Changes in Art That Took Place During Renaissance

Tap to Read ➤ Shashank Nakate

The information about Renaissance art presented here only hits the high spots of changes. An overview of the developments which took place in the architecture and other art forms can be obtained through facts presented here.

La rinascita (rebirth) is the original Italian term from which the word Renaissance has been derived. The Renaissance was a period of change that altered all the prevailing perceptions and beliefs about arts, culture, religion, etc. in the European society.

Prior to the Renaissance movement, Europe was living in the dark ages with little or no scope for development. However, the Renaissance period brought a new lease of life to the European society, and along with it, the development in field of arts. The Renaissance art characteristics and related facts are presented here.

Information on Renaissance Art

The Renaissance period brought about many positive changes in the European society. The changes are reflected through arts and literature of those times.

Paintings and Drawings

The painters from the Renaissance period adopted realism as the way of expressing themselves. This era of change began somewhere at the end of the 13th century and continued for the next 200 years.

There was a lot of experimentation in all the art forms and painting was no exception to it. Three dimensional paintings became popular during this period. The outlines of drawing became orthogonal. The medium of oil paint was first used in this period. Earlier, painting was done using egg tempera.

One of the notable features of Renaissance paintings was the inclusion of perspective. Objects in these paintings were drawn, taking into account the depth and distance between each other; in short these paintings were more lifelike in comparison to that of the Middle Ages.

The technique of foreshortening helped in adding more depth to the sketches and paintings. Human forms appeared far more frequently in the Renaissance paintings.

Chiaroscuro was another technique used profusely by painters of this time in order to make their 3-dimensional artworks more voluminous. The chiaroscuro is basically a practice of using contrasting effects of light and dark colors in a painting.

The art reforms and changes reached their pinnacle in the High Renaissance period (1490 - 1527). The artworks of this period exuded a kind of grandeur and richness, unforeseen in the Middle Ages or even the early Renaissance. Michelangelo's 'Creation of Adam' is one of the examples of important artworks of High Renaissance.

Architecture of Renaissance Period

The Renaissance architecture flourished between the period of 1400 and 1600 A.D. Florence, Italy, is said to be the place where this form of architecture originated.

The most important characteristic of Renaissance architecture was the emphasis on symmetry, arrangement of pilasters, columns, etc. in an orderly manner.

Domes, arches, square-shaped lintels, triangular pediments, etc. were some of the other features of this architecture. The arches incorporated special features found nowhere in Gothic structures; these arches had a semicircular shape with the width twice as much as their height.

Greek and Roman architecture influenced the Renaissance architecture to a great extent. However, the Romans and Greeks constructed buildings that were asymmetrical in shape. Also, the architecture was far more complex in nature.

Most of the famous architectural works of the Renaissance era can be found in Italy. The examples are San Giorigo Maggiore (Venice, Italy), The Rotunda (Vicenza, Italy), and The Redentore (Venice, Italy). The Louvre of Paris, France, also is an example of Renaissance architectural building.

Notable architects from this period are Michelangelo Buonarroti, Andrea Palladio, Giacomo da Vignola and Filippo Brunelleschi. De re aedificatoria was the first book on Renaissance architecture, written by Leon Battista Alberti. This book was written in a time period of 9 years between 1443 and 1452 A.D.

The Renaissance movement had a great impact on every sphere and aspect of life in Europe. The changes which took place during this period influenced the way in which artists and people in general, expressed themselves. The Renaissance art information presented here provides us with an overview of this glorious period in European history.