Evolution of Art - Essay Example

The Early Renaissance, spanning the 15th century, marked an era of broad cultural achievement as a result of renewed interest in Classical Greek and Roman ideas. The Renaissance revived ancient forms and content, and the spiritual content of paintings changed from devotional to classically humanized. Classical artists, like Donatello, Verrocchio and Botticelli, introduced principles like realistic expression, harmonious proportion, and rational postures in their work. The high Renaissance, which marked the climax of Renaissance art, is considered a natural evolution of Humanism. Art reached its peak of technical competence, rich artistic imagination and heroic composition. Characteristically, Renaissance Classicism was a form of art that removed extraneous detail and showed the world as it was. The titans of this era included Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael Sanzio. However, in Late Renaissance, a technique named Mannerism became widely prominent. The art of Mannerism, contrary to that of the High Renaissance, was full of clashing colours, disquieting figures with abnormally elongated limbs, and often torturous-looking emotions and bizarre themes.

The Renaissance movement in Europe was soon followed by the Baroque period, which brought in a style that struck a perfect balance between the graphic and the pictorial. It realistically presented models from the streets, emphasised everyday life, and favoured a sense of movement, energy, and tension in art. The key artists of this period, like Caravaggio, Rembrandt and Vermeer, applied a revolutionary technique of dramatic and selective illumination of figures in their artwork. This later went on to become the hallmark of Baroque art.