The Italian Renaissance - Essay Example

Leon Battista Alberti values reason over Fortune because, according to his work, "Book of Family," he writes, "Fortune with its most cruel of floods may overcome and submerge the families, which, throwing themselves upon the mercies of such waves, have either not known how to control or contain themselves in times of prosperity or have not been prudent and strong in sustaining and regulating themselves when they were buffeted by adversities." That is why Alberti believes that "in political affairs and in the lives of men, reason is more important than Fortune and prudence more powerful than blind chance." Giovanni Pico della Mirandola considers humans to be more than angels because, in his work, “Oration on the Dignity of Man,” he claims, “let us not even yield place to them, the highest of the angelic orders, and not be content with a lower place, imitate them in all their glory and dignity. If we choose to, we will not be second to them in anything.” Pico believes any human has the potential to fashion and transform himself into any fleshly form and assume the character of any creature whatsoever. Picos "Oration on the Dignity of Man" and Albertis "Book of the Family" are very important statements about human self-determination because they both speak about the infinite capacity of humans to achieve great things and rise from mediocrity to near-perfection with the use of their own freewill, a gift from our Creator. Pico speaks about the divinity of the human race and how God, in his infinite goodness, created humans to "think on the plan of his great work, and love its infinite beauty, and stand in awe at its immenseness." Pico writes that God "made man a creature of indeterminate and indifferent nature, and, placing him in the middle of the world, said to him Adam, we give you no fixed place to live, no form that is peculiar to you, nor any function that is yours alone. According to your desires and judgment, you will have and possess whatever place to live, whatever form, and whatever functions you yourself choose. All other things have a limited and fixed nature prescribed and bounded by our laws. You, with no limit or no bound, may choose for yourself the limits and bounds of your nature.” Pico goes on to say that God has placed man "at the worlds center so that you may survey everything else in the world. We have made you neither of heavenly nor of earthly stuff, neither mortal nor immortal, so that with free choice and dignity, you may fashion yourself into whatever form you choose. To you is granted the power of degrading yourself into the lower forms of life, the beasts, and to you is granted the power, contained in your intellect and judgment, to be reborn into the higher forms, the divine." Alberti, on the other hand, writes that ability is sufficient to "attain and maintain every sublime and most excellent thing—the grandest of principalities, the most supreme praise, eternal fame, and immortal glory." He goes on to say that, "if we admit that character, discipline, and manly behavior are mans possessions insofar as they desire them, good counsel, prudence, strong, constant and persevering spirits, reason, order and method, good arts and discipline, equity, justice, diligence are within reach and embrace so much dominion that they ultimately climb to the highest degree and heights of glory." This shows the infinite capacity for humans to make their own decisions and ultimately control their destiny. Based on the writings of both Pico and Alberti, humans clearly are the masters of their faith and the captains of their souls. They seek God as their ultimate provider, protector and savior but at the end of the day, humans make their own decisions based on their own capacity for intellect, emotional bias, and spiritual inclinations. God gave humans free choice and dignity, according to Pico, so they have full control of their destiny. Pico writes that God made man as a free being; hence, he has the right to do whatever he pleases and take whatever direction he wants his life to go. Meanwhile, Alberti describes humans as possessing many traits, including reason, discipline and diligence, allowing them to "climb the heights of glory." That alone is proof that humans ultimately control their destiny. Pico’s listing of multiple sources for his ideas is seen as an important model for a liberal arts education because it emphasizes the necessity for the use of various works of art as sources for one’s work. It shows resourcefulness and diligence in making any project, whether a book, a paper or an essay. It also shows the writer’s creativity in searching for his or her sources. Leonardo da Vinci rejected book learning, preferring to rely on his observation and experience. He describes himself as a man without erudition. He prefers painting over sculpture. His curious notebooks containing his writings reveal his general views on the proper way to approach painting as a craft, as well as his contempt for useless contemporaries who failed to embrace his love of work and study, and his profound unhappiness. Michaelangelo Buonarroti was one the of the Renaissances greatest architects. His best-known work of sculpture, the David, was placed outside the Palazzo Vecchio of Florence in 1504. He also completed a number of equally important paintings, sculptures, and architectural designs, including the modifications in San Lorenzo Church in Florence. Although far more famous for his work as an artist, he was an excellent poet. He wrote poetry almost throughout his life; his work consisted of more than three hundred poems. His constant preoccupations were the nature of beauty, the definition of love, the process of artistic creation, and the realization that death eventually triumphs over art. The differences between Leonardo and Michaelangelos works were actively applauded during the Renaissance because they each contributed much to the era, Leonardo, with his paintings, and Michaelangelo, with his sculptures, paintings and architectural designs. They were both geniuses in their field and made major contributions to the Renaissance. Leonardos manuscripts were scattered, some lost and destroyed. About twelve hundred folios were assembled by the sixteenth-century collector Pompeo Leoni to form what is known as the Codex Atlanticus now located in the Ambrosiana Library in Milan. Other important codices include the Codex Trivulzianus in Milan; a small codex on the flight of birds in Turin; a group of drawings in Venice; a rich collection of drawings in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle; and two recently discovered notebooks (Codex Madrid I and II) that reappeared in 1965 after having been lost for 135 years. Leonardo claims that "It is indispensable to a painter, in order to be thoroughly familiar with the limbs in all the positions and actions of which they are capable in the nude, to know the anatomy of the sinews, bones, muscles and tendons so that, in their various movements and exertions, he may know which nerve or muscle is the cause of each movement and show only those as prominent and swelled, and not all the others in limb, as many do who, in order to appear as great artists, draw their nude figures looking like wood, and lacking in grace—you would think you were looking at a sack of walnuts rather than the human form, or a bundle of radishes rather than bare muscles." This last statement from Leonardo clearly shows how he values the importance of science in his art and how his reliance on science allows him to recreate the human body in the most realistic form, paying close attention to nerves, muscles and sinews, thus resulting in a life-life replica of the human form. Leonardo clearly is a fan of science and chooses to use it as a part of his art. It is significant that Leonardo removed religion from his scientific work for the obvious reason that religion clashes with most scientific principles. His precise recreation of human forms based on scientific studies would not have been made possible had he maintained religion as part of his art. Personally, I dont agree with his decision because combining religion, science and art would have allowed him to expand his horizons and create even more brilliant works of art than he already had. Plus, maintaining religion as one of his tenets would have allowed him to explore more thoroughly the many aspects of art. Michaelangelo found solace in poetry and refused to be limited with strictly realistic art. He discovered another more eloquent way to express his art that is why he deviated from and refused to be fenced in by purely realistic art. Michaelangelo contributed much to the Christian community, infusing his art with so many Christian elements. He completed the modifications in San Lorenzo Church in Florence, which was the Medici familys place of worship. In one Sonnet, Michaelangelo wrote about the Christian renunciation of the worlds follies, as well as faith in Christs redemptive powers, making it an interesting contrast to the more passionate lyrics of his earlier years. In another one, his most famous poetic work, Michaelangelo probably addressed his poem to Vittoria Colonna (1490-1547), a noblewoman and talented poetess. He compares Vittoria Colonna to the block of marble to be carved for the good she hides within her. However, the artist fails to meet the challenge and only manages to extract death. In this second sonnet, Michaelangelo uses Pagan elements in his work. In the first one, he uses Christian references, particularly salvation and redemption from the slavery of sin. Read More