The Early Renaissance period was a period of blossoming for art works, especially the elevated style of painting that reflected the society's fervent attachment to the religious ideals of the time. As the church gradually ascended to power, their influence towards the Renaissance painters became more evident. However, the actual philosophies of the time reflected quite the opposite type of sentiments, the thinkers of the time dealt with discovering the value of the individual, the more personal approach towards god, and his connections with rest of the society: humanity. The church was no longer on the highest part of the “social pyramid,” and the connection towards God became much of an unique experience, different among ever individual.
Despite all this revolutionary beliefs, the Catholic church of the era demanded that each painting be sacred, to portray the unreachable divinity of the church and god. The artists, in return, decided to break new grounds regarding the word “sacred.” Although the paintings themselves would portray holy and symbolic scenes – referenced usually from the Bible – the “sacredness” would lie within the innovative and creative techniques and approaches they applied to the art itself. The contrast of light and shade, the depth of facial expressions, or the magical proportion between people and the background were some of the key characteristics found within these paintings. One of the more famous , to say the least, artist of the era, Leonardo Da Vinci expresses his “sacred” and innovative approach in the painting Annunciation. The painting portrays an angel delivering an evangelical message to the fair lady of the scripture, thus the painting can rightfully be defined as being sacred. However, when taken a look at from the perspective of the art itself, the contrast of light to emphasize the holiness of the lady and the Bible, the scenery that effectively distorts the proportion of the objects to represent distance within a two-dimensional painting is remarkable. Also Michelangelo's paintings of The Last Judgment: Saint Bartholomew shows the intricate details of the human body, while at the same time featuring a sacred topic to please the church, while demonstrating a scared technique to please the social and aesthetic perspective of the time.
The paintings, though they featured divine characters and beings, were starting to cave in on the necessity and the importance of humanity in society. The connection of a single human towards his or her god, and the effects he or she can have on the society were often the topic of discussion to the philosophers of the time period. The details outlined within the human body, and the attention they received is something beyond what the history has seen up to that point. Thus the evolving society reflected the “rebirth of the human kind and his values” thus giving the era a title of “Renaissance.”
Although not everyone believes in god, we feel that it is best that the people feel a direct connection with god, rather than having to go through a middle man, in this case the church. We all know in various times through history, even the church was corrupt and when the church is the highest power in society then they can twist god to how they interpret it, however they interpret it. This change that started in the renaissance era was a definite improvement for society. Not only, does it matter less if the church is corrupt, but also it gives the people a more direct connection to god.
ReplyDeleteOur group agrees that paintings should be sacred, but they should be sacred to their own purpose and not to a set guideline, set by someone else. Setting a guideline on anything restricts the possibilities of what could possibly happen and creativity. It is not defiance against god to have the art itself sacred. It is only defiance towards god if there is actually something attacking god, subliminally or out rightly. Rather than pleasing the church, paintings should be meant to please oneself and others all over the world.
Our group agrees that the attention put into the detail of the human body is one of the huge ideas of the renaissance. The renaissance is the start of humans in paintings looking more and more like actual humans. This is done to show humans direct connection with god rather than having to go through a middle man to communicate with god.
wyl.p1.t3
Marc Yu, Hyrum Judkins, Michael Abelev
The Renaissance was indeed a time when art flourished. The discovery of using light to show distance within a flat painting drastically changed the way of art. Paintings can now be seen in 3-D due to the light and color contrasts for example, the painting Annunciation by Da Vinci was not only a symbol of sacredness and a growing religion, and it also symbolized a new era in art. It was also a time period when society began to appreciate life in general. The Renaissance as said in your synthesis was the rebirth of human kind and values. Our group agrees that the main points of the Renaissance were religion, science, and art. This synthesis covered all but science, which was an important factor during the Renaissance. Overall however, the synthesis was well done and the facts were straight forward making it easy to read.
ReplyDeleteEdwin Tan Brandon Joe Alan Shen Bryan G. Asher Team 5 Period 3