The Renaissance gave them the opportunity to explore and create without restraint. As a result of this, learning took on an entirely different meaning in that it included the human experience as a significant aspect of knowledge, increasing the desire to know more. A result of a desire to learn resulted in an invigorated self-confidence that only reinforced the belief that mankind had the power within him to understand all things, including nature. This new outlook on life and mankind resulted in an expansion of knowledge, especially in literature and science. Renaissance artists broadened their skills by using oil paints and incorporating realism to their work. Leonardo di Vinci is perhaps one of the most prominent artists of this time. His work illustrates the new trains of thought that mankind was taking. Another artist that cannot be ignored when mentioning the Renaissance is Michelangelo; a man whose art speaks volumes about mankind, art, and beauty on a level all its own. He is responsible for what is referred to as High Renaissance painting, marking the "advent of a new, experimental style known as mannerism" (440). Mannerism made way for the "strange and even the abnormal and gave freer reign to the subjectivity of the artist" (440). Freedom to express oneself without worrying about any constraints or opposition allowed the artists of this time to experience complete freedom in a way that they had never...

Pico della Mirandola wrote that man should be "free to become whatever they choose" (Mirandola qtd. In Craig 436). It could be said that the Renaissance utilized the best aspects of the old and the new to forge a new path toward knowledge and enlightenment. By realizing that the ancient thinkers were not wrong with their concepts simply because these concepts were older, the Renaissance thinkers applied ancient wisdom and knowledge and applied it to a new way of thinking that focused more on the individual. By combining the two elements, the Renaissance encapsulates the very best of both worlds.
Not all that is old is worthless and not all that is new is good and Renaissance thinkers made it their goal to differentiate between the two. The result was a new way of thinking that gladly embraced the wisdom of the ancient Romans and Greeks as long as it did not encroach upon the animal we refer to as man.

Works Cited

Barzun, Jacques. From Dawn to Decadence. New York: Harper Collins Publications. 2000.

Breisach, Earnst. Renaissance Europe. New York: The Macmillan Company. 1973.

Craig, Albert M., et al. The Heritage of World Civilizations. Fifth Edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. 2000.

Lucas, Henry. The Renaissance and the…