Wyl.p6.t7 Renaissance synthesis

The soft, scintillating, religious/pious, civilized culture of the Renaissance is a stark contrast to the more Church-oriented, distinct class division of the Middle Ages with serfs and vassals, kings, knights, peasants, and so on. In essence, this period was the beginning of perspective (in art especially), softness, realism, and deviation from complete and absolute piety in religion – as in there were other forms of art that did not show Jesus or Mary or priests. Renaissance art is more humanistic, with a greater emphasis on everyday life as opposed to Christian piety. With the newer blends of light and shadow, combined with the newly discovered perspective technique, artists like Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci were free to experiment with their art and color in creating their masterpieces.
Aashrita Mangu

Christine Yi

Elaine Hong

Tiffany Show
In Michelangelo’s Buonarroti, there is connection with man’s individual (rather than collective, as largely depicted in Medieval times) connection with spirituality, while also juxtaposing the classical, soft, serene, perfect, and proportional nature so characterized by the Renaissance -- that is, there is this secular aestheticism that seeps through the layer of religious asceticism.

In Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is another prime example of this religious and aesthetic mixture. The Mona Lisa itself illustrates a religious figure; however, the message and technique used to depict this woman is aesthetic – that is, the softness, shadows, texture, and expression (which have been pondered throughout history) are evidential assets of this unique secularism in lieu of religious piety and need.

This changing sense of religion as an adaptation to life, rather than a ruling of the Church and a dictator of lifestyle is something that can be used to foreshadow the rise of Protestantism and different religious sects, as well as other power struggles dictated by religion (including the Americas). Individualism was a theme of the Renaissance which is evident in all these artworks, with the use of individual connection to god, which passionately galvanized the personal interpretations of the Bible – the start of the splitting of the Church! Thus, such (and similar) numerous changes in art led to major transformations in politics, society, and philosophy.

Renaissance Synthesis Wyl. P.1 T.4

By mid-15th Century Europe, the rebirth of Classicism gave rise to Humanism, celebrating man’s ability to reason. In Italy, amid a prosperous Florentine mercantile landscape, the Renaissance exploration began to bud. Leonardo Da Vinci, born 1452, and Michelangelo 23 years later, followed similar ascents in study and expression. They sprang from a class of gentlemanly tradesmen, yet opted to apprentice with early Renaissance artists, Verrocchio and Ghirlandaio, respectively. As teenagers, they joined young princes and popes taught by the thinkers of the day at the school of Lorenzo Medici, ruler of Florence. However, the Church’s omnipotent wealth was their main source for commissions and it exerted control that they express sacred themes.

Painting subjects that promoted asceticism, their work belies other vision and beliefs. Leonardo’s zest for anatomical knowledge, contributing to Renaissance anatomy in Treatise on Painting and the Human Figure, was garnered in autopsies and hidden in mirror-code in his journals. A seamless synthesis of his aim and the Church message is evident in the fine proportion in heads, bodies, and hands in The Last Supper. Elusive expressions like the Christ child in Madonna and Child peering at the viewer with other-worldly candor are possibly derived from research on the “science” of Physiognomy. But his final painting, Saint John the Baptist, takes on a sardonic grin. Deemed inappropriate, another painter fixed some elements, cloaking the nude in fur pelts and placing a reed-cross to amend the overt, oddly heavenward point of his finger. Michelangelo also inferred unruly messages. The Sistine Chapel was commissioned as 12 robed apostles amid a starry sky, but he delivered robust male nudity, celebratory of sensuous anatomy. Likewise, another artist applied coverage. In the depiction requested by one-time friend, Pope Clement, The Last Judgment, the welts from a flailing contain Michelangelo’s face. Like many in society, Leonardo and Michelangelo contained anger at suffering wrought by a Church needing reformation.

