Essay about The Role of the Church in the Renaissance

The Middle Ages was a time in history where everyone was faithful to religion as well as others. Also, in the Middle Ages, people were encouraged to always try their best; they were encouraged to strive for the highest achievement possible and to never give up. The Renaissance, however, was more focused on becoming matured and finding a way to be successful at everything one does. During this era, people strived to become all-sided men, also known as; renaissance men. This means they are not only successful in one type of art but in all types of art, as well as math, science, and literature. The Renaissance was a distinct period in time that was separated from the Middle Ages and began a new era.

Throughout Europe, the Renaissance period had various effects on art which can be broken down and seen from Southern (Italian) and Northern paintings. With the renaissance, came disinterest in dogma, and more of a focus on naturalism and humanism. However, the strong influence of religion never left either the Northern or Southern art works, due to the commission by the church. Giuliano Bugiardini’s, Madonna and Child with St. John the Baptist, 1510, is a pristine depiction of what Southern European art during the renaissance contained, element by element. Northern artists kept most their roots, focusing heavily on religion while enhancing on the details and adding few aspects of naturalism; while Southern artists took

Contrary to the Middle Ages, when the afterlife and glorifying God was the primary focus, the Renaissance concentrated increasingly on the present day, demonstrating a more secular philosophy. Humanism developed, making human beings, and not God, the center of attention. People not longer considered their lives solely as a preparation for the afterlife, but instead gave them actual value. The church's authority fused with that of the state, resulting in a monopolized power greatly influenced by religion. The rejection of the secular spirit of the Italian Renaissance can be seen in the varying art themes of the Reformation. The Reformation rejected the secular spirit that had developed during the Italian Renaissance and replaced it with a

The shift between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance was characterized by great socio-economic, political, and religious changes. Politically, the feudal system of the Middle Ages was exchanged for a more stable centralized republic/monarchy system that gave the people more freedom and input. Religiously, secularism became more important as stability gave people a chance to concern themselves with the “here and now” rather than simply the “hereafter.” Socially, there was a shift from dogma and unshakeable belief to humanism and the ability to interpret things for oneself. The Middle Ages began around 400 CE and lasted until 1400 CE while the Renaissance began around 1200 and continued until 1600. The 200 years that overlap between

The Italian and Northern Europe Renaissances were both an important mark in history by changing the ideals of life, thought, culture, and art of the people’s of this time. In this paper I will explain the motive for change in these cultures, including the similarities and differences of the two cultures.

Would it not be nice if we could go back in time to experience the Renaissance for ourselves? Being able to walk down the streets of Florence, Italy and experience this time period that not only gave rebirth to old values and artistic ways of statement, but also were a period of great individualism. (make this into a sentence…add a subject and a verb to make it flow). Indeed, Renaissance was a period of great individualism based on old traditional values.

Art during the Italian Renaissance differed from art during the Middle Ages. The two have contrasting characteristics and concepts. To the people in the medieval world, religion was their life. Everything in daily life focused around the church and God (Modern World 164). Medieval culture influenced the arts; this was evident in the religious themes. During the Italian Renaissance, painters and other artists focused on the portrayal of a more humanistic way of life. Renaissance artists’ work portrayed realism with “lifelike human figures in their paintings” (Modern World 164). Renaissance artists wanted to express ancient Greek and Roman cultures in their work (Modern World 162). Italian Renaissance

The Renaissance began in Florence, Italy around the 1500’s to about the 1700’s. Florence, Italy was the mecca of this rebirth because at the time Florence was extremely wealthy and the people of the city had political freedom and those new ideals of the Renaissance were not being condemned in Florence as they were other cities. This was a time where the arts and the logic of one’s own mind was valued rather than criticized, the antiquated medieval ideals no longer matched the needs of those who were living during the early Renaissance. Eventually, a term for this way of thinking arose and was called Humanism, and what humanism is, is an ideology where humans can lead themselves to create a prosperous life and instead of leaning on supernatural forces for answers. Humanists believe that humans have enough logic to create conclusions themselves. This brand-new way of thinking caused a lot of controversy because it did question God’s ability and the church’s power, but the ideas behind it are still heavily used today, even in the 21st century. Humanism in the early Renaissance is important because it called for thinking with reason, it allowed an appreciation for human body and mind, inspired authors and caused a shift in power.

