In current day, our knowledge towards the church has grown strong and tremendously, but during the Renaissance did the church have a fall out due to the comprehension of what was going on in that time period? During the Renaissance, religion was one of the foundations that had a negative and positive impact. Martin Luther saw this opportunity of this mishap and stood up and took a stand. This of which is known as the Reformation. Due to a disease and lack of knowledge; religion had its negative turning point. The Black Death lead to the church having mistrust towards the community, but started to get back on track during the Reformation. The Renaissance soon led to a humanistic worldview. Religion was the central focus during the Renaissance, but due to dreadful diseases called the “Black Death”, the church and society had a fallout. The cause of the Black Death was due to bad bacteria being passed along by black rats and fleas. It started along the Silk Road, than made its way into the Mediterranean and Europe. Since the bad bacterium was being passed along so quickly, it was impossible to stop. Due to this, over 17-200 million people were killed. This event happened so fast, it was unbearable and people did not have enough time to react and prepare themselves. People were becoming sick, getting extreme rashes and even, tumours in necks, armpits, and groins. The community’s went downhill, business men and workers were dying, guilds lost their craftsmen, and crops were dying due to no one being able to farm. This also lead to a time where food was very limited, and starvation was accruing. As a result of all of this happening, the church and religions were being targeted. Majority of groups were targeting the Jews because they ... ... middle of paper ... ... did not help when people had these thoughts of the chapel. The Church was still viewed as an institution plaque by the internal power of struggle. Leaders of the Church and counsel was more interested in building army alliances and nepotism, therefore, religious and spirituality viewed were not focus on and was slowly getting diminished. The increase in politics and the decrease of religious values cause several attempts to reform the Church, but all failed until Martin Luther succeeded in the early 1500s. Martin Luther who started the reformation in 1517 was a German Monk and professor. Martin Luther posted his 95 thesis statements on the doors Church, this of which expressed Luther’s concerns towards the Church. Most concerns on the list were if how if people didn’t repent, you would be sent to purgatory, which is known as a waiting room between Heaven and hell.
The Renaissance Period is widely known for the abundance of amazing portraiture that circulated around Europe. During the Renaissance, Albrecht Dürer, a German artist painted a self-portrait in 1500 that had qualities that differed from the usual style of artist in that time (Chauhan). Jean Clouet also painted a portrait for the King of France and became the official court painter. Both artists had a talent for portraiture, while their styles were quite different. King Francis I wanted to be seen as a powerful man, and appointed Clouet to paint him in a classically renaissance way that highlights his wealth and authority. Dürer, described as a cocky, self-centered man, painted himself in a light that is unique and puts him on a ‘holy’ pedestal (Stokstad 356). In this essay I will show how although both paintings have clear differences with their style, both men in the compositions are conveyed in a great and very powerful sense.
The very definition of Renaissance is rebirth and that is exactly what happened to Europe during the Renaissance. It began in the urban society of Italy in primarily the city-state of Florence. The Black Death left the population of Europe very low and because of that combined with the decline of the church power, people began to emphasize individual achievements and show more interest in ancient Greek and Roman culture.
During the Renaissance, people were dedicated to studying human works. They would observe from real life to gain inspiration, new ideas, and to try to recreate the world as they saw it in their art. New techniques such as scientific and atmospheric perspective were created, changing art forever. Artists would use their skills to create works for patrons, from the Church, various guilds, and other religious orders. During the High Renaissance, Julius II commissioned Raphael to decorate the Vatican Palace. The first of the rooms he decorated was The “Room of the Signature”, where he painted The School of Athens. Originally, this room housed Julius II’s personal library, but later on it would be the room where papal documents were signed. In 1508, Raphael began painting four frescoes that represented theology, philosophy, law, and the arts. As stated in Janson’s History of Art Volume II, This fresco “represents a summation of High Renaissance humanism, for it attempts to represent the unity of knowledge in one grand scheme.” Raphael’s The School of Athens is a prime example of humanistic art, as evidenced by the subject of the art itself, the classical elements in the piece, and it’s scientific and illusionistic rendering.
occurred in the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries; it was religion which was the major cause of the wars and devastation that occurred in this time period, and many times throughout history weather before or after the seventeenth century.
The scholarly works selected for this analysis were chosen due to the different perspectives they present regarding the flagellant movements of the Black Death. The first work, The Black Death studies the reactions of the Black Death from a psychosocial perspective, arguing that fear and hysteria were leading factors of reactions like flagellation and persecution. The Black Death suggests that participants in flagellants and later the persecution of the Jews were mostly uneducated, and thus fear and ignorance encouraged the population to participate in flagellant movements. The Black Death was selected because it offered a sociological and psychological analysis of the flagellation and persecution movements. Piety and Plague: From Byzantium to the Baroque was chosen as a source due to its focus on art history. Piety and Plague: From Byzantium t...
When the black death mysteriously and suddenly hit Europe, it spread at an unbelievable speed leaving almost no city untouched. The citizens of fourteenth century Europe were unsure of how to cope with half the population being wiped out in such a short time span. What had caused this “great mortality”? Who was really to blame for their suffering? How were they to overcome it? While being overwhelmed with sickness and a number of dilemmas stemming from it, many societies became weak and eventually fell apart.
