Renaissance is the name of the period which had begun in Italy and spread to Europe from the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries. Developments in Italy around the turn of thirteenth century, inspired by Roman traditions, led to a major shift in Western European art. But the renaissance itself, actually began at fourteenth century with the revival of interest in ancient Greek and Roman texts and culture. (“A History of Western Art”, p 222) Those ancient Greek and Roman texts and culture brought or led way to some ideologies. An ideology is a set of aims and ideas.(“Wikipedia: Ideology , p 1) It presents some ideas to satisfy the intellectual needs of the society and reflects the reaction of people against the continuing system generally. With the beginning of the renaissance three major ideologies which are humanism, individualism and idealism were assimilated and used frequently by the artists of the era. The artists of the era had reflected those ideologies on their works.
Some of the artists of the era focused on humanism idea in their works to humanize the holy figures or figurines. Creation of Adam(Painting 1) by Michelangelo Buonarroti is one good example of using humanism in an art piece. It is a detail of a big fresco on the ceiling of Sistine Chapel. It was painted between 1508 and 1512.
According to Michelangelo, mankind discovering own inner powers and talents stands at the center of the creation story in the Bible. The artists had been used in order to impose Christian idea by their art works. The Christian idea was also the most powerful ideology which was argued all through the renaissance period. In the creation scene there are two main figures. The man on the right represents the life giving God and the man on the left and lower position represents first human being Adam and also mankind at inertia. A spark passing through the fingers is the energy that will awaken the mankind. Under the arm of the God there is Eve still in her design process and left hand of God is gently touching to the shoulder of unborn baby, Jesus.
The Essay on The Arts In Italian Renaissance
arts were flourishing, while the city-states in Italy fought bloody battles with each other and within themselves. Bribery and murder were not uncommon tools for men to use when they wanted power. Meanwhile those same rulers patronized the arts a great deal and they would commission the best artistic minds of the time to build, design and paint their palaces and churches and later on their own ...
Madonna of the Meadow(Painting 2) by Raphael was painted in 1505. It is also a painting that carries the humanistic ideology. There are two figures and one figurine in the painting. Figurine is virgin Mary who is holding his beloved son Christ and her face is sad because of the scene which she is looking from above. In the scene Christ is standing in the security of his mother and his second cousin and playmate, gives him a cross, which can be commentated as he is mentioning his earthly mission.”In contrast to anxious figures of Michelangelo, Raphael’s style is calm,harmonious and restrained.” (“A History of Western Art”, p 294) While baby Jesus figure in the Creation of Adam is represented muscled by the help of technique and shadows, baby Jesus figure in Madonna of the Meadow doesn’t seem stressed and anxious as Michelangelo’s baby Jesus figure. The humanistic sides of the figures are very contoured in both paintings and this is the humanistic ideology in those paintings.
The School of Athens(Painting 3) is also a fresco by Raphael which was painted on a wall of Stanza della Segnatura, known as private library of Julius II, in 1509. There are lots of figures in the fresco and each of them are represented by their profession groups. At the center of the fresco there are two significant figures representing Plato and Aristotle. “At the left, Plato carries his Timaeus, and at the right is Aristotle with his Ethics. “(“A History of Western Art”, p 394) While Plato pointing the sky, Aristotle is pointing the earth. They represent the endless controversy between this world and the other world which are mentioned and used frequently by Christian idea. Raphael also paints himself and Michelangelo in this fresco according to their personalities. Raphael is more social person than Michelangelo so he painted himself at the background of a group of geographers which is arguing something at the lower left corner and painted Michelangelo as a lonely figure at the center and below of the fresco. The figure who has the head of Michelangelo is actually Heraclitus, Ancient Greek philosopher. Main idea of the Raphael while integrating these two characters is to criticize Michelangelo. All those things assists the individualism idea and the fresco is a good reflection of that idea in terms of art.
The Essay on Written Art Discussion Painting Hand Artists
Today, artists from diverse cultures communicate their artistic ideas in a global context, while still retaining links to the artistic traditions of their own culture. This multicultural development is due to the rapid advances in technology, communication, and travel, making possible the shared interest from different cultures in multicultural works of art. Artists such as Alan Tucker, who draws ...
