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The Last Judgement Essay

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The Middle Ages, often referred to as the ‘Dark Ages,’ the era of darkness and despair, occurred after the fall of Rome. During the Dark Ages, their priorities were different from the Romans; education, architecture, and art were no longer valued. Instead, their main focus was survival, and caused people to turn to God as a source of hope—resulting in Rome’s glory being forgotten. Although, at the end of the Dark Ages, a man, named Petrarch, wanted to bring back Rome and Greece’s glory, and believed in the value and potential humans possessed—promoting humanism. Thus, soon came the Renaissance—the rebirth of classic ideas and culture. Michelangelo, recognized as one of the greatest artists of all time, is often credited for the Sistine Chapel Ceiling, and “until you have seen the Sistine Chapel, you can have no adequate conception of what man is capable of accomplishing” (Goethe). However, within the chapel, lies a more extravagant masterpiece—the Last Judgement. The Last Judgement is a perfect representation of the Renaissance because it embodies the visual characteristics of Renaissance art, dramatic movement and emotion, and was able to connect with the …show more content…

After the fall of Rome, Europe fell into a time of despair and darkness, causing classical ideas and culture was forgotten. However, soon came the Renaissance, the rebirth of classical culture, bringing Europe out of the dark. With the revival of Roman and Greek ideas, many artists were able to study and use the art styles of classical art, but also developed many different innovations that distinct themselves. Michelangelo, referred to as the master of the Renaissance, used these classical ideas and innovations to develop an art piece grander than life—the Last

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