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... session, artists benefited from it by enhancement of their own status. Artistic gifts found a new appreciation and artists gradually occupied a position apart and higher than other craftsmen. Artistic activity came to be regarded as one worthy of serious consideration. A third difference between medieval and Renaissance art was the latter's emphasis on realism.
Renaissance artists tried to represent the human figure as realistically and naturally as possible. To achieve this realism, both painters and sculptors studied anatomy and the world around them. They worked hard to portray their painted or sculpted subjects in authentic detail, for as Italian Leon Battista Alberti instructed in his 1435 Della picture: It will help, when painting living creatures, first to sketch in the bones, for they always occupy a certain determined position. Then add the sinews and muscles, and finally clothe the bones and muscles with flesh and skin. As Nature clearly and openly reveals all these proportions, so the earnest painter will find great profit from investigating them in Nature. Because of its close association with the observation of the natural world, this Renaissance realism came to be known as naturalism.
Leonardo da Vinci is seen as one of the greatest artists of the Renaissance. Far more than just a painter, he was also and engineer, mathematician, inventor, architect, and writer. Moreover, he was a scientist, whose interests were in biology, physics, and chemistry. The aim of his studies, particularly those in anatomy, was to make his paintings better.
He believed firmly that studying the paintings of others alone would produce only minor work. However, a painter who also studied nature would, in his opinion, produce great art. The art produced in the Renaissance was a rebirth of the classical Greek and Roman works. After centuries of stiff representation, artists began again to study Nature herself, and to work from the living model. New ideas of grace, harmony, and beauty were cultivated into classic works that revolutionized fine art of that period from a sacred to a secular tone. Parallel to the development of fine arts, was an awakening of the human intellect through written works.
Innovation and invention were the hallmarks of Renaissance literature. As in art, humanism influenced its literature through both its ideas and its focus on classical writings. A contributing factor to the spread of humanism was printing. Until the Renaissance, books were produced by hand. In 1465, the printing press was invented in Germany. Although printing technology had been developed in China as early as the second century AD, the 15 th century printing press was combined with another innovation: moveable metal type.
With this invention, came a rise in literacy. Books became available to everyone, significantly speeding up the spread of classical knowledge and humanist ideas. During the Middle Ages, only the clergy and a few others could read, whereas Renaissance readers came from all social classes. By the 16 th century, about half the population of London could read and write to some degree.
One of the most important developments that took place in Renaissance literature was the expanded use in books and poems of such languages as Italian, French, and English, rather than Latin. Although Latin remained the international language of Europe, Renaissance authors increasingly wrote in their native languages. The rise of the vernacular made it possible for the middle classes of Europe to read and write in their own language rather than Latin. Many prominent writers of the time such as Petrarch (1304 - 1374), and Dante (1265 - 1321) saw the use of the vernacular as a means of passing on classical virtues and knowledge to a far wider audience than was possible with Latin.
The scholars Thomas G. Bergin and Jennifer Speak note: Petrarch's determination that the classical ideal should permeate every aspect of life led to what has been called the humanism of the vernacular: the ennobling not only of the native tongue, but also of everyday experience under the influence of classical models. Poets and other writers were generally enthusiastic about the use of the vernacular, feeling that their native languages brought their work alive in a way no ancient, outdated language could. Writers in the Renaissance era began to experiment with new forms of literature.
In France, the great pioneer in vernacular writings was the French humanist Francois Rabelais. He not only experimented with writing in French, but he also began a new literary form, the novel. The result was the birth of the French novel, which ridiculed the medieval church, and way of thought during the Middle Ages. This new kind of literature contrasts the writings of the medieval times which were mainly church inspired. Most writings were during the Middle Ages were done by Churchmen and most of it was in Latin.
Biographies of the lives of the saints were extremely popular. The printing press in the Renaissance led to a rise of literacy in Europe, therefore the middle class was better educated. The rise of the vernacular also revolutionized literature in the Renaissance, which made it possible for the rising middle class of Europe to read and write in their own language rather than Latin. These breakthroughs in literature separate the Renaissance from medieval times. Emerging from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance was a new age filled with impressive accomplishments. The Dark Ages was a time in which the Church was the centre of economic, social and political life while the Renaissance was a period in which human affairs and the advancement of Man were emphasized.
Scientific discoveries made by many scholars such as Copernicus and Galileo revolutionized medieval theories on astronomy. If one aspect of Renaissance culture differed noticeably from the Middle Ages, it was art. Artists of this time period strayed from the stiff, religious mold of art to a more realistic approach to art displaying great detail and a variety of emotions. Advances in literature reformed the Renaissance.
Inventions such as the printing press and the development of the vernacular led to the rise of literacy in all social classes, which greatly differs from the Middle Ages where only the clergy and few others could read and write. The Renaissance era crackled with energy, filled with remarkable discoveries and advancements. Many would have agreed with the French physician Jean Feel, who wrote in the early 1500 s: The world sailed round, the largest Earths continents, discovered the printing press sowing knowledge, ancient manuscripts rescued, all witness to the triumph of our New Age.
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Research essay sample on Read And Write Middle Ages
