Italian Renaissance Essays (Examples)

Italian Renaissance Brought Humanity Into a Golden

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, and elsewhere in Northern Europe,…… [Read More]

Italian Renaissance Art an Analysis

The two seem to be squaring off in generosity, each inviting the other to go before him to make obeisance.

The postures and figures in the crowd range of arrogance to humility. A figure on the left appears to be frowning haughtily at the scene before him as though he could not possibly give up his dignity to bow before such a poor family. The fact that the setting is shifted from Bethlehem to Italy, complete with realistic depiction of countryside, sky, history, and place shows how important it was for the artist to make this Scriptural story as much a part of the lives of the Florentines as could be possible. That is why Botticelli transports the setting of the Adoration from the Middle East to Italy -- to drive home both the idea that Jesus was born for all men and the idea that Florence is as great…… [Read More]

Italian Renaissance Was the Beginning

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 light in all its realistic power. Renaissance light seems controlled and unnatural in some cases, used only to help the bodies gain threedimentionality and depth.

Another good example that displays all those characteristics is the small Cowper Madonna (1505, Oil on wood, 23 3/8 x 17 3/8 in, National Gallery of Art, Washington). Raphael was also a gifted artist to create complicate compositions as the Coronation of the Virgin (1503, Oil on canvas (transferred from panel) 267 x 163…… [Read More]

Italian Renaissance Art

Italian Renaissance Art

Mannerism

Mannerism is a period of European art that arose from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. It went on until around 1580 in Italy, when a more Baroque style developed to take its place, but Northern Mannerism lasted into the first part of the 17th century, all through much of Europe. Stylistically, Mannerism includes an assortment of methods swayed by, and responding to, the congruous principles and controlled naturalism associated with artists such as Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Raphael. This essay will discuss Mannerism expression of an era, the characteristics that define this movement and the reason why it is an extension of the earlier conventions.

Mannerism: Reflection of the Era

For years, many have thought that Mannerism was essentially considered to be a tendency developed by artist because it communicated the liberalism in their expression. However, more evidence leans toward…… [Read More]

Italian Renaissance Artist and One Piece of His Artwork

Sandro Botticelli's painting, "Mars and Venus" typifies the Greek and Roman themes of the Early Italian Renaissance. The work shows Venus, the goddess of love, overlooking a sleeping Mars, the god of love. A clear depiction of the power of love over war, "Mars and Venus" is painted in muted tones and careful outlines, giving the painting a dreamlike feeling.

General Description

Born Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi in 1445 in Florence, Italy, Sandro Botticelli became one of the most noted artists of the Early Italian Renaissance. Botticelli was known for his commissions for major churches in Florence, as well as his famed wall frescos on the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican in Rome. He painted a number of famed religious paintings, including "The Adoration of the Magi," "Madonna of the Pomegranate," "The Cestello Annunciation," as well as a number of paintings that depicted Roman and Greek legends, including "Primavera," "The…… [Read More]

Italian Renaissance the Reasons Behind

This uncertainty "provided the material for new intellectual, cultural, and social experiments that would at their conclusion provide the means of constructing a new European monocultural identity, one focused on humanistic studies, science, and the arts" (Hooker). According the History Channel, the Renaissance was "above all an urban phenomenon" (History) that is conceptually linked with the past in that while "medieval scholars looked askance at the pagan Greek and Roman world, believing that they were living in the final age before the last judgment, their Renaissance counterparts adored the ancients, condemned the Middle Ages as ignorant and barbaric, and proclaimed their own age one of light and the rebirth of the classical heritage" (history). In the midst of challenge and change, answers to life's questions were discovered.

The Renaissance is the result of several aspects in a society manifesting themselves in a way that demonstrates mankind's ability to adapt and…… [Read More]

Italian Renaissance

Power and the Changing Social Role of the Artist

The process of artistic creation is often taken for granted as the product of some singularly brilliant talent acting alone in his or her inspiration. However, this notion undermines the importance of art as reflecting certain social or cultural conditions pertinent to the time and place of its creation. This is the premise at the center of the article by Wind (1985), which weighs the relationship between individual will power and artistic creation. Wind's writing offers a compelling and nuanced consideration of the ways in which the artistic processes has changed with the shifting of socioeconomic structures and how, accordingly, the artist's psyche must also change.

Article Summary:

Wind's article describes the considerable difference between producing art in the feudalist eras and today, examining various relationships between prominent artists and project commissioners over history. Largely, this describes a relationship between iconic…… [Read More]

Science in the Italian Renaissance

Technology has now reached such dizzying heights that it attempts to give us here and now the Empyrean that Galileo's telescope neglected to find. How has it worked? Perhaps that should be the subject of another discussion. All the same, it is interesting to note that modern science is still attempting to explain the mysteries of the universe that in the medieval world were simply accepted on faith as part of the Faith revealed by God. Today, that God is dead (as Nietzsche tells us), and we are left creating new myths of Supermen, whom we adore in droves at the cinemas every year. What does it all mean?

These are interesting points for speculation.

If we look at the reaction to Galileo's article in the Starry Messenger in 1610, we find both approval and condemnation. The Carmelite Foscarini, for example, was in favor of pursuing Galileo's discoveries. The Holy…… [Read More]

Art Italian Renaissance Art This

Here Mars is asleep and unarmed, while Venus is awake and alert. The meaning of the picture is that love conquers war, or love conquers all." (Cole, xx) the purpose of the work during the renaissance was mostly likely for a prominent individual's bedroom furniture or a piece of wainscoting.

Some art connoisseurs have considered that the detailed wasps at upper right may have been a link to the popular Vespucci family of Florence and other connoisseurs have decided that the wasps are nothing more than a symbolism for Venus and the stings of love. "A lost Classical painting of the marriage of Alexander and Roxana was described by the 2nd-century Greek writer, Lucian. It showed cupids playing with Alexander's spear and armor. Botticelli's satyrs may refer to this. Mars is sleeping the 'little death' which comes after making love, and not even a trumpet in his ear will wake…… [Read More]

Reformation the Italian Renaissance in Babcock's Account

Reformation

The Italian Renaissance, in Babcock's account, was more secular than the Northern, which gave us the Reformation. Yet there seem to be contradictions in his account of the Northern Renaissance. For example, Babcock argues that the Reformation is alive today for the reasons that Max Weber emphasized in his 1905 book "whose title gives the whole thesis away": The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. (Babcock 212). Weber claims Protestants were looking for "signs of God's blessings on His elect" and found them in "hard work, the acquisition and growth of capital" (213). Babcock summarizes Weber as arguing that "through the acquisition of wealth, and all the capitalistic virtues that go with that, one could demonstrate that there was the blessing of God in your life" (213).

