The Rediscovery And Emergence Of Humanism

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

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

Humanism became the dominant ideology in the Renaissance where artists looked on themselves. They started illustrate human emotions through their paintings and sculptures. They emphasized on human feelings and made many statues which portrayed anger, love, hate, etc. Goldstein, a professor in art history, describes about the secular ideas of humanism. Several artists wrote about humanism which includes broad moral ideas as well as visual art (641). Humanism helped people to realize the moral values and its use in art People happened to think about morality which

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).

Humanism is derived from the movement that happened from the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries. The start point of Humanism is in Italy. It is an important development during the Renaissance. Because of the terrible Black Death in 14th century. The population of Europeans decreased extremely. A lot of people died of the Black Death. At the beginning of that time, people thought the Black Death is God’s punishment for living life in sin. People went to Church and hope the forgiveness of God. However, the wide spread of the Black Death didn’t stop. The dead body forced the people started finding the other new way. Instead of believing in God, people started to think about science. The scientists did the research and treated the Black Death by more scientific way. People started thinking about the man himself and explored natural environment by more scientific method. The new ways of thinking influenced the development of Humanism in art during the Renaissance. The Renaissance artworks are about the re-discovery of ancient Greek and Roman artworks and their way of life. Humanists rejected the religion concept and not believe in the supernaturalism. They tried to discover the natural creatures and destiny of man. Artists learned the human beauty from the ancient Greek and Roman artworks and architectures. They began to find out more ideas about the human experience, personal independence and social community. They brought the Humanism ideas into their artworks.

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)

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.

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

Before the Renaissance, people simply accepted everything said by Church, however when Humanist analyzed key texts that showcased how the Church’s authority was built on an unstable foundation. The movement of Humanism influenced art as it also allowed for a more realistic approach to life. Ultimately, the Renaissance promoted a new idea of thinking based on reliable evidence rather than baseless

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.

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

Art work has changed the renaissance era. Renaissance art has changed because humans looked more realistic. In the medieval times the humans or people in the picture didn’t look right, it wasn’t proportional. Their body shape was different because they didn’t know how to paint people. The renaissance art was proportional and they knew how to paint people.

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.

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.

As mentioned above, art was seen more and more important from the start of the Renaissance humanism period. This shift from the divine, and onto a more humanistic perspective was seen dramatically through illustrations. Most notably Michelangelo’s,