Renaissance Art Dbq Essay

Living conditions in the Middle Ages contributed to the rapid spread of the Bubonic Plague which led to people relying on religion as a source of comfort and security. However, it was also thought to be a punishment from God. As people died and more land became available, the Church was able to gain more power. This is a good example of how much people relied on religion and the Church during Medieval times. The art of the time period reflected this as artists designed and painted their artwork to worship and honor God and religion. An example of this devotion to the faith is shown in The Bull of Canonization of St. Francis of Assisi where Pope Gregory IX praises Francis for giving everything up to serve God and seeking “not his own interests,

but those of Christ...”(Document 1.) However, as time went on and the Renaissance began, a interest in humanism reemerged and artists began to take inspiration from Greek and Roman art, specifically sculptures. The Medieval worldview changed during the Renaissance through the way people created art and began to view new ideas in the world and in science.
Renaissance art changed as people viewed the world differently and began to show an renewed interest in education.

This allowed artists to learn from Greek and Roman art and create art for the viewer and not exclusively to honor God. In Document 5 the main focus of the sculpture is to show prayer and adoration for God. The man is clothed and there is little attention to detail on his hands and face(Document 5.) However, Michelangelo’s David, while still being a religious figure focuses more on the beauty of man and shows a different relationship with God. Similarly to Greek art, the statue is nude and shows great attention to detail. The muscles and veins in the hands are realistic and proportional and the whole statue looks natural and (Document 6.) A second example of the shift artists’ view of the world is shown in Documents 7 and 8. The first Pietà is very rigid and anatomically incorrect. Jesus is much smaller than Mary and has many an abundance of ribs. The purpose of the sculpture is to show Jesus’ death and not to be relatable to the viewer(Document 7.) In Michelangelo’s Pietà the body is proportional to Mary and looks real. The muscles in the legs and the position of the head demonstrate an understanding of detail and humanism. It also allows emotion to be clearly shown and the sculpture looks more ‘alive’(Document 8.) Attention to detail and the glorification of humans demonstrates how artists during the Renaissance changed the way they created art and viewed the

world.
The way artists and scientists thought about the world and changed their art and models was different in the Renaissance.

The Ptolemaic or geocentric view of the universe was widely accepted because of how strongly it was backed by the Church. It supported the Church because it, unlike the heliocentric models, incorporated heaven(Document 9.) However the Copernican model did not include heaven and therefore, was not accepted by the Church for many years(Document 10.) An additional example of artists focussing on devotion to God is Cimabue’s Madonna Enthroned. Your eye is drawn to Mary and Jesus and the painting shows no movement and shows no relationship between Mary and Jesus(Document 3.) Raphael’s painting does show a relationship and places religious figures in a natural setting. It looks natural and the people are proportional. There is attention to detail throughout the painting and not just in Mary and Jesus. The background is realistic and very different from Cimabue’s Madonna Enthroned. In Document 3 the background serves as more of a filler and leads your eye to the center(Document 3 and 4.) Artists and scientists thought about their world influenced their art and showed a shift from the Middle Ages to the

Renaissance.
The Medieval worldview shifted during the Renaissance because people viewed the world differently and this affected their art. Humanism and detail show how art changed and became relatable and less about religion. Detail and proportional subjects in the painting and sculptures show how artists learned from Greek and Roman art. Lastly, emotion in the artwork shows that artists were focussing on the relationships between religious figures and not the symbolism of the artwork.