Babcock concedes that Weber's thesis has been "very controversial" but he himself endorses it as a "very powerful interpretation" (213). I…… [Read More]

Mystery of the Italian Renaissance

He took Giotto's notions and ran with them, so to speak. He, too, was breaking away from tradition because he viewed art differently than others sis. In his book, Michelangelo, William Lace states that Michelangelo was responsible for bringing realism to art and "freeing it from the stiff formality of the preceding centuries" (Lace 7). Michelangelo wanted his art to appear as realistic as possible. His goal was to create something that suggested authentic emotion. In addition to this, Michelangelo also saw the artist differently than others did as well. He wanted to bring forth from the stone what was already inside it. Here we see an artist that sees himself as a part of the artistic process. This sort of though was new and it inspired many artists of the day. What we find so important about this new line of thinking is the freedom that the artists felt…… [Read More]

Renaissance Was Born Out of

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 the German Renaissance. Also, publishing and printmaking were two areas which developed significantly throughout this period. German art was deeply influenced by its Gothic past, but many painters became increasingly more interested in fusing these Gothic elements with newer developments. Two of the most important figures of German visual arts were Konrad Witz, a conservative German painter who was less keen on adopting Italian trends, and Albrecht Durer who was both a painter and a graphic master. In fact,…… [Read More]

Renaissance and Other

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, the patron who commissioned the Botticelli painting for his country villa was a member of the rich and powerful family of the Medici, and demanded that certain artistic standards and ideals be reflected in the work. (Sandro Bottecelli, Webart, "The Birth of Venus (http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/botticelli/venus/)

The Medici family had a fascination not so much with tale of Venus, but with the Neoplatonic philosophy of beauty this female form had the potential to represent. Venus, it was thought, and all…… [Read More]

Renaissance Art

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 other hand, was completed in the early 1500s. It represents, and perhaps epitomizes, the culmination of the Italian Renaissance: the period known as the High Renaissance (Hudelson, n.d.). Yet, both Donatello and Michelangelo were accomplished Italian artists. Both Michelangelo and Donatello spearheaded Renaissance art movements in their depictions of the Biblical hero David. Their respective sculptures capture the physique and form of the masculine David, while also revealing the most perfected artistic techniques known at that time. The subject…… [Read More]

Renaissance the Term Renaissance Means To Be

Renaissance

The term "Renaissance" means "to be reborn," or "rebirth," and as a cultural movement in Europe, the Renaissance is generally accepted to have begun in Florence Italy in the late 13th century. Some claim that it was the result of the fall of Constantinople and the many Greek scholars and texts which found their way to Italy soon after bringing with them not only the knowledge of the classical world, but the new Islamic knowledge that was derived from it. This influx on knowledge started a cultural revival which sought to recapture the glorious past of the classical world, but soon exploded into the creation of an entirely new cultural identity based on the classical past but transformed into something completely unique. The ideas of the Renaissance spread throughout Europe completely transforming European nations artistically, economically, politically, socially, technologically, and in virtually every other aspect of culture. One can…… [Read More]

Renaissance Sculpture the Division of Renaissance Art

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 consequential value judgment is. Roberta J.M. Olson challenges the very existence of a "High Renaissance," on the grounds that "the term is artificial, a qualitative judgment of 'High' signifying the best," (149). Surely, there are noticeable differences in the vivid expressions of Italian Renaissance art from the fifteenth to the sixteenth centuries. Art from the early period of the Renaissance sprouted from the preceding medieval and Gothic artistic traditions, with their emphasis on dramatic facial expressions and compositions. This…… [Read More]

Renaissance Art Is the Expression

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 skin. Bernini's sculpture incorporates the twisting pose belonging to Mannerism, a reaction to the perfection of forms that can be identified during the Renaissance in the works of its greatest exponents, such as Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael.

The middle ages were marked by strictness imposed by the Catholic Church which exerted control over society. Artistic expression was reduced to a minimum because the doctrine of the church encouraged religious meditation, and austerity. The end of the middle ages…… [Read More]

Renaissance Art Reflection the Birth and Evolution

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 Cambiaso shadowed her in humanity. It is through these artists' eyes that one can see the progression of beauty throughout the Renaissance years.

Earlier Renaissance artists sought to epitomize and define beauty as "an order or arrangement such that nothing can be altered except for the worse" (Haughton, N.). While the movement brought along by the Renaissance certainly aimed to focus toward a realistic depiction of beauty, this was not always so defined during Botticelli's time. If one…… [Read More]

Renaissance Art

Renaissance Art

The objective of this study is to trace the compositional, stylistic and symbolic development of the story of the Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci and what makes Leonardo's work unique. Earlier examples will be cited including those of Andrea del Castagno or Domenico Ghirlandaio. The three sources will be annotated with a 10-sentence paragraph reviewing the source. Each annotation will include full sentences in essay format that detail what the link explores and how it is organized.

Art & Critique

The website 'Art & Critique' examines how the work of Leonardo Da Vinci entitled "The Last Supper" serves to unite "a personal interpretation of the event with a display of some general Renaissance aesthetic principles." (Art & Critique, 2012, p.1) It is reported that there is the confrontation of "an idiosyncratic vision" and in contrast a "generalist, if not dogmatic principle." (Art & Critique, 2012, p. 1)…… [Read More]

Renaissance A Comparison Between the Italian and

Renaissance:

A Comparison between the Italian and Northern European Renaissance

World history is a fascinating subject, especially when one takes into account the multi-dimensional, often heavy impact changes that are constantly taking place, and that often change the course of history in a way in which it could have never been imagined. After the Dark Ages, for instance, the Renaissance or "rebirth," a period of artistic-related growth across Europe, was one such change that literally pulled Europe out of the deterioration in which it found itself after the fall of the Roman Empire, and put it on a path of regrowth that was so replete with creativity that many scholars are still talking about it today. In order to better understand these historical changes, this paper will examine the Renaissance, for it was a very complex movement, in order to understand it better, and will do so by comparing the…… [Read More]

Renaissance Building Projects Their Relationship

In contrast, English baroque has been described as being more secular, with a higher degree of classical inspiration. However, as Daniells states, this form of the Baroque style is not easy to categorize with finality (Daniells). Wellek uses the term 'restraint' to characterize English baroque (Wellek). With regard to the period of the Scientific Revolution, English Baroque drew inspiration from renaissance geometry. As in the Italian or Roman Baroque, there is a strong religious element that permeates all the designs.