Portraits of Federico da Montefeltro and His Wife Battista Sforza(Painting 8) are individualistic paintings. Federico da Montefeltro and Battista Sforza were very important people that they rule the land and they have many artists in their keep. The aristocrats supported the artists to reflect their wealth and status in their society mostly in that era but Federico da Montefeltro and Battista Sforza were liked by that era’s artists because, as well as the support they give to the artists, they were letting them free while doing their work of art. So the artists had represented them with the characteristics of individualism. The clothing of Federico da Montefeltro is very bright and clean while the clothing of his wife Battista Sforza have very details and colorful in harmony with the background of the painting. In both backgrounds there is city that they rule in view. In Battista Sforza’s portrait her neckless repeat the diagonal plane of the white buildings on the city view, while in Fererico da Montefeltro’s portait the moles on his face and the curls overlapping his ear create patterns have the same patterns with the trees do against the fields ( “A History of Western Art”, p 258).
Also the both figures had been positioned as strict profile while dominating the background, which are characteristics of individualism. The artist, Piero della Francesca, had given the characteristic details of these people, like moles of Montefeltro and the sapient look of Sforza, and combined and matched some items with background in order to show the power and the connection of those people with the land.
The Term Paper on Gothic Style Art Painting Artists
At the beginning of this era, a synthesis of local styles known as the International Style predominated Europe art and the Gothic style was dominant in architecture. This era also began in the shadow of the person sometimes seen as the precedent of the great Italian Renaissance masters. His frescoes, notably those in the Cappella dell Arena in Padua used the concepts of Byzantine art that governed ...
Mona Lisa(Painting 7) is also a painting which carries individualism idea. The artist Leonardo da Vinci painted it by using harmonious colors between background and figurine. The most famous and important part of this painting is the smile of figurine. The smile brought the individualism idea because while it is very naive, it still is very detailed which is one of the most powerful important characteristic of individualism. The connection background and the clothing can be seen with minor details and color combination
La Primavera(Painting 6) is a painting by Boticelli. In this painting the artist combined several mythological stories in one painting. Three figurines dancing in transparent white dresses are characters from a mythological story. The figurines are dancing to celebrate the coming spring. Use of ancient Greek and roman texts was very common in that period as it is told above. The figure at the left is known as Mercury, Greek God, has been humanized which is the basic characteristic of humanism idea and it was done by using the Renaissance understanding of perfect male body which also refers to idealism ideology.
Gentile Bellini painted Sultan Mehmet II(Painting 4) in 1480 after a peace treating theory between Venice and Ottoman Empire. This painting carries idealism idea. The arch around Sultan, the high quality fabric, “his robe, his beard, his turban and long pointed nose seem to weight him down, accentuating his serious, toughtful character.”(“A History of Western Art”, p 298) Bellini describes him as a sultan who has optimum specialities in all areas. He looks rich and powerful. In other words, Bellini describes an “ideal sultan” in his painting.
Tiziano Vecellio painted Venus of Urbino(Painting 5) and same as the Gentile Bellini, he tries to paint the idea of ideal women. Venus is the main figure and she lies down with all her magnificence and two maids are removing garments from a chest in the background. These two sequence are in an equilibrium.
The artists who lived in the Renaissance were against dogmatic and scolastic ideologies and ther put little messages that will brace their attitude. Those messages are leaning on the major ideologies of the era which are idealism, humanism and individiualism. To sum up, all works of art which were produced in Renaissance reflect different dominant ideologies of the era.
The Essay on Chinese Painting
Chinese Painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world, it is also known in Chinese as Guohua. Traditional painting involves essentially the same techniques as calligraphy which is done with a brush dipped in black or colored ink. Compared with the western style of painting, oils are not used in Chinese Painting. Chinese paintings were usually painted on paper or silk; ...
(Painting 1)
(Painting 2)
(Painting 3)
(Painting 4) Sultan Mehmet II
(Painting 5) The Venus of Urbino
(Painting 6) La Primavera
(Painting 7) Mona Lisa
(Painting 8) Portraits of Federico da Montefeltro and His Wife Battista Sforza
