many new ideas. Such as having more of the classics appear, having depth,symmetry, and including many other artistic characteristics. Statues in the Renaissance were usually free standing, and glorified the individual. Buildings made in the Renaissance were made to be simple,symmetrical, and to show balance. These structures and paintings were meant to show off the beauty of the Renaissance and of how exquisite it is.

The characteristics of Renaissance were first noticeable in Italy in late 14th and early 15th century during which new ideas about political order and a heightened consciousness of the artist as an aspiring individual began to take root. There was a thirst for Classical learning and a desire to create a humanism from that learning. This period saw the birth of humanism lead by notable

Italian thinkers had an interest in the ways that ancient Greeks and Romans thought, a driving force of the Renaissance. It was the Florentines who first set out to rediscover the glorious past of these cultures. They strongly believed

The Renaissance occurred in Italy around the 14th century. At this time, there was an interest in learning ancient Greek and Roman way of life. They found influence from many of the left over sculptures, art, and architecture of the ancient world. The rediscovery of Greek philosophy has also changed the mindset of those in the Renaissance. This new movement became known as humanism. This new way of thinking focused and valued more of the self and human potential, and focused less on god and religion. The spark of the humanism way of thinking also changed the landscape of art.

The Renaissance was a rebirth of the ideas of ancient Greece and Rome that began in the City States of Italy during the 14th century. The cultural resurgence began a new style of living in Europe after the horrors of the black death, and is seen as the beginning of the culture of the modern world. As Wassace K. Ferguson put in his book The Renaissance, the Italian artists grew tired of the darkness of Medieval Times and began to turn to the brighter times found in the classical ages (Doc 7). The Renaissance served as the evolutionary bridge between the Middle Ages and the 17th century through art, education, and religion by bringing a rebirth of the ancient Greek and Roman classics that would later define the world’s culture, while continuing the underlying beliefs of Medieval Times.