The form of Baroque is exemplified by work of Sir Christopher Wren and buildings like St. Paul's Cathedral. The following summary by Soo is reiterated as it encapsulates the link between English baroque and the religious and scientific values of the period. "...as the result of a compromise between native medieval tradition and continental classicism, reconciled by creating a disunity between appearances and reality, the final design of St. Paul's…… [Read More]

Renaissance Art Greatest Painter

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 for handouts or working in squalor. However, Raphael did suffer great tragedy: his mother died when he was eight years old and his father died three years later when Raphael was eleven years old. Thus, as a tender child, Raphael was no stranger to tragedy, something that no doubt instilled his life, making an imprint on him as an artist. One thing that Raphael's father did before his death that had a profound influence on the child and how…… [Read More]

Renaissance Portrait Portrait of a

Perhaps, the woman did give birth to a healthy child and then died, then this portrait would be in the nature of memorializing the wife of the man in this picture and the mother of his heir preserving for the child a likeness of the child's mother since the mother was no longer living and present in the lives of the family.

This is the only double portrait of its kind painted during the Renaissance period that is known and as related in the foregoing material, women were always pictured from a profile view with their hair severely pulled back away from their face and their gaze averted from the viewer since women were believed to be seductresses of men making them weak or otherwise castrating them with rejection though only casting a gaze in their direction.

The hands of the man are displayed in this portrait and he appears…… [Read More]

Renaissance Art Philosophy

Humanism:

The idea of humanism started in Italy in the 14th Century and thrived throughout the 15th Century. During this period, Italians placed a significant emphasis on education and increasing knowledge, particularly that of the classical ancient times. The Italians also promoted the exploration of human potential, desire to excel, and the devotion to civic responsibility and moral duty. The link between humanism and education and culture appealed to people of high status to an extent that the idea of humanism had its greatest influence on the elite and powerful individuals ("15th Century Italy," n.d.). Given its impact on the then philosophy, the ideas of humanism permeated art from the Renaissance onwards.

The ideas of humanism permeated art from the Renaissance onwards because of the greatest impact of humanism on the elite and powerful individuals who had the ability to commission art. Actually, the Renaissance was a by-product of the…… [Read More]

Renaissance Italian Painting Consequent to

Renaissance was beginning to influence Italian painters in adapting their style in order for it to fit the needs of a more advanced world. Fra Angelico is recognized as one of the great early Italian painters from the Renaissance. In his work of decorating the Dominican Monastery of San Marco, he mastered a painting style that was reported to have been partly inspired from Masaccio, with his paintings expressing motion and being filled with linear perspective meant to suggest depth of space.

It had been a common thing for the wealthy and most important families of Florence to hire talented painters to paint for them. Sandro Botticelli had been just one of the many Renaissance painters to paint for the Medici family. Even if Botticelli had spent a large part of his time working for great families, he still found time to perform additional paintings such as the one in…… [Read More]

Renaissance Actually Means a Revival

Martin Luther was offended by the widespread corruptions of the papacy; specifically the proclivity of Popes to engage in governmental matter. He also took instances with widespread practices of simony, the selling of indulgences, and issuing church positions based on money and influence. According to Luther, the individual source of religious authority was God as evinced within the Bible. He believed that the numerous manmade religious positions were actually obfuscating these initial points upon which Christianity was founded. Luther believed that salvation was gained by accepting Jesus Christ and his teachings. Since Jesus crucified and resurrected for the sake of humanity, all people had to do was simply believe in this Christ and live in according to his teachings. Luther advocated religious freedom for individual Christians. He did so because he believed the Roman Catholic Church was corrupt, and that faith in Jesus and his sacrifice was the ultimate form…… [Read More]

Renaissance Art

Art

Cimabue's late Byzantine painting Madonna and Child Enthroned is on the surface and in many respects similar to Giotto's early Renaissance painting Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints. In fact, only a generation or two separated these two painters. Cimabue painted his Maesta from 1280 and finished in 1285, whereas Giotto worked between 1305 and 1310 on the Ognissanti Madonna. Within this 40-year time span, great changes were taking place in Italian art as well as history and culture in general. These changes become evident when analyzing the differences between Cimabue's and Giotto's differing renditions of the Madonna enthroned. In particular, Giotto's painting whispers of the emerging naturalism and realism that would become hallmarks of the Renaissance.

The Byzantine style can be described fairly as being two-dimensional in scope, as the human figures are rendered flatly on the canvas. Moreover, one of the distinguishing features of Byzantine art is…… [Read More]

Renaissance Art

Brown, Beverly Louise. "The Genius of Rome." London: Royal Academy of the Arts, 2001.

Brown's "The Genius of Rome" offers a comprehensive analysis of both the convergence and dichotomy of sacred and profane elements in Renaissance Italian art. Caravaggio stands at the midpoint, the pivotal space, between sacred and profane. As Brown points out, many of Caravaggio's altarpieces were initially rejected on the grounds that they were not sacred enough, and the author claims that his work has been described by contemporaries as "mezzo tra il devote, et profano," or "halfway between sacred and profane," (p. 276). Interestingly, seventeenth century sources reveal scant evidence as to why Caravaggio's work would have been viewed in this way, and why his altarpieces were sometimes summarily rejected. Later in the chapter, Brown focuses on Rubens, who encapsulated the dichotomies between sacred and profane. This resources provides instrumental evidence related to the evolution of…… [Read More]

Clothing in Renaissance

Renaissance current can be dated, in Europe, as starting around 1480-1490. Renaissance started in Italy and moved towards Hungary, Germany and England, on one hand, and to France, after the French invasions of the Italian Peninsula, on the other. A similar trend occurred in the fashion industry, but the exchanges were continuous and influences from Northern Europe to Italy were not unprecedented.

The general characteristics of the initial period of Renaissance in Europe include the close-body fitting of the clothing and a detailed attention to ornamentation. Both men and women in the upper and middle classes wore elaborate costumes, made of rich materials. The clothing, particular in the upper classes, as well as in the economically successful middle classes, aimed to showcase the individual's success and his or her position in society. As a consequence, in both Northern and Italian Renaissance, there is an attention to detail and to customizing…… [Read More]

David During the Renaissance

Renaissance Art

When discussing with regard to the Old Testament figure of David and to how he was represented during the Renaissance, one would have to consider the current as a whole in order to gain a more complex understanding of why artists directed their attention toward the character. Artists during the Renaissance were determined to restructure social values for the masses to be able to acknowledge the significance of classical values. David had been a symbol of the classical era and artists in the Renaissance wanted to create works that glorified both him and the idea of the natural man in general.

It was probably David's legendary character that influenced artists to express particular interest in wanting to portray him. By looking at how each artist depicted him, one can understand the cultural elements that inspired these respective artists. All things considered, it would be safe to say that…… [Read More]

Renaissance Paintings- Virgin and Child Art Has

renaissance paintings- VIRGIN AND CHILD

Art has always been an important tool for understanding various eras and their influence. It has served as a reflection of the times during which it was created and for this reason, art is considered a very sensitive medium. It quickly absorbs the changes that witnesses in the surrounding culture and society. It is impossible for art to remain static and uninfluenced in the wake of societal upheaval. Renaissance art therefore is a completely distinctive breed as it reflects the massive transformation in political and religious mood of the society. It depicts the changes that Renaissance era underwent. While some painters paid closer attention to political problems that occurred during 14 and 15th century AD, others focused mainly on religious changes. These changes are most prominent in the several Renaissance paintings that depict Virgin and Child theme.

Unlike the dogmatic nature of religious beliefs observed…… [Read More]

Renaissance Baroque Comparative Analysis

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 all -- Europa and the Bull. It is Rembrandt's genius to have the drama of Europa and the Bull taking place in the lower left corner of a very large painting, almost as though the moment of drama is on its way out, and the viewer is lucky to have caught it. But it is also clever how Rembrandt essentially balances the canvas with two central subjects, equally illuminated from above -- we have Europa and the Bull on the…… [Read More]

Renaissance and Baroque

Renaissance and Baroque Periods

The term Renaissance describes, not only a movement in art, but also a corresponding social and cultural movement that moved through Europe at the conclusion of the Middle Ages. The Renaissance period lasted from the 1400s to the 1600s, and spread through most of Europe, though it is probably the most heavily associated with Italy. The term "renaissance" means revival or rebirth, and the Renaissance did mark a period of significant cultural revival. In order to truly understand the Renaissance, it is important to understand that the Middle Ages, the time period preceding the Renaissance was a period of retraction largely due to political instability. However, as Europe emerged from the Middle Ages and became more stable, the surrounding social landscape became supportive of an explosion in the arts and learning. The movement began in Italy in the 1400s and spread into France, northern Europe, and…… [Read More]

Renaissance Art Patrons and Their Effect on History

Renaissance Art Patrons and Their Effect on History

The great works of art that hang on the walls of some of the great museums of the world are not there because the artist wished for the world to behold their particular brilliance. It is true that greats such as Michelangelo and da Vinci were brilliant in their own right, but they would not have been able to produce as they did unless they had patrons who commissioned many of their works. Royalty were not alone in being able to afford the works that brilliant masters produced, though they were patrons at times. Private, wealthy persons who wanted to be remembered for their wealth and stature were the most prolific patrons. Even into the modern day, there are patrons of the arts who commission paintings, sculptures, buildings and other works that otherwise would not be produced. It is a tradition that…… [Read More]

Renaissance the Emergence of the

With the decline of the Church, other religious movements emerged dominant among Renaissance thinkers and followers, which included the movement of Protestantism, and later on, Reformation. Under the Protestantism movement, reformed Catholic churches established their own assembly, disassociating from the Catholic Church to form their own religious organization. Protestantism, in fact, preceded the Protestant Reformation, which culminated the Renaissance movement in the 16th century. Under the Protestant Reformation, socio-economic changes were put into place, which involved primarily the transfer of power from the Church to the civil society/citizenry. The Reformation gave birth to a more democratic, independent society, wherein people or the citizens are given more voice in decision-making concerning civil society. Primarily, decentralization of social, economic and political power took place because of the Reformation.

Scientific development became one of the most important areas that developed from the Renaissance. Apart from promoting humanism and intellectual thought, expressed through artworks,…… [Read More]

Renaissance & Reformation Discovering the

In terms of Renaissance philosophy, Galileo Galilei is an example of a humanist who strongly defended the gradual flourishing and subsistence to the scientific revolution happening in his society during the Renaissance period. Galileo was a strong advocate for the usage of science in discovering truth and new knowledge, using the principles of mathematics and philosophy in strengthening the study of astronomy and physics in the society. Through Galileo, the nature of free scientific inquiry prevailed, challenging, though not condemning, philosophical and theological issues that cannot empirically answer truth and reality in life. Dante Alighieri's "Inferno," meanwhile, is a literary piece that represented his inquiry into the spiritual and humanistic foundations of human existence during his time. In a period wherein theological foundations and philosophies are being questioned, Dante's "Inferno" confronted the moral and spiritual issues being questioned by Dante and his society during this challenging period of Renaissance.

Following…… [Read More]

Renaissance Art

Renaissance Art

Renaissance literally means 'rebirth' and the movement was specifically about rebirth of cultural ideas, spiritual views and artistic expression. The term, first coined by Vasari in 1550, is now used for the period from mid 14th to mid 16th centuries that was marked by a revolution in art, painting, sculpture and even literature. Renaissance gained prominence almost immediately with Bellini, Botticelli, Bruegel, da Vinci, Durer, Michelangelo, Raphael associating themselves with the movement. Though the origins of Renaissance can be traced to Florence, Italy, there is no consensus on the exact period when this rebirth took place. Some believe that it started in 14th century as early as 1337 with the death of Giotto while others feel it originated in the 15th century. Similarly historians largely fail to agree on the exact period when Renaissance ended. But it is largely felt that Renaissance Art died somewhere between the death…… [Read More]

Cultural Transmissions by the Italian

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 typical for Italian architecture of the 14-16th centuries is not observed in the north. Classical style of Italian cathedrals and churches, typical for Ancient Greek and Roman pagan temples is usually not observed in buildings of Renaissance epoch in Germany, Britain or France, where architecture was influenced by Gothic style, which got earlier spread in Europe.

Reformation and Counter Reformation

The spread of Protestantism over Europe, which is considered to be one of the most historically significant achievements of Renaissance and…… [Read More]

Southern & Northern Renaissance the

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 whom he will."

Shakespeare's Hamlet is haunted by the ghost of his father from Purgatory. Purgatory was a Catholic concept. But rather than trusting the vision of the divine on earth, Hamlet is suspicious about the ability of fallen human beings to enact justice. Rather than finding good in the face of women, Hamlet sees only evil. "In considering the cultural conditions that allow tragedy to revive, we may also want to consider that the plays occurred in Christian Northern Europe;…… [Read More]

Art During Renaissance the Evolution of Art

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 reawakening or rebirth of historic and ancient traditions based on the classical antiquity and the inclusion of more recent developments by applications of contemporary scientific knowledge.

