Renaissance architecture, sculpture, & painting - Essay Example

Introduction The French art historians of the late 18th century were the first to coin the term Renaissance, pertaining to the revival ical style in the architecture of Italian structures. Although historians argue on using the term exclusively for the Italian trend, most of the accounts on the history of Renaissance include the spread of the movement across Europe. In art history, Renaissance is the term for intellectual rebirth and the revival of classical art.The Beauty of the Natural World in Renaissance Art The Renaissance artists depicted the world in its natural situation in their art forms.

They had the sense of space and perspective that medieval artists lacked. Their representation of the natural world is most evident in the paintings of the time. Landscapes became the “earthly settings” of the paintings (Visual Arts, p.379). For instance, consider Andrea Mantegna’s Arrival of Cardinal Francesco Gonzaga. This fresco, completed in 1474, features a landscape as the setting, depicting the trees, hills, and the surroundings in their natural look. Pietro Bruegel, the Elder, in his The Peasant Dance (1568), painted his subjects over a natural setting of a village.

It is not only in the settings of the Renaissance art forms that the beauty of the natural world was portrayed; it was depicted as well in the human figures as subjects.Life of the Human Form: Vitality in Renaissance Art As paintings of the time became less of religious forms, they came to portray subjects realistically. Apart from the representation of the natural world in the paintings, the liveliness of the human form became evident in the artworks. Da Vinci’s ever-famous Mona Lisa was such a humanistic portrayal.

The smile on that womanly face had caught the attention ever since. In sculpture, Michelangelo’s Moses is a good example. He was dedicated to portraying lifelike human details that he even pared muscles and veins. The humanistic approach to paintings was also implied in the Madonna paintings of the time. Whereas medieval presentations of Madonna themes were mostly religious, the Renaissance versions were more of earthly, as the Madonna is depicted with human figures in a natural earthly setting (Visual Arts, p.379).Mathematical Angle of the Renaissance Art Renaissance art forms look realistic and natural due to the artists’ application of perspective and proportionality principles.

In architectural art, these principles were made evident by Florentine architect Filippo Brunelleschi. He also pioneered the notion of a vanishing point, a technique later used to depict depth and distance in visual art forms (Renaissance Art and Mathematical Perspective, n.d.). In paintings, the use of perspective was apparent in Massacio’s The Tribute Money (1425) and in Flagellation of Christ (1450) by Pierro della Francesca. In these paintings, architecture and visual art are unified as depth and distance perspectives add a realistic look to the whole art.

Conclusion At the time of the Renaissance, the art principles of humanism, beauty, and perspective were united. Architectural structures were devised from precise mathematical perspective. Visual art forms were portrayals of human emotions and liveliness. The Renaissance art rendered beauty at its peak. Indeed, Renaissance had "a concern with mathematics, a deep respect for the natural world and a love for beauty."ReferencesRenaissance Art and Mathematical Perspective. (n.d.). Retrieved May 8, 2008, from http://www.mcm.edu/academic/galileo/ars/arshtml/renart1.

htmlVisual Arts, Western. In Encyclopedia macropedia (Vol. 19, pp.379). Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica.