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¶ … Confessions of Augustine, The Life of Saint Teresa of Avila by Herself, "On the Oration and Dignity of Man," Petrarch's poetry, and Shakespeare's drama "King Lear" are both products of societies in which the dominant religious ethos was Christian rather than pagan. However, although all texts share this similar historical feature, fundamentally opposing views of the self are articulated through the theological texts in contrast with the works of lyric and dramatic poetry.
This may seem counter-intuitive to a casual reader, as both Augustine's Confessions and "King Lear" makes use of pagan and Christian modalities of selfhood. A closer reading suggests that while the former does so to validate the Christian concept of the supreme value of the inner life of the self as illuminated by God, the latter does so in a way that ultimately expresses a view of human inner life that is nihilistic, confusing, and cannot necessarily be illuminated at all.
Augustine is a man writing on the cusp of the division in historical time between the old pagan era and an evolving Christian, soon to be predominantly Catholic world. He advances, in contrast to pagan antiquity, a view of the self that is interior in its focus. He contrasts this interior nature with his other, worldly self of his past...
In the course of the Confessions, he makes exterior this inner conflict by discussing his parents. His father was a pagan, and a man of the world. His mother was a Christian, and a long-suffering wife who eventually became St. Monica. Augustine must chose between these two portions of himself. He ultimately chooses Christianity, or rather Christianity chooses him, as he experiences a divine revelation in a garden while staring at a Biblical verse.
It is interesting to note that before this revelation took place, Augustine had become to live in a more Christian fashion. He became fascinated with a sect of Christianity later deemed to be heretical. He begged God to make him good, but not yet; not so good he could not enjoy the pleasures of the flesh. Augustine's fundamental change, in other words, was in terms of his inner point-of-view. To the world he might have appeared as a good man, only have committed some small offenses, such as stealing apples as a child, or not marrying the woman he was having intercourse with. However, Augustine states that in retrospect, he realizes that merely because much of the outer world deems a man to…
Instead of the hobby of kings and professionals, learning was for all -- from soldiers to noblemen ("Renaissance" 2008). In addition, the Renaissance appreciated learning and curiosity for its own sake. In the same way, art was appreciated simply because it was art, instead of being commissioned for a certain purpose. Furthermore, the Renaissance focused more on the individual's ability to make creations and to decide than the occurred
Bernini's statuary group is a combination of lyric and mimetic representation depicting both a mythical episode and vital energy which is best felt when looking at Persephone's hand pushing against Pluto's face. In fact, even this apparently simple detail is dual in the sense that on one hand, it is meant to give the impression of despair and struggle, and on the other, this gesture results in creases in Pluto's
Considered part of the Northern Renaissance, German Renaissance developed in the 15th and 16th centuries among German thinkers who had traveled to Italy, the cradle of the movement, and had been inspired to import it to Germany. Humanism exerted a strong influence over the arts and sciences in several German principalities, and coincided with a period of political development. Painting was one of the most prominent ways of artistic expression within
Raphael: Artist of the Renaissance Raphael was the son of Giovanni Santi, an educated man that was able to provide his young son with a remarkable life exposed to much art, many artistic geniuses, and the remarkable culture of the Umbrian court. Raphael was blessed during his childhood in terms of wealth and culture and would never have to know the life of a struggling artist nor the sense of begging
Copernicus challenged the accepted viewpoint of the Christian West that the Earth stood still as the centermost point of the Universe. This tradition stemmed from the Ptolemaic model of a geocentric universe and correlated well with the religious tradition of the Church that the Earth was where God Himself became Man and walked among His children. Thus, the Earth had a special significance and should be thought of as being
Art During Renaissance The Evolution of Art During the Renaissance The Renaissance period is defined as a cultural movement that spanned approximately from the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe (Brotton 2006, p. 6). This period in the history of art included the painting, decorative arts and sculpture of the period and for many was considered a