The Renaissance was seen as a bridge between the Middle Ages and the modern era. The period also marked a cognitive shift from religious perspectives to a more intellectual and social focus. Classical texts previously lost to European scholars became readily available and included science, drama, poetry, prose, philosophy, and new considerations…… [Read More]

Medici Family and the Renaissance

Lorenzo de Medici especially helped doubling the art collection of the family and provided a liberal and generous material support for the artists. Moreover, his great critical thinking ensured that the true artistic values of the time were promoted. He constructed schools for painting and sculpture and monitored the artists that attended them in his search for artistic value. Under his rule, some of the greatest painters produced their greatest work entirely for him: "Verrocchio did almost all his work for him; that sculptor's graceful tomb in San Lorenzo over Lorenzo's father and uncle, his bronze David, and his fountain of the Boy with a Dolphin, were all executed for Lorenzo."(Young, 205) Botticelli's works in his second period were also produced in totality for Lorenzo the Magnificent. Another dimension of the family's influence over art is the fact that the atmosphere at the court clearly left its mark on the…… [Read More]

High Renaissance Movement and Its Most Celebrated Artists

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 many artists studied the art of ancient Greece and Rome. Their desire was to recapture the spirit of the Greek and Roman cultures in their own artistic, literary, and philosophic works. The cultures of ancient Greece and Rome are often called classical antiquity. The Renaissance thus represented a rebirth of these cultures and is therefore also known as the revival of antiquity or the revival of learning.

The artists' works include many aspects of the medieval times and incorporated…… [Read More]

Influance of Renaissance Renaissance in

" Initially, the painters were given the assignment to create sample frescoes which were to be evaluated. On the basis of the evaluation, they were to be employed or not. However, their talent was rapidly acknowledged and they were commissioned to continue the work without any other testing. The individual scenes constitute a whole because they comprise typological references to one another. They present Moses as prefiguring Christ. We must mention, however, that, only after Michelangelo's later work (1508-1512) did the Chapel become famous.

After the Medici's expulsion from Florence, Botticelli felt the influence of a Dominican monk called Girolamo Savonarola. In Savonarola's point-of-view, everything that wasn't useful in the life of humans didn't deserve any attention. Therefore, he destroyed many works of art, in his "bonfire of vanities." Because of this man, Sandro was deeply affected and his interior feelings were also reflected in his work.

As a review,…… [Read More]

Art Conception Early Renaissance Imagine

The function of the work of art would be to stand before the city, and to show the city as wisdom personified, and by implication show that the wisdom came from the works and power of the Medici. It would make an analogy between the city-state of Florence and the ancient city-state of Athens. Because Athens was a genuine republic, it might even deflect some criticism from the Medicis, who were technically supposed to be residents of a republic, even though they ruled from behind the scenes. The setting of the sculpture, next to David, outside the city gates would act as a powerful warning of the city's power (with the violence of the anvil and David's shotgun) as well as strike a balance between Classical representations of learning and the still-important tenants of the Catholic faith that must be honored in a world still dominated by the clergy.

The…… [Read More]

Hamlet & the Renaissance if

In Hamlet's case, the dark Ages conquer the light and the last scene displays before Fortinbras'(the Prince of Norway, whose father was killed by Hamlet's father) eyes. Fortinbras seems to be the symbol for the rebirth of Denmark, in the light of a young king that lacks the putrid inheritance of an alienated royal family, like Hamlet's. The Renaissance man, Prince Hamlet, seems aware of the inutility of trying to restore the reign of his royal family in Denmark, since its members are proved to be corrupt and not suitable any more to lead a country in the spirit a new born world. His acts could also be in the spirit of sacrifice, suitable for a Renaissance man, in the name of restoring the dignity of his subjects and the glory of his country. People like Galileo and Savonarola were ready to give up their most precious possession, life, for…… [Read More]

Virgin Mary in Renaissance Art

Religious Image as Depicted by Three Different Artists:

The Virgin Mary in Renaissance art

Portraits of the Virgin and Christ Child began to proliferate in Florence during the Italian Renaissance. There was "a new demand for devotional images on a domestic scale" (Botticelli, Virgin and Child with an Angel). While epic religious portraits remained in vogue in some quarters, in others a new vision came to the forefront that stressed the Holy Family as a family, not merely as divine beings. The sense of the human-divine connection being closer than was conceptualized in the Middle Ages was made manifest in art, particularly when showing Christ at his youngest and most vulnerable.

However, the development of the 'religious domestic' took time to fully unfold in the ideology of the era. For example, the early Renaissance artist Masaccio is well-known for his portraits of the Virgin Mary. However, his work is heavily…… [Read More]

Italian and Northern European Renaissance

Culturally, the development of northern European art was not unlike that of Italy, particularly when powerful princes created individual states based on wealth and leisure which encouraged the growth of the arts based on commerce and on the patronage of the rich merchants who controlled these states.

This new and versatile artistic medium was exactly right for the formal intentions of the northern painters who wished to create sharp-focused, hard-edged and sparkling clarity of detail in the representation of objects and figures. While the Italian artists were interested primarily in the structure behind the appearances, being perspective, composition, anatomy, the mechanics of bodily motion and proportion, the northern painters were intent on creating appearances themselves, being the bright, colored surfaces of objects and figures touched by natural light.

For example, in Renaissance Italy, Leonardo da Vinci's The Virgin of the Rocks (ca. 1485) reflects all of the artistic integrity and…… [Read More]

Renaissance Humanism by Nature Humanists Believed That

Renaissance Humanism

By nature, Humanists believed that the ancient teachings of Greeks and Romans were a solid foundation for intellectual pursuits and social philosophy.

During the Renaissance the average man found himself turning away from a life that was governed by medieval Christian restrictions, and welcoming classical literature and paganistic views that paved the way to a more secular life and view.

The return to favor of the pagan classics stimulated the philosophy of secularism, the appreciation of worldly pleasures, and above all intensified the assertion of personal independence and individual expression.... Expansion of trade, growth of prosperity and luxury, and widening social contacts generated interest in worldly pleasures, in spite of formal allegiance to ascetic Christian doctrine (Kreis, 2002)."

The Renaissance was a time where many great humanists, like Desiderius Erasmus, and Niccolo Machiavelli encouraged their fellow man to embrace the classics and venture into intellectual independence. Erasmus was…… [Read More]

Italian Feminism and Masculinity

Italy is a cultural hub of gender identity where issues of feminism and masculinism have been deeply entrenched for many years. For centuries Italy has been considered a more masculine country, though the majority of work documented related to masculinism actually is sparse. Issues of feminism and masculinity has surfaced in the workplace, where naturally access to issues such as equal employment and technology have surfaced. Gender inequality issues in Italy have in fact created a basis for the continuance of a feminism-masculinism dichotomy.

