Italian Renaissance brought humanity into a golden age of artistic expression and the rejuvenation of humanism as a philosophy and a way of looking at the world. (Italian Renaissance, 1) The re-discovery of many ancient Greek and Roman texts allowed architects, artists, historians, and scientists to build upon the greatest achievements of man from the ancient world. After centuries of feudalism and a strong Catholic Church, wealthy elites began to compete amongst themselves in various artistic forms, commissioning works of art from common artists intended for the personal glorification of themselves or their family, a sharp contrast to the feudal idea of serf and lord. The Italian Renaissance consolidated science and technology in order to establish new understanding of the world, and the way in which humanity thought. The Renaissance that began in the various principalities of Italy slowly spread north to France, Germany, England,...
Although many of the humanist aspects of the Italian Renaissance moved North with the ideas of the Renaissance, the consolidation of power by the various European monarchs and the Pope brought an end to the environment of discovery that had sprung up in Italy. Rather than paying tribute to the qualities of man, the pursuits of men were thus altered to be for the pursuit of glory for the state. The bright and colorful art of the Italian Renaissance gave way to the dark, and extremely religious themed art of the Baroque era, popularized in Northern Europe after the masters of the Italian Renaissance had surpassed the art of the ancient world.
The landscape diffuses in colors to give optical illusion of perspective and farness. The first figures, of the two children are softly modeled in lights and shades. The light is bright and clear and it seems to have no specific direction. Although Renaissance had great preoccupation with the study of light and the use of it to give volume, there will pass a longer time before artists would really use the
Renaissance Art Reflection The Birth and Evolution of Beauty Perspectives on form and beauty have changed over the span of hundreds of years, from unrealistic expectations in anatomy to that of more lifelike depictions. Of course, no story on beauty can ever be told without the use of Venus and the changes she undergoes throughout the years during the Renaissance. Botticelli gave Venus life, Bronzino beatified her to a goddess-like pedestal, and
Indeed the Germans, the French, and the rest looked back to an antiquity in which their ancestors had been subjugated by the legions. Nothing is more remarkable therefore than the rapid and irrevocable penetration of Italian ideas and practices among the "barbarians," as the Italian writers referred to them, some of whom were currently invading the peninsula." (Wiener, 124) it's also important to note that influence of antique classicism
Even in Catholic France, the Protestant sentiment that God's grace alone can save His fallen, human creation was evident in the humanist king, Francis I's sister, Margaret, Queen of Navarre's novel when she wrote: "We must humble ourselves, for God does not bestow his graces on men because they are noble or rich; but, according as it pleases his goodness, which regards not the appearance of persons, he chooses
The Catholic Church was forced to react and respond to the Protestant Reformation. This can be seen in the music of Palestrina. The Council of Trent resolved to eliminate the use of secular and ornate music during masses, which it saw as part of the 'worldly excesses' condemned by Protestants. Palestrina composed masses with a "purer, more restrained style" (Sherrane 2008). Palestrina brought forth a resurgent interest in plainsong, "each
Journal of Albrecht Durer, 1498 I, Albrecht Durer, will preserve what I feel today in indelible colors. I stand pompous, extravagantly dressed, back to where I have always belonged. I may seem ostentatious now, with the artistic splendor I am bestowed with, more refined. Yet it was at Venice where I found inner tranquility of being an artist. I shall paint now as my imaginations will sweep with the aura of
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