Renaissance Art Was A Reflection Of The New Humanistic Learning Of The Period

How was renaissance art a reflection of the new humanistic teachings of the time period? This is a very complicated question, however with a fairly simple way to determine a reasonable answer. In order to determine the answer of this question you must first define the meaning of humanism, and second cite various artists and art that will prove your argument. The argument being that renaissance art was a reflection of the humanistic learning of the period because much art came from educated nobles learned in humanism, art was conveyed with more realism in humanist interest, the classical past inspired much renaissance art, and humanist ideas such as neo-platonism gave much freedom to renaissance artists. All of these topics will serve to prove the argument and offer you an understanding of Humanism and Renaisaance art.

First I will give a brief definition of Humanism. Humanism is a form of education that became popular during the Italian renaissance. Humanistic learning entailed an education similar to that of classical Roman or Greek education. It also included the rebuff of medieval scholarship, or scholasticism. Petrarch, thought to be the inventor of renaissance Humanism, believed that one’s knowledge of classical past should be purely used for one’s personal and private sastisfaction. Many Humanists disagreed and used their skills to help their city-state, or to answer current questions. Humanists many of whom were inspired by classical literature took a positive view of human nature, Medievalists on the other hand looked down on human nature and its sinful ways. This difference in beliefs allowed humanists to possess interests in the natural world which encouraged Humanist creativity.

Second, I will give a citing of various artists and practices that show a connection between Renaissance art and Humanism. The first connection between renaissance art and Humanism is that during the renaissance much art came from nobles many of whom were well learned in Humanism. This knowledge of Humanism undoubtedly impacted much of their artwork. Next, art during the renaissance included much realism, which was in direct correlation with humanist teachings of the time. This allowed for renaissance artists to obtain a superior grasp of the world around them. In the 1420’s, a leap in artistic realism, came with the discovery of the single-point perspective, which allowed for the creation of 3D images. Depicting nature with more detail and accuracy was also a significant effect of realism. Thirdly, similar to the way humanist scholars looked to the claasicla past fro enlightenment, renaissance artists were directly motivated by classical history. A fine example would be Brunelleschi, who looked to classical architecture for help with his problems building a dome for the Cathedral of Florence.

And lastly, a very important piece of the argument, Neo-platonism, which held that the mind could extend beyoond the body and ponder ideas such as beauty and truth. These ideas were very compelling to many renaissance artists. Boticelli’s Birth of Venus is a great example of Neo-Platonic symbolism.

As a result of Humanism, renaissance art was depicted in many ways by many people. Using realism, art became more detailed and accurate, and gave way to new discoveries and methods. Humanism inspired many to look at classical history to find answers and inspiration from the past. Neo-platonism allowed many renaissance artists to break that barrier that prevented them from “thinking out of the box” as it is sometimes said. Using all of these things as examples you can see how Humanism made its way into renaissance art and how Humanism played a significant role in renaissaqnce art from that point forward.