Masculinism has been defined as "the property by which humans of the male sex are defined as manly" (Noumenal, 2004). Alternatively, Simone de Beauvoir described femininity as "neither a natural nor an innate entity, but rather a condition brought about by society." This statement is more true than any other, as evidenced by gender inequality differences largely the result of the paternalistic nature of the culture…… [Read More]

Renaissance Art

Art

As Baxandall points out, "a fifteenth century painting is a product of a social relationship," (p. 1). That social relationship was carefully forged and affected by a confluence of interests including those that are commercial, cultural, religious, and perceptual or aesthetic in nature. The relationship between client and artist was one constrained by social convention, legal tradition, and also the expedience of broader interests. Money has played a long-underestimated role in the history of art, notes Baxandall. For this reason, it helps to examine fifteenth century paintings in terms of not only their aesthetic values and symbolism but also in terms of how financial or class-based issues impacted issues like the materials used, how the artist was paid, and the size of the piece. Painting, Baxandall states, was "too important to be left to the painters," (p. 3). Two of the most important conventional characteristics of fifteenth century paintings…… [Read More]

Italian Business

People by Edoardo Nesi

"the Story of My People" by Eduardo Nesi

"the Story of My People" by Eduardo Nesi

"THE STORY OF MY PEOPLE" BY EDOARDO NESI

Learning One: Business Trade

Learning Two: Financial Analysis

Learning Three: Denouncement of Big Business

Learning Four: Corrupt Politicians

Lesson Five: Haughtiness of Economists

How does the book apply to International Business?

"The Story of My People" by Eduardo Nesi

In the Italian city of Prato, Eduardo Nesi's family owned a textile factory that was really small and it was located in Tuscany. However, some time I September 2004 Nesi had to sell it for the reason that there was no way to keep it in tip top condition so that it could compete against its rivals. Apparently, it was just too much trouble. In a world of international and free trade the house was not making any kind of profit and in…… [Read More]

Importance of the Renaissance

Renaissance refers to the rebirth and revival of art and architecture in the 15th and 16th centuries in Italy. The Renaissance is fascinating to study and is still culturally significant even today because of the high level of artistic and architectural production that was able to be produced during this time. Thus, one of the fundamental reasons as to why this period was significant is directly connected to the fact that the works which were captured during this time continue to captivate the imagination of most people, and continue to impress and amaze. The Renaissance is important not just because of the high level and innovation of work that was created, but because it demonstrated a higher level of intellectualism and understanding about the human condition that was manifested through art.

The Renaissance is significant today, not merely because of the high level of art that was produced, but because…… [Read More]

Comparison of the Renaissance and Baroque Era

renaissance -- Baroque Music

RENAISSANCE & BAROQUE MUSIC:

A COMPARISON

The music associated with the Renaissance Period, beginning circa 1450 and ending about 1600, brought about a number of significant changes as compared to its predecessor, being the Medieval Period. Musically, the Renaissance Period introduced the use of polyphony and saw the rise of the cantus firmus mass as Europe's first major musical form; in addition, there was an emergence of national schools of composition, a birth of new secular forms, the beginning of truly instrumental music and a series of inter-related developments, such as the use of monody and the bass continuo.

With polyphony, all of the musical parts are considered to be of equal importance and when combined produce not only an independent horizontal movement but also a vertical, being a combination of chords. The composers of the "ars nova," such as Guillaume de Machaut, created music of…… [Read More]

Hamlet and the Renaissance Do

Hamlet clearly melancholic view of the future of humanity, although he is capable of acknowledging goodness, as he does when he praises Horatio's character before the play-within-a-play, and he even praises Fortinbras' action in the name of the Norwegian's own father, although it goes against the interest of the Danish state. Finally, Hamlet admits that Laertes has a right to be angry on Polonius' account, as Hamlet's rash actions killed Laertes' father, even while Hamlet strove to avenge his own father. Thus, rather than a desperate view of human morality, Hamlet's inaction seems to arise from a combination of paralyzing depression about the nature of acting in a meaningless world and internal self-doubt. He also has an over-active intellect that enables him to rationalize both the murderous instincts of people going against his own interests like Laertes, and as well as his own revulsion at murder, as when he foolishly…… [Read More]

Middle Ages and the Renaissance Are Two

Middle Ages and the Renaissance are two historical periods in Europe that give interest to many philosophers, writers, and artists, among many others, in their study of how the Europeans, in their respective periods, lived their lives. In the study of the Middle Ages, sometimes also known as the "Dark Ages," and the Renaissance, also known as the period of "rebirth," similarities and differences can be presented based on the people's way of life, religion, culture, politics, arts and literature, and economy.

One main difference between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance is the way people value individuality. The people of the Middle Ages were guided by the teachings of their religion and church, which in contrast to the Renaissance whose people adhere more of individualism, valuing their potential of gaining achievements in life. Renaissance has been known as an era in which Europe emerged from depression and economic stagnation…… [Read More]

Antonio Canova Was an Italian Sculptor From

Antonio Canova was an Italian sculptor from Venice who lived from 1757 to 1822. He primarily worked in marble and believed that he could use that medium to render an artistic view of human flesh. He is most famous as someone who rejected the excesses and filigree of the Baroque to return to classical style, making him one of the foremost artists of the neoclassical style. For a number of years, Canova's work was considered to be the greatest example of European sculpture -- to the point that in 1802, Canova was invited to Paris to carve marble portraits of the emperor Napoleon and family. Most art critics find that the combination of returning to mythology and discreet eroticism that flowed out of the Renaissance and into the modern era, without all the unnecessary frills of the Baroque, to be his greatest contribution to art.

