Humanism is the philosophy that people are rational beings. Humanism became quite popular during the Renaissance, and its after effects we are still seeing today. The dignity and worth of the individual was emphasized (Kreis). This movement originated with the study of classical culture and a group of subjects known collectively as the “studia humanitatis”, or the humanities (Kreis). It was then nurtured by the most powerful family in the Renaissance, the Medici. Their relationship with humanism would eventually cause a rift in the catholic church that would never be repaired. Humanism in Europe was at its peak from the 14th to 16th centuries (Kreis). The rediscovery and copying of ancient manuscripts of classical Greece and the study of philosophy, …show more content…
the humanities and the arts sparked debate about what it meant to be human, the importance of rational thought and science, and whether ultimate truths could be revealed through study, contemplation and logic. At the center of rediscovering manuscripts was Medici family. The first of the renaissance Medici’s was named Giovanni de Medici. Giovanni was a banker who dabbled in politics. In that time the Catholic Church was corrupt, potential priests could go through the ranks with sizable donations and papal elections were popularity contents. Giovanni did the unthinkable when he bank rolled a dark horse in the papal race(The Medici). His risk paid off and because of that he was awarded the papal accounts. The papal accounts were the single largest account in Europe. That account brought powerful influence and wealth to the Medici family. As a wealthy and influential citizen, Giovanni had virtually no choice but to participate in public life, holding almost every political office in Florence at some point. (The Medici) Since there were many wealthy families in Florence, they used art as a way to compete with each other. Unlike a lot of art commerce today, where people purchase readymade pieces of artwork from artists, in the Renaissance art was created off of commissions. In 1959, noted art historian Bernard Berenson likened the Renaissance relationship between artist and patron to one between a carpenter, tailor, or shoemaker and a customer placing an order (The Medici). The patron specified what he or she wanted: what the subject was, which figures were to be included, often what other works the new work might resemble or surpass. Giovanni died in 1429, leaving behind a legacy of patronage for the arts, an immense fortune, to his son, Cosimo Medici (The Medici). Cosimo was educated in the principles of humanism. Cosimo Medici took over the family banking business at the age of forty. A successful businessman, Cosimo built up his father's fortune and established business connections all over Europe. Cosimo’s humanist influence can be seen in his commissioning of Magi Chapel frescoed by Benozzo Gozzoli. This painting exemplifies the humanistic approach to perfection by using the linear perspective. Through this perspective it helps make the background fall realistically into a single vanishing point. Not only that, but the painter, Gozzoli, painted portraits of the Medici family in the fresco, further showing humanistic values of celebrating their personal achievement. During his lifetime Cosimo Medici came to foster a young artist, Michelangelo (The Medici). He raised Michelangelo alongside his own children, and as such his humanist ideas were imparted. Humanist ideals are seen with Michelangelo’s “David”. It represents humanistic values through his idealistic portrayal. David’s human body is very realistically sculpted. He has a very strong and toned body that has been sculpted in a very idealistic way. It is through this idealistic approach to the sculpture that Michelangelo portrays a sense of humanism. The fact that David is shown in the nude also helps add to the fact that Michelangelo is glorifying and celebrating the human body in its entirety. It is through this idealistic and nude portrayal of David that humanistic values are shown in a renaissance art piece. Cosimo died in 1464 and was eventually succeeded by his son Lorenzo Medici (The Medici). Lorenzo was much bolder in his embracing of humanism. Where Cosimo had still made religious symbols the focus of the art he patroned ,Lorenzo seemed to abandon the religion altogether (The Medici). More over he chose to glorify pagan gods. A painting that exemplifies this would be “The Birth of Venus”.
“The Birth of Venus” was painted on canvas instead of the traditional wood. This complies with the humanist need to break from the typical way of doing things. The theme of the Birth of Venus was taken from the writings of the ancient poet, Homer. According to the traditional account, after Venus was born, she rode on a seashell and sea foam to the island of Cythera. In the painting , Venus is depicted in the center, born out of the foam as she rides to shore. Venus is slightly to the right of center, and she is isolated against the background so no other figures overlap her. She has a slight tilt of the head, and she leans in an awkward stance. Her body is both realistic in proportion but glorified in her unblemished …show more content…
skin. Although for the most part the church seemed content to let Lorenzo defy their teaching without much consequence he continued to create artwork glorifing non Christian dieties. Two years after Lorenzo’s death the Medici were run out of Florence (The Medici). The popular uprising which ousted the Medici family was sparked by a priest, Girolamo Savonarola. Savonarola had attracted followers in 1491, when he began preaching against the worldliness and paganism of the Renaissance(The Medici) . He called for a return to simple faith, similar to the middle ages. With his victory against the Medici’s Savonarola had the courage to go against the Vatican. In 1495, Savonarola called for the deposal of Pope Alexander VI. This caused people to turn away from Savonarola and the Vatican burned him at the stake as a heretic. Though the Medici returned, they would never return to their former position of preeminence. This initial interaction caused the church and the humanist movement to no longer exist parralel to each other.
