An Analysis of the Renaissance and Romanticism Art Periods Essays

A1. Earlier Historical Art Period In the early 1300s, Europeans began to shed the dark and oppressing mindsets of the Middle Ages. This sparked a revolution that would begin in Italy and spread throughout Europe, and is known today as the Renaissance. The word Renaissance literally (and fittingly) means ‘rebirth’ – making it a fitting title for a period where interest in learning, philosophy, and the classical arts were ‘reborn’. Where the Middle Ages took the meaning out of the arts – using paintings and sculptures for nothing more than decorations in houses of religion, for instance – the Renaissance gave it back. Artists began to experiment and came up with new and original ideas instead of acting solely on old ones. As people saw what art truly was, their tastes began to grow and branch out, meaning that artists had to come up with new content to satisfy their growing audience. Also growing rapidly was city population, resulting in an increase in wealth that provided funds with which the arts could expand. And expand they did. Paintings stopped focusing solely on religious models and took on new subjects such as portraits, landscapes, scenes of everyday life, and studies of the human form. Instead of focusing on the natural world and the hereafter, paintings focused on the material world and the here and now. New techniques were developed, combining science and mathematics with art, such as linear perspective and the depiction of light and shadow. Sculpture and architecture were largely influenced by the classical world. Sculptors used new materials, developed new techniques, became more expressive with their creations, and created three-dimensional figures that deviated from stylization. Architecture became more cal... ...ht to end the idealist tendencies romanticism had put into place but could never escape the era entirely. It also had some affect on the wild and passionate aspects of the Victorian period later on. It has never stopped influencing the art world. In literature, especially coming-of-age novels, the thought process of romanticism can be found as characters seek to know the answers of the world and, after searching high and low, coming to understand and reconcile with the fact that there are too many questions for all to be answered. Also in today’s literature is the strong presence of individualism. Works Cited Kren, E., & Marx, D. (2010, July 11). Web gallery of art. Retrieved October 15, 2010, from http://www.wga.hu Le dà ©jeuner sur l'herbe. (2010, October 19). In Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved October 20, 2010, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/