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The Lorenzo Medici And The Fall Of The Renaissance

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The collapse of Roman civilization brought a downfall to the artistic culture that had been cultivated throughout 1,500 years in Europe. Unlike the Renaissance’s glamorous and flamboyant reputation, the Middle Ages is perceived in a darker, more negative perspective. Taking place after the fall of the Roman Empire, this particular time period lasted for around 1200 years and is best known for the bubonic plague (also known as the “Black Death”) which seized nearly a third of Europe’s entire population over the span of 3 years. Because survival was the highest priority during the Middle Ages, education was pushed away while farming techniques such as harvesting and reaping crops were emphasized greatly. Many aspects have changed from the transition …show more content…

The Renaissance took place during the mid 14th century as nobles as aristocrats began to hire ambitious artists to promote thinking such as philosophy, wisdom and beauty using art. One famous figure that sparked the Renaissance is Lorenzo Medici, a powerful banker dubbed as the patron of Arts and Philosophy. Medici and his family began to employ artists to fulfill their mindset and vision of forwarding the depth and culture of the arts that has been lost during the Dark Ages. Lorenzo commissioned artists to depict key philosophical truths such as Kindness and Compassion, glorifying the best qualities of the State and Leadership during that time. Changes in thinking and ideals can be found in the way different artists from the two separate eras portrayed their art in different manners using various …show more content…

With the mission to rekindle Greek and Roman classical culture that had been abandoned since the 5th century, patrons began to recruit artists from all over Europe to paint various types of art. As this act became more and more popular, the stigma around certain artistic subjects began to subside gradually and significantly until this was the new norm. This was not the only change in thinking, however. Approaches to nudity presented in art changed drastically as Greek and Roman ideals were revitalized. Unlike the Middle Ages, sculpting came back into fashion along with the study of anatomy. Greek sculptors had taken an interest to the male body since the 5th century BC, as did Renaissance artists. One iconic sculpture of the male body is David, crafted by the legendary Michelangelo himself. It portrays a young nude man getting ready for some sort of fight or battle, a rock in one hand and a slingshot in the other while in a relaxed pose. The intricate details are evident just by looking at an image of the sculpture, from the hair all the way down to the toes. Every last part of David is crafted to resemble the ideal and attainable body of a human. Artists were not afraid to depict the naked body as what it was, which is quite different from the thinking during the Middle Ages. Even

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