Art Italian Renaissance
For the aficionado of all things art Italian Renaissance-era artists number among the most influential throughout time. This “rebirth” of the arts brought about changes that we still see and use today.
Perhaps the two most famous people to come to mind when we consider the art Italian Renaissance movement are Michelangelo Buonarroti and Leonardo da Vinci. And no wonder. These multitalented geniuses were phenomenally important to the world of art during their lifetimes and are still so today.
In the art Italian Renaissance period, sculpture practically came to life under the influence of these two masters, who depicted the human form in a way that was far more realistic than had ever been done before. Both men left lasting legacies that include some of the most outstanding art ever created in both sculpture and painting and their works advanced the study of science, too, which had become rather stagnant in their time due to the all-controlling influence of the Roman Catholic Church in the Middle Ages.
Within the broad spectrum of art Italian Renaissance discussion must include the still-quoted literary works of Dante and Machiavelli. Although the Renaissance marked a turning away from the stifling influence of the Church, the epic poem, Commedia Divina, or Divine Comedy, written in the early 1300s by Dante Alighieri takes us from the brink of suicide, through the seven levels of Hell, and a stay in Purgatory before we find Paradise on the proverbial Cloud 9. Niccolo Machiavelli’s book, The Prince, is a political treatise proscribing the virtue of placing practical matters above moral values and is mentioned frequently in the boardrooms of corporate America even today.
When one considers the period in its full spectrum of art Italian Renaissance architecture cannot be overlooked. Famous names of the era include Alberti, Bramante, and Brunelleschi who used some innovative techniques to design some truly beautiful cathedrals but the most famous architectural wonder of the time is probably the St. Peter’s Basilica, located in what is today’s Vatican City. Although several period architects, sculptors, and painters lent a hand, Michelangelo is considered the chief designer and it is he who gave us the extraordinary painting on the ceiling of the nearby Sistine Chapel, too.
The Italian Renaissance was a time when remarkable changes were happening in music, philosophy, science, commerce, as well as the arts mentioned here. Many of these changes influenced world culture to such an extent that they have become part of our culture even today.