The beginning of the Renaissance changed the world as we know it, focusing more on the nature of man and their secular needs rather than religious ideas and values. This gave way to a whole new perspective on life and enjoying worldly things. This new perspective was expressed in many different ways, however, the largest influence created was mainly through art, introducing new techniques for creating art paintings and new intellectual advancements that paved the way for further developments and improvements. The Renaissance was all about the coming together of art and science. There were many cultural, political, and intellectual changes in Europe that extended from the mid-1400s to the mid-1800s. The first issue was The Protestant Reformation, a religious movement that portrayed a degree of enmity with religious paintings and sculptures, as they believed they were merely forms of idol worship and too closely associated with the Catholic Church. Another issue that was apparent in this time was the beginning of The Scientific Revolution, a movement that rejected many of the church's ideas and teachings and presented people with a new way of looking at the world. Lastly, there was the expansion of the middle class, changing cultural values by creating their own way of life that they saw fit for their current lifestyle.
The beginning of the Protestant Reformation started with Martin Luther, a member of the religious community. He was disgruntled with the many ideas and teachings of the Catholic Church so he filed a list of complaints rejecting a majority of them. He claimed the Catholic Church had become too obsessed with money, power and worshiping paintings and sculptures as forms of idol worship, rather than focusing on the individual’s personal relationship with God, thus creating a religious divide between the Roman Catholics and the Protestants. This religious movement had a serious impact on the politics across Europe and was responsible for many of the changes in the arts. According to the book, artists of this period were heavily impacted because the church had been the single largest patron for them, however, they began to show a vast degree in hostility towards large scales of religious imagery as they were believed to be too closely associated with the Catholic Church. As an alternative, they began to focus more on smaller paintings for individual worship at home. With the revolutionary invention of the printing press, printmaking images for personal worship became very popular in Northern Europe. Protestant leaders had eliminated religious imagery from their churches, and because of the advancements in printmaking, it had become an inexpensive way for the Protestant Church to bring about their ideas and teachings to the mass through persuasive imagery. The push away from strict religious themes allowed artists to expand their paintings to secular themes, including personal portraits, images of everyday life, and genre landscapes. Protestants believed that rather than needing large buildings and luxurious sculptures, people should be able to maintain a soulful relationship with God without having to find a religious symbol to pray to. During the Reformation, for example, The Wedding Feast by Brueghel, made no reference to religious themes and solely gave insight into the everyday life of a peasant during that time. The Fishwife by Adriaen van Ostade is another secular piece done during the Reformation to represent the everyday scenes of ordinary people engaging in common activity and work life. The Protestant Reformation significantly impacted the political landscape all over Northern Europe dedicating many protestant churches and monuments to Luther and never before had there been such a coming together of art or an opportunity for it to be so widespread.
As artists were creating a bold, new way to depict art, they also began to engage in a revolution of their own. The Scientific Revolution had an impact beyond the realm of science, developing new ways to view and think about the natural world. During the Baroque era, the expansion of scientific knowledge had a major influence on all areas of the arts. This period of time saw a remarkable shift from being centered on religion to a curiosity of the natural world and developing new technologies. It allowed artists to step out of their comfort zones and rediscover their own intellectual ambition, enabling them to push their boundaries of what they knew and what they could achieve through their paintings and sculptures. Artists became more interested in their subjects and the world around them making them appear more realistic. According to the book “Experience Humanities”, their painting methods were influenced by technological advances and behind every piece came intellectual discipline. Linear perspective was developed, light and shadow were studied and used in paintings to create a three-dimensional look, and the study of the human body was becoming more prevalent so artists from around the world could capture the beauty of the world as it really was. For example, Leonardo Da Vinci believed the arts were inevitably connected with science and nature so he dissected many cadavers to gain a better understanding of the human body and all of its functions. In fact, he painted and sculpted some of the most accurate anatomical pieces of all time using perspective and shading. The beginning of the Scientific Revolution also allowed artists to stray away from religious-themed paintings and use the world around them for ideas. For example, The Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci represents a shift from a religious aspect to more of a humanity. There had become an abundant focus on materialistic things such as wealth since during that time only the wealthy could afford to be painted. Painter and scientist, Maria Sibylla Merian, also contributed to the shift from religious to secular paintings. Her illustration, Insect Metamorphosis, simply captures the new world around her and adds to the growing body of scientific knowledge during that period time.
The middle class played a vital role in a making the renaissance successful. In fact, the Renaissance was considered one of the greatest cultural achievements of the middle class but did not come without its troubled times and one of the most deadly diseases in the history of humanity, the black plague. With the black plague and the economic boom created from merchants who were trading overseas, there were more jobs available to the middle class such as artists, scholars, and shareholders, all of which impacted the structure of the trade market. The more art was rising, the more demand there was for artists and their work. The once considered peasants soon became skilled workers, giving the middle class more economic power, and consequently, more influence on society and the arts. With the invention of the printing press, printmaking art was available for all social classes at an inexpensive cost. One of the art styles the middle class highly valued was the Neoclassical art from the Classical era because it strayed away from religious beliefs and reflected moral virtue, selflessness, and bravery. The middle class wanted paintings and sculptures that recorded their everyday life as it changed around them, something and essentially represented “the middle-class lifestyle” and the disposition of their respective era. The painting The Arrival of a Mail-coach in the Courtyard of the Messageries by Louis Leopold Boilly captures the middle-class lifestyle. His neoclassical painting depicts the intricate life of the everyday middle class and their real human-like emotions. Another advantage of the newly thriving middle-class lifestyle was a painting by Francis William Edmonds, The New Bonnet. This genre painting represents the change of demands and wants from the middle class. Artists of this respectful era were significantly affected by these demands and wants, and began creating art around them to depict their middle-class lifestyles rather than strictly painting religious beliefs.
Overall, the Renaissance greatly expanded the scope and subject matter of art. Artists strayed from church beliefs and religious idols in their paintings and put more emphasis on painting the changing world around them, creating a major shift from religious to secular art. With a rise in curiosity of the natural world, artists began implementing new and advanced techniques into their paintings and sculptures. The coming together of art and science, as well as new intellectual and technological advancements like the printing press, left a lasting impression on society and paved the way for many components of our modern day culture.