Renaissance Art Research Paper

The characteristics that delineate what Renaissance Art is considered to be include individualism, perspective, realism, and the appreciation of the classics. These are a culmination of the standards for the creation of Renaissance Art. These characteristics are what made Renaissance Art because they stemmed from an attempt to recreate the natural world's appearance with rationale and science (Stockstad 306). Michelangelo's David portrays the human body with realism but also with the self-assurance and idealization of the human body as personified in Renaissance pride (Sherman, Salisbury 311). The creation of linear perspective appeared and paintings were transformed from two-dimensional to all but three-dimensional in appearance. Sculptors

made their contribution to the arts by attempting to accurately portray the human body, even portraying the human body nude in secular art which hadn't made an appearance since classical antiquity (Stockstad 306).

Michelangelo's David was the most sizable nude created in its day since antiquity (Sherman, Salisbury 311). Architects renewed features of classical architecture which involved classical orders, elaborate motifs from ruined Roman temples, and borrowed designs (Stockstad 306). The Gothic style was eschewed from favor and was replaced with a need to reinvent the resplendence of the classical Greek and Roman architecture (Sherman, Salisbury 309).

Raphael's School of Athens portrays the characteristic of individualism through the persons that are gathered in the painting (Euclid, Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle). Great philosophers are seen throughout having what one can only image to be profound conversations of existentialism. Individualism held the compelling belief that individuals had the cognition to choose right and wrong and that they had the capacity to act on these choices (Sherman, Salisbury 293). The philosophers being chosen to be the subject of the painting expresses the best of society whose choices followed the emphasis and celebration of humans and their achievements

(Sherman, Salisbury 293). The painting also portrays an appreciation of the classics through the architecture of the room where the philosophers are gathered. In the construction of the building there is a balance and symmetry to the room, the opening arch suggests the building to be dome shaped; this arch and the following arches could be a representation of proper ratios referencing Alberti's theorem that the human body should influence buildings in their supports and openings (Sherman, Salisbury 309, 310). Additionally, linear perspective can be seen through the multiple layers of people tiered in the painting as well as through the hall of the building extending back to an exit. From a fixed vantage point, everything in the painting would appear to recede into the distance at the same rate (Stockstad 328). The advantage of this perspective makes the pictorial space appear to be an extension of real space which creates a very compelling sense of depth (Stockstad 328). The centralized focal point in the middle of the painting is is the large archway and the smaller arches following it creating a sense of depth that the eye follows back. The way the people in the painting are configured also gives a sense of depth from how they are grouped on the lower level up through the levels of the stairs and then on the main platform, but also narrow the viewer's eye through the center of the painting.

Paintings that are considered to be from the Renaissance body of work reflect several distinctive characteristics; oil paints being used and preferred, the amount of detail that was captured using oil paints, focusing on making portraits realistic and defined with breath-taking detail, and the prominent use of linear perspective to create depth and equal ratios. The technique of using oil paints on canvas emerged as a prominent medium in the field. Previously the most stylish medium for painters was tempera, a kind of watercolor (Sherman, Salisbury 281). Oil paint became preferred over tempera because light couldn't penetrate the lower layers of color and reflect back which resulted in the paintings finish being matte as well as drying almost on contact (Stockstad 308). Paintings done in oil allowed the painter to create more vivid details (Salisbury, Sherman 281). Oil paint doesn't dry as quickly as tempera and changes can be made while the paint is still wet; with oil paint building the layers to be reflected back could create the appearance of an internal luminosity that was absent from tempera paintings (Stockstad 308). They endeavored to perfect portraiture as well, Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa being arguably the most celebrated portrait which inspired other artists portraits later on (Sherman, Salisbury 312, 314). However, what is deemed to the the best creation was linear perspective which allowed them to enhance realism because they could mimic the illusion of three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface (Sherman, Salisbury 312). While there is some speculation on to whom the mantle of creator should be bestowed, the Florentines are responsible for perfecting the innovation (Sherman, Salisbury 312).
An exceptional example of a classic Renaissance painting is Jan van Eyck's Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride, 1434 (Sherman, Salisbury 281 fig. 9.9). This painting captures astonishing realism. The painting depicts a portrait of a husband and his bride, but also the viewer can also see the witnesses to the marriage reflected in the mirror on the wall in the background (Sherman, Salisbury 281). The attention to detail the artist was able to convey is also seen in the finery of the clothes, the folds of fabric flowing in the woman's dress and piling on the floor. Even though the husband's clothes are dark, the detail on the sleeves and hem are quite vivid with definition. The dog in the photo has individual strands of fur that can be seen. While using this new medium van Eyck didn't completely abandon tradition, but also preserved much of the Middle Ages ideals; this painting is filled with symbolism to both reveal and explain the world (Sherman, Salisbury 281). Jan van Eyck was the forerunner in forming the use of oil paints as the pictorial voice of the Renaissance while still holding true to personal ideals that created a wonderful unification of old and new in this work.
Another fundamental example of a Renaissance painting is Masaccio, Trinity with the Virgin, St, John the Evangelist, and Donors, 1425 (Sherman, Salisbury fig.

10.11). This fresco uses linear perspective to create the appearance of three-dimensional space (Sherman, Salisbury 312). The Trinity fresco's intention was to create the semblance of a stone funerary monument and altar table set in a deep framed niche in the wall (Stockstad 327). There is a tiered effect drawing the eye up towards the center of the painting. The people on the outside left and right are facing inward and the viewer's eye follows their viewpoint which brings the viewers attention further into the painting and the main focal point. The arch brings in the viewer's eye inward as well, creating a frame in itself. An artist named Brunelleschi calculated the mathematical ratios by which things seemed to get smaller as they recede from view which led him to know how large to paint each thing in his grid to attain a realistic appearance of receding space (Sherman, Salisbury 312). Masaccio knew of Brunelleschi's perspective experiments and architectural style which is illustrated in this painting (Stockstad 327). Stylistic innovations take a period of time to be amply recognized and Masaccio's gift for the portrayal of weight, volume, and consistent lighting, and spatial integration were best comprehended by later generations of painters (Stockstad

331).

The characteristics that define Renaissance Art are found throughout the artwork of the period whether it be in architecture, painting, or sculpture. The Renaissance was the return to the sources of knowledge and standards of beauty that had created the great civilizations of classical Greece and Rome (Sherman, Salisbury, 292). Each were touched by the influences of individualism, realism, perspective, and appreciation of the classics. Each characteristic built on the splendor the artist wanted to portray.