ori Horton
The Rediscovery and Emergence of Humanism
The transition from medieval times to the Renaissance can be seen through the change in art across the western world. Many aspects of art changed between these time periods including the introduction of humanism as well as the new idea of perspective. These are only a few elements that changed art between the Medieval and Renaissance eras. By using perspective many artist were able to make depth apparent by changing sizes of objects in the fore, as well as the background. Humanism allows the idea of humans being higher than the divine. With artists being able to use new artistic aspects, such as humanism and the idea of rebirth, they are able to change the views and ideas of art during the Italian and Northern Renaissance.
Humanism was first brought to the Renaissance by a small group of elites consisting of artists, scholars, and many other trade group members (Johnson p.5). This new idea that humans were more important than the divine was not something that was instantly accepted. Up until this time period of the Italian and Northern Renaissance it was always believed that the divine trumped humans in everyway. This idea of humans being more important, although not widely accepted, changed art as a whole. One example of an artist who used this idea of humanism was Raphael in “The Alba Madonna” of 1511. He used perspective to take the importance and beauty and point the viewer back to the cross and baby Jesus. In many
The way people thought of humans drastically shifted in the Renaissance from the “humans only live to serve god” idea in the Middle Ages to the “humans are great and capable beings” of the Renaissance. Clearly, the Renaissance changed they people thought of the human
To begin with, the Renaissance changed man’s view of the world through art. Theodore Rabb states in Document A “The clearest evidence of the break with medieval culture comes from the visual arts.” (Doc. A)
First, humanism is visible in many paintings and sculptures from the Renaissance time period, one example of this is Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. The Mona Lisa is a very simple painting as far as what is shown, it is a woman seated in a chair and her upper torso and up is shown and she is sitting in front of a very scenic background with mountains, trees, water, and the sky. She is also dressed in very plain clothing, a brown dress. The Mona Lisa shows humanism in the fact that the painting has nothing to do or
The Renaissance was a huge time for growth. Humanism, the praising of the intelligence and beauty of a person, spread very widely in this time and not only did it improve how people thought about themselves, but it improved how people thought about others. (Background Essay) The Renaissance changed the concept of what it meant to be human as seen in art, literature and science.
The transition from Middle ages to Renaissance for art changed dramatically. The Art in the Middle ages was usually 2 dimensional and had a religious subject. When the renaissance came around art changed a lot. New artistic styles would echo the broader movements and interest of the new age. The art produced in the renaissance was more 3d and focused more on individuals and landscapes (Doc A). Paintings such as the Mona Lisa are what the Renaissance focused on, as well as landscapes such as the wedding at Cana. The works of art changed man’s view of the world
Mazzocco defines Humanism as “a system of thought that focuses on humans and their values, capacities, and worth; a cultural and intellectual movement of the Renaissance that emphasized human potential to attain excellence and promoted direct study of the literature, art, and civilization of classical Greece and Rome.” In other words, Humanists were more curious about life in the present and focused on the achievements of the individual. Hence, instead of religious issues, humanists examined worldly subjects that the ancient Greeks and Romans had studied. This led the people of the Renaissance to become interested in other areas of science, the natural world, biology and astronomy. Humanism had direct effects on Renaissance paintings, as the
Another way that the renaissance change man’s view was the arts between the middle ages and renaissance. The middle ages art contained religious themes (angels in the left corner of the painting). Man’s view was changing by emotion of the pictures. The renaissance art was three-dimensional, very detailed (landscaping).
One of the main ways that the art of the Renaissance was affected by humanism was that many artists of the Renaissance began to turn away from religious themes, unlike their predecessors from the Middle Ages. Humanism was embraced by artists of the Renaissance without hesitation. When humanism spread throughout Italy and Northern Europe, there was an eager audience for the new findings of classical traditions and art. In the beginning of the Renaissance, artists used themes that were taken from Renaissance humanist beliefs and philosophies. These themes were mostly secular, and sometimes involved a slight religious aspect, but usually depicted a scene of an ordinary place. This is different from the Religious scenes that were widely used during the Middle Ages because almost
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
The popular belief that people were unrighteous because of sin was washed away by the new idea of humanism as interest in the individual had grown. It was seen through mediums of both art and humanities with literature. The value of religion went down are the interest in the power of men strengthened. The Mona Lisa painting done by Leonardo Da Vinci during the renaissance is an excellent example of how individualism became a major focus during this time. As it portrays one human woman, and is not necessarily associated with the image of any religious figure which was popular in art from the Middle Ages (a time period before the Renaissance). More people began to create philosophies elevating the possibilities of men and developed principles on what the ideal man should be.
Humanism describes the emphasis that was revived in the Renaissance when the Liberal Arts were used to distinguish man from beasts. Through letters--or scholarship--was sought a rebirth of spirit and spiritual freedom and justification of the claim to rational autonomy. In essence, the Renaissance was a revival of the capacities and powers of the ancients.
During the shift from the middle ages into the Renaissance period new conceptions of the individual and the human mind quickly came to light. Although art in the Middle Ages was centered predominantly on religion and faith, the incoming art of the Renaissance underwent a drastic change. A vast amount of these changes mainly focused on individualism, secularism, and humanism. Following the collapse of the feudal system, thoughts of individualism quickly rose when people realized that they didn’t have to adhere to a specific group.Throughout the beginning of the Renaissance, religious figures and the Catholic Church began to lose authority which conducted in new ideas of secularism. Comparably, humanistic art and notions became preeminent when individuals focused on glorifying the human body, learning more about it and inclined more towards realistic art.
Change can be defined as a basic alteration in a specific thing, event, or idea. History is a prime example of change. Throughout the past, certain change has made significant impact to the development of society. More specifically, during the Renaissance era, a new form of art was developed, changing the way that we look at art to this day. Throughout this period of time, artists began to establish a technique that promoted individualism. Their art expressed life in more realistic terms. This was called humanism. They attached an importance to the typical human rather than to other supernatural beings. Humanism emphasized the goodness of humans, and attached realistic emotions and expressions to people through art. Renaissance art, such as paintings, poetry, architecture, and sculpture, for an example, have changed our perception of human beings, and introduced us to this concept of individualism.
Beginning roughly around the year 1400 an era in Europe began; one that would shape the ideas and the lives of men. This era of rebirth or renaissance came within the fifteenth century through the revival of classical texts. One central effect of the Renaissance was the production of a new intellectual idea: humanism. Humanism being defined as a, “[t]erm invented in the 19th century. . . [regarding] developments relating to the revival of Classical literature and learning in European culture from roughly 1300 to 1600” left its mark on all of Europe leaving nothing untouched not even the artist. Both northern and southern art would be affected by humanism but in different ways ranging from changes in the human form, new choices of
Many things changed from Medieval Times to the Renaissance. The catholic church saw it’s reign secede and individualism increase in the minds of the people of the time. Because of this, people in the Renaissance now looked at themselves in a way that was never seen before. Slowly but surely, the whole world changed. The rise in individualism and humanism signified a change in the way people thought about their purpose in life. In the Medieval Times, people believed that they were at the mercy of God, and they had no control over their own bodies or lives. From the change in Medieval Times to the Renaissance, whole fields were changed, especially art and the medical field, because of the rise of the individual and that way of life.