The Foundation of Understanding Human Anatomy During Renaissance Period

Dissection of human bodies became popular during the Renaissance time as people started to redraw and disprove previous beliefs about human anatomy. Interest in anatomy grew for artistic and medical purposes. Artists such as Raphael and Michelangelo began

During the Renaissance, a change in man’s view of man could be seen through anatomy. For example, “a woodcut from the Anatomy book On the Makeup of the Human Body” Doc D) depicted a human body with muscles, bones, organs, and other body parts. The Middle Ages saw humans as being controlled by constellations, such as Aries the Ram controlling the head. Advances made during the Renaissance in anatomy indicated a rise in scientific theory, and a rejection of traditional teachings. As these teachings were being rejected, the Church lost some of its influence. Additionally, “Andreas Vesalius […] dissected human corpses to better explain the human body […]” (Doc D). Vesalius had taken matters into his own hands, and he created a detailed engraving of the human body that challenged Church authority. His findings showed that people had control over themselves and their health, and that they could live their lives how they wanted to. All in all, man’s view of man was changed during the Renaissance, through anatomy, by showing that people had control of their lives.

During this painting, Michelangelo didn’t have the drive he usually did, but when his greatest enemy, Perugino started to work on it with him, that drove him to another level. Michelangelo’s interest in portraying the human body, reflected how the people in this time period felt, and that made the people who viewed his art interested in his work. Also, his sculptures reflect how dramatic of a shift it was to the Renaissance Period from the Middle Ages, and shows how the

Other than the former three topics, the Renaissance also influenced more abstract subjects such as, human anatomy. In the year 1512, a German Astronomer named, Johann Regiomontanus created a woodcut called “Zodiac Man” (Document D). This woodcut depicted a man seemingly cut open to reveal various internal organs hanging in a string-like structure. Around the man are 10 circles, each containing an image of a different creature from the zodiac. Regiomontanus believed that every muscle in our body was controlled by a creature of the zodiac. For instance the ram would control our head, while the scorpion controls our chest. Of course, following the pattern of the previous three documents, in the year 1543, a Belgian physician by the name of, Andreas

One of the most effective principles Paolo de Matteis uses in this painting is his use of lines and invisible lines to direct the viewer’s attention to the child in his mother’s arms. The shepherds and their animals, the Virgin Mary, and Saint Joseph are all instances of invisible lines in this painting, as their outstretched hands and lines of vision are all pointing to the baby Jesus. For example, the three women and the child kneeling to the bottom right side of the manger are all staring or pointing to the upper left, toward Jesus. Moving to the upper right corner of the painting, the ox and the donkey are directing their gaze to the bottom left, once again at Jesus. The two men to the right of the animals also point in that direction. In the top and center, Mary and Joseph watch their child, creating yet another invisible line pointing toward the point of emphasis, while the angels

One of the most famous painter and sculptors of the Italian Renaissance, the age of renewal and cultural achievement circa 1500, was the artistic genius Michelangelo Buonarroti. The man that desired nothing but perfection often reached it in his work. He captured the motion of the human figure and the anatomy of muscles in a way that was increasingly beautiful and startlingly realistic. Whether because of one of the most famous sculptures in history, “the David” or the paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, that became the textbook examples for the art period of High Renaissance, Michelango’s art changed the world and he will continue to be studied with awe throughout history.

The two main characters in the painting display elegant mannered poses and all the figures appear arranged in rather unnatural poses. There is a small scene at the foot of the Saint Catherine and Christ figures. This is thought to be the Christ child with the Virgin Mary and grandmother, Saint Anne. Below these two scenes are three smaller bordered scenes. The central one depicts two enemies reconciled by an archangel and the outer ones show Saints Michael and Margaret fighting demons. All these images show the triumph of good over evil, with the middle characters shedding their weapons and embracing. All these small pictures support that the painting was commissioned by Arigoi di Nero Arighetti to celebrate the end of a feud.

The great thing about art, is that there are multiple portrayals of one idea but, the artist’s own personal style allows one to feel something that another may not. Early Renaissance painters, Giotto di Bondone and Duccio di Buoninsegna established their own unique style to depict a biblical scene known as, The Betrayal of Christ. Through a close analysis of each artist’s representation of, The Betrayal of Christ, one is able to compare and contrast the artists own understanding of the scene through their attention to detail, character, and space throughout the painting. When examining these two works, one will have a stronger emotional response towards Giotto’s interpretation rather Duccio’s, due to his methods of handling organization, figures, and space.