Danny Shapiro, Ivy Arbolado, Claire West, Edward Tyler

Synthesis Question, Period 5 Team 8 (wylie)

The Renaissance was a time where artists introduced more than just a painting or a sculpture, they introduced their outlook on the world. In the painting the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, people were fascinated by the ambiguous look of a merchant’s wife. In the Renaissance era paintings mainly were to be of church figures or biblical characters but Leonardo protested such ways with the Mona Lisa. Her elegant look and enigmatic face brought the look of a new way of life that the Renaissance was becoming. Michelangelo was the opposite of this idea of separation from religion. One of his most famous pieces of art was the Sistine Chapel that depicted many different figures of the Catholic Church. Michelangelo’s paintings and sculptures were known for his perfect imitation of the human body. This talent cohesively tied in with his religious views. The difference between these two world famous artist were the symbols of the conflict in the Renaissance era, the devotion to new ideas and new thinking or the devotion to the church.

- AveryMillard, Katherine Morales, Martin Lis, Helena Cassily, Chloe Compton

Wyl.P6.T3 Renaissance Synthesis Question

Dylan Mulcahy
Jenny Zhan
Caleb Ong
James Jin

2. Michelangelo’s painting of the Sistine Chapel was one of such paintings that were able to synthesize secular aestheticism and religious asceticism. Throughout the ceiling various figures and scenes from the bible are depicted. Even with the religious influence, every single person (be they in austere clothing or fully nude) has a high degree of aestheticism. One reason that this is acceptable is because Michelangelo’s famous depiction of God’s creation of Adam (and in turn all of humanity) is that he did so with great aestheticism. So therefore, humanity is depicted as naturally beautiful and perfect (catering to aestheticism) even though the figures carry themselves with great modesty and asceticism, creating a natural synthesis of the two. This synthesis also reflects the changing ideologies. Most of the actions in the painting such as Adam’s creation, the Downfall of Adam and Eve, the Great Flood, and Noah’s drunkenness, God assists humanity but then humanity makes a huge mistake and God has to fix it. This can be seen as humanity’s need for God’s constant salvation. Yet the same of such depictions can be depicted with a humanistic view that humanity. Humanity chose to eat the apple at the Garden of Eden, save their selves from the flood, and Noah’s choice was to drunken himself. This can be interpreted with the sense that humanity will make their own choices for good or evil without religious intervention. Artists were clearly beginning to show changing ideologies in religion and philosophy but still act according to social standards. (252 Words)

Renaissance Synthesis Question Wylie 5 Team 9

Gus Shettleroe

Nicki Quiles

Audrey Ford

Misael Navarro

Team 9

Prior to the Renaissance Era, it was clear that the Catholic Church maintained supreme influence over most aspects of the lives of its people. This fact largely contributes to the reasons behind why the Renaissance Era is such an important time in history: for the first time, people began to stray away from what the Catholic Church deemed acceptable and unacceptable. This deviance from traditional behavior was extremely prominent in the artwork of the time. Referred to as the “Universal Genius” by admirers, Leonardo Da Vinci is one of the most profound artists in history. Most noted for his pieces Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, and Madonna on the Rocks, Da Vinci provided the first bridge between what the Catholic Church expected from artists, and what the artists themselves were interested in depicting. Da Vinci painted masterpieces of holy people and scenes whilst incorporating a revolutionary mastery of natural light, human emotions, and skeletal and muscular anatomy into his work. Da Vinci’s fusion of secular and religious artistic motives provided a sort path for the next generation of artists to follow. One such artist was Michelangelo who was actually a younger contemporary of Da Vinci. Michelangelo’s most famous piece is, of course, the marble statue of David. However, while both artists deserve eternal praise for the beautiful work they produced in their time, an equally important contribution made by these revolutionary artists of the Renaissance Era is simply their legacies. Both Da Vinci and Michelangelo represent the time in history when people began to stand on their own and trust themselves rather than rely solely upon the Catholic Church for guidance and instruction.

Renaissance Era Synthesis Wyl.p5.t4

Joyce Alexander
Lilian Coie
Kevin He
Matt Wong

There was quite a bit of conflict in respect to art during the Renaissance era. There were two conflicting ideas of what art should be. The Catholic Church had a very ascetic view of paintings, thinking it should only be used as a way to portray religious scenes and holy individuals. This view clashed with the emerging ideas of humanism and realism which were becoming prominent in the minds of artists of the time. In order to express themselves, without angering the Catholic Church which was quite powerful at the time, artists had to walk the fine line in between these two views of art.

Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci are two of the very few painters who managed to pull off this feat. They both expressed their realism, humanism, and philosophical ideologies in such a way that the Catholic Church wasn’t upset about it, they were thrilled. Michelangelo found his way to success through his work The Last Supper. In choosing a religious scene to portray he is able to get away with having Jesus look straight at the viewer, a new effect, and show off his accurate portrayal of the human body and still receive praise from religious viewers. Leonardo Da Vinci on the other hand painted the ceiling of a chapel, the Sistine Chapel, in his effort to express himself. His painting of man and God is striking because of its realistic representation of God as a man, a risky move for the time. It was just religious enough though that it became a stunning success.

Both of these artists were able to combine their aesthetic ideas with the pious restrictions of the church to create gorgeous works of art challenging the strict religious rules of Catholicism and getting away with it.

Renaissance Era Synthesis Wyl.p5.t2

Tiffany Chen
Lucy Zhao
Melody Sue

Wyl.p5.t2

Funded by private patrons such as Medici and no longer dependent on Church funds to survive, Renaissance artists were able to explore secular themes in their work.

“Renaissance man” Leonardo Da Vinci and his oil paintings gained fame not only for their accurate religious depictions but also for their novel approaches to the human aesthetic.

For instance, one of Da Vinci’s most famous and beloved paintings is his Last Supper, which was painted in a religious monastery and depicted the most well-known religious scene: the last supper of Jesus Christ. Highly approved by the Church and artist alike, the subject of the painting was not the only religious aspect of this aesthetic masterpiece; Last Supper soon became the epitome of religious narrative painting for decades to come. Da Vinci also achieved a balance of godly and worldly visuals, in such paintings as Virgin of the Rocks, depicting John the Baptist worshipping Jesus Christ with scientifically accurate and meticulously measured anatomical correctness, within the context of nature and the human world.

Yet throughout his life and throughout his paintings, Da Vinci was an observant scientist whose meticulous studies of tangible objects and the mortal human form (studied through sacrilegious dissections of cadavers) often seemed the farthest things from religion. The subtle yet powerful atmospheres in his sfumato paintings such as the Mona Lisa emphasize human emotion and human figures gained exposure despite a heavily spiritual, godly and non-human emphasis of Church-controlled society.

This shifting focus to individual, as opposed to religious figures, reflected the Humanism that emerged during the Renaissance. This movement involved, in the arts, glorifying but also Realistically portraying the human body, nature or other worldly, secular themes. In this way, art took away some of the Church’s previously exclusive right to define man’s relationship with humanity, with the universe and with God. Likewise, asceticism (emphasizing self-denial and austerity) was developed; secular asceticism in paintings and religious asceticism elsewhere gave people options in how to pursue new philosophies outside of religious devotion.

Michelangelo also took the liberty to exercise his secular artistic license in The Creation of Adam and other fresco paintings on the Sistine Chapel ceiling; rather than depict God’s holiness and his plan for humanity’s salvation, as was originally planned, Michelangelo focused on humanity’s disgrace and subsequent necessity for faith and for God. Though the main narrative of the painting still deals with God, and still portrays the greatness of religious figures, the ceiling is very Humanist in that the human figures are so beautiful and largely proportioned as to seem to glorify humanity over God.

