The Renaissance

The word Renaissance means a re-birth. It refers to a re-birth of arts and culture into Europe after the Middle Ages that basically passed by without the arts. This revolution was the resurgence of creative study and the glorification of artists, painters and sculptures instead of them being treated as baggage in the community. This revolution really only effected the higher parts of the social ladder and the peasants were still too poor to enjoy such luxuries.

The central issue in the development of Renaissance Art in Italy was the renewed connection with the classical culture that is, ancient philosophy, literature and science from Ancient Greece and Rome. The philosophy that underpinned this interest in classical culture is referred to as ‘humanism’ – a celebration of humanity and its ability and power to create and discover new things. The Renaissance is commonly divided into two parts, the Early Renaissance and the High Renaissance. During this time the emergence of art and architecture was in process.

Florence was the world center for artistic thinking. Wealthy families such as the Medici familiy in Florence had enough money to commission artists to create incredible artworks that would display their wealth to the rest of society. These patrons of the arts provided both the funds and new uses for art that helped generate the artistic growth in Florence during this time.

A significant artistic development during the Renaissance was the expansion of the types of subject matter artists were allowed to focus on. Up until just before the Renaissance, art was mainly created about religious themes because it’s main context was churches and monasteries. Portraiture also became popular given the motivations of art patrons to show themselves off. Of course, the Catholic church remained a significant influence in society at this time, so a lot of Renaissance art developed religious themes.