It is evident that the Romans emulated much or all of Greek culture into their lives, even down to their philosophies and complete blatancy of using the same gods and goddesses. However, there was an apparent shift of Greco-Roman polytheism to medieval monotheism, which is where persons in this period started to pivot their attention primarily on just God, disregarding old traditions of other gods. They went from issuing deities to make sense of their ancient world, and using rational thought (never was this used before) to probe for questions, to a reliance on just one god for all explanations (the medieval period). However, as time progressed, during the time of the Renaissance, people were using some of the same techniques as Greco-Roman …show more content…
The most different were that persons of the period were putting extreme emphasis on just one religion and, thus, many art forms became seemingly infiltrated with biblical scenes and interactions of higher figures in the church. However, in literature, it is evident that God had created everything we know, we can see this being addressed in “Genesis” of The Holy Bible (kingjamesbibleonline.org). “[a]nd God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.” However, with Greek and Roman religions, they had a pantheon in which had various supernatural deities to use and choose from. Although, the similarity that they share is that they both celebrate, pray, and give tribute to the god (s) in the form of ceremony or building of temples (churches in monotheistic …show more content…
Which is why there was a focus on paintings to look more naturalistic, just as Greek and Rome did with statues of human figures (being accurate by giving a variance to posture and giving the proper portion). The Statue of Diadoumenos (Metmuseum.org) is an example of naturalism and if compared with the painting of Adam and Eve from artist Albrecht Dürer (metmusem.org), who found interest in “the idea that the perfect human form corresponded to a system of proportion and measurements.” Renaissance humanism began to break from the mold of being reliant on a religious figure or text; they believed that everything could be solved without religion and through nature. It was reflective of Greek thought in literature from prominent figures such as Socrates and
Another Magnificent piece of artwork is Leonardo's sketch of a man within a circle. Vitruvius adding a quote to the piece later on, "man in his perfect proportions, is the center of all things", suggests that this piece was influenced by humanism. We say this because the piece portrays a mere man as the center instead of what the catholics may haved placed, that which god would be in the center of the circle. Catholics, Priests, and church officials alike would not approve of this irrational idea and the sketch itself.
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.
In conclusion, you can see that both of these ages were very different. From the churches, to the military, to the gods, and the people. These empires were very strong, and would fight to the end of them. The medieval age was based on the high of the Roman age and Rome that of the Greek age. Both of these empires was a big impact of that of the modern today. No matter how far you go back, something will always be based on another.
Along with different languages, customs and traditions, ancient Hebrews, Middle-easterners and Romans had very different beliefs about the divine. For example, Hebrews are monotheistic, while Middle-easterners and Greco-Romans of early time periods believe in many gods. Writings from the ancient time period sketch these differences, as well as the many similarities between religious beliefs. The Old Testament is an excellent reference depicting Hebrew beliefs, while Gilgamesh outlines many Middle-eastern beliefs, and The Metamorphoses shows readers many ancient Greco-Roman beliefs about the divine.
As Michelangelo once said, “Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it” ("Michelangelo Quotes"). During the Greek/Roman periods prosperity was scarce, and to the early citizens who lived during this time one of the only values was personal religious beliefs/ideas - mostly pagan. The expression of these beliefs/ideas were most commonly portrayed through paintings, sculptures, and buildings. During the Renaissance periods prosperity was on a steady but slow growth. This growth was still accompanied by a flowering of philosophy, literature, and especially art. Renaissance arts mostly portrayed the beliefs of Christianity. Acknowledging the years passed between the Greek/Roman to the Renaissance, art was still valued as one of life’s great prosperities in both times. Against the backdrop of different political stabilities and prosperity statuses both time periods were jointed by the importance of personal desires and one's beliefs. While the Renaissance and Greek/Roman time periods were different in many ways, the two time periods had similarities including the expression of the human form, the confidence with the body, and different religious beliefs.
During the 15th century, Northern Europe as well as Italy witnessed a serious revival of drawing accompanied by sculpture, painting and architecture. This revival was termed as the Renaissance. The revival effected major changes onto the representation of pictorial space on these two regions. These changes on that occurred on pictorial space representation were mostly driven by new idea of “Humanism”. Humanism philosophy practically outwitted religious and secular belief. As a result, the philosophy shifted a lot f importance to the dignity and value of the individual (Prescott, 2005; Fuga, 2006).
