The Renaissance was a period of time after the Middle Ages that brought the rebirth of classical culture and a new age of critical thinking based on Greek and Roman literature. With the perspective of culture changing during this time, ideas of society were transforming. One of the biggest ideas to come out of the Renaissance was the idea of humanism, which was basically the belief that humans are great and capable of doing many things in life and society. Instead of just going through life, humanists brought the idea that people have real potential and instead of living according to the church should live an active, secular life. With that being said, Italian Renaissance humanism changed the ideas about an individual’s role in society through …show more content…
While artwork made in the Middle Ages were characterized by death, despair, and religion, the humanist ideas of Renaissance Italy changed the way artists portrayed and viewed their art. The Renaissance started in Italy and not somewhere else due to the increased wealth of Italian city-states through trade along the Mediterranean Sea. All of the money these city-states were getting brought a number of great artists from places like Venice and Florence. With all aspects of Renaissance humanism considered, art is regarded as being changed by humanist ideas the most. The mindset and beliefs of people during a time period change the way art was made and viewed, and this can be seen through pieces of art made during the Renaissance. A large number of paintings made during the Italian Renaissance were portraits of monarchs, which show the impact humanism had on art. There was a very little amount of portraits made in the Middle Ages because they were not centered around humans and their values but rather religion. The idea of humanism inspired artists in the Renaissance to make more realistic figures and pay more attention to detail and perspective. No longer did art just focus on religion, but more into the capability of humans and the values they possessed. This change of style in art due to humanism changed how people viewed their role in society because instead of looking at things blindly, they viewed art with a sense of pride of what humans were capable of
4. Renaissance humanism was an intellectual trend that came from interest in Greco-Roman literature. It changed theories and education because it secularized history--events were no longer blamed on God’s will.
According to Nicholas Mann, "Humanism is that concern with the legacy of antiquity, and in particular but not exclusively with its literary legacy... it involves above all the rediscovery and study of Greek and Roman texts, the restoration and interpretation of them, and the assimilation of the ideas and values they contain." The Studia Humanitatis (Studies of Humanity) is a Latin term used by Roman writers describing a cycle of studies in the humanities including, grammar, rhetoric, history, poetry, and moral philosophy. Francesco Petrarch, an Italian scholar and poet of the fifteenth century, is considered by many to be the father of humanism. Petrarch 's influential texts had circulated widely throughout Florence and made their way into the government. Thus, humanist learning began to shape political ideologies in Florence. By inspiring humanist philosophy, Petrarch helped pave the way for the start of the Renaissance.
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.
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).
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.
The arts during the Renaissance was a movement of self-expression in different forms of art and using many different medians. The arts affected this idea of great potential in human beings. They caused people to start to look at an individual in a different way and many became more focused on themselves and the natural world. Humanism did just that and changed the interests of the average person and artists and writers began to focus their works on the man. Instead of creating
...olarly endeavors, rather than strictly practical ones. Humanists also believed that the entirety of society should be well versed and able to speak articulately. The focus also changed during this time period to the “here and now” rather than the afterlife. The worth of individuals began to become more important, rather than just their worth in relation to society as a whole. Renaissance Humanism was the first time in history that people began to question authority and the teachings they had learned, it was the first time in history that individual expression was commonly accepted.
The renaissance was a time in history when people began to have a new outlook on life. Individualistic views and glorification of the human self and body became very prominent during this time especially in the art and renaissance culture. In paintings, emotions and the beauty of the human anatomy were captured more eminently and sculptures of the human body were shown with pride for its comeliness. Literature projected the human mind and its intellect and much like literature, education was promoted because of the boastfulness of humans.
It focused on people rather than religion. The term was first referred to in literature by Jakob Burckhardt in The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy, stating that the Renaissance was mostly based upon people recognizing their own individuality, rather than the group they’re affiliated with. The Renaissance allowed people to come to themselves as their own person, who can make up their own minds, not needing God to make every decision for them. Shakespeare expressed this concept through Macbeth by showing Macbeth made his own choices (all of which would soon be his downfall), Macbeth made the choice to kill Banquo as well as to murder Macduff’s family. He believed he was making sure that what the Weird Sisters said would never be fulfilled, but all he did was play into the prophecy’s hands. The Renaissance was home to many concepts, one of which was humanism, allowing people to distance themselves from Roman and Greek views and create their own
Artistic innovations in the Italian Renaissance era paved a way differentiating from Middle Age art by combining newly-found influences in an increased awareness of nature, a revival of classical learning, and a more prominent individualistic view of man. The Italian Renaissance period was an era of experimentation and technical mastery. As noted by Julie L. Carnagie in The Renaissance and Reformation Reference Library, “During the Middle Ages, art had a religious theme and the artist was an anonymous vehicle for glorifying God. In the Renaissance, however, human beings became the central focus of artistic expression in painting, sculpture, and architecture.” Within European society, the Middle Ages was classified as a time period of darkness consumed with little education or innovation. The medieval period was commonly viewed as an inte...
The Renaissance was a time of adulation for Humanism, a movement that advocated the intensification of "personal independence," "individual expression," and a renewed élan devoted to the classics. Renaissance, a word meaning rebirth, refers to the cultural epoch wherein Ancient Greek and Roman styles were rediscovered and celebrated as a result of trade expansion and a need for knowledge of lexical works (thus, the popularization of Latin). This attitude concerning rebirth was especially reflected in the multitudes of masterpieces produced up to the sixteenth century: artists expelled certain features from preceding Medieval art and appended their oeuvres with techniques unseen in previous ages. New (or renewed, rather) features were most patent
The Renaissance Period and the Start of Humanism The Renaissance was an incredibly important turning point in Western Intellectual and Cultural Tradition. All of these changes centered around the idea of Humanism -- in which, people became less "God Centered" and more "Human-centered".
A central focus of the Renaissance was humanism. Humanism was an intellectual movement that claimed the heart of the Renaissance. Humanists studied the classical cultures of Greece and Rome. They used their newly acquired knowledge to develop a better understand of their own times. Humanists, although they were mostly Christian, did not focus of religion. Instead they were fixated on worldly subjects. It was believed that education should stimulate one’s creative mind. Humanists emphasized humanities, which are classic subjects such as grammar and poetry.
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.
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.