Art was a crucial aspect of expressing Renaissance ideas. Italian sculptors, painters, and architects in particular did a fantastic job of communicating Renaissance concepts in their artwork. Three of the most central humanistic beliefs during this period of time were the appreciation of the individual, the emphasis on the real rather than the abstract, and the imitation of past civilizations. The sculpture “David”, by Italian artist Michelangelo, is an excellent example of the humanistic emphasis on appreciating the individual and dignifying the human kind. Michelangelo depicts David as a strong, godlike figure, emphasizing the size of his hands and feet.
The Vitruvian Man in Renaissance Architecture: Man’s image as a source of inspiration for architectural order, proportion and beauty. In the early stages of the Renaissance, notions regarding all aspects of art which included architecture began to evolve from the preceding cultural movement as Renaissance artists and architects sought for more simplistic forms of expression in comparison to the complex, geometrics that was utilized in the Middle Ages. The movement began on a scholarly level but was linked with technological, ecclesiastical and economic changes and given its European locality, it provided a powerful stimulus for the development of fine art and engineering. This was coupled with a concern to seek unity with the whole classical world of Greece and Rome. Artists and Architects in Italy began looking at ancient artefacts, structures and scriptures for inspiration in seek of a new ‘truth’ and thus Humanism was born.
The Italian Renaissance Culture The Italian Renaissance began in the 14th century and ended in 16th century. The Italian Renaissance reason for beginning was because of the variety of artists and sculptors in Italy trying to get their work noticed. The different types of art during the Italian Renaissance were from sculpting to painting to philosophy to science and many more types of art. In this essay I am going to be talking about the famous people of this culture filled time. One of the types of art during this time was painting and sculpting.
A most notable philosopher Giovanni Pico della Mirandola distinguishes himself of all other renaissance thinkers and scholars with his famous work that describes the supreme statement of the Renaissance idolization of man. Published after his death “Oration on the Dignity of Man” will later come to be known as the "Manifesto of the Renaissance". He was born in Mirandola in the 15th century, to a noble Italian family that was remarkable in the arts and study of the Italian Renaissance. As a young child he received an education in both Latin and Greek and showed an interest in the arts of philosophy as he went on to study at the University of Ferrara and later at the University of Padua, a major center of Aristotelianism. In 1485 he furthered his studies at the most important centre of Scholastic philosophy and theology, the University of Paris, as he astonished fellow scholars with his precocious learning.
“A new fact appears in history – the state as the outcome of reflection and calculation, the state as a work of art.” His thesis was that the state was a work of art founded by individuals through reflection and calculation. Without a strong centralized national government, the Italians were free to create states, study antiquities and push forth a new culture filled with art and literature. The goal for many great men during the Italian Renaissance was to unify Italy. Those men lived
It was also the next and most glorious phase in Art History. The word Renaissance came from the Italian word “rinascita”, which means "rebirth," describes the radical and comprehensive changes that happened in European during the 15th and 16th centuries. Most of the paintings were done in Florence and Rome. There was a focus on painting human anatomy, nudes, facial expressions and human sculptures. The High Renaissance occurred in Milan, Florence smaller bits scattered here and there throughout northern and central Italy but it was centered mostly in Rome and mostly support by the Popes.
d. Gutenberg: invented Printing Press; e. Petrarch: Important writer and poet who spread Humanism, the Renaissance. 2. The Renaissance occurred in Italy because 3 main reasons: #1 - National rivalries: In this time, Humanism appeared in Italy and it affected and made differences between the development of Italy and other Europe countries following Scholasticism. Humanism centralized in human-being and then it supported more and more scientific and artistic invention discovering. #2- Close link with the classical Past: Italy in that time located on the coast so that the culture and history were affluent in a long time.
Renaissance - Reflections of Reality Advancement in painting techniques during the Renaissance was not only the rebirth of Art but the birth of Art as we know it today. Major contributing factors I will be discussing here are the adoption of oil-based pigment as the leading medium for painting and the idea that Art could not only tell a religious story in an emotional thought provoking way but represent the here and now, the reality of life in a realistic way. Jan van Eyck was a 15th century Flemish painter, van Eyck was one of the most celebrated painters in Northern Europe during the fifteenth century, widely hailed for his miraculous ability to depict observed reality with a refinement verging on the microscopic. The beginnings of oil painting are recorded as early as the 12Th Century in Northern Europe. But it was the virtuoso handling of the medium on panel by van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden that represented a turning point in its eventual adoption as the major painting medium in Europe in the 16th Century.
What does ‘RENAISSANCE’ mean? The term renaissance is derived from the French word meaning ‘REBIRTH’. It is used to describe this phase of European history because many of the changes experienced between the 14th and 16th centuries were inspired by a revival of the classical art and intellect of Ancient Greece and Rome. Much of the art, architecture, literature, science and philosophy that surfaced during the Renaissance was so reminiscent of this ancient past, that is seemed as through Europe was indeed reborn during the late Middle Ages. That’s why; the Renaissance was a time of great social and cultural changes in Europe.
The Renaissance Period Renaissance means “rebirth”. The people who lived during this time believed they have witnessed the rebirth of Roman Civilization, marking a new age. In this essay, I would talk about Humanism, Art, and printing that emerged during the renaissance period. Humanism in the renaissance is the spirit of learning that developed at the end of the Middle Ages with a renewed confidence in the ability of human beings to think and determine for themselves truth and falsehood. It also placed importance in the individual’s responsibilities of citizenship and leadership, including the participation in the political process in the community.