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.