With these artists and others pioneering the way, art soon departed from purely religious purpose to allow new practices and techniques to emerge. Through the study of nature, anatomy, light and perspective, artists paved the way for a new artistic revolution.

wylie.p5.t6 Renaissance Synthesis Question Response

Prior to the Renaissance era, everything was according to the Church and everything, included art, had to meet sacred standards. In the Renaissance era, however, people began to stray away from the strict ideas of the Church and began thinking about religion and philosophy in their own terms. Michelangelo Buonarroti and Leonardo da Vinci are two men who did just that. Da Vinci is considered the ultimate archetype of the “Renaissance Man” in that he was an artist and scientist. One of his most famous works, The Last Supper perfectly portrays the religious asceticism of the time. He fused his religious background and scientific calling. While he made paintings that respected religion, intellectually, he explored the science behind human anatomy. Da Vinci’s fascination with the human body led him to fuse his passions together, thus spurring his famed Anatomy of a Man and other pieces of the like. In that same way, Michelangelo portrayed the sculpture of a nude David. The Church honoured the body as sanctified, and it was considered sacrilegious to show intimate parts of the human body. Both artists’ secular aestheticism led them to express themselves more freely, thus separating from the Church, just as much of society began to during this era.

<3 Janelle Li, Kelsey Nakamura, Nancy Lai, and Zachary Lindecamp

Renaissance Synthesis Wylie Team 3 Per. 5- Paulina Alvarez, Emily Teraoka, Karen Cao, Angela Oh

From the research of medieval paintings, it was clear that artworks from that time were strictly related to the church. Because the church was one of the few holders of art, it was heavily influenced by religious principles. With the close of the medieval era, the Renaissance era began to question this laid out “rules” of the church and instead promoted reason and understanding. The renaissance era drifted from complete subordination to the church to incorporating science and knowledge. With the surge of many cultural movements there was much secular asceticism that was introduced. Many notable artists like Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci at a time when secular asceticism was rapidly increasing needed to create a synthesis of both religion and secular asceticism. Michelangelo’s sculpture David, portrayed a favorite hero in the bible. This sculpture, despite have biblical reference, portrayed the common Greek hero, nude, and baring one’s anatomy. However in the sculpture he is not circumcised, showing defiance in the common Judaic tradition. Another synthesis is through Da Vinci’s the Vitruvian Man. This drawing is used as the basis for male proportions and is a common symbol seen in relation to science and the medical field. This classic synthesis is highly regarded and used for its fusion of both science and arts. This was timely for society as a whole because it was drifting from religion and incorporating science and reason to fulfill personal ideologies and asceticism like literature, art, and science.

Wylie. P5. T5. Renaissance

Diana Huang, Lorena Huang Liu, Rachel Yeo, Isabel Kim. Period 5. Team 5.

During the Renaissance, artists had much more freedom than their counterparts did in the Middle Ages. Religious institutions no longer imposed as many restrictions as they once did. That is not to say they did not limit work in other fields. Scientists such as Nicolaus Copernicus suffered at the hands of the Catholic Church because of their scientific discoveries that contradicted what was stated in the Bible. However, overall, religion served as less of an obstacle and merged with art to create paintings, drawings, and sculptures during this time period. Works from this time had a clear synthesis of religious asceticism and secular aestheticism. Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo in particular incorporated that synthesis into their forms of art. Michelangelo painted religious scenes but at the same time portrayed the subjects in his paintings accurately and precisely. He treated the human body as a piece of art. Leonardo da Vinci did the same. Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa showed humans in perspective of a natural background. His other paintings had religious content, such as the one of Madonna, yet just like Michelangelo, da Vinci created his subjects in a realistic and somewhat scientific manner.

The merging of religion and art reflect the change in thinking and philosophy that was taking place in the Renaissance. People posed questions and wanted to learn about their surroundings. They were curious. They reverted back to the Ancient Greek principles of knowledge. Previously established ideologies in religion were challenged by those who discovered new ideas. An emphasis was placed on human life rather than those of gods.

Renaissance Synthesis Essay Period 1 Team 3

With the beginning of the early Renaissance age, artists were limited to having religion being their only option of an idea of a particular painting or drawing. Though with the progression of time, artists began to broaden their ideas and paint scenery not only pertaining to that of the Bible. Artists like Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo both found ways to portray both religion and religious-freedom in their art.

The connection between nature and religion could be made through the emotional affection that can be seen in much of the work of Renaissance artists. This can be boiled down to simply the nature that is the human body. Michelangelo’s marble sculpture of David embodied not only the symbol of triumph of good over evil in the Old Testament of the Bible, but it also showed the natural physic of the human body and the body of a saint. Also in Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel in the Creation of Adam, the connection between god and the creation of human life is shown through the nature and connection between god who is in the air and Adam who is on the green earth.

