The renaissance era, especially during the fifteenth and sixteenth century in Italy, was a time of extensive innovation and exploration. These changes were especially prevalent in art, and the vast leaps in the artists’ methods and skills have continuously influenced contemporary art. Renaissance art saw an increased implementation of realism in painting and other creative ambitions such as architecture and writing. The techniques encouraged tremendous innovation and skill-based improvement, which is why many renaissance artists are still considered some of the most technically advanced. The art pieces of the time placed a substantial amount of importance on things such as perspective, proportion, and realistic illusions, which were aspects of painting that were previously ignored or only partially implemented.
The renaissance also observed shifts from classical antiquity by paying more attention to human identity and rationality. This was a complete transformation from medieval art that was linked to the divine and allegorical. Much of what we currently value in the metaphors of art, such as humanity, nature, everyday life, philosophy, and other thoughtful concepts, began to emerge during the renaissance. As such, the renaissance’s importance cannot be understated, as it has influenced the art of the following centuries and current art. The renaissance paved the way for realism, technical innovation, and perhaps most importantly, for deeper exploration of the thematic aspects of paintings and other art. The renaissance embodied many artists that are widely known today and continue to be studied and looked up to in technical ability and creative choices. The era has influenced many modern art styles and will likely continue to inspire and guide future art.
Despite appearing as a totally novel form of art, the renaissance was the return towards already existing classical Greek and Roman art forms and stylistic choices. In fact, it was the synthetic nature of the renaissance, especially in Italy, that allowed for truly inspirational results. Most Western art emerges as a consequence of the convergence and combinations of styles and practices. The same can be said for the early beginnings of the renaissance, during which the revival of the classical tradition of Greek and Roman was especially prevalent. The art of ancient Greece had always strived to achieve idealized, but naturalistic, three-dimensional forms of the human body.
Symmetry was another aspect that was upheld in the classical tradition, while the realistic proponents of works could be identified in nude figures, mostly males with female figures in later years. The same organic presentation can be observed in the oil paintings of the renaissance which mimic not only the classical tradition as it was preserved but builds on the foundational values that ancient Greek artists have installed in realism, naturalism, and dimensional works.
The fourteenth century’s emergence of the renaissance was not strictly attributed to only artists and sculptors, but to a number of creative minds of the past which became studied more frequently. The university town of Padua, not far from Venice, served as a republican commune and the source of much of the classical revival in fourteenth-century Italy (Adams, 2019). The study of ancient texts, visual arts, and other cultural factors became common and developed into a kind of social phenomenon.
The process became known as the humanist movement, an almost revolution based on the visual arts, recorded ideologies, and discussions. As such, it was integral to several artists of the renaissance, including Giotto, who was considered the father of the Renaissance. Giotto’s work employed an increased volume of figures, approximate perspective, and a depth of emotion that was perceived as human feeling as opposed to the static and passive iconography of the medieval period.
Primarily, the effect of the humanist movement altered the relationship many artists, intellectuals, creators, and viewers of art had with the human body. The humanist curriculum developed in certain elite schools dictated a much more different belief, one that suggested that the human body is inherently composed of dignity. “Man is the measure of things” was a maxim popular in the classical period and became viable again during the renaissance (Chamberlin, 2019). Essentially, it rejected the notion popularized in medieval times that dictated that the physical body was impure and corrupt. An ideological change like the one upheld by the humanists seeped into the world of art, and realism and naturalism became indisputably more relevant than the illusory and allegorical creations of the medieval period.
On the more practical side of the renaissance, art, architecture, sculpture, and a number of other art forms observed massive leaps in technological advancements. These changes included improvements in materials, techniques, and tools. Other art forms, such as music and dance also enjoyed completely new forms of creativity in the early versions of the spinet and ballet. For the visual arts, the introduction of oil paints as they exist in the modern day was perhaps one of the most vital changes to the landscape of painting. Outside the practical changes, the actual practice of painting and sculpture began to evolve to adhere to the recently acquired ideals that were promoted by classical, realist, and naturalist works of the Greeks. The changes included but were not limited to linear perspective, foreshortening, quadratura, and sfumato.
Linear perspective, foreshortening, and quadratura were the sources of a new mastery in the art of illusionistic paintings (Soriano-Colchero & López-Vílchez, 2019). The new works were able to present depth that was not seen in the pieces created by medieval artists. Additionally, sfumato, an oil painting technique, was able to further enhance the naturalism and realism of the faces and figures of subjects of many renaissance pieces.
Following Giotto, Filippo Brunelleschi, a Florentine architect, and engineer was another early creator in the age of the renaissance. His most important contributions to the era included optical experiments that led to the discovery of a mathematical theory of perspective (Asasian, 2019). The method which Brunelleschi uncovered from his experiments was implemented for architectural purposes, but following its publishing in 1435, it was just as efficiently used in the painting of three-dimensional spaces within artworks. Its implementation can be observed in works such as the ‘Holy Trinity’ by Masaccio. Though it is a religious piece and follows many previous rules and standards of earlier works dedicated to the church, ‘Holy Trinity’ depicts a barrel-vaulted ceiling (Asasian, 2019).