In the wake of the plague, nobleman and religious authority figures struggled to maintain their high place in society as government leaders were unable to find an effective response to the disease, and people began to doubt the power of the Church. Confusion and suspicion arose among followers of the church when the Church itself was powerless to stop this devastating diseases supposedly “sent from the heavens”. When praying and amending their sins didn’t cure themselves or their loved ones of that great pestilence, people believed that God had abandoned them, shown in these quotes taken directly from the journal of an Italian citizen who contracted the disease. “…and nowhere is there a refuge. No haven beckons in any part of the globe, nor can any hope of longed for salvation be seen. Wherever I turn my frightened eyes, their gaze is troubled by continual funerals: the churches groan encumbered with biers…”(Petrach 27-31). “… it is the wrath of God… the harsh assault of the stars in their perpetually changing conjunctions. This plague-bearing year has borne down on humankind and threatens a tearful slaughter, and the highly charg...
The Black Plague, perhaps one of the worst epidemics in history, swept its evil across Europe in the middle of the 14th century, killing an estimated 20 million people. This major population shift, along with other disasters occurring at the time, such as famine and an already existing economic recession, plunged Europe into a dark period of complete turmoil. Anarchy, psychological breakdowns, and the dissipation of church power were some of the results. As time passed, however, society managed to find new ground and began its long path of recovery. The plague, as catastrophic as it was to medieval Europe, had just as many positive effects that came with this recovery as it did negative effects prior. An end to feudalism, increased wages and innovation, the idea of separation of church and state, and an attention to hygiene and medicine are only some of the positive things that came after the plague. It could also be argued that the plague had a significant impact on the start of the Renaissance.
The periods during the Reformation, Industrial Revolution, and the World at War all experienced religious and church conflicts. During the Renaissance and Reformation (1330 – 1650), the fundamental practices of the church came under fire. The church at this time was the largest and most political body. The pope, himself, was the most recognizable political figure. It was due to this authority that the church and its pope were more interested in political issues and less with the spiritual needs of the people (McGraw-Hill, p. 76). Many of the Roman Catholic Church’s high priests had bought their way into position and had very little religious experience. Often the only members of the community that were literate were the clergy thus adding to their control of the common people.
The Christian Church was absolutely instrumental in the art of the Renaissance. It was the driving force behind every inspiration; without the Church, there would have been no art. The Church was the only institution powerful enough to be able to support the commissions of all of the artwork, and it was the only institution, in which people had enough faith and devotion to spend so much of their time and money creating pieces that—although beautiful—were not necessities. The role of religion in art actually began during the Byzantine era. During this time, all artwork was religious in nature, and most of it was done in a consistently similar style so that figures from the Bible could be easily recognized by everyone and so that people had a consistent view of religious matters. Art during this time was largely iconic, meant to inspire the awe of God in the viewer. Along with various versions of the crucifix, one of the most popular images of the Byzantine style was The Pantokrator, an image of Jesus Christ as shown from above. An example of one of these pieces was done in the twelfth century in the abbey church of Monreale in the city of Palermo. Jesus is a monumental figure that takes up much of the space across the apse of the Church. One of his hands forms a mudra as the other holds the scripture. His fully frontal and direct stance along with the glimmering gold background serves to strike awe and fear into the viewer. Clearly this piece was done with the intent to impress the value and mightiness of religion first and attention to the detail and technique of the art second.
The Black Death plagues had disastrous consequences for Europe in the 14th century. After the initial outbreak in Europe, 1347, it continued for around five years and then mysteriously disappeared. However it broke out again in the 1360s and every few decades thereafter till around 1700. The European epidemic was an outbreak of the bubonic plague, which began in Asia and spread across trade routes. When it reached Europe, a path of destruction began to emerge. Medieval society was tossed into disarray, economies were fractured, the face of culture and religion changed forever. However the plagues devastation was not all chaotic, there were benefits too, such as modern labour movements, improvements in medicine and a new outlook on life. Therefore in order to analyse the impact the Black Death had on societies in the 14th century, this essay will consider the social, economic, cultural and religious factors in order to reach an overall conclusion.
The renaissance and the reformation were two of the most significant changes in history that has shaped our world today. Both of these great time periods are strikingly similar in some ways and totally different in others. This is because the renaissance was a change from religion to humanism whether it is in art or literature; it is where the individual began to matter. However, the reformation was,” in a nutshell,” a way to reform the church and even more so to form the way our society is today. The first half of this paper will view the drop in faith, the economic powers, and the artistic and literary changes during the renaissance, while the second half will view the progresses and changes the church makes during the reformation.
The Catholic Church was slow to respond to the ideals and publicity innovations of Luther and the other reformers. The Council of Trent which met off and on from 1545 through 1563. The Church’s answer to the problems that triggered the Reformation and to the reformers themselves.
Today in class, we started where we left off with two different versions of the Pieta statue with Rottgen's (Middle Ages) and Michelangelo's (Renaissance) versions, in order to compare the art during their time periods. Rottgen's was made of wood and was less human-like, while Michelangelo's was made of marble and gave a more "human" appearance. Then, we learned about the different themes of the Renaissance—seen in its art—through the creation of group presentations with DBQ documents. Humanism has an emphasis that humans are fundamentally good and capable of progress and improvement, individualism emphasizes the "genius" of individuals who achieved greatness, secularism emphasizes separation from religion to more worldly ideas, and classicism
The Church had held sway over medieval society for centuries, but it began to lose its grip in the fourteenth century. It was not only that it could not explain nor prevent the calamities that swept through the century, it was enduring its own calamities.