As for Leonardo Da Vinci, in his work The Last Supper, the human emotion can be seen in all those that sit around Jesus Christ. Though Jesus is the only one that bares a plain calm face, all those around him have their own unique expression. This is how Da Vinci expresses the nature of human emotion. Though Da Vinci had earlier works of art that highly resembled that of the Medieval Ages with examples like The Baptist of Christ, but still in the painting emotion can be seen in the faces as opposed to that of medieval times when expression was not shown on faces.

Renaissance Research Questions - Period 5 Team 1 (HAM)

Team 1(HAM)
Charles Salumbides
John Farnworth
Justin(COOOOOOORN) Cornford
Fedor Kassokovski
Renaissance Research Questions
3. In the Banqueting House in London was directly affected by the renaissance which is clearly shown through its architecture. Inside this magnificent building is religious and realistic paintings on the ceiling that represent the type of society was present at that time. Also such simple couples dancing goes back to early England during the renaissance era, which was called pavane dancing. This is common formal dancing in modern day society and past society. Renaissance literature changed the English language and helped make a transition from Middle English to Modern English. Such as the change of the style of verse and meter helped make renaissance literature. A piece of music like La Spagna is a good example of renaissance music which influenced and helped shaped modern music. Renaissance music tended to be instrumental dance music which was used for entertainment, which is exactly what La Spagna is. Art of the renaissance period was mainly focused on the realism of the human body and the world. An example is the Mona Lisa by Leonardo De Vinci which displayed the realistic view or perspective of the human body. All of these were created based on the idea of realism and religion.
5. “-ism” means “A distinctive practice, system, or philosophy, typically a political ideology or an artistic movement”. For this Era it is a part of the word that explains how it movement in art, ideology, and philosophy. In the renaissance period it was a advance in all of these categories in which religion was less emphasized and realism was encouraged and supported. It was a change of perspective from a religious based society to a more realistic society.
7. Religion and science counterpointed each other during the renaissance period because religion was decreasing in strength while science grew. People began to take new perspectives and began to lose faith in the church and believe the use of science. It was also was a rebirth of learning which involved science. Although this change in ideology was present religion was still present, but science was no longer discouraged and viewed as evil.

Renaissance Research Questions

Renaissance Research Questions

3. In the Banqueting House in London was directly affected by the renaissance which is clearly shown through its architecture. Inside this magnificent building is religious and realistic paintings on the ceiling that represent the type of society was present at that time. Also such simple couples dancing goes back to early England during the renaissance era, which was called pavane dancing. This is common formal dancing in modern day society and past society. Renaissance literature changed the English language and helped make a transition from Middle English to Modern English. Such as the change of the style of verse and meter helped make renaissance literature. A piece of music like La Spagna is a good example of renaissance music which influenced and helped shaped modern music. Renaissance music tended to be instrumental dance music which was used for entertainment, which is exactly what La Spagna is. Art of the renaissance period was mainly focused on the realism of the human body and the world. An example is the Mona Lisa by Leonardo De Vinci which displayed the realistic view or perspective of the human body. All of these were created based on the idea of realism and religion.

5. “-ism” means “A distinctive practice, system, or philosophy, typically a political ideology or an artistic movement”. For this Era it is a part of the word that explains how it movement in art, ideology, and philosophy. In the renaissance period it was a advance in all of these categories in which religion was less emphasized and realism was encouraged and supported. It was a change of perspective from a religious based society to a more realistic society.

