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The Renaissance Beliefs Of The Renaissance

Decent Essays

The age of the Renaissance era is known for its beliefs more on the individual. New discoveries in science contributed to people's beliefs in nature and of the body. This led to a focus more on the individual rather than any belief in deities or gods. The contributions of science greatly impacted art in this way: displaying the beauty of the individual rather than the glorification of a god. During this time, the Roman Catholic Church focused on biblical depictions to those who weren’t able to read. Cardinal Jean de Billheres asked unknown artist at the time Michelangelo to create a sculpture for the inside of a chapel. What resulted was the Pieta, a work of art that contradicted the Renaissance belief of gods yet supported it with the idea of the individual. By creating the Pieta, Michelangelo was able to make real the ideas of Jesus being God and the beliefs of the Catholic Church, which contradicted the beliefs of the Renaissance. Through the sculpting of the Pieta, Michelangelo appealed to the audience’s pathos and the logos of Christianity to show that belief in God and the individual can go hand in hand while also trying to show his abilities as an artist.
One of the purposes of the Pieta for Michelangelo was for him to convey his artistic abilities to the world. The sculpture depicts the scene in the Bible where Mary embraces Jesus, her son, after he dies on the cross. Michelangelo created this because he was asked to in 1497 by Cardinal Jean de Billheres. However, he

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