The Italian Renaissance: Not Just a Bunch of Pretty Pictures! How Great Italian Artists Reinvented Ancient Ideas and Changed the World
The Renaissance, generally regarded as the period between late 1300’s and early 1600’s, is considered one of the most creative and influential periods in history. The word renaissance means “rebirth”; it was a period of looking back to classical times and the great intellectual and artistic works of Greece, Rome and the Near East. The dwindling power of the Church, the central location of Italy in regards to trading with other countries, the rise of the merchant classes, the wealth of the papal states and the decimation of the population due to bubonic plague, were all contributing factors to Italy being …show more content…
Piero Della Francesca used the golden ratio along with geometric planning and perspective to create depth perception in his work. Perspective is what creates volumes and spatial relationships on a flat surface and projects feeling and life onto a two dimensional canvas. Brunelleschi, most widely known for designing and creating The Duomo, in Florence, is the father of perspective. Perspective originated in ancient Egypt, Brunelleschi traveled to Turkey where he studied perspective in the Byzantine empire, and took the knowledge gained on perspective back to Italy. Once he returned he experimented and implemented perspective in his own buildings to ensure they were symmetrically correct. Piero Della Francesca used the knowledge brought back by Brunelleschi to enhance his artwork. “The Resurrection of Christ” is an example of a painting where he used mathematical influences to create different perspectives on a two dimensional canvas. In this piece he used the square format to project stillness and a solemn feeling. Square format relates to graphing in the different quadrants to create different impressions. Piero Della Francesca used the vertical zone to signify rebirth from winter to summer with Christ in the center. The vertical zone is a line drawn vertically to separate the canvas in half to allow for separate feelings on each side. He used the horizontal zone to signify …show more content…
One of the most notable Italian Renaissance figures was Petrarch. He was the father of humanism which is the interest of the individual in the human capacity to learn, independence, beauty, worth and dignity of mankind. The ideals of humanism were central to the Italian Renaissance as they marked a turn from the medieval to modern thinking. Petrarch and the humanists studied the values and ideals of Cicero and Virgil. In one of the most famous paintings of the Italian Renaissance “The School of Athens” by Raphael humanism is represented in physical form. Painted in 1509, fresco in the Papal apartments of the Vatican, it represents all the greatest mathematicians, philosophers and scientists gathered together sharing ideas. They are learning from each other even though they are from different time periods. Aristotle and Plato are in the center and they had a tremendous impact on idealists through the ages. Plato, said the changing world is a shadow of higher reality. Aristotle, felt the only reality is one we can see and experience by touch and sight. Pythagoras, also in the painting, believed the world included the movement of planets and stars had to do with mathematical ideas. This painting proves the passing of information from each one of the scholars shows how knowledge is gained from each other’s thinking and building upon previous
The Renaissance, generally regarded as the period between late 1300’s and early 1600’s, is considered one of the most creative and influential periods in history. The word renaissance means “rebirth”; it was a period of looking back to classical times and the great intellectual and artistic works of Greece, Rome and the Near East. The dwindling power of the Church, the central location of Italy in regards to trading with other countries, the rise of the merchant classes, the wealth of the papal states and the decimation of the population due to bubonic plague, were all contributing factors to Italy being …show more content…
Piero Della Francesca used the golden ratio along with geometric planning and perspective to create depth perception in his work. Perspective is what creates volumes and spatial relationships on a flat surface and projects feeling and life onto a two dimensional canvas. Brunelleschi, most widely known for designing and creating The Duomo, in Florence, is the father of perspective. Perspective originated in ancient Egypt, Brunelleschi traveled to Turkey where he studied perspective in the Byzantine empire, and took the knowledge gained on perspective back to Italy. Once he returned he experimented and implemented perspective in his own buildings to ensure they were symmetrically correct. Piero Della Francesca used the knowledge brought back by Brunelleschi to enhance his artwork. “The Resurrection of Christ” is an example of a painting where he used mathematical influences to create different perspectives on a two dimensional canvas. In this piece he used the square format to project stillness and a solemn feeling. Square format relates to graphing in the different quadrants to create different impressions. Piero Della Francesca used the vertical zone to signify rebirth from winter to summer with Christ in the center. The vertical zone is a line drawn vertically to separate the canvas in half to allow for separate feelings on each side. He used the horizontal zone to signify …show more content…
One of the most notable Italian Renaissance figures was Petrarch. He was the father of humanism which is the interest of the individual in the human capacity to learn, independence, beauty, worth and dignity of mankind. The ideals of humanism were central to the Italian Renaissance as they marked a turn from the medieval to modern thinking. Petrarch and the humanists studied the values and ideals of Cicero and Virgil. In one of the most famous paintings of the Italian Renaissance “The School of Athens” by Raphael humanism is represented in physical form. Painted in 1509, fresco in the Papal apartments of the Vatican, it represents all the greatest mathematicians, philosophers and scientists gathered together sharing ideas. They are learning from each other even though they are from different time periods. Aristotle and Plato are in the center and they had a tremendous impact on idealists through the ages. Plato, said the changing world is a shadow of higher reality. Aristotle, felt the only reality is one we can see and experience by touch and sight. Pythagoras, also in the painting, believed the world included the movement of planets and stars had to do with mathematical ideas. This painting proves the passing of information from each one of the scholars shows how knowledge is gained from each other’s thinking and building upon previous