Vittore Carpaccio’s symmetrical input truly served it’s purpose. Focusing on the center third of the painting, there’s a mere perfect symmetrical contrast of life and death top to bottom. Most impacting is the symmetrical division of the malnourished and tortured body of Jesus Christ, The left side of his body is in a lively sitting posture on the throne. While his right side is the embodiment of death, his punctured ribs and dangling arm. From the ground up, Carpaccio illustrates the contrast of life and death with minimal details in the painting. The supporting stones of the throne, directly below the arm rests, are divided by breakage, the left stone is cracked and falling apart, while the opposing stone appears to be intact. Vittore Carpaccio managed to capture the cycle of life with many elements one wouldn’t think of comparing life and death with. The top left portion of the throne is a half broken, followed by Jesus’s deadly posture to the falling apart ground stone of the throne, Death is captured in a very recognizable minimalistic form.

I decided to refabricate Fore-shortening Christ since Mantegna’s expressed so much emotion through the individuals who were part of the painting. Mantegna’s focus on capturing the moment of intimacy of the relationship of a mother losing a child with so much emotion. Every human is an epitome of Mary and can relate to her when losing someone close to them. One would display emotion of suffering and vulnerability in their life. So, it was a no brainer to choose this painting since I can relate to this

Stylistic concern is not the only argument that objects the painting’s attribution to Raphael, but also the inferior quality in the rendition of Mary and Christ. Observations of Beck suggest that Mary’s hair looks confusing and unsolved , while the underdrawing revealed by IR investigation shows a clearer representation of the braids that possibly the painter-in-question became more “exclusive on this own during the painting stage that he dropped the refinement of her hair” stemming from mimicking Raphael’s painting when drafting. Furthermore, the current depiction conveys a sense of obfuscation in posing of Mary’s right thigh compared to Small Cowper Madonna (fig. 2) or the Bridgewater Madonna (fig.4), with statically drawn Infant balancing difficultly on the invisible leg of Mary . It is inexplicable that the engravings (fig. 6 and 7) after the painting look more convincing that they have complemented the unnaturalness of the original.

It is apparent that the Carracci brothers’ Ceiling of Gallery inspired Rubens’ work. From studying their work, Rubens learned anatomical accuracy and realistic physical representations of bodies. In Ruben’s painting, the bodies depicted are all realistic and anatomically probable, a stark contrast from early humanist work which illustrated huge, heroic, near science-defying bodies that were more akin to mythology than actual beings. The figures in Rubens’ work are certainly idealized, with Christ being very muscular himself, but there is also believability to their depictions. For example, the old woman on the side mourning Christ’s crucifixion is thoroughly detailed, and simply looks to be real, or something we would perceive in day-to-day life.

His hands seem out of place in this portrait. The 3D marble pieta sculpture of in the Museo dell’ Opera del Duomo lacked variety in its color scheme. I disliked this sculpture due to its dark solid marble color which created a dull scene. The legs and arms of Jesus also pose a disturbing image. The limbs seem to bend at an unusual angle, not normal of that of a dead individual.

In fact, as Michelangelo sculpted Jesus, you can barely see the crucifixion marks on his body, in fact you can barely see the faint nail marks on his feet and hand and an indication of a wound on Jesus’ side. As John Addington Symonds writes in his book The Life of Michelangelo, “Christ is somewhat youthful and modeled with the upmost delicacy; suggesting no lack of struggle, but subordinating the idea of physical power to that of a refined and spiritual nature. Nothing can be more lovely than the hands, feet, the arms, relaxed in slumber.” (Symonds 46). The way Symonds describes Jesus as he is stretched across her knee, resting on the folds of her cloak supported by her right hand that reaches under his shoulder that is shielded with a corner of the cloak is that his “Aesthetic tone of his dead Christ is rather that of some sweet solemn strain of cathedral music, some motive from a mass of Palestrina or a Passion of Sebastian Bach.” (Symonds

I was determined to absorb what I needed to for my artwork and ace the class at the same time. But as the class endured, I craved the information more and not just for the sole purpose of my artwork, but because it completely enthralled me. Human Anatomy and Physiology opened my eyes to detailed elements that compose the human body that I had never seen before in my life or in my art. Furthermore, I was able to articulate a connection between my hobby in art and my fascination with anatomy. The brachioradialis muscle needs defined curvature if the forearm is turned a certain way. An eye does not end medially with the sclera but with the lacrimal caruncle. Miniscule, but essential, features would not be overlooked when I was perfecting my drawings of