Individualism in the Italian Renaissance and the Romantic Era

Both the Italian Renaissance and Romantic Era focused on individualism. Even though they focused on it, it was about different aspects and perspectives. The Italian Renaissance was between 1350 and 1550 and signified the rebirth of the classics. The Romantic Era started in the late 18th century. Some aspects that they both focused on were individual thought and art. However, the Renaissance focused on humanism and the Romantic Era focused on Romanticism. Both the Renaissance and the Romantic Era both focused on individual thought. Renaissance humanists believed that people should be themselves and not the same as everybody else. This shows how humanists wanted people to follow their dreams. Romantics stressed individual imagination. They believed that people’s thoughts should now be chained down by society. They believed that one’s mind must run free. Imagination is unique to a specific person, so it is individualistic. Art is another aspect of both the Renaissance and the Romantic era that stresses individualism. Renaissance art showed many individuals. It also showed secularism. The individuals were worldly and powerful. In the Romantic era, art showed many individuals in solitude. They are by themselves and are powerful. An example of this is the traditional romantic hero. He is a genius who is around nature. Their art is both very similar. The people in the Renaissance believed in humanism while the people in the romantic era believed in Romanticism. Humanism made people think of the individual in a very grounded way. Even though the people had to be themselves, they are still very set in stone. Romantics believed that people should be free and flowing. This shows that the ways of living in those two time periods are very different. Even though Humanism and Romanticism are similar, they stress different ideas. Though the Italian Renaissance and the Romantic Era were different in most ways, they also have many similarities. They both focused on the