Medieval art and Renaissance art have subject matters that are similar in some ways, yet different in others. For instance, religion was a major subject in both ages. Simon Martini, a major painter during the Middle Ages, painted The Annunciation and Two Saints in 1333 where angels and Saint Mary were depicted to revere Christianity. During the Renaissance, prominent artists like Jan van Eyck and da Vinchi painted religious scenes as well, like the Ghent Altarpiece and The Last Supper, although not for the same purposes. During Medieval times, the Catholic church took the place of the government as the patron of the arts. Therefore, most artists would be commissioned to have their work be of a religious nature.. Religious subjects were chosen during the Renaissance because of the humanistic approach that many artists took. Humanism involved glorification of the human individual, but during these religious times, the human being’s glory was most often seen in biblical settings or in regards to the Creator. For instance, Donatello’s sculpture, Mary Magdalen, glorifed a woman’s faithful penitence after living such a hard, wretched life. Religious subject matters usually conveyed a lot of emotion during the Renaissance, while during the Middle Ages their purposes were mostly to tell a story and spread Christian doctrine since illustrations were one of the only ways to educate the mostly illiterate people of Christendom (Marszalek). Aside from religion, there are no other similarities between prevalent subject matter of the two different times. Much of Renaissance art had nude figures, even religious sculptures like Michelangelo’s David. Nudity was not suitable for the walls and altars of cathedrals in the Middle Ages, so rarely did characters have their clothes off in this time period. In the Middle Ages almost anything secular–mythology, Classical themes, or even the common woman cooking for her family–was almost considered heretical. Usually in the Middle Ages if the common man was displayed at all, he was shown praising the Lord in Heaven, or in utter agony in Hell. However, it was common that an upper-class man would pay an artist to paint a portrait of himself or the family. This continued throughout the Renaissance as well. Portraits and depictions of battle scenes, such as the Bayeux Tapestry, were nearly the only secular art works during the middle ages (Orourke). In contrast, during the Renaissance secular art surpassed the popularity of religious art. Mythology, for one, was embellished. Classic Greece and Rome were subjects that artists were fond of depicting. Pieter Brueghel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus showed the story of the Greek myth where a young boy flies so high that the sun melts his wax wings. Bottecelli also portrayed mythology in his Birth of Venus & Mars. Greek themes, in addition, interested Titian. His Flaying of Marsyas was about about the stages of being an artist, and an artist’s unfavorable destiny when challenging the Gods. History was also an important subject during the Renaissance, and Raphael’s fresco The School of Athens is a good example of this. The painting shows Plato and Aristotle in the midst of noteworthy scientists and philosophers out of history.
Renaissance art and Medieval art also differed a lot in perspective and realism. Medieval art always tended to be abstract and methodical. There was hardly ever any real perspective, and paintings were usually flat and completely two-dimensional. There was never often a hint of care for space and linear perspective. Renaissance art, on the other hand, made way for a whole new world of perspective. The availability of oil paints made the technique of chiaroscuro possible–using shading and lighting to make the scene seem more natural. Michelangelo’s frescoes of the Sistine Chapel are protuberant examples of chiaroscuro. In the Creation of Adam light and shading give breath and life to the painting just as God gives life to Adam at the touch of a finger in the illustration. Renaissance art introduced the horizon line, a line drawn across the canvas at the viewer’s eye level which represents the line in nature where the sky appears to meet the ground. Along with this method was the vanishing point, or the middle of the horizon line, where parallel lines would meet and spread out from there. These lines are termed Orthagonal lines (unknown). All three aspects of perspective painting helped to achieve a three-dimensional effect that contrasted greatly the two dimensional Gothic paintings. Massachio portrayed these ideas of perspective best in his Trinity. He created the illusion of space and distance so that Jesus being crucified would seem further away than the people watching. This new perspective contributed to the realism and naturalism of Renaissance art. Art of the Middle Ages lacked realism–often artists would show off their talents and cram all kinds of flowers and faces and decorations into one space, regardless of how a scene actually appeared in real life. Renaissance artists concentrated on detail and on anatomy. Leonardo da Vinci disected corpses to learn about anatomy, as did Michelangelo. Michelangelo’s many illustrations in the Sistine Chapel show the human body in numerous forms and poses. The position of the body was no limit to artists like him–proportion and symmetry could allow for anything to be portrayed if the artist was patient enough. Medieval bodies, in contrast, were usually very stiff and awkward, in mundance positions. Renaissance bodies most often had a lot of dynamism, or movement. In the Creation of Adam, two hands are just about to touch, and the viewer can sense this. Still lifes were common in the way that they showed movement in an inert form. Jan van Eyck, a Flemish artist of the Renaissance, achieved realism by mere detail. He would draw every curve, every wrinkle, and every speck with the result of an almost mirror reflection of a scene. Jan, like many other of his contemporaries, not only paid a lot of attention to detail in the foreground of the picture, but also in the background. Backgrounds were complex with lots of colors and usually a grand landscape. Hieronymus Bosch, another Flemish artist, was especially prone to paint bizarre, hellish backgrounds and landscapes. Medieval art, on the other hand, did not have much detail at all in the background. Usually there would be a drape-effect behind the foreground, a curtain of gold or black. (Orourke) This contributed to making art of the Middle Ages even less realistic.
