Themes of Italian Renaissance Art
As the fourteenth century ushered out the Middle Ages in Italy, a new period of cultural flowering began, known as the Renaissance. This period in history was famous for its revival of classical themes and the merging of these themes with the Catholic Church. These themes of humanism, naturalism, individualism, classicism, and learning and reason appeared in every aspect of the Italian Renaissance, most particularly in its art. Humanism can be defined as the idea that human beings are the primary measure of all things (Fleming, 29). Renaissance art showed a renewed interest in man who was depicted in Renaissance art as the center of the world. Pico della Mirandola said that, "there is nothing to be seen more wonderful than man." (Fleming, 284) This could almost be taken as a motto for Renaissance art. Michelangelo's David clearly supports Mirandola's statement. Since Renaissance art focused on representing tangible, human figures, rather than depicting scenes from the Bible in order to praise God, the artists had to think in more natural, scientific terms. Artists became familiar with mathematics and the concept of space, as well as
Every statue, every portrait was an individual person who made a profound impression. Mary and the angel Gabriel became very human in Fra Angelico's Madonna (Wallace, 45). They revived classical orders and "blueprints. No matter what theme of the Italian Renaissance is named, there is always some example of a corresponding art manifestation of it. Raphael, along with Michelangelo, was placed in the painting among the ranks of artist-scholars. For humanism it was David, for naturalism it was Annunciation, for individualism, it was The Last Supper, for classicism, it was St. The World of Michelangelo: 1475-1564. Wealthy families and individuals commissioned artists to create statues and paintings. Their anatomical studies opened the way to the modeling and the movements of the human body. In painting, but especially in sculpture, artists were inspired to express the structural forms of the body beneath its external appearance. On Aristotle's side there was one of Athena, goddess of reason. New York: Simon, 1970 Coughlan, Robert. Leonardo also looked at the geometric proportions of the human body (Calder, 197). New York: Time-Life, 1966 Flemming, William.
Common topics in this essay:
Italian Renaissance,
Battista Alberti,
Constantine Flemming,
Michelangelo's David,
Adoration Magi,
Angelico's Annunciation,
Lisa Supper,
Aristotle's Athena,
Ages Italy,
Plato Aristotle,
renaissance art,
italian renaissance,
st peter's,
st peter's basilica,
peter's basilica,
human body,
fra angelico's,
concept space,
school athens,
human figures,
plato aristotle,
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