Verified Document

Renaissance Vs. High Renaissance The Essay

One the right is a statue of Athena, god of wisdom, light, and the city. On the left is Apollo, sun god, holding a lyre. Arching over the top of the painting is a great, wide semi-circle in a space resembling a basilica annex. Philosophy in the Middle Ages was obsessed with the analytical procedures of Aristotle, whose treatises on many subjects generally worked inductively, determining truth from other truths. A feature of the high Renaissance was the shift towards Platonic thought, but also a continued influence by papal authority. In The School of Athens, Raphael has drawn a portrait of classical philosophy but sanctified it by putting theists and atheists alike in a religious setting.

Thematically, The School of Athens presents Renaissance Humanism, linking the Athenian scene of people together in a fluid, personal picture. The personalities of each philosopher mix in a jumble of activity and motion. Whereas classical Greek philosophy...

Pre- and early Renaissance art in Western Europe did not focus on the divinity of man, but in a period of immense cultural growth, the supremacy of mankind over nature and death characterized expression. For Raphael, the staging of an Athenian intellectual scene in a contemporary church connoted respect for the past and the immortality of the human spirit.
Donatello and Raphael are just two of the dozens of the Renaissance masters. I especially like Donatello's second David since the defiant face is not just a depiction of a story, but a statement about the changes in art underway in Donatello's time. The human figure is not longer a burden for spiritual growth, but a pivotal part of religion. Raphael's School of Athens is an excellent integration of form and idea, and is a reminder of the complex world of the Renaissance, combining the classical with the contemporary.

Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Renaissance / Baroque Comparative Analysis
Words: 1748 Length: 4 Document Type: Term Paper

The compositional structure here is actually quite daring. Even though a viewer tends to "read" a painting left-to-right, as with a book, here the left side of the canvas seems to fade away into nothingness. It is not just the empty seascape on the left as compared with the dark richness of the forest on the right. The left half of the painting contains the subject of the painting after

Renaissance Art
Words: 985 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

Renaissance Art Within the broad gamut of Renaissance art throughout Europe, two sculptures remain outstanding and worthy of mutual comparison. Those two works of art are Michelangelo's statue of David and Donatello's same. The latter is the predecessor; Donatello's David predates Michelangelo's by about fifty years. Donatello's sculpture of David is considered to be of the Early Renaissance period, and was completed by about 1430 (Hudelson, n.d.). Michelangelo's David, on the

Renaissance Art Reflection the Birth and Evolution
Words: 637 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

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

Renaissance Sculpture the Division of Renaissance Art
Words: 1807 Length: 6 Document Type: Term Paper

Renaissance Sculpture The division of Renaissance art into three distinct periods began with Giorgio Vasari, the great Florentine art historian and chronicler of the lives of the artists. Vasari concluded, based on his universally accepted perception of Michelangelo as "Il Divino," that Renaissance art reached its most sublime expression in the works of Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. However, some modern art historians wonder how valid or valuable this categorization and

High Renaissance Movement and Its Most Celebrated Artists
Words: 2264 Length: 7 Document Type: Term Paper

High Renaissance Movement and Its Most Celebrated Artists The Renaissance is referred to as a period of time where there was a great cultural movement that began in Italy during the early 1300's. It spread into other countries such as England, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain. This era continued into the late 1400's and ended during the 1600's. The Renaissance times were a period of rebirth and during this time

Renaissance and Other
Words: 1277 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

Renaissance Art The relationship between patronage and art During Early and High Renaissance of Italy, it was through the vehicle of patronage was the key fashion in which an artist established his artistic identity as well as established himself economically. For instance, in considering Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus," it is important to remember that this vision is not an individualistic picture of a an artist living outside of his society. Rather,

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now