Renaissance
The
Renaissance
is
most
often
used
to
refer
to
the
era
in
Europe,
beginning
approximately
in
the
14th
century
and
ending
by
about
1525,
in
which
a
new
style
of
painting,
sculpture
and
architecture
was
forged
in
succession
to
the
Medieval
and
Gothic
periods.
In
a
broader
cultural
sense,
the
Renaissance
refers
to
the
transition
from
the
Middle
Ages
to
the
modern
age.
The
artist
and
writer,
Giorgio
Vasari
(1511-1574)
coined
the
term
“rebirth”
or
... (view more)
Renaissance
The Renaissance is most often used to refer to the era in Europe, beginning approximately in the 14th century and ending by about 1525, in which a new style of painting, sculpture and architecture was forged in succession to the Medieval and Gothic periods. In a broader cultural sense, the Renaissance refers to the transition from the Middle Ages to the modern age. The artist and writer, Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) coined the term “rebirth” or Renaissance in his important 1550 publication entitled Lives of the Painters, Sculptors and Architects. The Renaissance has come to symbolize the cultural triumph of a period in history where the quest for knowledge, the rediscovery of ancient Greece and Rome and the spirit of humanism were paramount.
The visual arts played a central role in the Early Renaissance, a period which scholars date loosely from 1400-1450. Painters and sculptors were no longer considered simply craftsmen and enjoyed the same status as any man of learning. Florence became “the new Athens” and was the center of intellectual, scientific and artistic activity thanks to the funding of the powerful Medici family and series of complex political changes. Architect Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446), sculptor Donatello (1386-1466) and painter Masaccio (1401-1428) dominated the period and gave us some of most compelling works of the entire Renaissance. Other great painters of the period include Sandro Botticello (1444/5-1510), Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449-1494), Paola Uccello (1397-1475) and Piero della Francesca (1420-1492). The use of perspective as a means of unifying a composition is perhaps the greatest artistic achievement of this period. Other major advancements were the scientific study of anatomy and the use of contraposto or twisted pose to provide more lifelike renderings of the human form. (See also on Artfact: High Renaissance and Northern Renaissance)