Many techniques were developed, such as humanist influence, linear perspective and secular paintings. The artist Da Vinci painted the “Mona Lisa” and “The Last Supper”. Specifically looking at the “Mona Lisa”, the painting has “well defined landscapes, natural folds in drapery and three dimensional figures”(Doc. A). This painting has a big humanist influence because of the detail in the face and the dimension shown. Moving onto a different artist, Durer, he created very different pieces of art compares to Da Vinci. Durer did engravings and woodcuts to create realistic figures. An example of his artwork is one that depicts a rhinoceros. This is a very famous piece of his because of the realistic depiction of a rhinoceros. Compared to the Middle ages, this work of art by Durer shows a strict humanist perspective. Also, Eyck is another artist during the Renaissance period that was impacted by many techniques. He paints the piece called the “Arnolfini Portrait”. He shows a man and a women together in the picture with very realistic details regarding clothing, faces and the background. Eyck shows the technique of linear perspective to draw attention to the people in the painting. He also uses a new material called oil paint. In general, the artistic movement during the Renaissance included many techniques and humanist views to create a realistic view within the
They had similar beliefs, but also immeasurable differences. It was composed of many meaningful gods and goddesses that all played a part in the everyday life of the average Roman and Greek person of that time.
Greek Mythology originated around 775 B.C.E. It all started with Homer’s Iliad and continued on with Hesiod’s Theogany. These were the first two myths to be recorded in Greek Mythology. Both of these myths reveal to us about their understanding of the universe, and about their culture. Not only do they talk about their various gods, and heroes, but they also talk about how they viewed the universe in general (Rosenberg 79). Greek Mythology evolved from two early civilizations, the Mycenaean’s and the Minoans. It was the combining of these different Greek cities and Kingdoms during 10th century B.C. that created Greek Mythology. Its Geographic isolation gave it a place for mythologies to evolve (Gale Virtual Reference Library: Greek Mythology 454-456). Roman mythology, on the other hand grew around the same time as Greek Mythology. It all began around 800 B.C. when the Roman Empire was at its peak. However the unique about the Romans is that their origin traces back to Latin and Italian cultures. They also share the same gods and heroes with Greek but with different names. Moreover Rome was the first nation to have a set government that is similar to ours today. They were the first empire to have elected officials who ruled their nation. (Gale Virtual Reference Library: Roman Mythology 896). Both of these mythologies portray how life was different back then during the B.C times. The reveal us their culture, their religion, and how they viewed universe as a whole. However what caused a collapse between these two civilizations is the relationship between man, gods, and their children.
The idea of gods and goddesses began as far back as the ancient Egyptians, but the ancient Greeks were the first group to form a religion based on gods and goddesses. They believed that the gods and goddesses were not different from humans. Some of the few ways humans were different from gods were that the gods were stronger and lived forever. Since the Greeks believe in many gods, they are Polytheists.
...ity a taste of different believes and costumes. The romans have different gods to worship, who preform different tasks for their every day life necessities (Orr). While the medieval Londoners were more concerned on the state of the soul and the display that religion portrayed for the city of London. In some way we can assume and consider that the roman gods are equivalents to the saints of medieval London.
...uing the belief in various gods and goddesses. After the expansion of Rome they started developing other forms of deities based on Greek culture, basically meaning “Greco-Roman” religion. Although many religious cults that were connected to Rome including Greece were often accepted, many were banished.
Did you know that the Romans are the most powerful nation in human history, conquering the world and no nation could have stop them from becoming the greatest nation. But the Romans didn’t think of all the practices that were going on at that time. The Romans were totally different before they adapted the some of the practices of the Greek which changed their nation completely, which made them superior than other nations. Firstly, I would like to talk about how the Roman culture were the complete opposite from the Greek before they started to adapt their cultural ways, and how they started to take in practices that are used in everyday life. Secondly, I would like to talk about the cultural difference between the Greek Empire and Roman Empire
Greek and Roman sculptures act as milestones throughout the development of art. Both types of sculptures played significant roles socially and politically during their corresponding periods. Although the Greek artists had limited materials, they still created gorgeous sculptures; similarly, the Roman sculptors adapted the techniques from the Greeks in order to create magnificent works for their own purposes.
Both the Greek and the Roman civilization were polytheistic. Greeks were a very religious people. In Greece each city-state had a patron god or goddess that protected their city. Greeks believed that their Gods appeared in human form but had superhuman strength and ageless beauty. Many of the Gods are depicted on various painted scenes on vases, and stone, terracotta and bronze sculptures by themselves or in mythological scenes interacting with humans and lesser Gods (Realign and Death). Rome’s Gods and Goddesses were from a blend of a variety of cultures including Greece. They too believed the gods were actively involved in their everyday life, so much so that they held sacred meals for their Gods during religious festivals in which the invitations were sent in the God’s name and a place was set for them at the table. The oldest male in the family preformed religious rituals for the whole household to the family God, while the state employed priests and Priestesses to worship at the temple. Though they could not predict the future the priests were the one who could read signs to see if the Gods were happy or angry with the people. In the first century a new religion was born in the Rome that spread all throughout the empire and corners of the world, Christianity (Life in