Examples Of Trends In Renaissance Art

Art Trends in the Renaissance

The Renaissance was the first period in human history where people were really aware of their existence in relationship to the past. The people of the medieval era viewed everything in terms of the Bible. They felt that history was created in heaven. The people of the Renaissance were much more enlightened, they divided the past according to human achievement rather than the divine plan of salvation. This enlightenment came from an idea called Humanism. Humanism is an idea that puts importance on human life and experience while on earth rather than putting emphasis on the afterlife. With these newfound ideas the people of the Renaissance were able to look at the ancient cultures of the Greeks and Romans as a time when culture was thriving and civilization
Again, this stems from the interest in ancient Greek and Roman art as well as the development of humanism. Sculptures of the human form from the Greek Hellenistic period of art focused on realism, expressiveness, pose, and drapery. Renaissance artists took it a step further and sought to portray the human figure in even more detail. Both Michelangelo’s and Donatello’s versions of the David are perfect examples of this desire for sculpture’s to be anatomically correct. In fact, several artists, including Da Vinci and Michelangelo, dissected human bodies in order to further their understanding of the human body. These sculptors also reintroduced a technique known as contrapposto. Contrapposto is a term most commonly used in the visual arts to describe a human figure standing so that its shoulders and arms twist off-axis from the hips and legs. The use of this technique allows the artist to make the sculpture appear relaxed and less stiff. Contrapposto was an extremely important development in art, because it is the first time in Western art that the human body is used to show psychological