Part SEVEN = The Renaissance

The Renaissance.

The Renaissance was between 1500 - 1800 AD.

It really started and then flourished in Florence, Italy, after which it spread to Venice, which is to the North East.

New wealthy families now paid for paintings, art, jewellery and architecture, which had previously be paid for by the church.

This was a total opposite, for in the previous 500 years, are had been mostly church based, being in bibles for example.

Artists became freelance and accepted commissions away from the church now and did other worth away from just reproducing Christian stories.

The Renaissance led to more realistic paintings, with more depth; light and shadow; three three dimensionality and correct proportions in face and hands of people in art etc.

Sculpture also improved in the way it looked, but still looked very 'Greek'. Look at Michelangelo's David as an example.

There was also a development in technology, with the invention of bow and arrows and gun powder. These in turn changed the the hierarchy of who was in charge.

With the distribution of wealth, came education for the masses, which in turn led to an exciting era of invention and in the creative arts.

Famous Renaissance men included:

Copernicus, who believed that the world was not flat.

Johannes Kepler, an astronomer who gave us the laws of planetary motion.
 
Galileo was a physicist, mathematician, philosopher and astronomer, who is mostly remembered for his  studies of the stars, the earth and the planets. He was also locked up for his forward thinking beliefs, poor man.

Isaac Newton, who discovered gravity.

Leonardo da Vinci, who is famous for the Mona Lisa but also as a scientist. He invented the first helicopter and the tank.

Michelangelo, who as well as sculpting the statue of David, painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling.

The Renaissance was definitely a time of religion versus science. This was good for many people though, as all of this led on to HUMANISM, with a lot of decisions being put into the hands of men instead of god.

Around the world, nudity in art became more common and the body was to 'be celebrated' was the thought in art.