Renaissance Period 2 Team 8

Michelangelo started painting scenes from the Bible. He then designed the Laurentian Library that’s attached to the San Lorenzo church and then created the painting of the Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel. However, it contained offensive nude figures that bothered church officials. Therefore, he began to design works for the Palazzo Farnese, which enabled him to be the head architect for the redesigning of St. Peter’s Cathedral. Michelangelo revealed secular aestheticism with his sculpture, David. The statue’s hands and feet are disproportionately large and he has an overpowering stance. David does not refer to the biblical character because the statue is uncircumcised. By having this sculpture nude, Michelangelo exposes the realistic characteristics. However, the church didn’t approve of nude paintings or sculptures.
Leonardo Da Vinci’s creation of the Last Supper revealed the religious asceticism. He depicted this main part of Christ’s resurrection with great detail. Leonardo Da Vinci and his painting of Mona Lisa revealed secular aestheticism. Mona Lisa has that whimsical smile and devilish side glance in her eye and doesn’t represent Christ’s mother. It is rather Leonardo’s portrait of an individual woman.
In this movement, men were inspired to develop new enthusiastic ideas. This mindset turned their strict religious views into individualistic ideas. Artists depicted people realistically, which offended and brought change in the church. The society built new ideas and was eager to use them to grow out of preceding conditions. The Renaissance era set up new viewpoint and therefore, society began to think for themselves.

Renaissance Era Synthesis Answer Period 2 Team 7

Religion has always played a key part in art. How could it not? Religion takes and gives the purest of emotions and deals with the weakness and strengths of all humans, its bound to draw on an artists emotions, thus creating art. However, the position religion held in the medieval period through the metamorphosis to the renaissance period, is quite substantial.

Michelangelo, arguably the most influential artist of the Renaissance period is a prime example of religion effecting his work. He had many works that depicted religion all of them bringing along a certain baggage. The creation of Adam, depicts God and Adam’s fingers reaching out to one another, though never touching. This has been said to show the imperfections of Adam, proving that man can never be God’s perfect creation. Then there is “Last Judgment” a piece which the pope publicly scorned for its use of nudity. The pope had recently decided that nudity would no longer be portrayed in religious art work, and although Michelangelo accepted the popes criticism, it is known that in his private life he grew depressed because of the popes words.

Leonardo Da Vinci another extremely influential artist of the time period was also known for his work with religious paintings. ‘The Last Supper” painted in 1498 is a prime example of his work. This pointing is arguably truly religious due to the fact that he himself was an atheist it is hard to portray the exact passion it takes to reveal such a passion. His use of light in the painting and the way it all seems to illuminate the center, and his color scheme, also his idea to be sure to portray all of the religious keystones as normal people all together show an overall internal battle between religious asceticism and secular aestheticism.

Both artists represent the societies new found questioning of religion and the less overall passion that was held for the the Catholic church as science and new ideas were introduced into the Renaissance period. Both artists are great examples of change.

Asher.P4.T8.Renaissance

Team Dragon
Clair Fuller
Yee-Lum Mak
Jodi Shou
Alex Tranquada
Laurel Kitada

Asher Per 4, Team 8

Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, two artists famous both in their time and ours, worked during one of the most artistically explosive time periods in history: the Renaissance. Considered the “rebirth” of culture, the Renaissance begat a burgeoning sense of secular aestheticism and scientific and philosophical curiosity that, in some cases, strayed from the will of the church. This subtle tension is evident in the paintings of da Vinci and Michelangelo, who’s most famous works are largely of religious subjects—for example, da Vinci’s Last Supper and Michelangelo’s work on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Working with religious subjects and in some cases on church commission, these men managed to infuse their own sense of Renaissance philosophy, placing a high value on aestheticism and Humanism.

In da Vinci’s early painting The Baptism of Christ, for example, he depicts the Virgin Mary not as submissive, but as confident and calm, depicting her according to Renaissance Humanism. Similarly, The Virgin on the Rocks depicts an overtly religious scene, yet the background demonstrates Leonardo’s keen interest in nature. All of his pieces demonstrate bold and masterful use of lighting and technical painting techniques, as well as a heightened knowledge of human anatomy. Da Vinci’s fascination with the human form is documented in his notebooks, which reveal his scientific as well as artistic genius, reflecting the shift away from the scientific ‘dark ages’ of the past.

The Pope himself commissioned Michelangelo’s most famous work, the ornate ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The elaborate ceiling features some 300 figures depicting Biblical scenes and events, and took years to complete. The scheme of the chapel itself represents much of the doctrine of the Catholic Church, the ceiling included. While the symbolism and imagery used on the ceiling are largely accordant with the Church, Michelangelo infused Renaissance thinking and philosophy in a way that perfectly captures the period’s struggle to reconcile progressive humanist philosophy, emphasizing human interaction with each other and with God directly, with organized religion. Michelangelo, who had studied both the Bible and early philosophers that influenced Renaissance thinking, combines both in his work on the ceiling. The insertion of non-Biblical figures in to the work (Sybil and Ignudi, for example) demonstrates the artist’s work to rationalize both competing philosophies.

T1 P4 Renaissance Synthesis Response

In the Renaissance era, religious asceticism and secular aestheticism had a synergistic effect on artists’ paintings. The practice of religious asceticism means to abstain from worldly pleasures, while secular aestheticism at the time focused in on the realistic and beauteous qualities of things. Specifically, the combination of these two aspects had influence on the works of Leonardo Da Vinci, and Michelangelo.

In Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Benois Madonna,” it depicts the Virgin Mary with a baby Jesus in her lap. The depiction of the Virgin Mary, one who has abstained, yet given birth, is a key example. The combination of a very lifelike depiction and two highly regarded religious symbols is a prime example of the blending of asceticism and aestheticism.

Furthermore, in Michelangelo’s ceiling of the Sistine chapel, it only expands upon this concept. Michelangelo depicts nine different scenes in his mural. Specifically in his depiction of the creation of Adam and Eve, he shows their expulsion from the garden because they succumbed to the temptation of eating an apple from the forbidden tree. In this painting, it shows the consequences from giving in to worldly pleasures. Yet, the aesthetic values of the time played a key role into the style of the painting. Upon looking at the depiction of Adam and Eve, one can tell that it is particularly realistic even though there were no living witnesses at the event.

During the renaissance period, philosophical ideologies began to change and emerge. At the same time, science began to flourish. Galileo, for example, presented the idea of heliocentrism, where the earth rotated around the sun. It is accurate to describe this era as a period of time in which people sought to discover truths. Like Galileo sought to discover the secrets of astronomy, artists depicted age-old religious characters with strong and vivid details. Rather than leaving religious symbols vague and open to interpretation, artists reflected the philosophical ideologies of the time by depicting people like the Virgin Mary, and Adam with a great deal of specificity.

Synthesis question P2 T4

Art compositions during this period revealed the synthesis of religious asceticism and secular aestheticism. During the Renaissance, the focus of the subject of the painting was on everyday life with the prospective view of the future. One of the greatest artists, Leonardo da Vinci accomplished a degree of realistic aestheticism in art by expressing human emotion through his work. The unique qualities of Leonardo's work include the reflection of his detailed knowledge of anatomy, light, geology, physiognomy, and his ingenious use of the human forms in figurative work of art. For instance, Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper shows a high level of harmony and is more humanistic than religious—Jesus is part of the group and others in the painting are portrayed as equally human as opposed to saintly. Moreover, art soared to unsurpassed heights with Michelangelo’s painting on the Sistine ceiling: he displayed his skillful understanding of the structure of body and movement, and he created the painting without the dominate influence of the church. Michelangelo depicted some scenes from the Book of Genesis, mainly from the Creation to the Downfall of Man, and the chapel shows the doctrine of the Catholic Church. However, Michelangelo gave all the characters emotions and energy shown on their faces. The classical humanistic ideas not only explored the cultural forms of art, but also pervaded the ideas regarding society and politics. People started to question some old ideas inherited from Middle Ages and to value humanity rather than blaming people about the world which was fraught with temptations. The outstanding works of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarroti represented the unique, revolutionary perspectives in art, science, religion, and politics that were developed during the Renaissance and influenced the world.

T4.P4 Renaissance Synthesis

The Renaissance Period marked a transitional time from a complete loyalty in religion, seen in the Medieval Era, to a ‘rebirth’ from the dark ages sparked by experimentation with new ideals in all fields from science to cultural analysis. One work of art, coming to be renowned in its use of symbolism and imagery at the time, seemed to express this transitional period wonderfully. Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa portrays a glowing face in contrast with a dark veil and clothing being worn. The contrast of the lighting and color shows how the Renaissance era was removed from the dark and strictness of the Medieval Age with the glorification of man. The succession of new advancements in culture and education, being known as the humanities, gave each citizen of the newly formed era a profound duty as a member of society. Another essential art piece which gives insight on the mentality of the era is Michelangelo’s David. The work of art glorifies the sheer beauty of the bare man. The theme of nudity is a common one in Renaissance art as it connects to the sensibility of the ancient Greeks and its emphasis on the heroic male figure. To a society that has learned to respect history as a necessary and proper staple as one of the five humanities, this painting truly shows the society’s dedication to this new study. These two examples are only few of the many works of art that articulate the newly developed ideologies of the time through creative forms of expression.

Ashp4t3 Renaissance Synthesis #2

Throughout the course of history, paintings, especially those during the Middle Ages, were required to be sacred. However, as the Renaissance Era slowly eased into play, great minds such as Michelangelo and da Vinci began to delve into the realms of science, art, and religion as well as synthesizing all these aspects together to become the archetypical Renaissance Man. Although they challenged the popular beliefs of their time, they did so subtly by using their art to appeal to both religious asceticism and secular aestheticism. For example, in Michelangelo’s painting The Last Judgement, Michelangelo depicts the second coming of Christ, a Christian concept widely accepted in the Church. However, his painting represents nudity which caused controversy in the Catholic Church. Although some paintings challenged beliefs and pushed the limits of art, others simply incorporated both aspects of asceticism and aestheticism. In da Vinci’s painting The Last Supper, the essential event before Jesus’ crucifixion is depicted to satisfy the religious aspect. However, the secular aestheticism is also achieved through ingenious portrayals of emotion, lighting, and focus toward the center of the painting: Jesus’ head. The integration of religious and secular views in art encapsulates the most prevalent idea during the Renaissance and the rapidly changing society at the time: the spirit of discovery and insatiable curiosity. Michelangelo and da Vinci proved these were possible not only with their art, but with their exceptional skills in sciences and mathematics as well.