Compare and Contrast: Renaissance vs. Baroque

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Over the span of history, there have been a considerable number of times art has been redirected and executed differently. From these time periods, two that are prominent and had a lasting effect are the techniques during the Renaissance and the Baroque era. Between the two there are numerous commonalities, but a few contrasts as well.

To begin with, the Renaissance started around Florence in Italy during the 15th century. This “rebirth” time period marked a change in the way people thought about virtually every aspect of their lives, from politics to art. The art from this period illustrated newly discovered techniques that portrayed nature and figures more realistically. These techniques consisted of the usage of shadows and light, perspective, and realism and naturalism. In order to capture realism, artists studied the human anatomy, measured proportions and sought a way to give portraits of people more emotion. Many people attribute this time period as the beginning of the modernization of man. Along with every aspect the Renaissance modified, these innovations advanced art from how it once was illustrated to completely new heights.

Just as the other artists from this time, Giovanni Bellini portrayed these techniques through his work. Recognized by his oil paintings, Bellini utilized shadow and light in most of his landscapes and figures. One painting in particular that is an example of how he used this along with perspective is in the “Feast of Gods”. This painting displays a group of people enjoying a meal within a forested area. The viewer can distinctively tell where the shadows of the trees fall by the use of darkness on some of these people in the group who are further back. The way he painted with gives this image a t...

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...he realistic portrayal of nature and humans. Possibly the biggest difference found between these two styles is the emotion and choices of what was painted. The Renaissance was thoroughly dedicated to adding depth through the horizon, vanishing point and linear perspective. These methods helped in creating a three dimensional look. Due to this focus in depth, the emotional aspect was not translated as strongly as was in the Baroque period.

Through the dramatics that were increasingly popular of this era the emotion in paintings were grasped more easily by the viewer. Likewise, the Baroque technique created an overlapping of elements and figures which was the opposite of the Renaissance’s definitive planes and isolated figures. Overall, these time periods influenced the world of art to great lengths and gave foundation to techniques that have been since improved upon.

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