Oh, to Synthesize the Renaissance!
The Renaissance Era was a time of conflicted artistic endeavors. The artist's soul craved intensity, reality, and often sensuality; yet the church's influence on culture called for a much more reserved form of art, wherein beloved saints and heroes were the inspiration as well as the centerpiece for the artwork. There was a resulting and notable struggle for balance between what an artist truly wished to create, and what would be socially accepted at that time.The revered artist Michelangelo was a prime example of such artistic conflict. Many of his paintings captured raw intensity. This intensity was often shown through epic paintings (in which characters were often nude). Even on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel one can find many characters who are less than saintlike. Several are rather plain and even vulgar. Even when hired to do a job for the church, he found a way to let his artistic personality show. He toed the line between genius and relativity.
Another such artist was Leonardo Da Vinci. He is renowned for such paintings as Mona Lisa or The Last Supper. Da Vinci was also a great inventor and innovator. He studied science extensively. However, many of his scientific practices as well as art were looked down upon. He often drew abstract paintings of humans which did not fit into the narrow requirements for great art of that day. He also experimented and studied with corpses to better understand human anatomy. Da Vinci embodies the ideals of the Renaissance in that he believed in progress and refinement of humanity before he believed in rules already established by humans.
So what was the Renaissance Era? What is its significance?
It was a time when the artist began to break away from God, society, and relative art to further explore the boundaries of his own humanity, and in so doing produce a piece of art which reflects his own ideologies. Whether this subtle rebellion against such highly esteemed aspects of humanity was a good choice or simply selfish ignorance, is up to the viewer of Renaissance art to decide. The greatest artists of this time were not influenced by the pressure to create controversial art, nor the pressure to create acceptable art, but those simply created art with strings attached and no angles. This is what powered the Renaissance.
This was written by: asher period 3, team 8
ReplyDeletewyl.p5.t4
ReplyDeleteThe use of rhetorical devices is very powerful and persuasive. Nice use of structure, the synthesis (four paragraphs) is very structured and well thought out.
The first paragraph gave a little background on the reasoning behind the Renaissance, and how it came to be. The Renaissance came to be because of a break in balance between the artist and the church. Leonardo Da Vinci was a prime example of this. He was an artist, as well is an inventor and an early pioneer of science. Michelangelo was another artist who saw the world in many ways, through art. He showed realism in his realer-than-life sculptures and his awe-inspiring paintings. The last paragraph goes onto brilliantly close the piece, brining back the roots to the topic.
The only problem is that of research. This statement refers to the Renaissance, “It was a time when the artist began to break away from God, society, and relative art to further explore the boundaries of his own humanity.” This is not what the Renaissance was about. It was about realism, not breaking away from God (Michelangelo sculpted David from the Bible). Many Renaissance artists were influenced by God and Christianity. Renaissance artists did not want to separate from the Church, but instead sought its realistic values. In both the introduction and the conclusion of this synthesis, the church is cited as a negative influence, when in fact it was a driving force for the Renaissance.
This is a very well written synthesis, but with less than par research.