The Renaissance

The Renaissance

1300-1600

Renaissance

• Definition: Rebirth of art and cultural ideas of ancient Greece and Rome starting at the end of the middle ages

• Where: Started in Italy spread all over Europe

Why did ancient culture need a “rebirth”?

• After Roman Empire ended in the 400s—people lived in small villages.

• There was no communication between villages and no sharing of culture

How did Ancient culture survive to be rediscovered?

• During the middle ages Catholic Clergy copied ancient documents to keep them alive

• Nobody was reading these things, but they still existed

How did the ancient cultural artifacts get rediscovered?

• Merchants who traveled to far away places brought back goods and ideas

• Soldiers coming back from the crusades in the middle east brought back goods from what used to be the Eastern part of the Roman Empire

• Europeans also began to read classics from the Islamic Empires

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO SAY ARE WAS “INFLUENCED” BY CLASSICAL ART?

Characteristics of Classical Art:

• Purpose of art to show importance of regular people as well as gods and goddesses

• People in art were lifelike, but perfect• Bodies were portrayed as in motion• Faces were calm• Pictures of people doing regular things• Paintings had little or no perspective

Marble StatueGreek 5th Century copy of Roman Bronze

MosaicDiana, the huntress-goddess

Medieval Art

• The Purpose of art was to teach religion to people who could not read and write

Question

• How do you think medieval art will be different from Classical art?

Characteristics of Medieval Art

• Most art showed Jesus, Saints and people from the bible

• Important people and things were shown larger than everything else

• Figures were still: no movement• Fully dressed, serious faces• Two dimensional• Bright colors, solid color background

Byzantine Baby Jesus and Mary

Power of the priest

Renaissance Art

• The purpose of art was to show the importance of people and nature in addition to religion

Characteristics of Renaissance art• Religious and non religious scenes• Nature• Lifelike 3D figures---knowledge of anatomy• Action• Both nude and clothed• Real people doing real things• Faces express feeling• Colors respond to light• Symmetrical• Background with perspective

School of Athens

The Last Supper