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The Renaissance was, essentially, a revival or rebirth of cultural awareness and learning that took place during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It followed the Middle Ages, and was basically a time of the revival of learning after the Middle Ages, or Dark Ages, a time with little increase of ideas, inventions or developments. The Renaissance brought many changes to Europe, and the economy was greatly boosted by of all the new explorations. The flourishing economy helped to inspire new developments in art and literature, and from that many new beliefs were formed. With the arts the artists began to think on their own and those movements began to spread. It was not just what the church said anymore that was right.
Humanism, one of the new beliefs which was formed during the Renaissance, said that people should read the works of the greats and focus on writing, and the arts. Another of the new beliefs was scholasticism, which was the opposite of humanism. Scholastics thought that people should spend more time the sciences, they also wanted the church and science to be brought together as one. As new scientific discoveries were made many of the churches theories were beginning to be questioned. Some of the new scientific discoveries consisted of theories which went against the churches beliefs. The renaissance period in art history corresponds to the beginning of the great western age of discovery and exploration, when a general desire developed to examine all aspects of nature and the world.
Art, during this period, became valued -- not merely as a vehicle for religious and social identity, but even more as a mode of personal, aesthetic expression. During the Renaissance there were many drastic changes in the style of art. Early renaissance artist sought to create art forms consistent with the appearance of the natural world and with their experience of human personality and behavior, and artists studied the way light hits objects and the way our eyes perceive light. These artists made an effort to go beyond straightforward transcription of nature, to provide the work of art with ideal, intangible qualities, giving it a beauty and significance greater and more permanent than that actually found in nature. A new kind of paint called oil paint was used. This allowed the artist to create texture, mix colors, and allow more time for corrections before it dried.
During the Renaissance, art was a branch of knowledge. It was a way to show God and his creations, as well as a science, of anatomy and perspective. Also during the Renaissance there were many people who used art as a way to record discoveries and inspired people to take pleasure in the world around them. In 1452 AD, a genius named Leonardo da Vinci was born in a small town called Vinci. He was the illegitimate son of a local lawyer. When he was small he loved to draw pictures of plants, insects, flowers, animals, and birds.
Not only was Leonardo an artist, but he was also an architect, musician, sculptor, scientist, inventor, and mathematician. Leonardo painted very realistically, and an advancement of Leonardo's was to make his backgrounds very detailed and in proper aerial perspective. Another great artist of this time was Michelangelo Buonarroti. He was born near Florence, Italy, in 1475 AD. When he was thirteen, he learned a lot about art while walking through the streets on his way to school. He recorded mentally images he saw in ever day life.
His teacher was Domencio Ghirlandio, a very famous artist. Ghirlandio taught Michelangelo many things, but none more important than the art of fresco. Michelangelo used this technique while painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Although Michelangelo was a good and prolific painter, he enjoyed sculpting the most. Michelangelo, as well as Leonardo, were both geniuses in art and paved the way for other great artist of this time period and time periods to come. Another artist, Giotto, was a very influential painter during the start of the Renaissance.
In Giotto's work he used three dimensional images, this was a drastic change from the classic art where depth was not used. His painting were very realistic and life like, unlike the previous centuries art. Giotto's work inspired artists by the likes of Leonardo de Vinci, Raphael and Michaelango. During the Renaissance, artist were no longer regarded as mere artisans, as they had been to the medieval past, but for the first time emerged as independent personalities, compared to poets and writers. Many artisans merged mathematics with art, in order to become more precise in their measurements and to make sure an object was supported both rationally and proportionally.
However, Renaissance artists also placed human concerns and feelings at the center of their works. Such optimism combined with intellectual curiosity and increasing worldliness made it possible for art to be valued.
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Research essay sample on History Of Art In The Renaissance Period