Biography

Canova was born in…… [Read More]

Troubadours During the French Renaissance

Troubadours actually represent an example of that change in the social set up that signifies individualistic approach. Troubadours represent the rejection of social locks on the ability of people to be romantically in love. Italian critic Mario Casella also attempted to note the significance of troubadours as a special development of Augustinian Philosophy of individualistic approach. (Silverstein, 122)

The troubadours dealt with varied important subjects like war, politics, personal satire and other subjects, yet the main theme of remained love and affection towards women. Most of the ladies for which the troubadours were sung, were married. Only some exceptional troubadours sang for maiden girls. Thus, the concept of love touched through troubadours was conventional type and it rejected marriage as the major objective of love. Some of the genre of troubadours was very satirical and naughty in essence such as Alba, which is the song that is sung by a…… [Read More]

Art Complete Identifications Period Date- Renaissance 1501- 1504

Art

Complete Identifications

Period/date- Renaissance 1501- 1504

Location or origin- Florence Italy

Medium and size- Sculpture

Period/date- Baroque 1610

Location or origin- Rome

Medium and size- Painting

The story of David and Goliath is one that transcends time. In particular, the story appeals to a wide array of diverse individuals, each with its own views on religion, culture and values. Through the universal appeal of David, many different interpretations have arisen throughout time. These interpretations, although distinct, often convey a fundamental truth prevailing during the period of its creation. Aspects such as war, political policies, civil unrest, and culture values often matriculate into the interpretation of the David of Goliath. Art is no different in this regard. Both the Baroque and Renaissance periods gave rise to new and distinct forms of belief and expression. These concepts ultimately matriculated into many of the more commonly know masterpieces of today's time. The…… [Read More]

Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance

Middle Ages and the Renaissance

The Medici Family was the most powerful and influential Florentine family from the 13th through the 17th century (Medici pp). This family produced three popes, numerous rulers of Florence, and eventually members of the French royalty (Medici pp).

From humble beginnings, the family achieved power through banking, in fact the Medici Bank was one of the most prosperous and respected banking institution in Europe, and it is from this base, that the family acquired political power, first in Florence, and then later throughout Italy and the rest of Europe (Medici pp).

Cosimo de Medici is considered to be the real founder of the family's fortune and in 1434, he controlled the government in Florence, and for the next sixty years ruled Florence although he had no official title (Medici1 pp). His son, Lorenzo, was also a powerful influence in Italian politics, yet like his father,…… [Read More]

Graphic Work of a Renaissance Artist

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 nature around me and my skills shall gain more strength. I will rejoice today to celebrate the liberty of an artist that I had experienced in Italian culture with the hope to awaken same liberation amongst natives of my land. I shall portray myself to depict the worth of a piece of art, the spectacle that a mere smear of color on canvas could create.

I may seem imprudent to Nuremberg for here I stand now almost 26, still…… [Read More]

Carolingian Renaissance Was a Period

One of the major problems faced by Charlemagne in his efforts to extend the level of education was the fact that there were very few educated persons available to teach others. Years of neglect had left the educational field with few individuals possessing the background necessary to teach others. What little scholarship that still existed in Europe was concentrated in and around Rome and Charlemagne initiated an aggressive program to attract the leading Italian scholars to his court. By recruiting these scholars to his court, Charlemagne ensured that the full body of available knowledge would be made available to himself and his subjects. From this pool of scholars, Charlemagne built his program of learning and began slowly to establish his own body of Frankish scholars. From this group, the future European learning environment would be built (Einhard) and the future of the European educational system would be ensured.

The curriculum…… [Read More]

Patronage of Cosimo De Medici in Renaissance Italy

Cosimo De Medici

We know all about the de Medici family - one of the most important dynastic families in Europe and in particular concerning the cultural and artistic life of Italy and so of the continent. And yet, as Dale Kent makes clear in her authoritative (and fascinating) account of the family and in particular of the life of Cosimo De'Medici, we actually know less about the family than we think. Kent argues that common ideas - and common misconceptions -- about the De'Medicis reflect not only flawed knowledge about this family in particular but also more general flawed assumptions about their era and about prevailing attitudes of the time towards artistic patronage and indeed towards art.

Kent's book is as much an ethnographic exploration of the culture and society of fifteenth-century Florence as it is about Cosimo de'Medici himself - although in her telling the man and the…… [Read More]

Virgin and Child From Byzantium to Renaissance

Art

The shift from Byzantine or Medieval art to the early Renaissance is perfectly demonstrated by examining the change in depictions of the Virgin Mary and the baby Jesus, or Madonna and Child, over time. What we see is a gradual tendency toward realistic depictions of human form, as a way of making religious art less remote and decorative, and more immediately related to actual human experience.

We can begin with the thirteenth-century Byzantine icon of the Madonna and Child on a Curved Throne. The painting is, in some sense, a highly stylized representation of a familiar image. The figures of mother and child do not really seem to exist in real space: for example, the gold leaf that is used for the flat backdrop behind the Madonna and Child is also used (in a decorative but not particularly realistic fashion) to highlight the folds of the Madonna's garments. Where…… [Read More]

Europen History What of the

The conflict evolved and his works burnt in Rome, following the Pope's orders gave him the opportunity to extend his efforts of reformation over the entire Northern Europe. His excommunication in 1521 led to the birth of a new church and the separation finally took place.

Calvin, unlike Luther the monk, was a lawyer who came to Geneva to help in the reformation process. At first, his attempts failed, but after being forced to leave the city, he returned and his new philosophical views about the reformed church were accepted by Geneva that became the center of Protestantism in Europe.

Question 3: Was the religiously-framed warfare of the 16th and early 17th centuries avoidable, given the realities of that place and time?

After the first period of the separation between the Catholic and the Protestant Churches that took place peacefully, there came a period of ruthless fights between the two.…… [Read More]

Changing A Look at the

He is one of the few artists that were recognized for his work while he was still living.

One of Michelangelo's most exquisite pieces is Pieta. In this sculpture, we can see how Michelangelo was moving away from the traditional form of sculpting. Creighton Gilbert notes that how Mary and Jesus are depicted in the statue is not typical of Michelangelo's day. Mary is seated with the dead Jesus in her lap and this image "first emerged as an abbreviation of the scene of Christ mourned" (160). Harold Keller maintains that the piece is filled with contrasts, horizontally and vertically. We also have the opposites of the clothed and the naked. The position of Jesus' body is different from most pietas of the day in that it is horizontal, producing a "step-like composition based on the sharp right able between the corpse and the upper body of the Madonna towering…… [Read More]

Egyptian Civilizations Classical Greek or

As Amun, he also wears a flat-topped crown, which was his signature. The figure is carrying and ankh in one hand and a scimitar in the other which is laid across his chest.

The gold represents the sun in ancient Egyptian culture, and so it is the only fitting

Hellenistic period

The Hellenistic period began in 323 BC, after the death of one of ancient Greece's great heroes, Alexander the Great. Alexander had conquered vast expanses of the ancient world, which opened up great cultural influences on the people of Greece (National Museum of Athens 2010). During this era, the people speak a multitude of different languages, and there are cultural influences from around the ancient world parading through the streets, which might I add, have all been recently paved. The city itself looks strikingly similar to more modern day cities. The culture is ripe with artistic expression and acceptance.…… [Read More]

Art Period's Styles Represent a Theme Art

art period's styles represent a theme art. Your comparison focus artists period styles. The pair choose drawn period styles. For essay, I compare a High Classical Greek artwork Early Italian Renaissance artwork.