Finally, Renaissance art and Medieval art differed in portraiture. During the Middle Ages, only upper-class people would pay artists to paint portraits of their families. The artist usually idealized the subject, hiding defects and trying to please the employer. The artist did not have much freedom at all, and painted the subject in a very mechanical manner. Mostly portraits would not be of living people, however. Most commonly painted would be saints or Mary and Jesus such as in Madonna with Child by Cimabue. Mary would be painted beautiful and full of grace, while Jesus would most often be caucasian and beautiful as well–completely idealistic. Mary Magdalen would have long, lovely hair and a pretty face. Every character was portrayed the same way in Medieval art. In the Renaissance, there was still a lot of idealism, such as with Donatello’s David; but this beautiful hero of the Old Testament is also completely nude–very un cliché. Donatello is very unidealistic in his portrayal of Mary Magdalen, showing her a torn, old, and wretched woman. Like her, all the subjects of Renaissance art are glorified as complete individuals. Emotion is drawn out and depicted in a subtle yet most often poignant way. Raphael was one of the most detailed of portrait painters (Melanie). His Madonna with Christ and St. John the Baptist shows Mary filled with love and care for the two infants in front of her. His own self-portrait of himself shows a thoughtful and astute man.
In conclusion, Medieval art and Renaissance art mostly differ in subject matter, realism, and in portraiture. There are some similarities, but most often the motives of the artists negate these. Renaissance art contained secular themes, a focuse on human life, a whole new world of perspective, a focus on detail, and most often expertise depiction of anatomy. Medieval art contained mostly religious subjects, hardly any perspective, symbols, and plain backgrounds. Both types of art clearly represented the time periods in which they took place, most especially the different ways of thinking.
Medieval art and Renaissance art have subject matters that are similar in some ways, yet different in others. For instance, religion was a major subject in both ages. Simon Martini, a major painter during the Middle Ages, painted The Annunciation and Two Saints in 1333 where angels and Saint Mary were depicted to revere Christianity. During the Renaissance, prominent artists like Jan van Eyck and da Vinchi painted religious scenes as well, like the Ghent Altarpiece and The Last Supper, although not for the same purposes. During Medieval times, the Catholic church took the place of the government as the patron of the arts. Therefore, most artists would be commissioned to have their work be of a religious nature.. Religious subjects were chosen during the Renaissance because of the humanistic approach that many artists took. Humanism involved glorification of the human individual, but during these religious times, the human being’s glory was most often seen in biblical settings or in regards to the Creator. For instance, Donatello’s sculpture, Mary Magdalen, glorifed a woman’s faithful penitence after living such a hard, wretched life. Religious subject matters usually conveyed a lot of emotion during the Renaissance, while during the Middle Ages their purposes were mostly to tell a story and spread Christian doctrine since illustrations were one of the only ways to educate the mostly illiterate people of Christendom (Marszalek). Aside from religion, there are no other similarities between prevalent subject matter of the two different times. Much of Renaissance art had nude figures, even religious sculptures like Michelangelo’s David. Nudity was not suitable for the walls and altars of cathedrals in the Middle Ages, so rarely did characters have their clothes off in this time period. In the Middle Ages almost anything secular–mythology, Classical themes, or even the common woman cooking for her family–was almost considered heretical. Usually in the Middle Ages if the common man was displayed at all, he was shown praising the Lord in Heaven, or in utter agony in Hell. However, it was common that an upper-class man would pay an artist to paint a portrait of himself or the family. This continued throughout the Renaissance as well. Portraits and depictions of battle scenes, such as the Bayeux Tapestry, were nearly the only secular art works during the middle ages (Orourke). In contrast, during the Renaissance secular art surpassed the popularity of religious art. Mythology, for one, was embellished. Classic Greece and Rome were subjects that artists were fond of depicting. Pieter Brueghel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus showed the story of the Greek myth where a young boy flies so high that the sun melts his wax wings. Bottecelli also portrayed mythology in his Birth of Venus & Mars. Greek themes, in addition, interested Titian. His Flaying of Marsyas was about about the stages of being an artist, and an artist’s unfavorable destiny when challenging the Gods. History was also an important subject during the Renaissance, and Raphael’s fresco The School of Athens is a good example of this. The painting shows Plato and Aristotle in the midst of noteworthy scientists and philosophers out of history.Renaissance art and Medieval art also differed a