Renaissance Essay Example For Students

Renaissance Essay The Renaissance was preceded by International Gothic, a style of art and architecture that continued into the first decades of the asses. In Gothic art figures appear static, lacking depth, volume and pictorial realism. Artists favored backgrounds of gold-leaf that embellished the image and accentuated its flatness. Figures become more three- dimensional, their movement fluid and natural. Detailed landscapes or Classical architectural settings demonstrate new theories of perspective. Sacred imagery-? Jesus, Mary and saints-?was no longer the only subject for art. We will write a custom essay on Renaissance specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Spurred on by humanist concepts derived through the revival of Greece-Roman texts, Renaissance artists made humans central to their paintings. However, the shift from Gothic to Renaissance ideas was slow and, as a result, many paintings from the first half of the fifteenth century remain rooted in the older tradition. The principal members of the first generation of Renaissance artistsDONATED in sculpture, Fillips BRUCELLOSIS in architecture, and MOSAIC in paintingshared many important characteristics. Central to their thinking was a faith in the theoretical foundations of art and the conviction that development and progress were not only possible but essential to the life and significance of the arts. Ancient art was revered, not only as an inspiring model but also as a record of trial and error that could reveal the successes of former great artists. Intending to retrace the creative process rather than to merely imitate the final achievements of antiquity, Early Renaissance artists sought to create art forms consistent with the appearance of the natural world and tit their experience of human personality and behavior. The challenge of accurate representation as it concerned mass sculptural form, or the pictorial considerations of measurable space and the effects of light and color, was addressed in the spirit of intense and methodical inquiry. Rational inquiry was believed to be the key to success; therefore, efforts were made to discover the correct laws of proportion for architecture and for the representation of the human body and to systematize the rendering of pictorial space. Although these artists were keenly observant of natural phenomena, they also tended to extrapolate general rules from specific appearances. Similarly, they made an effort to go beyond straightforward transcription of nature, to instill the work of art with ideal, intangible qualities, endowing it with a beauty and significance greater and more permanent than that actually found in nature. These characteristicsthe rendering of ideal forms rather than literal appearance and the concept of the physical world as the vehicle or imperfect embodiment of monumental spiritual beautywere to remain fundamental to the nature and development of Italian Renaissance art. The art of the High Renaissance, however, sought a general, unified effect of pictorial representation or architectural composition, increasing the dramatic force and physical presence of a work of art and gathering its energies and forming a controlled equilibrium. Because the essential characteristic of High Renaissance art was its unitya balance achieved as a matter of intuition, beyond the reach of rational knowledge or technical skillthe High Renaissance style was destined to break up as soon as emphasis was shifted to favor any one element in the composition. The High Renaissance style endured for them Leonardo dad Vinci, Donate Aberrant, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Titian. Leonardo dad Vines unfinished Adoration of the Magi (1481; Fizz Gallery, Florence) is regarded as a landmark of unified pictorial composition, later realized fully in his fresco The Last Supper (1495-97; Santa Maria dell Gracie, Milan). Leonardo is considered the paragon of Renaissance thinkers, engaged as he was in experiments f all kinds and having brought to his art a spirit of restless inquiry that sought to discover the laws governing diverse natural phenomena. A major watershed in the development of Italian Renaissance art was the sack of Rome in 1527, which temporarily ended the citys role as a source of patronage and compelled artists to travel to other centers in Italy, France, and Spain. Even before the death of Raphael, in 1520, anticlimactic tendencies had begun to manifest themselves in Roman art. Renaissance Essay Example For Students Renaissance Essay Renaissance Renaissance is a French word meaning rebirth. The Renaissance originated in Italy during the mid-14th century and spanned through the 17th century. This rebirth was a distinct change from the previous time period, the Middle Ages. The Renaissance was a cultural rediscovery of Greek and Roman ideas, which was demonstrated in art, literature, and religion. It was, generally, a rebirth (some may say revival) of art, literature, and religion. Starting in around the mid-14th century, it was truly a rebirth. Coming off the Black Death and Hundred Years War, there was leant of room for change. We will write a custom essay on Renaissance specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Around one-third of Rupees population was ravaged by wars and disease during the end of the Middle Ages, so new generations of ideas were bound to happen. With art, new techniques grew in paintings, sculptures, and architecture. There was finer definition in facial structure and the occurrence of naturalism, as shown in works like David. There was also the creation of three- dimensional painting on a two-dimensional surface. Renaissance artists were recognized and respected as individuals, not as much as a group at this point. David y Michelangelo, was a sculpture of the Biblical hero, created between 1501 and 1504. The reason this sculpture is so magnificent is that it was built like a Greek god with such fine technique and the beauty of naturalism. The Middle Ages can also be recognized as an Age of Faith. With the great power of the papacy and Catholic Church, one cannot simply deny that this was a church- dominated period of time. The Renaissance, however, was not so much religiously dominated, more so a new way of thinking towards the world. Instead of a religiously run government, it was more of an aristocracy style government. This means families like the Medici family were powerful because of their wealth and history. Patriarch was an Italian writer, also known as the Father of Humanism, during the Renaissance who admired Greek and Roman style. 1To put it briefly, we ought to act as a careful guardian of the state, not as its lord. Such was the advice that the philosopher gave at great length in his politics, advice that is found to be very useful and clearly consistent with Justice. The philosopher to whom he was referring was Aristotle, showing that great thinkers during the Renaissance were looking back to the Greeks or their ideas rather than looking to the church for guidance. Literature grew emphatically during the Renaissance. The earliest (quite possibly the best) writers were Dante, Patriarch, Vocation, and Machiavelli. These Italian writers had notable works that spread throughout Europe, ultimately spreading some of the Renaissance style. With the creation of the movable type printing press in the asses Oneness Gutenberg), there was significant encouragement for literacy and the spread of the Renaissance ideas. It is a press, certainly, but a press from which shall flow in inexhaustible streams Through it, God will spread His Word. A spring of truth shall flow from it: like a new star it shall scatter the darkness of ignorance, and cause a light heretofore unknown to shine amongst men. Gutenberg basically foreshadowed the spread of knowledge with his printing press. In conclusion, the Renaissance was Roman and Greek ideas, which modified the layout of European society for many centuries (for better or for worse). This cultural rediscovery was shown in art, literature, and religion for an amazing three hundred years of history.