World History 2 Renaissance Art “The Renaissance is studded by the names of the artists and architects, with their creations recorded as great historical events” (Arthur, 2008). The Renaissance was an epoch of great art and literature, and was a period of time when people shifted away from the ideas and traditions of the Middle Ages. Many of the most prominent educators, artists and architects were from this period. Artworks dating from the 1 5th century to the 16th century, during the Renaissance era, express ideas of individualism, imitations of classical antiquity and the understanding of proportions and realism.
Michelangelo David, the self-portrait of Raphael, and Leonardo dad Vine’s Mona Lisa depicts the idea of individualism. Unlike the paintings during the Middle Ages that mostly contained religious themes that glorified God, the works of these artists focused on the potential of man, and each of them had their own unique style that showed their different talents and capabilities. “Art in the Renaissance brought out the individual” (Scotsman, 2008). Michelangelo sculpture, David (1501-1504) shows he idea of an ideal Renaissance male.
The sculpture is shaped into a physically perfect man who stands in a confident manner. This symbolizes that man’s capacity for personal development is unlimited; knowledge and a broad range of abilities are within every man’s reach (How To Be, 2008). A self-portrait of Raphael (1504-1506) also shows how individualism was valued during the Renaissance. Repeal’s self- portrait of himself portrays the idea of “self-glorification” (Scotsman, 2008). Leonardo used many of his own novel techniques and ideas to paint Mona Lisa.
The way the object’s eyes were painted, the way the subject’s mouth curved into a subtle smile, and the landscape behind the subject that appears to be a fictional place gave the painting it’s uniqueness (The Mona Lisa, 2009). Many of the artists during the Renaissance focused on individuality and on painting in their own unique styles to portray the potential of human beings. Imitation of classical antiquity can be seen in renowned artworks such as Leonardo dad Vine’s Vitamins Man (1490), and Repeal’s The School of Athens (1509-1510). Both of artists studied the findings and observations of the Romans and
Greeks, and used them as a reference to create their own works of art. The Vitamins Man was sketched by Leonardo dad Vinci in honor of the Roman architect Vitreous. Dad Vinci used Vitreous’s ideas of perception and proportion to create the sketch (Vitamins Man, 2012). He read the ancient Roman texts and combined it with his actual observations of the human body. Repeal’s The School of Athens is a painting that exhibited many well-educated Greek scholars and educators. Plato and Aristotle are painted right in the center of the painting with Socrates on top of the staircases The School of Athens, 2012).
Many artists during the Renaissance looked back into the works of their ancestors, combined the ideas of the past and present to create their own paintings and artwork. The proportions and realistic features that can be seen in Michelangelo The Creation of Adam (1 51 1), and Leonardo dad Vine’s Vitamins Man (1490), is one of the factors that define Renaissance artwork. Both Michelangelo and Dad Vinci studied the human anatomy to produce more realistic artworks. In The Creation of Adam, God is resting on the outline of the human brain (Hall, 2013). All the figures in the painting had depth and perspective.
Leonardo sketch of the Vitamins Man was carefully proportioned. The length of the outspread arms were equal to the figure’s height and the length of hand is one-tenth of the height. The sketch also shows the symmetry of the human body. The artists during the Renaissance focused greatly on realism, painting all their artworks with great detail of every part of the human body. The Renaissance was a period of time when artworks shifted away from only focusing on religion to representing individualism, classical antiquity, and respective and realism.
