To understand the concept of humanism and immortalisation, it is first necessary to have an understanding of what the renaissance in Italy was. Following the middle ages, Europe experienced a period whereby classical values of ancient Rome and Greece were revived, this period became known as the Renaissance (History.com, 2010). The Renaissance “marked the beginning of the modern age evolved into the representation of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries as the early modern period” (Oxford Reference, 2005a), where there was a “revival of European art and literature under the influence of classical models”, approximately between 1300 and 1600, however, there is no clear timeline as to when it started or finished (Oxford University Press, 2005). Renaissance literally means ‘rebirth’ in French and is described as marking “the beginning of the modern age evolved into the representation of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries as the early modern period” (Oxford Reference, 2005a), and it took place between the years of 1300 and 1600. The Renaissance took multiple guises (forms), with the earliest being that of the intellectual movement known as humanism. The three main concepts of the renaissance are pre-renaissance, early renaissance and high Renaissance (sure its something different to pre-ren, check). The early Renaissance was a follow on from the middle ages, and it’s time period is from about 1400 to the early 1490s. The High Renaissance lasted for approximately thirty-five years, from the early 1490s to 1527 when Rome was “sacked by imperial troops”. (Britannica, 2003) Renaissance art was known as being painting, sculpture and architecture, and was in parallel to the developments of literature, science, music and philosophy. (Hartt, 1970).
The Renaissance took multiple guises (forms), with the earliest being that of the intellectual movement known as humanism. Humanism originated from those unconcerned with religion or religious matters (check), rather that clerics of the church, which had previously been at the centre of medieval life. (slight paraphrased)
“Humanism was initiated by secular men of letters rather than by the scholar-clerics who had dominated medieval intellectual life and had developed the Scholastic philosophy.” Britannica.
Following from the end of the middle ages, and events that’s occurred thereafter, triggered political, social and intellectual shifts that all resulted in the birth of the Renaissance. Events that lead to this as the “increasing failure of the Roman Catholic Church and the Holy Roman Empire to provide a stable and unifying framework for the organization of spiritual and material life” (Britannica, 2003).
The church during the Renaissance period was a significant purchaser in art. There were vast amounts of visual and literacy art around the topic of the church and religion. Religious renaissance art was created in the main for two purposes; to inspire and create an air of awe, and as part of an “elaborate insurance policy, increasingly funded by the laity that wanted assurance of salvation (Open university, 2017:1), linking to this debate between immortalisation and humanism to be explored within the next two chapter. Images were used to enhance the experience of the communal and individual worship (Sorabella, 2008); “Prevalence of scenes from Christ’s life in European art… emphasis on religion and religious images, artists performed an indispensable service and had to work within the structure of traditions” (Sorabella, 2008). This explains why there is a vast amount of art to be seen in churches from this period and continue to be important today.
Renaissance art has been categorised into four distinct time periods: Proto Renaissance, Early Renaissance, High Renaissance and Venetian Renaissance. The first period was the Proto Renaissance, where the decline of the Byzantine tradition saw an uncertain period for art, artists began to emerge with artwork inspired by a new cultural Italy. During this period, there was a slow but seemingly steady move from naturalism art to those of classical humanism- to be explored further in chapter 2. During the early renaissance, the city of Florence came to the forefront as the centre of innovation and naturalistic drawing techniques. Once again, humanism had an influence within this period, where a shift occurred from a hierarchical viewpoint of art, where religious art previously dominated, now portraits and landscapes became an equally acceptable medium of art.
Probably the most well-known period was the High Renaissance, where artists such as Leonardo Di Ser Piero da Vinci, Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni and Raffaello Sanzio Da Urbino aided Rome to become the centre of the Renaissance. Giorgio Vasari described this period as the “highest peak of artistic achievement in which Renaissance art research an unsurpassed level of grandeur” (artifactory). Painters during this period, like those medieval artists before them, were concerned with ideals and meaning, while incorporating elements of naturalism. This naturalist style was as consequence of new experimental techniques including the use of oil within paints, as well as the discovery of the “principles of perspective” (Internet Shakespeare Editions, 2017). Renaissance painters’ social status’s and roles changed due to a rise in the merchant class and the arrival of new patrons within the nobility. Human form and figures were commonly the centre of iconic images; challenge and reward of creating such scenes usually meant that most ambitious artists continually returned to them e.g. Michelangelo (Sorabella, 2008). Some philosophers have argued, that this interpretation of artists allowed them to become immortalised and in some ways, beat death, as their work was to always be remembered.
The final period of the renaissance was the Venetian, which emphasised atmosphere, colour and pattern in art. Artists focused upon naturalism and classical art in order to create work which represented the environment and the atmosphere around it, one of the most popular artists during this time was Giovanni Bellini whose work with oil paintings revolutionised new techniques.
Art took many forms and was represented in many different materials and mediums. Art within Catholic Church was not simply represented by paintings. Art was produced in works of gold and silver and bronze. Statues were produced in marble as well as clay and wood. Artists of the time specialised in different crafts and belonged to different guilds. Art was developed further through collaboration of artists from different specialisations and guilds. The creation of stained glass, which has depicted many iconic religious scenes was a joint effort between glaziers and painters. It was not only glaziers and painters who developed relationships on the production of art but also painters and sculptors.
Burke (1999) sets out four key uses for art work during the Renaissance period; religion and magic, politics, private family matters and for pleasure. The main use that I will be looking at is religion, and whether the art created during the renaissance for religious purposes was genuinely made for the purpose of religious matters or as a platform for the artist to be immortalised for all of time. Many theologists have emphasised the importance of humanity of Christ and the need for the faithful to lead lives modelled by Christ. Visual images stressed human existence and themes around earthly birth and death were particularly favoured. There are countless examples of canonical scenes like the Nativity and Crucifixion, where no two will ever been the same. Artists were able to use their creativity to create variations in the scenes, also incorporating the concerns of patrons and changing attitudes within the church. Painters usually produced work to order, meeting specific guidelines and subject matters, as well as the traditions and expectations of the patrons. Other conventions might have specified colours such as blue. The guidelines were flexible, allowing for an artist’s creativity (Sorabella, 2008). Representation of Christ scenes in Italy was based on official practices within the Western church. Pope Gregory the Great- images were used to teach lessons and aid worship. Art was created for religious devotion based in sacred settings (Burke, 2003), given the term of ‘devotional pictures’ which refers to the relationship between religious messages and art. P127 IN BURKE