The Renaissance Reinvention

Renaissance Reinvention The renaissance is one of the most culturally, religiously, and artistically inventive periods in the history of mankind. From giant sculptures carved to perfection to literary works of art that induced deep thinking, the renaissance demonstrated that man’s view of itself was expeditiously becoming refined. Many of the most influential people in history, Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Raphael, and Dante lived during the time of the great reinvention of Italian society. The renaissance altered the way education, art, and innovation were perceived and forever changed the thinking of the common man. Leading up to the renaissance, most people in the world were only commoners or worked as serfs. Serfs made up 85 percent of the

Buoninsegna painted Madonna Enthroned Between Two Angels in the late 1200’s and then Leonardo Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa in the 1500’s (Doc A). The differences between the two works were remarkable. Buoninsegna’s piece featured two dimensional figures and did not truly portray the image of a human. Da Vinci’s painting, however, depicts a woman in three dimensional settings that fully replicate the outside world. It was clear that renaissance art was constantly being built upon to create a more complete work. “In addition to its expression of classical Greco-Roman traditions, Renaissance art sought to capture the experience of the individual and the beauty and mystery of the natural world” (Lewis, Jeffrey).These advancements not only helped people living in the renaissance to better portray themselves and others, but also created the foundations for how modern art is created

Ptolemy developed a theory about the universe that was universally adopted by scholars called the Geocentric Theory which states the earth is the center of the universe (Doc C). Copernicus, however, created the Heliocentric view of the universe and he claimed that the sun was actually the center of the universe. Many people called for Copernicus to be killed, as he went against with what the majority of Catholic Church leaders taught. His courage to step up and speak his own mind, though, proved to be crucial for the overall revolution of the renaissance. The human body was also another aspect of science that was viewed in a drastically different manner during the renaissance. Before the renaissance, the body was thought to be affected by the various constellations. Andreas Vesalius, a Belgian physician, changed the view of the human body by creating anatomical sketches that depicted a human covered in bones and muscles (Doc D). His views were widely accepted mostly because they logically explained humans and their physiological processes. Thanks to Vesalius, man was viewed as a physical being that wasn’t directly affected by constellations or