lot in perspective and realism. Medieval art always tended to be abstract and methodical. There was hardly ever any real perspective, and paintings were usually flat and completely two-dimensional. There was never often a hint of care for space and linear perspective. Renaissance art, on the other hand, made way for a whole new world of perspective. The availability of oil paints made the technique of chiaroscuro possible–using shading and lighting to make the scene seem more natural. Michelangelo’s frescoes of the Sistine Chapel are protuberant examples of chiaroscuro. In the Creation of Adam light and shading give breath and life to the painting just as God gives life to Adam at the touch of a finger in the illustration. Renaissance art introduced the horizon line, a line drawn across the canvas at the viewer’s eye level which represents the line in nature where the sky appears to meet the ground. Along with this method was the vanishing point, or the middle of the horizon line, where parallel lines would meet and spread out from there. These lines are termed Orthagonal lines (unknown). All three aspects of perspective painting helped to achieve a three-dimensional effect that contrasted greatly the two dimensional Gothic paintings. Massachio portrayed these ideas of perspective best in his Trinity. He created the illusion of space and distance so that Jesus being crucified would seem further away than the people watching. This new perspective contributed to the realism and naturalism of Renaissance art. Art of the Middle Ages lacked realism–often artists would show off their talents and cram all kinds of flowers and faces and decorations into one space, regardless of how a scene actually appeared in real life. Renaissance artists concentrated on detail and on anatomy. Leonardo da Vinci disected corpses to learn about anatomy, as did Michelangelo. Michelangelo’s many illustrations in the Sistine Chapel show the human body in numerous forms and poses. The position of the body was no limit to artists like him–proportion and symmetry could allow for anything to be portrayed if the artist was patient enough. Medieval bodies, in contrast, were usually very stiff and awkward, in mundance positions. Renaissance bodies most often had a lot of dynamism, or movement. In the Creation of Adam, two hands are just about to touch, and the viewer can sense this. Still lifes were common in the way that they showed movement in an inert form. Jan van Eyck, a Flemish artist of the Renaissance, achieved realism by mere detail. He would draw every curve, every wrinkle, and every speck with the result of an almost mirror reflection of a scene. Jan, like many other of his contemporaries, not only paid a lot of attention to detail in the foreground of the picture, but also in the background. Backgrounds were complex with lots of colors and usually a grand landscape. Hieronymus Bosch, another Flemish artist, was especially prone to paint bizarre, hellish backgrounds and landscapes. Medieval art, on the other hand, did not have much detail at all in the background. Usually there would be a drape-effect behind the foreground, a curtain of gold or black. (Orourke) This contributed to making art of the Middle Ages even less realistic.
Finally, Renaissance art and Medieval art differed in portraiture. During the Middle Ages, only upper-class people would pay artists to paint portraits of their families. The artist usually idealized the subject, hiding defects and trying to please the employer. The artist did not have much freedom at all, and painted the subject in a very mechanical manner. Mostly portraits would not be of living people, however. Most commonly painted would be saints or Mary and Jesus such as in Madonna with Child by Cimabue. Mary would be painted beautiful and full of grace, while Jesus would most often be caucasian and beautiful as well–completely idealistic. Mary Magdalen would have long, lovely hair and a pretty face. Every character was portrayed the same way in Medieval art. In the Renaissance, there was still a lot of idealism, such as with Donatello’s David; but this beautiful hero of the Old Testament is also completely nude–very un cliché. Donatello is very unidealistic in his portrayal of Mary Magdalen, showing her a torn, old, and wretched woman. Like her, all the subjects of Renaissance art are glorified as complete individuals. Emotion is drawn out and depicted in a subtle yet most often poignant way. Raphael was one of the most detailed of portrait painters (Melanie). His Madonna with Christ and St. John the Baptist shows Mary filled with love and care for the two infants in front of her. His own self-portrait of himself shows a thoughtful and astute man.
In conclusion, Medieval art and Renaissance art mostly differ in subject matter, realism, and in portraiture. There are some similarities, but most often the motives of the artists negate these. Renaissance art contained secular themes, a focuse on human life, a whole new world of perspective, a focus on detail, and most often expertise depiction of anatomy. Medieval art contained mostly religious subjects, hardly any perspective, symbols, and plain backgrounds. Both types of art clearly represented the time periods in which they took place, most especially the different ways of thinking.
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