The Role Of Art In The Italian Renaissance

The Italian Renaissance embodied ad fontes, studia humanitatis, and virtu. Ad Fontes, meaning “return to the sources,” which fostered a new approach to the past. Florentines looked back at the Greco-Romans seeking the knowledge they possessed. Studia Humanitatis incorporated new course material at universities. Previously, they had studied theology, medicine, and law; they now studied history, philosophy, rhetoric, and music. The study of philosophy opened debates over God, the Monarchy, and science. Competition for virtu led to Renaissance men cultivating talent after talent, as art was a way to make a name for yourself and establish self-worth. Those who were putting their money into art also added merit to their names and advanced themselves
Martin Luther referred to Romans 1:17 “Moreover, the righteous shall live through faith.” Martin Luther preached this, “Then I began to understand that the righteousness of God is that by which the righteous live by a gift of God, that is, by faith, and that the Gospel reveals that a merciful God justifies us by faith with a passive righteousness as it is written, “the righteous shall live through faith.”: This made me feel as if I had been born again and passed through open doors into paradise itself. All of scripture appeared different to me now… and I began to love that term I used to hate “the righteousness of God”, as the sweetest of all.” (Luther and the Magisterial Reformation.) This was especially targeted towards the selling of
Consider the salvation of your souls and those of your loved ones departed… Listen to the voices of your dead relatives and friends, beseeching you and saying “Pity us, Pity us”! Open your ears…Remember you are able to release them from purgatory for as soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs! Will you not then for a quarter of a florin receive these letter of indulgence through which you are able to lead a divine and immortal soul into the fatherland of paradise!” (Luther and the Magisterial Reformation, PP) Johann Tetzel is a wondrous salesmen but clearly no man of God by Luther’s standards. Indulgences were collected frequently by the Roman Church and were the core of their soaring monetary value, “During the fourteenth century popes in need of ready cash had begun to sell indulgences.” (416 The West) The church was greedy and continued to manipulate the laity, and they would have gotten away with it too had it not been for that meddling Martin Luther. Martin Luther translated the Bible into german so that the laity could read it for themselves and interpret it on their own rather than rely on the corrupt members of the Church. Martin Luther's German translation of the