Ohio 7th Grade World History/Art

Renaissance art was so much more different then they were in the past. During the Renaissance, Italian artists created the most beautiful paintings and sculptures. Artists showed people in the most realistic ways. Artists would study the human bodies and drew almost exactly what they saw. They used a new technique called perspective, a way of showing depth and distance on a flat surface. They made closer people darker in color, and people farther away less colorful and in depth and farther away. They use ordinary lines and make them look like an illusion and this makes the painting more realistic. Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel, the muscular human figures in the painting, and reminds the viewer of Greek and Roman statues. The Ancient ruins and statues inspired painters and Architects.

Humanism

Humanism is a way of thinking and learning that stresses the importance of human abilities and action. Humanism started in Florence and spread in Italy and then it spread North through Europe. Some of the humanistic subjects are poetry, history, art, and Greek/Latin languages. Humanism also led to rediscovering of ancient writing. Art changed too, the middle ages the subject of art was more religious; things like angles, the apostles and god. But after in the Renaissance the artist started drawing more realistic things, like everyday people and things. In the Renaissance people Looked up to science more than they looked up to the church for answers. That means that people relied less on the kings and the Pope got weaker because the people could fix their own problems. People also could create thing like microscope, telescope, and printing press.

Renaissance Art

The Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci.

The Renaissance people wanted art that showed joy in human beauty and life’s pleasures. Renaissance art is more lifelike than in the art of the Middle Ages, which focused on religion. Renaissance artists studied perspective or the differences in the way things look when they are close to something or far away. The artists painted in a way that showed these differences. As a result, their paintings seem to have depth.

One of the most popular major achievements was the Mona Lisa, by Leonardo Da Vinci. Leonardo was believed to be a great man. He was extraordinarily smart and a fantastic thinker. He was an Italian scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, musician and writer. He created a tank, a flying machine, a parachute, and most importantly his art. He created the Mona Lisa, which is widely considered his greatest work. He also produced paintings in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican City.

Another great artist, Michelangelo Buonarroti, regarded himself as a sculptor. He created the famous David. He created tombs for the Medici family and Julius II. This proved the masterful skill Michelangelo had.

In the Renaissance there were many great artists like one from Florence, Giotto, who was one of the first to paint in this new style of perspective 3D art and vanishing point. Giotto lived more than a century before the beginning of the Renaissance, but his paintings show real emotion. The bodies look solid, and the background of his paintings shows perspective. The art produced during the Renaissance would build upon Giotto’s style.

Renaissance art was very similar to art made in Rome and Greece about 1200-2000 years ago. People began carving out sculptures of men and woman like in the past. People began using the new art on the gardens, houses and castles as well. In Renaissance people didn’t paint gods and devils, they started to focus on humanism-The study of history, literature, public speaking and art that lead to a new way of thinking In Europe in 1300s.