It Is Undubtedly A Glden Age, The Humanist Marsili Ficin... Essay - 1,877 words

It is undubtedly a glden age, the humanist Marsili Ficin wrte five hundred years ag abut Renaissance, which has restred t the light the liberal arts that had almst been destryed: grammar, petry, elquence, painting, sculpture, architecture, music (Mee Jr., 5). The 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries in Eurpe were the time f unprecedented changes. In abut 1450s, Eurpean schlars became mre interested in studying the wrld arund them, their art became mre true t life, and they began t explre new lands. The new age in Eurpe was eventually called the Renaissance. The wrd Renaissance itself is derived frm the Latin wrd rinascere, which means t be rebrn (Fier). Histrians cnsider the Renaissance t be the beginning f mdern histry; the time f revlutin in almst every aspect f life.


Many dramatic changes ccurred during this time in the fields f philsphy, art, plitics, and literature. New emphasis was placed n enjying life and the wrld arund. Talented individuals sught self-gratificatin thrugh art, literature, and architecture, and their achievements wuld influence future generatins fr centuries t cme. In the 15th century, the leading families f Flrence - the mst imprtant center f Renaissance learning in histry - decided they needed a strng persn in charge t lead them against the grwing threat f rival cities. They chse Csim de Medici, a wealthy banker, t take cntrl f the gvernment. Csim maintained the appearance f republican gvernment, but he appinted his relatives and peple he culd cntrl t imprtant psitins. The best knwn f the Medicis was Csims grandsn, Lrenz, wh was knwn as Lrenz the Magnificent.


Lrenz was nt nly a shrewd banker and clever plitician; he was als a schlar and a pet. Under Lrenzs leadership, Flrence became ne f the mst beautiful and prsperus cities in Italy, as well as a center f the Renaissance. Many Renaissance schlars lked t the past fr inspiratin. They studied the classics - the wrks f the ancient Greeks and Rmans. In the wrks f the classics they fund a spirit similar t theirs that valued innvatin in this wrld, rather than lking frward t the next wrld after death. A persn wh studied the classics was called a humanist. Humanists recreated classical styles in art, literature, and architecture.


Humanists believed that by studying the classics, they culd understand peple and the wrld better. The humanists emphasized the imprtance f human values instead f religius beliefs. Renaissance humanists were ften devut Christians, but their prmtin f secular, r nn-religius, values ften put them at dds with the church. Tday we refer t the study f literature, philsphy and art as the humanities. The civilizatins f Greece and Rme ended lng ag, but they cntinue t influence us tday. The perid nt nly supprted ancient traditins, culture, and individuals but als made way fr the develpment f new ideas in artistic legacy and persnal stratificatin.


Art, fr instance, had traditinally (in medieval times) been the mirrr f religius thught and Christian mral beliefs. Whereas, renaissance artists dealt mre with the cncept f nature using realistic styles and settings, while ccasinally implying sme remnants f religius theme. The individuals, highlighting the idea f the single persn, designed these new cncepts f using space primarily fr bservatin and relatin. The first, and mst recgnized, pineers f humanism were Petrarch and Givanni Bccacci. Petrarch became knwn fr his petry, which can be described, like all humanistic writing, t be very realistic, and critical. Petrarchs style is clse t thse f the classical authrs he studied, expressing his view accurately thrugh the use f characters. His student and friend, Givanni Bccaci, studied and wrte at abut the same time as Petrarch.


His best knwn masterpiece Decamern, which cnsists f 100 tales, is bth a stinging scial cmmentary and a sympathetic lk at human behavir (Kgan, 323). Like Petrarch, he gave accurate depictins f real life characters and situatins, expressing his wn view f sciety. Perhaps the mst renwned and highly recgnized achievements during the Renaissance in Italy were in the field f the fine arts. During the Middle ages, painters and sculptrs tried t give their wrks a spiritual quality, wanting peple t fcus n the deep religius meanings f their wrks f art. They were definitely nt cncerned with making their artwrk lk lifelike. Renaissance artists, n the ther hand, wanted t prtray the wrld realistically in a natural state, with life-like peple shwing real emtins.


The new directin was swn by Gitt, the father f Renaissance painting. He learned t paint in the Byzantine style f the thirteenth century. His great cntributin t fresc painting was t humanize the wden, stylized figures f Byzantine art, t create scenes that were naturalistic and life-like but als grandise and mnumental (Brucker, 215). He made a prfund impact upn the revlutinary generatin f Flrentine artists. The painter Masacci and the sculptr Dnatell cntinued t prtray the wrld arund them mre literally and naturally. Masacci applied the principles f perspective t his fresces and s transfrmed Western paintings. Paintings here frth resembled picture windws pening ut nt a three-dimensinal wrld with fully runded human beings placed cmmandingly in the center (Mee, Jr., 90).


Dnatell, with his stature f David, made the first freestanding nude sculpture since antiquity. Since then, Renaissance artists painted and sculpted nudes in a celebratin f the beauty. The heights were reached by the great masters f the High Renaissance, three men, Lenard da Vinci, Rapheal, and Michealangel, wh dminated ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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