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Renaissance Art
The period that followed the Middle Ages is referred to as the Renaissance, which was characterized by the revival of values and classical learning of ancient Greece and Rome. The Renaissance period involves the development of discoveries, including the flowering of literature, art, and philosophy. The decorative arts, sculpture, and painting technique was identified in the period begun in Italy in the late 14th century (Yu 5). Renown artists of the Renaissance period include persons such as Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci.
The art materials created in the Renaissance helped usher society to modern techniques. Artists established new methods that artists could use to create paintings. For instance, Michelangelo is renowned as a sculptor, painter, and architect who used the fresco method where artists paint faster on wet plaster before it dries (Barnes 247). Through the fresco technique, Michelangelo managed to add realism to paintings and challenged the notion that painting the human body was not a felony. Leonardo da Vinci, credited for creating Mona Lisa, used the sfumato technique, which refers to vanished or evaporated, where he created imperceptible transformations between light and shade. Leonardo was fascinated by how light appeared on curved surfaces. For instance, Mona Lisa is a painting of a woman whose luminescence of her skin, Mona Lisa’s hair, and the gauzy veil were formed with layers of transparent color (Garrard 59). These layers made the lady’s face to glow and the painting an ethereal quality. The painting depicted realism by depicting eyes that shine and lips that smile. Leonardo could imitate nature as depicted by Monalisa, who does not appear to be painted but a real person with flesh and blood. One argument made about renaissance artwork is that artists used scientific tools, including geometry, the study of anatomy, and linear perspective, to make their pieces look naturalistic. Mainly scientific naturalism enabled artists in the Renaissance period to demand that society thinks of them as more than manual laborers but skilled personnel. One critical aspect of Leonardo is that he has studied light, atmosphere, and elements of the sky (Marsili, Ricciardi & Bologna 608). Therefore, in his paintings, he took the approach of a scientist. For instance, in his painting Mona Lisa, Leonardo managed to contrast areas in the painting; therefore, he creates cohesion, which is a rare aspect in painting.
Artists in the Renaissance period used linear perspectives to create their masterpieces. Mainly, linear perspective used concepts of mathematics to depict space and depth in artwork realistically. Mainly, the linear perspective offered these artists a suitable method to achieve this realism, which allowed them to create captivating paintings. Usually, the linear perspective helps make far objects look small while near objects appear big, similar to real life. One particular artist linked to this technique is Raphael Sanzio, who mastered the technique exceptionally (Vein & Mouret, 742).
The most interesting thing about renaissance art is that artists attempted to recreate nature through paintings. These artists used various techniques to depict realism in the art pieces. These techniques were used to differentiate these artists. For instance, Michelangelo da Vinci used the fresco method where artists paint faster on wet plaster before it dries. At the same time, Leonardo da Vinci used the sfumato technique, which refers to vanished or evaporated, where he created imperceptible transformations between light and shade. The techniques demonstrated their exceptional artistic skills, which contributed to the popular culture in the Renaissance.
References
Barnes, Bernadine. “Michelangelo in the New Millennium: Conversations about Artistic Practice, Patronage and Christianity. Tamara Smithers, ed. Brill’s Studies in Intellectual History 254; Brill’s Studies on Art, Art History, and Intellectual History 14. Leiden: Brill, 2016. ” Renaissance Quarterly 71.1 (2018): 247-248.
Garrard, Mary D. “Leonardo da Vinci: female portraits, female nature.” The Expanding Discourse. Routledge, 2018. 58-85.
Marsili, Luca, Lucia Ricciardi, and Matteo Bologna. “Unraveling the asymmetry of Mona Lisa smile.” Cortex 120 (2019): 607-610.
Vein, Alla A., and Alexander Mouret. “Claw hand in a Renaissance portrait.” The Lancet Neurology 17.9 (2018): 742.
Yu, Jenny. “The Influence of Renaissance and Religious Reform on the Development of Music and Art Style.” International Conference on Humanities and Social Science 2016. Atlantis Press, 2016.