Renaissance Movement Research Paper

THE EFFECT OF THE RENAISSANCE MOVEMENT
ON ART AND CULTURE IN THE
WESTERN WORLD

THE RENAISSANCE PERIOD

The word Renaissance is a French word that means Re-birth. Renaissance was a cultural movement that covered the period around from the 14th to the 17th century. Renaissance began in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spread to the rest of Europe.

As a cultural movement, it covered innovative opening of Latin and vernacular literatures. In politics, the Renaissance contributed the development of the treaties of diplomacy, and in science an increased belief on observation.

Although the Renaissance saw revolutions in many intellectual activities, as well as social and political confusion, it is perhaps best known for its artistic
The population was becoming wealthier which led to an increase in trade and travel and the spread of new ideas. The rise in prosperity also generated an interest in education, supported the flourishing of the arts and promoted scientific discoveries and new inventions. Perhaps the most important of these was the printing press, which allowed the distribution of information to a much wider audience than ever before, further increasing the demand for more knowledge.

INFLUENCE OF RENAISSANCE

Renaissance was much more than a rebirth of classical art. It was a rejection of the middle Ages, which were just ending. During medieval times, the arts were concerned mainly with religion, with the life of the spirit, with the hereafter. Little importance was given to life on earth except as a preparation for the next world.

But as the 15th century began, Italians were turning their attention to the world about them. People started to think more about nonspiritual, or nonreligious, matters. They began placing faith in their own qualities and their own importance. This new spirit was called humanism.

Discipline, unquestioning faith, obedience to authority--these medieval benefits were no longer blindly accepted. People asked questions and wanted to find their own
Born in Padua, a city not far from Venice, Mantegna introduced many Florentine characteristics into north Italian painting. He particularly admired the realism of Donatello's sculptures, and like Donatello, he studied ancient Roman art. He used perspective to create the effect of a stage on which his figures perform.

The greatest of the 15th-century Venetian painters was Giovanni Bellini Mantegna's friendship with Bellini had a direct influence on Venetian painting. Bellini's rich, mellow color and warm lighting bring out the human qualities of his serene Madonna and saints. He was one of the first Italians to use oil paint on canvas.

Two of Giovanni Bellini's pupils became the most outstanding Venetian painters of the High Renaissance.
They were Giorgione and Titian. Giorgione’s colorful and poetic pictures attracted a large following of artists known as Giorgionesque painters.
Titian began as a Giorgionesque painter but developed far beyond this style. He achieved such mastery in the handling of bright, warm color that he was considered to be the equal of Michelangelo. In his late works figures and objects melt into a glow of light and color--a treatment of painting that seems very modern.

Renaissance in the