7. Religion and science counterpointed each other during the renaissance period because religion was decreasing in strength while science grew. People began to take new perspectives and began to lose faith in the church and believe the use of science. It was also was a rebirth of learning which involved science. Although this change in ideology was present religion was still present, but science was no longer discouraged and viewed as evil.

wyl.p6.t4 Renaissance Synthesis

The Renaissance was a period of great strides, both artistically and religiously. Great artists such as Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni and Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci both created memorable works that were exceptionally pleasing to the eye. The church grew substantially as well, and this influence artists by forcing them to focus on sacred subjects and characters that represented self-denial. It was here in Italy that the artists were forced to reconcile art and religion.
Michelangelo’s Statue of David provides a perfect example of the combination. David represents a biblical figure, a sacred subject, because he defeats the much stronger Goliath in a heroic fashion. Furthermore, David is nude, which signifies a relinquishing of material goods for religious aspects. However, the statue is aesthetically pleasing because of Michelangelo’s quality technique of sculpting and his pure talent. It is pleasing to look at because of the use of the Golden Ration, which helps make the limbs of David symmetric and proportional in length. Michelangelo places his artistic talent into a religious subject.
Leonardo da Vinci also unites religion and aestheticism in his work of art, Virgin of the Rocks. This painting focuses on the religious figures, Jesus, Mary, Gabriel, and John the Baptist. It depicts a religious event and shows asceticism because the babies do not have belongings and the other characters are dressed modestly. On the other hand, the painting is aesthetically pleasing because of the contrasting colors and defined shapes. The pathway in the picture also suggests a possible option away from religion.
Michelangelo and da Vinci united religious asceticism and secular aestheticism.
Team 4: Cody Dunn, Stephen Hwang, Carlton Lew, Tyler Wong

Wylie. P1. T2 Renaissance- Sara Patterson, Helen Lee, Miranda Gontz, Tori Kause

During the Renaissance, many people began to break away from the rigidity of the Catholic Church and join the Protestants. This change was reflected in the works of Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci, art that captured the humanity of people as well as religious figures instead of focusing solely on the piety of the church. For instance, the appearance of more organic lines within paintings became more common, showing off the natural curves and shapes of people and things in nature. Da Vinci began to explore human anatomy, creating various diagrams and portraits, such as the Vitruvian Man, that analyzed the proportion and function of each body part. The mathematic and scientific influence in art did not necessarily coincide with the ideals of the church.
Renaissance art helped to close the gap between God and man. During the Medieval era, God and man were completely separate and people believed that they were on a completely different plane from not only God, but religious figures. In Michelangelo’s painting, The Creation of Adam, the hands of God and Adam are touching, signifying that because man is created in God’s image, they can in fact be (at least in some aspects) on the same level. God was thought of less as a wrathful, strict figure, taught by the Catholic Church, and instead more of a kind, helpful God. This idea came from the emergence of Protestantism as legitimate religion.
In conclusion, Renaissance artwork captured society’s switch from the Catholic Church and its ideologies to the Protestant church, which fostered a more human-like God. Artwork began to have more rounded shapes and vibrant colors which highlighted scenes of people and nature versus the dull, rigid paintings of religious figures during the medieval era.

Wylie. Period 1. Team 6. Renaissance

The Renaissance era was the point in time when artists began to make their art more realistic. And experience art in a more realistic manner. They became aware of proportions, color, and intricate details. But this newfound realism and desire to illustrate truths also reflected their religious beliefs, or lack thereof. Michelangelo painted for many priests and his paintings generally depicted religious stories, however at times he would sneak in references to the mind and the power of creativity and understanding within humans. It was an idea commonly frowned upon by the church. For example in Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel fresco, “The Creation of Man”, the chariot carrying God to Adam models the human brain. This reflects Michelangelo’s idea that man, and not the church, is his own source of inspiration. Michelangelo was an intuitive man and ultimately believed his creativity sparked from within himself, and not by some God. Leonardo Da Vinci possessed similar views. He too was hired to paint religious paintings. For example he painted “The Last Supper”-- a well-known and highly valued depiction of the Last Supper in the Bible. However, Da Vinci too believed more in logic and truth than religious explanations. In this drawing “The Vitruvian Man”, he tries to make sense of man’s proportions and drawing portraits accurately, and realistically as possible. He believed that humans were not “instruments” of God, but rather “machines”—the parts were made from God, but we make the parts work together and control ourselves as a whole. Basically, these two artists and many more of this era were still very religious-- they made most of their money from painting in cathedrals and creating sculptures of religious icons—but ultimately being as creative-minded as they were, they needed answers, and this craving formed foundation of secularism and was thus reflected in their art.