The Artemision Bronze vs. Donatello's bronze David

While most people are inclined to look at the Italia Renaissance as being innovative and as bringing new concepts to society, the artistic movement actually inspired from Ancient Greece. By looking at the Early Renaissance period and at the Classical Greek artistic movement one is likely to observe a series of parallels, as the more recent artists did not hesitate to inspire themselves from individuals that they considered to be particularly refined in producing artwork. To a certain degree, one can consider the two movements to have had a similar effect in individuals living contemporary to them, considering that they both brought on artistic revolutions. The Artemision Bronze and Donatello's bronze…… [Read More]

Cultural and Construction History of

Charles Van Doren has concluded that the Copernican Revolution is actually the Galilean Revolution because of the scale of change introduced by Galileo's work.

The technological innovation of the Renaissance era started with the invention of the printing press (the Renaissance). Even though the printing press, a mechanical device for printing multiple copies of a text on sheets of paper, was first invented in China, it was reinvented in the West by a German goldsmith and eventual printer, Johann Gutenberg, in the 1450s. Before Gutenberg's invention, each part of metal type for printing presses had to be individually engraved by hand. Gutenberg developed molds that permitted for the mass production of individual pieces of metal type. This permitted a widespread use of movable type, where each character is a separate block, in mirror image, and these blocks are assembled into a frame to form text. Because of his molds, a…… [Read More]

David Notable Religious Events and Figures Often

David

Notable religious events and figures often serve as the inspiration and subject matter for great works of art across human history and across every culture. Events and notable figures from the Judeo-Christian Bible have inspired a great many of some of the most famous works of art in the Western world. Within the Bible, there are two primary sections: the Old Testament and the New Testament.

One of the many significant figures of the Old Testament is the man David, who was a simple boy who herded sheep, who ultimately led his people and others to triumph over a tyrant warrior, Goliath. David was a young man, armed with a slingshot and brought the vicious leader down. David was quite a popular figure artists depicted during the Renaissance era in the arts, particularly in the area of sculpture. There are three most notable sculptures created in Florence during the…… [Read More]

Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Duccio's Maesta

Botticelli's Birth Of Venus And Duccio's Maesta

The representation of women in Western art has changed throughout history, and for much of Western history this representation was oriented around the dominant female figure in contemporary society; that is, Mary, mother of Jesus. However, the gradual shift away from a dominantly monotheistic cultural hegemony seen in the Renaissance and eventually the Enlightenment brought with it new (and the case of this study, old) means of representing women beyond the confinements and discourse of the Madonna and Child. By comparing and contrasting Duccio di Buoninsegna's Virgin and Child Enthroned Amidst Angels and Saints (which is the main altarpiece of the artist's Maesta) with Sandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus, one is able to see how the changing cultural standards which came about during the shift from the conservative, Eastern-influenced Late Gothic art of Duccio to the freer, more naturalistic art of Botticelli's…… [Read More]

Madonna and Child Enthroned With Saints Visual Analysis

16th Century Italian Renaissance Art History

This paper is about a painting that is on display at a New York City museum. The painting was done in the 16th century during the Italian Renaissance. The artwork has been done by Raphael who only worked during that period. The essay is a visual analysis combined with research discussing size, brush stroke, color, craftsmanship as well as history of the painting. It is noteworthy that Raphael's real name is Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino. He was an Italian who excelled at painting and architecture and his artworks were and still are renowned for being perfect and graceful in every way. Raphael, Leonardo along with Michelangelo formed a trio of renowned and legendary masters whose works were unsurpassed in their lifetime. This paper discusses The Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints. The saints had been the Young Baptist along with Saints Peter, Lucy, Catherine,…… [Read More]

New Reference Is Not Required

It also set up a conflict between labour and capital, a variation of the old conflict between peasants and nobility. Because it was based on a competitive "free" market, capitalism inherently sought labour-saving and time-saving devices by which it might increase efficiency and productivity. In other words, manufacturing and production processes were sped up through specialisation (division), automation, mechanisation, routinisation, and other alienating forms of production in which the human being was less a personality at work and more a replaceable cog in a much larger system. This changed the way construction products were made. The concept of capitalism itself envisioned the mass production system and then made it a reality.

Furthermore, with the rise of the factory and the mechanisation of labour, farming began a decline and people flocked to the cities to find other types of work. Added to this there were advances in medicine which meant that…… [Read More]

Bramante Architecture a Fact of History Is

Bramante Architecture

A fact of history is that Renaissance marked a new emerging base towards the already established architecture of antiquity that was rooted in thorough recovery of the past and new inventiveness, but it was because of this that the great cities of Europe gathered much of their form that is admired by the world today. The word renaissance has entered the minds of people with dominant positive connotations of pure genius and renewal. (Campbell, 2004)

Renaissance architecture is the architecture of the early 15th to 17th centuries in different areas of Europe which demonstrated a revival of elements of the ancient Greek and Roman thought and culture. First established in Florence by Filippo Brunelleschi, the renaissance spread like wild fire to other parts of Italy as well and from there the style was carried to France, England, Russia, Germany and other parts of Europe. (Gromort)

During the Renaissance,…… [Read More]

Raphael's Career

Art History

Raphael's Career

Raphael is one of the most renowned artists in modern human history. He is so famous that he is one of a small number of artists that they are only known by one name. His full name is Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino. His precise birthdate is contended, but it is agreed that he was born sometime in the spring during 1483, as the 15th century, as well as the Renaissance era, concluded. His life did not spans four decades, yet his body of work persists around the world nearly five centuries later. Raphael, like other Renaissance artists and professionals of the period, had proficiency in several skills; he is primarily known as a painter and architect. His life spanned the final stage of the Renaissance, known as High Renaissance. He came from an artistically inclined family, and suffered the deaths of both of his parents before…… [Read More]

Botticelli's Mythological Paintings

Botticelli's Mythological Paintings

The paintings done by different artists exemplify the influences that they have had throughout their life. The style and topics chosen for the artwork are two of the major elements of any painting. In Sandro Botticelli's work, the topics chosen for the painting are that he was influenced by the Renaissance Neoplatonism, coupled by the Medici Humanism all presented in his work in various ways.

Sandro Botticelli one of the great Italian masters of art demonstrated a preference for spirituality in his scenic patterns and portraits that were a reaction against the conceptual realism of Masaccio. His reaction was to introduce the elements of Gothic art which were shown through sentiment, passion, ornamental styles that used myths of the past creating allegory's and symbolic images, later combined with the Medici humanism. The Medici family, were the Renaissance patrons of Florentine art who changed the era of art…… [Read More]