Renaissance Art example essay topic
More's Utopia is a "serious joke", a work written in Latin for the delight of humanist circles but having a deeper significance as social critique. The Courtier: (Baldasare Castiglione) patronized in the arts, business in money, skillful in weapons, proper manners, education is power and marketing, bank of church meant wealth, appearance The Prince: (Niccolo Machiavelli) tied into religion, "better feared than loved", know your people, be the leader, lay low to the public, honor the proficient in every art, be patient, beatify city Medici & Brunelleschi: a cultural revolution began in Italy in the early 1300's and lasted for the next 300 years. At its heart was one family, a dynasty with wealth, power and a passion for culture. Between 1300 and 1600 the Western world was transformed. An extraordinary wave of artistic and cultural innovation shattered medieval society and brought European culture reluctantly into the modern era. This was the Renaissance.
Few men have left a legacy as monumental as Filippo Brunelleschi. He was the first modern engineer and a problem-solver with unorthodox methods. He solved one of the greatest architectural puzzles and invented his way to success. Only now is he receiving deserved recognition as the greatest architect and engineer of the Renaissance. Diff. Italian Humanism vs. Northern Humanism: Italian -emphasizes human achievement through art, painting, and architecture.
Northern -interested in social reform based in Judeo- Christian values. Describe change that took place during Renaissance (lifestyles): The term, Renaissance, comes from the Latin word 'rinascere' that means to be reborn. The Renaissance was a great cultural movement; a period of renewal, revival, and growth. The Renaissance began in Italy during the early 1300's. By 1600 the cultural revival had spread to France, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and other European countries. Many Renaissance scholars and artists studied the art and learning from ancient Greece and Rome, attempting to recapture the spirit of those cultures in their philosophies and their works of art and literature.
Renaissance leaders began to reject many of the attitudes and ideas of the Middle Ages. For instance during those earlier times, the most important cultural institution was the Church and the important learning was theology, the study of God. Medieval thinking held that the world was filled with evil temptations. Renaissance thinkers began to emphasize people's responsibilities and duties to their society, a society that could civilize people rather than make them wicked. The changes in thinking during Renaissance happened gradually.
New ideas in art, astronomy, science, literature, mathematics, philosophy, religion, and politics were developed and advanced by a few individuals. But the influence of the Renaissance impacted and shaped the future, leading to a modern era. Compare Middle Ages Art w / Ren. Art & Italian vs. Northern: the middle age art was very religious, dull, unrealistic, and serious. Renaissance art had realistic paintings, perspective, shadowing, emotion, and secularity / classical themes.
Italian Renaissance Northern Renaissance Subject matter: Classical mythology, religious scenes. Domestic interiors, portraits, religious scenes. Style: Symmetrical, balanced, good sense of mass, linear perspective. Attention to surface detail, naturalism. Known for: Figures with mass and volume, knowledge of underlying anatomy.
Minute surface detail. Media: Fresco, tempera, oil. Oil on panel. Example: Michelangelo, Creation of Adam from the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Jan van Eyck, Arnolfini Wedding Portrait. Middle Ages Renaissance Major patrons: Church.
Church and middle / upper classes. Literature: Bible. Bible, Greek literature, Renaissance Humanists. Geographic center (s): Paris, pilgrimage sites, monasteries. Florence. Inspiration: Bible.
Bible and classical antiquity. Paint medium: Tempera. Oil.