Several humanist writers in the renaissance were monastery educated and because of this they had a great working knowledge of the church, its teachings, and its practices. Erasmus was one such monastery educated humanist. He forged common ethical bonds between his religion and his classical studies. He insisted Roman Catholic Church leaders should consider the spontaneity of early Christians instead of ridgid Church practices. Ideas like those of Erasmus paved the way for the Protestant Reformation, which sought to revitalize the Catholic
Church. Protestant reformers took on many of the humanist ideals. They thought that all had the right to religious education and used the technology of the the day to make sure as many people as possible had access to the scriptures. The catholics on the other hand had emloyed a different aproach. They believed that scripture interpretation was something that required extensive education and background knowledge. They worried that providing everyone with a bible would quickly turn into everyone having their own interration of the bible. The Catholic Church recognized that some Protestant criticisms were valid, and successive sessions of the Council of Trent, held between 1545 and 1563, aimed to tackle these issues (The History Channel). No church council, as the Catholic Encyclopedia puts it, “has had so many questions of the greatest importance to decide.” (The History Channel )The council looked at some of the corruption then plaguing the church, including issues such as the sale of indulgences, a system in which rich people could effectively buy forgiveness for their sins. Because of the Humanist ideas that influenced the protestant revolution, and subsequent Catholic reform we now have the outline for what we know as modern Christianity. Humanism is something that was fosterd by the Medici family and it was through their blatant pulling back from the church that really caused the Catholic church to separate itself from those ideals. The christians that identified with some of the humanist pricincples broke of from the church to create what we now call the proestant revolution.
Established in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries to counter the limited ideals of medieval scholasticism, Renaissance Humanism were educational and social reform ideals that sought to emphasize individualism as a central value in contrast to religious beliefs. Humanists revered the dignity of human kind and called for a life of virtuous action. The writings of Petrarch and Pico exemplify humanist thought by displaying the values of self-knowledge, individualism, and studying lessons from the past; appealing to the authorities of the Greek and Latin classics by Cicero, Vergil, Horace, Plato and Livy. Petrarch and Pico’s thinking can be constituted as a marked departure from medieval attitudes and beliefs, due to the origins of humanist resources being classical and biblical rather stemmed from medieval philosophers and theologians.
The period of the Renaissance was an important era of development in the world religiously, artistically, and scientifically. In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, important technologies such as the printing press contributed greatly in helping advance the intelligence of all humans. A broad humanistic sense began to expand throughout Europe, giving a new vision of the human being as the center of the universe and not as something mystical or divine. With a combination of the technological and social changes taking place at the same time, the Renaissance’s advancements placed the driving force for the protestant reformation to occur. The Protestant reformation was a new era of religious revolution that brought radical changes in the vision that society had of the Catholic Church. During this period, not only did the religion change, other areas such as the economy and the development of social interactions were reformed and
Humanism is also found throughout the Reformation. Christian humanists were the people who pushed for change of the Catholic Church. They believed that in order to change society, you had to change the individual human beings who make it up. Erasmus is one of the best know humanists of the Reformation. He wanted to spread the philosophy of Christ, provide education in works of Christianity, and criticize the abuses in the church. Overall the main tie of the Reformation and Renaissance was humanism. Both groups of people during those times wanted change towards a more secular view of things.
Humanism is a literary and linguistic movement cultivated during the Renaissance that was founded on revising classical Latin and Greek texts, styles, and values. Humanists encouraged looking to the past to discover what is good and how people should act including leaders. Many humanist wrote about how they believe a prince should act and what he should do to be successful in his rule. Most humanists believed that princes should be virtuous in order to be successful rulers as many ancient leaders were. However, Machiavelli in his work The Prince uses history as a part of his argument to undermine some humanist ideals such as being purely virtuous and morality being the key to good government but also uses it to promote humanist ideals such as looking to the past to discover how a leader should behave.
