The Renaissance
The Renaissance is traditionally referred to as a period of “rebirth” during the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries. This rebirth or revolution occurred within European culture, mainly centered in Italy by a society which felt the Medieval age had stripped away the beauty and grandeur of the ancient Roman classics and way of life. Wanting a change from the dreary Gothic traditions, the Renaissance allowed Italian society to return to its time of antiquity by revitalizing the lost Greco-Roman architecture, literature, philosophy, art, music, and even science. The spirit of the Golden Age of ancient Greece and Rome had been rediscovered, and society freed its mind from the strict dogma of religion through the development of better education among the upper and middle classes, most prominently in the study of philosophy and law.
Characteristics of the Renaissance include an intricate set of factors such as humanism, which showed a concern for man. Naturalism was another particular aspect, which represented things as they are in nature. Individualism stressed the uniqueness of personality chiefly of the artist or his work. Classicism was an aspect that was concerned with “form” and “restraint.” The aspect of investigation evolved from a willingness to search afresh for answers, and finally secularism was the last key to the Renaissance movement, which came about as society became unconcerned with religion. With these factors in place, the transition from the Middle Ages into the Modern Age had begun, resulting in drastic changes within many areas of European culture.
In science, Copernicus offered the heliocentric view of the world which rejected the old view that the earth was the center of the universe, and put the sun at the center. In religion, Martin Luther wrote the 95 Theses to protest the selling of indulgences by the church. In navigation, Magellan’s circum-navigation of the globe represented the first trip around the world which benefited modern science and technology. In education, Gutenberg invented the movable type press and began the mass production of books with the Gutenberg Bible. In the area of literature, the writings of William Shakespeare and Erasmus were virtually unequalled, even by today’s standards. Only during the Renaissance is the “first modern man” represented through Shakespeare’s play Hamlet.
In architecture, Michelangelo’s design of St. Peter’s Cathedral stands as the most impressive example of Renaissance structural design even though Michelangelo was not an architect. In sculpture, Michelangelo’s David and Moses both exhibit several characteristics that defined the Renaissance period, such as humanism by being about man, naturalism by portraying man as he looks, investigation through the studying of corpses in the morgue to learn what the human body was like, and classicism which is evident in the restrained portrayal of David. In the area of painting, Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper” is the most famous painting of Jesus and his disciples as portrayed just before his arrest. The philosophy of the Renaissance touched on politics also, as is proven through the Medici family’s leadership of life in Florence which established economic stability and used their resources to sponsor cultural life in education and the arts as well as in Machiavelli’s appealing hand book for political leaders, The Prince,.
However, the Renaissance era has undergone much criticism for its demoralizing philosophies and exploitive origins. Durant in The Story of Civilization: the Renaissance offers a cynical view of the period:
“The Renaissance was a brilliant age, but through all its manifestations runs a strain of show and insincerity, a flaunting of costly costumes, a hollow fabric of precarious power unsupported by inner strength, and ready to fall into ruins at the touch of a merciless rabble, or at the distant cry of an obscure monk (726).”
Later on in his study, Durant goes on to say that one facet of the Renaissance that needs no apology and stands out as the greatest contribution of the period is its paintings, considering it to be the most profound point in art history. In spite of its faults, the philosophies and aspects that shaped the Renaissance period were a necessity to bring about the Enlightenment and our own Modern Age. Without the Renaissance, we may still be living in the Middle Ages.
Characteristics of the Renaissance include an intricate set of factors such as humanism, which showed a concern for man. Naturalism was another particular aspect, which represented things as they are in nature. Individualism stressed the uniqueness of personality chiefly of the artist or his work. Classicism was an aspect that was concerned with “form” and “restraint.” The aspect of investigation evolved from a willingness to search afresh for answers, and finally secularism was the last key to the Renaissance movement, which came about as society became unconcerned with religion. With these factors in place, the transition from the Middle Ages into the Modern Age had begun, resulting in drastic changes within many areas of European culture.
In science, Copernicus offered the heliocentric view of the world which rejected the old view that the earth was the center of the universe, and put the sun at the center. In religion, Martin Luther wrote the 95 Theses to protest the selling of indulgences by the church. In navigation, Magellan’s circum-navigation of the globe represented the first trip around the world which benefited modern science and technology. In education, Gutenberg invented the movable type press and began the mass production of books with the Gutenberg Bible. In the area of literature, the writings of William Shakespeare and Erasmus were virtually unequalled, even by today’s standards. Only during the Renaissance is the “first modern man” represented through Shakespeare’s play Hamlet.
In architecture, Michelangelo’s design of St. Peter’s Cathedral stands as the most impressive example of Renaissance structural design even though Michelangelo was not an architect. In sculpture, Michelangelo’s David and Moses both exhibit several characteristics that defined the Renaissance period, such as humanism by being about man, naturalism by portraying man as he looks, investigation through the studying of corpses in the morgue to learn what the human body was like, and classicism which is evident in the restrained portrayal of David. In the area of painting, Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper” is the most famous painting of Jesus and his disciples as portrayed just before his arrest. The philosophy of the Renaissance touched on politics also, as is proven through the Medici family’s leadership of life in Florence which established economic stability and used their resources to sponsor cultural life in education and the arts as well as in Machiavelli’s appealing hand book for political leaders, The Prince,.
However, the Renaissance era has undergone much criticism for its demoralizing philosophies and exploitive origins. Durant in The Story of Civilization: the Renaissance offers a cynical view of the period:
“The Renaissance was a brilliant age, but through all its manifestations runs a strain of show and insincerity, a flaunting of costly costumes, a hollow fabric of precarious power unsupported by inner strength, and ready to fall into ruins at the touch of a merciless rabble, or at the distant cry of an obscure monk (726).”
Later on in his study, Durant goes on to say that one facet of the Renaissance that needs no apology and stands out as the greatest contribution of the period is its paintings, considering it to be the most profound point in art history. In spite of its faults, the philosophies and aspects that shaped the Renaissance period were a necessity to bring about the Enlightenment and our own Modern Age. Without the Renaissance, we may still be living in the Middle Ages.