Va Phi

EIP

(Intro)
Art is the essence of human creative and imagination through the applications of visual
production. The spark of my curiosity for the arts derived from my first visual art course in high
school. Ultimately the class served as a sanctuary for building foundational knowledge and
experience of the visual arts. Being a practitioner of the arts, I have noticed that it takes an
extensive amount of time to master a certain technique. Certainly that can be said for any type of
skill. Continuing along in my journey to mastering the arts, I came to gain more insight in the
arts when I entered college.
My first liberal arts class was dedicated to western history and culture. Although the course was
rigorous and broad in subjects if learning, it further fueled my curiosity. We stumbled upon the
Middle Ages as well as entering over eras progressing to the age of modernity. Through the
scheme of periods, the Renaissance and the impressionist era caught my attention due to its
rather important contribution to the art world. The Renaissance served as a pedestal for the rest
of the art generations, incorporating art techniques that will later be used as a reference for other
creations of techniques.
The golden question involving the differences between the arts of the Renaissance and the arts of
Impressionism holds comprehensive value for people who admire the aesthetics of art.
Specifically in the differences between major influential artists as well as the various techniques
and styles they implore during their time period. By understanding the process and methods in
which the arts are created, it allows people to appreciate the simple details of illustrations.
Additionally, coming to understand the complications of artistry, people will be able to recognize
the purpose and the beauty of artistic pieces.
The spirit of the Renaissance manifested in the early 1400s as many scholars studied classical
literature, architecture, and sculpture of the past (Ren). The root of its manifestation aroused
from its rejection of the Middle Ages. The focus of the Middle Ages revolved around religion
and its counterparts of the life of the spirit and the hereafter (ren). Shifting away from ideologies
of the old era, the concept of humanism is introduced in the late 15th century. Possessing more of
a secular view of the world, people begin to question religion and started putting faith in their
selves rather than residing their obedience in an omnipotent being. In addition to discarding
virtues of discipline, unquestioning faith and authority of the past, people begin developing
principles of their own and embracing the new spirit of human life on earth. (ren)
A century before the dominion of the Renaissance era, Giotto di Bondone expressed in his
paintings qualities similar to the spirit of the Renaissance. Giottos paintings of religious affairs
displayed a strong compassion for the human qualities and values. For instance, one of his
paintings is composed of biblical characters in countryside settings, dressed in tattered and
commonplace outfits. The way Giottos portrayed the scenes in his painting exposes viewers to
consider the similarities between the saints of their religion to themselves. Without a doubt,

Va Phi
EIP

Giotto etched the passage to the Renaissance age with his incorporation of human significances
in his paintings. (ren)
Renaissance gravitated from Italy to the city of Florence, where many aspiring artist utilize
methods of the past as well as creating their own styles in painting. In the late 15th century, Piero
della Francesca studied the perspective in art as well as lighting effects, and the anatomy of
painting. Using the technique of linear perspective, he is able create three dimensional paintings
relative to the physical world. The fundamental of linear perspective lies within its relative size
and depth within a painting. As an object recede further into an image, the relative sizes gets
smaller and vice versa when an object gets closer. Furthermore, he also manipulated the light and
shadows in his work to induce an illusion of depth. By using basic art techniques of outlining and
shading, any intensity of deepness can be created.
The center for renaissance artistes shifted from Florence to Rome in the late 16th century, this
period is praised for being the high renaissance due to the employment of many relevant artistes
by noblemens. One honorable mention would be Michelangelo Buonarroti, who like many other
great artistes devoted most of their time in mastering styles and techniques to perfectly represent
the human anatomy. Michelangelos David explicitly demonstrates his mastery in sculpting a life
sized figure from the bible (Scarth, Robert). Adopting the technique of contrapposto,
Michelangelo is able to insinuate the appearance of David and give it a more dynamic
presentation. Contrapposto usually involves centralizing all the weight on one leg while the other
leg is relaxed. The humanistic pose forces the shoulders and the pelvis to rest at different
positions, offering a slight s curve on the figure.
(Renaissance larger scale painting)
During the mid 16th century, the Renaissance art began to fade and mannerism started to overtake
European art. Considering the nature of mannerism, it is a combination of styles and traditions of
art from all over Europe. Mannerism could possibly be labeled the first international European
style of art. It is characterized by its lengthy disfigured entities and restoration in perspective of a
level and disorganized space. Although replaced, the renaissance remained a major influential
period in the art world, conspiring to make a spectacle out of humans beautiful qualities as well
as their independences.
During the late 19th century, a revolutionary age is to transpiring with the help of a small group of
competent artistes. Centering under the conception of the aesthetics, many of the artistes applied
various cool colors or lighter colors in their pieces. Derailing from coloring standards, painters of
the impressionist era stay neutral to only one pigment of color rather than creating a wide
spectrum of colors. Breaking traditions and ideals of the first, it emerges as the first modern art
movement that altered the way painters paint and how they perceive art.
Transitioning apart from the custom of working in a typical studio room and scenes of historical
events and biblical references, impressionist would rather produce art of everyday scenery and

Va Phi
EIP

people. They value light and color more so than the subject of the painting, for this reason their
preference in working outdoors to capture the instances of time is far greater. The mentality of an
impressionist painter is to acquire the here and now, the exact instance of alternating lights and
colors. To accomplish this, they no longer follow the style of outlining and shaping but develop a
new technique of broken colors.
(Conclusion)

Reference
Landau, Sarah. "Renaissance (1300s-1600s)." Renaissance (1300s-1600s). Scholastic, n.d. Web.
19 Mar. 2015. <http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3753904>.
Scarth, Robert. Michelangelo's David. Digital image.
Https://www.flickr.com/photos/robert_scarth/138392285/. 28 Apr. 2006. Web.
Wooden, Howard. "Impressionism (late 1800s)." Impressionism (late 1800s). Scholastic, n.d.
Web. 19 Mar. 2015. <http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3753926>.