During the renaissance, there was a renewed interest in the arts, and the traditional views of society came into question. People began to explore the power of the human mind. A term often used to describe the increasing interest in the powers of the human mind is humanism. Generally, humanism stresses the individual's creative, reasoning, and aesthetic powers. However, during the Renaissance, individual ideas about humanism differed.
Humanism is the idea of human individuality, knowledge, and facts based on evidence instead of superstition. Humanism started trending when the rich hired humanists to teach their children. (By)The nobility and royal families then spread propaganda to the people for humanism, so that the people would believe in themselves more and trust that the king is not a tyrant.
The influence of Erasmus on humanism during this time was so great as to ensure that Northern Renaissance humanism came to be labelled Erasmian. A movement which, unlike its Italian counterpart and predecessor, would place faith and piety at the centre of theology and would place a large emphasis on ad fontes, to the sources of Christian theology and biblical and patristic sources (Parrish article)
The Birth of Venus is a beautiful Renaissance canvas masterpiece created by Sandro Botticello. The picture illustrates the birth of Venus in a very mystical way. Venus has emerged from sea on a shell which is being driven to shore by flying wind-gods. She is surrounded by beautiful roses which are painted in a truly remarkable color. As she is about to step to land, one of the Hours hands her a purple cloak. The back drop includes the sea and a forest. The overall effect of this painting are almost overwhelming, color and beauty meet the eye in every angle.
Humanism is the idea that a higher power is not superior. People who believe in humanism reject religion and instead believe that the church does not hold all the power, but people and humanity do. Humanism started during the Renaissance Period around the 14th century.
A controversial topic among historians regards the humanist movement during the Renaissance. It is generally agreed that there were mutual intentions and characteristics that mainly consisted of the study of the classics with the purpose of understanding humanity better. However, when studying the humanist movement during the Renaissance, the varying opinions concerning the time period in which the Renaissance occurred, as well as the varying locations in which humanism found a following must be taken into consideration. While humanists shared a common goal, no generalization can be made about the movement's more fine details because of the massive geographical size of the humanistic movement during the Renaissance, and the fields into which it stretched as well as the effects of the ways in which the Renaissance is examined.
Humanism, a completely new perspective in life emerged during the Renaissance. Once humanist figures, such as Petrarch, Machiavelli, and Erasmus, spread their knowledge about it, people started to adopt the thought of humanism, secularism, and individualism. They realized how important and valuable humans are in this world. Once humanism became more popular, it was
The word humanism is a relatively broad term described by Merriam-Webster as, “a system of values and beliefs that is based on the idea that people are basically good and that problems can be solved using reason instead of religion”. While this seems a perfectly reasonable definition for the present day, it does not adequately apply to medieval society. If such a definition was used by a person from the 12th century, that person would likely be looked at incredulously and then swiftly called a heretic or a blasphemer. The role of religion in medieval society is too ingrained in the medieval world. Richard Southern provides a more likely definition of medieval humanism. He describes humanism as having “elements of dignity, order, reason and
Many diverse ideas flourished during the European Renaissance which had a lasting impact on the world. Humanism is a worldview and a moral philosophy that considers humans to be of primary importance. The aspect of humanism first thrived in 14th century Italy, and later spread north in the 15th century. Initially humanistic ideas about education were quickly adopted by the Italian upper class. The Italian ideas and attitudes towards life and learning impacted nobility in other parts of Europe. They were able to accept and adapt to this new lifestyle. Humanism during the Renaissance helped to spread ideas about the basic nature of human beings, how people should be educated to become well rounded individuals, and how education impacts an individual’s life.
However, what is humanism? Humanism is focusing on the actual physical human being rather than supernatural or religious beings (an outlook or system of thought attaching prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters. Humanist beliefs stress the potential value and goodness of human beings, emphasize common human needs, and seek solely rational ways of solving human problems. a Renaissance cultural movement that turned away from medieval scholasticism and revived interest in ancient Greek and Roman thought.
Renaissance humanism is manifestation of social progress and promote the human society is composed if the feudal society to the capitalist society’s transition. It brought the liberty of the human thought and broke several old view of the western to see the world, society and human. It also broke the thought of religion idea and brought a new view for people to see themselves. Therefore, later on people started to discover new lands, to have the imagination to create. Renaissance humanism made people to think that self is self action of internal resources, the pursuit of self realization. The importance of self realization is it found out the value of self and to development the individual potential.