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The Influence Of The Renaissance

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As we have all been told, nothing lasts forever. Ancient Greece was known as the “Cradle of Western Civilization.” The Roman Empire in its glory was considered the pinnacle of culture and technology. However, century upon century of wars, famine, plague, internal strife and decay finally took their toll and everything came crashing down plunging the Western Roman Empire into the dark ages. However, mankind is resilient, in the waning days of the dark ages having survived years of war, toppling of empires, unrest and the black plague, a new day was dawning on western civilization. The time period known as the Renaissance was at hand. This was a time of enlightenment and discovery. How did mankind pull himself out of those dark ages? To …show more content…

This promoted more riches which encouraged more trade and brought in even more wealth throughout the land. At the same time, as a result of the plague, people began to abandon faith, this faith was replaced with a new self-awareness and self-worth and the movement of Humanism. This new freedom along with the economic boom produced a time for change and rebuilding. The wealthier cities especially those that were part of the trade routes such as Venice and Florence is where much of this rebirth started “The Florentines sought inspiration from the Greeks and Romans of ages past. They could afford spending the time and money to revive humanism from classical antiquity. Drawing on help from scholars fleeing from the collapsing Byzantine Empire, the Western curriculum expanded to include the literature of Ancient Greece” (Pavlac, 2015). Some of the first to make strides towards this “fresh” new start were the artisans. These new times ushered in new materials better paints more colors, new techniques in brush strokes, application and perspective, new themes, subjects other than religious figures could be created again and the successes of all these created new markets. Artist could now work for themselves and express their visions. Innovators such as the painter Giotto, whose models and techniques came from the Greeks and architect Filippo Brunelleschi who studied forms such as the dome on the Parthenon became so

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