Art with biblical themes were popular in the Middle Ages because the artists were also focused on theology. Jesus and Mary were usually the main focus in most paintings. The people in the Middle Ages really appreciated godly looks and tried to incorporate the catholic religion in most if not all of their paintings (class notes). For example, Giotto’s painting Madonna and child displays Mary and Jesus in the center of the painting. Not only are Mary and Jesus in the center, they are also illustrated to be a lot bigger than the angels around them. Giotto wasn’t the only artist to place Mary and Jesus in the center and larger, this was very normal for the Middle Ages. Most artists were very influenced by the church because the church had the highest role in government.

During the Renaissance, many wealthy families aimed to become patrons of the arts to show their status. As a result, in addition to religious works of art that praised the god and the divinity, the Renaissance period is rich in portraits of popes, dukes, cardinals and other nobilities. It was prestigious to hire famous artists to demonstrate patrons’ power and wealth. Portrait of Pope Leo X with Cardinals Giulio de’Medici and Luigi de’Rossi by Rafael (1518), Cardinal Bandinello Sauli, His Secretary, and Two Geographers by Sebastiano del Piombo (1516), Portrait of Isabella d'Este by Leonardo da Vinci (1499-1500) are just a few examples. While church continued to order art works to spread the religion, many important rulers used art to spread

The Italian Renaissance was one of the most colorful, vital, and exciting times in history. Renaissance eventually comes from the French word "Renaistre," meaning "to be born again." The Renaissance was a revival or a rebirth of cultural awareness and learning among art, law, language, literature, philosophy, science, and mathematics. This period took place between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Renaissance in Italy flourished in the 15th century and spread throughout most of Europe in the 16th century.

With the continuous growth of paintings and artists, prestige for art increased dramatically to the point in which religious aspects were shown through landscapes, portraits, and temperas. This then allowed the creation of new styles and mathematical input that manifested everyday life with religious aspects. One such artist was Giovanni Bellini who introduced bright, rich, strong colors into his palette and landscapes that expressed the happiness, calmness, and prosperity that Italy carried throughout the Renaissance. These characteristics and styles of paintings subsequently became a popular Venetian cornerstone. Other important figures in the Italian Renaissance that demonstrated the movement?s ideas through their ingenious paintings and architectural methods were Pier Della Francesca and Leon Battista Alberti. Francesca, who was and expert in mathematics, developed the art form of perspective. Alberti, on the other hand, as an architect developed the pediment which became popular throughout the entire Renaissance. His monasteries and churches depicted many of the religious ideas, as evident in one of his famous works, the Santa Maria Novella. All in all, the use of the common religious themes such as the annunciation, adoration, Crucifixion, and the popular Madonna

During the 1400s and 1500s in mainly Italy there was a major change that took place in all aspects of life. This was called the Renaissance and was a movement that helped give rebirth to culture and the arts. This movement went away from the medieval times that had forced a feudalist system on its people. The Medieval times were a dark period in European history that saw a major decline in arts and government. This declining can be attributed to a number of different reasons. One of which was the Bubonic Plague that spread throughout Europe and Asia and killed millions of its inhabitants. This was the final nail in the medieval coffin. Throughout these times the major focus for government and the arts were all religion oriented. The Black

In the Medieval time, art was also very controlled by religion. Most art was based off of religious figures and were colored mostly dull dark colors. In the Renaissance, while art still contained some religious themes, more and more artists explored things like nature and the human body, they also began to use brighter colors.

The 14th, 15th and part of 16th century was a glorious time for Europe, it was the reformation of many old ideas and the formation of many new, this was called the Renaissance. The Renaissance brought many changes to Europe, the economy was greatly boosted by of all the new explorations. The flourishing economy helped to inspire new developments in art and literature. And from that many new beliefs were formed.