-Team Waka

Lillie Moffett, Lauren Wakabayashi, Nicole Lussier, Sooji Hong

Renaissance Synthesis Question Wylie P6 T8

Beginning during the Middle Ages in Florence, Italy and subsequently sweeping through the rest of Europe, the Renaissance stood as a cultural movement depicting the burgeoning art culture and religion’s heavy foothold on the muted secularism of artists Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci. The influence of the Catholic Church bridged over from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance, further underlining both the conjoining of and disparity between Renaissance artists’ aesthetics and the Church’s stressed religious asceticism.

Michelangelo’s painting, “Creation of Adam,” highlights the marriage of his innovations in art with regards to sculpting human emotions by capturing his subjects’ emotions. Although Michelangelo focused on humanitarianism, he did not abandon depicting Biblical fixtures and instead invested in melding the two dichotomies, thereby drawing a parallel between how his preoccupation with the human body did not divert away from the spiritual and religious content. Religious asceticism trickles through with the patronage of the Church and commissioning of Michelangelo to singlehandedly paint the Sistine Chapel and present Biblical scenes of their interpretation.

Similarly, Da Vinci typified the Renaissance humanist ideology in how he joined art and science while still emanating religious principles from his painting, “The Last Supper.” Da Vinci delved deeper in the sciences than did Michelangelo, but didn’t forsake his scientific studies for the arts and alternatively pursued both the arts and sciences while maintaining the Renaissance’s asceticism. In “The Last Supper,” Da Vinci portrays the significant biblical principles prevalent during the Renaissance and stressed by the Church to uphold.

Developing against a religious backdrop, the Renaissance reflected both the differences between artists such as Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci and the Church and the harmonizing of Renaissance artists’ budding secular aestheticism and grounding religious asceticism. Amidst changing perspectives of Michelangelo and Da Vinci, Renaissance culture and society witnessed the rise of self-awareness, individualism, and religion’s underlying influence in the arts.

Renaissance Era - Wylie P6 T2

As the Medieval age came to an end, the Renaissance Era marked the start of the changes in religious and philosophical ideologies, especially because of the new discoveries in science that made a major impact on how people perceived and analyzed reality. Renaissance was a time for revolutionizing how people think and see life, which conflicted with the Church’s religious asceticism. For example, a new aesthetic thinking of the time was humanism. Humanism is the belief that the humankind has potential of solving their own problems and relying primarily upon reason and science. With this humanist philosophy, man’s relationship with God and the universe was no longer the exclusive province of the Church. Personal ideologies of Renaissance artists differed from the Church. The artists wanted to embrace the aesthetic sensibilities while the Church demanded asceticism. Thus, the artists had to compromise and combine the two into their artwork. Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci reveal the synthesis of religious asceticism and secular aestheticism through their art. For example, the “Creation of Adam” by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel is a famous example of aesthetic beauty intertwining with religion. There are three aspects in this painting: religious, scientific and philosophical. The most obvious religious aspect of this fresco painting is that it is on the ceiling of a chapel. Also, the painting illustrates the Biblical story of God breathing life into Adam, the first man. However, the painting shows the realistically portrayed nude Adam with his arm stretched out, almost as if reaching for God as God is passing the spark of life to Adam. The outstretched right arm of Adam and God are almost mirrors of each other, a reminder that Adam is created in the image of God. The nudity of Adam is the purity, the holiness and the ability to discover the infinites of the world, including science. Many have theorized that the background figures around God and God itself is portrayed accurately as the human brain, since Michelangelo had many well-documented expertise on the human anatomy. In a philosophical perspective, the separation between God and Adam symbolizes man’s independence in the Renaissance Era. The separation of Adam and God may not be a separation but a connection between man and science. Society during this time period has evolved with the changing religious and philosophical ideologies.