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5180668
“The period of the Renaissance brought with it many important changes in the
Witcombe, clarified on how things were starting to change little by little. The word
Renaissance means “to reborn” in French; therefore, the changes were happening
during the time, especially on cultures and arts. From the former generations, the arts
had been taking in different influences to enhance the artistry. The issues that greatly
The art during the Renaissance evolved from medieval art into a more realistic
representation of the world. The people during that time began to broaden their
perspectives and open up to a new style of art. The artists’ perception of the world
started to lean towards nature and the landscape of the real world, instead of a simple
gold background or just an imaginary scene. The Florentine artist, Giotto, was the first
to experiment on this new style (Buchel, 1998). Furthermore, the outlook of the
paintings became realistic with the brush strokes of the sky, mountains and a vast
view of green grass. In other words, the real landscape and scenery started to appear
more in paintings during the Renaissance period, a big change from the former era.
From the medieval period, which was full of religious-centric arts, the artists then
It also relates to the view on dimensions that nature introduces through depth and
shadow. Through their observation on the landscapes, artists received the idea of the
depth of the subject and the direction of shadows to create realistic effects in their
paintings. They followed up with the concept of distance - further objects appeared
smaller while closer objects appeared larger. This also led to serious research on
anatomy. Leonardo Da Vinci was famous for his study on anatomy and the body
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painter, sculptor and inventor, but he also plays a large role in the development of
knowledge about anatomy and the human body.” Leonardo’s sketch of Vitruvian Man
is another work that reflects on the real proportions of the human body.
This perspective influence also granted new techniques, like using different types of
colours to depict the images to be as realistic as possible. With the introduction of oil-
based paints, new techniques were brought, along with bright and vivid colours, as
well as textures. The paintings became sharper and even looked like photographs at
the first glance. Uccello was famous for his perspective arts with vibrant colours and
sophisticated touch of style; The Battle of San Romano is one of his best paintings
(Kren & Marx, n.d.). Furthermore, the sculptors also adapted to the roundness of the
surfaces. The world famous sculpture David, which is located in the city of Florence,
is one of the most well-known works of Michelangelo. Sculptures then adapted the
idea of human body proportion combined with an abstract mind, as in the late works
The society in Italy during the Renaissance began to flourish with the
existence of the artists and architects. Therefore, the daily phenomenon and people
also greatly influenced the arts especially in the paintings. The scenes from the cities
or the daily events began to emerge on the canvas. More artworks were related to the
daily life of people, be it in the cities or in the countryside. The artists then started to
look into the structure of the buildings, the dimensions and people. The paintings by
Lorenzo Costa and Pieter Bruegel during the Early Renaissance clearly illustrated the
society through the techniques used for the landscape paintings. The scenes of the city
In addition, women became a great subject and concept for both paintings and
sculptures (Austin, n.d). During the High Renaissance, there was a rising of talented
artists. People were paying more attention to the portrait paintings of human beings,
especially women. As an example, the most famous case of the woman that being told
to be the most beautiful, Mona Lisa, successfully appeared on the canvas by the
proficiency of Leonardo Da Vinci. Unfortunately, she passed away before the portrait
even reached her. As a result, because of the perfection of the work, this portrait is
now famous and well known throughout the world. This can be a measure on how the
portrait and paintings on human became popular after that. There are more examples
of portraits painted by Renaissance artists such as Raphael and his paintings Madonna
and Child, Portrait of a Girl and Portrait of La Muta (Kren & Marx, n.d.).
Moreover, paintings and sculptures can tell a story. In a historically rich country like
Italy, how could their history be forgotten? Throughout Italy, the sculptures of past
warriors or heroes are located at almost every corner of the cities. To support the
statement, Verrocchio, the teacher of Leonardo, Botticelli and other artists, owns the
great warrior who fought for Venice during the 1400s (Fletcher, 2000). The statues of
other warriors and their horses can still be seen and appear to be nostalgic. They are to
remind the citizens the wars’ past, – the fights and the pride; that the people can be
proud of.
In a flashback, the arts during the medieval period mostly revolved around
religion, like the paintings on the churches’ walls. However, this does not mean that
the arts during the Renaissance were not influenced by religion. Certainly, it was
probably less of religious icons and more of the religious occurrences. The sculptures
and paintings became even more detailed and used to decorate the churches or other
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religious places. The figures of the saints were created by a number of artists during
the High Renaissance. These artists focused on religious arts and produced all kinds
of arts to decorate the sanctuaries. People should be able to remember the epic
painting on the wall of Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan. The Last Supper was painted
by Leonardo Da Vinci, which is the painting of Jesus and his twelve apostles.
Another important fact that relates to the meaning behind the construction of the
Instead, they used basic circles due to the belief that the circle is the symmetrical
perfection and thus, representing God (Art History, 2006). The structures of some of
the buildings, including houses and other constructions, were based on the concept of
circles. Examples would be the arches, domes and other decorations on the buildings.
Churches and sanctuaries were constructed with this similar idea, for example,
Florence Cathedral, Tempietto of San Pietro in Montorio and S. Pietro No.1 (Masuda,
1995).
Even though the Renaissance period had been long gone and replaced by the
modern world, its significant presence in the arts still stands firm in the history. These
among people. The influences on the arts are not limited on a specific number or
particular theme. Truthfully, there are more in the world that can inspire the arts and