Post #8 - Lecture - Renaissance - Realism

Summary

The Renaissance was a period of artistic change that began in 14th-century Italy, providing a shift away from the religious focus of the Byzantine era toward a new interest in humanity, science, and art. Humanism, led by artists like Petrarch, encouraged education and individual thought over church authority. Artists such as Giotto began showing emotion and Naturalism in fresco paintings, breaking from the flat, symbolic style of earlier art. Brunelleschi introduced one-point perspective (linear perspective), giving paintings realistic depth, while Masaccio’s Holy Trinity demonstrated this new spatial technique. Leon Battista Alberti wrote Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture Treatises, outlining principles of proportion, perspective, and balance that defined Renaissance art. Wealthy people like the Medici family supported artists, helping them grow from average craftsmen to respected intellectuals. The High Renaissance featured Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael, whose masterpieces, such as the Mona Lisa, David, the Sistine Chapel, and School of Athens, combined realism, beauty, and philosophy. In the Northern Renaissance, artists like Jan van Eyck and Hieronymus Bosch advanced Realism with intricate oil paintings such as the Arnolfini Portrait and The Garden of Earthly Delights, using camera obscura and grid. Later movements such as Mannerism, emphasized tension and emotion, Baroque painting used dramatic tenebrism, Rococo focused on grace and luxury, Neoclassicism returned to order and simplicity, Romanticism expressed imagination and feeling, and Realism, led by Gustave Courbet, depicted ordinary life with honesty.

Reflection

I think it's interesting how the Renaissance, through Realism, shows how art evolved along with human thought, moving from religious imagery to works of emotion, science, and everyday life. The Humanism of the Renaissance encouraged curiosity about the world, inspiring artists to study anatomy, nature, and perspective to depict reality more honestly. I’m especially inspired by Leonardo da Vinci, who blended creativity and intellect, showing that invention and art can come from the same imagination. I'm surprised by the Medici family and other wealthy people who would fund artists and allow them to experiment beyond religious art. What started as a revival of classical ideas became an exploration of what it means to be human. Later styles like Romanticism and Realism continued that movement, showing how artists reacted to their societies, whether through deep emotion or honest depictions of real life. Together, these eras and movements reveal how art not only shows beauty but also portrays human progress, showing the power of creativity to shape how we see ourselves and the world.