The ceiling is able to imitate the actual appearance of the architecture as it would be visible from the point of view of the observer. In addition, the figures are proportionate in their anatomy, which is likely the result of Masaccio’s abilities as a student of sculpture. The newly acquired understanding of perspective was not restricted to the depiction of architecture but appeared in paintings of the human body from a number of different vantage points. Such is the case for the work ‘Lamentation of the Dead Christ’ by Andrea Mantegna, which portrays the subjects lying down, and the observer is placed at the feet of the man in the painting (Asasian, 2019). Not only was it a total innovation in the implementation of perspective, but also allowed the artist to evoke sympathy from the viewer by staging the scene as he did.
The renaissance influenced and was influenced by a few theological and philosophical beliefs over its course. Movements such as humanism spread through not only written and academic works, but directly into art, resulting in thematic pieces that exhibited more human figures and less allegorical messages. Other ideologies that were often central to renaissance pieces included secularism, individualism, and classicism.
Secularism, from the word secular meaning ‘of this world’, was not in direct disagreement with previous religious themes, but an addition to the beliefs that were common in the day. Much of medieval art and theology revolved around the afterlife, salvation, and deep devotion to religious ideals. The shift from art being solely or primarily focused on religious themes to the renaissance’s rise of works that were just as likely to be concerned with themes of daily life, human beauty, and non-religious philosophy was motivated by a number of factors. In fact, the leading components of the change are likely to have been economic and political.
The late middle ages in Western Europe observed an increased interest in the arts from other areas, religions, and form groups with varied values. Such a mix resulted in the renaissance incorporating the secular spirit into art, depicting life before death and heaven as worthwhile as opposed to an ordeal to overcome before dying. However, religion and God remained at the forefront of thematic choices in renaissance work, but the influence of secularism allowed for more diversity and exploration of human existence within art. The concept of humanism was continuously thriving, with artwork reflecting the fact that artists of the renaissance believed that humans were capable of reason, beauty, and the questioning of authority.
Individualism has taken such concepts a step further, by stating that human beings were not only inherently valuable but also held the potential for great accomplishments. This was a substantial change from the previously communal-oriented nature of the middle ages, especially in the world of the arts. For instance, the individualist perspective that was being cultivated during the time allowed artists like Leonardo Da Vinci to fully explore their own potential without being held back by a society that would discourage the questioning of traditional beliefs (Campbell, 2019).
Individualism was also prevalent within the actual works of artists, with newly emerging trends such as artists’ signatures, display of individualistic pride, and increased portraiture. Further still, the communal guild system was morphing into a capitalist-like sales process that prioritized private enterprise. With such models becoming more and more prevalent, the private ownership of art had also increased and wealthier citizens had become more likely to commission works of non-religious nature.
Just as the renaissance was influenced by prior philosophies, ideologies, and artworks, it has left an everlasting mark on the world of art, with much of the principles of renaissance surviving in modern art and theology. A number of works are often either directly referenced or subconsciously referred to in many modern works. Da Vinci’s work and iconography are especially popular in current art, with many parodies or his ‘The Last Supper’ being used to convey humor, satire, politics, or a number of other themes (Perrott, 2019). The easy recognition which the piece instills has allowed several other artists to convey their own messages through the iconic composition, posing, and imagery. Similar things can be said for ‘The Creation of Adam’ and ‘The Birth of Venus’, which have been parodied directly often for commercial or other purposes.
However, the renaissance is also capable of much more subtle influences which are often related to style, technique, and the technical innovations that originated with the time period. This can be seen in the increased ability of modern artists to invoke senses of realism in their pieces. Similarly, the themes of humanism and individualism persist to this day, with massive amounts of art being centered on human relations, identity, existence, and other people-oriented ideologies. Such thematic choices have even influenced completely new mediums, such as film, by setting the standard that stories should involve realistic humans instead of the godliness, perfection, and piety that the medieval arts were committed to.
The influence of the renaissance is undeniable, as without its domination during the fourteenth century, much of modern art may have been constructed from completely different thematic, stylistic, and technical qualities. However, due to the insistent involvement of artistic developments such as realism, technical innovation, and the influence of novel ideologies and philosophies, modern art upholds similar values that observers, critics, and artists find vital. Perhaps most importantly, it is due to the renaissance defiance of social norms that art has become diverse, limitless, and forever changing.
Works Cited
Adams, L. S. (2019). Italian Renaissance Art (2nd e.d.). Routledge.
Asasian, M. (2019). A Fuzzy Method for Meaningful Perspective on Visual Arts. Journal of Advances in Mathematics and Computer Science, 1-16. Web.
Campbell, G. (2019). The Oxford Illustrated History of the Renaissance. Oxford University Press.
Chamberlin, E. R. (2019). The World of the Italian Renaissance. Routledge.
Perrott, A. (2019). Modern Renaissance: 5 Contemporary Works Inspired by the Greats. Singulart Magazine. Web.
Soriano-Colchero, J., & López-Vílchez, I. (2019). The role of perspective in contemporary artistic practice. Cogent Art and Humanities, 6(1). Web.