ap euro essay

Elliot Vasquez 9/28-29/13
AP European History renaissance art essay

Throughout European history art has changed in many ways. During medieval European history the art style was very unrealistic. The human body proportions were all wrong. Grown men and women were sized as children or midgets. The art style was also not very elegant due to the fact it was called the dark ages. During the Italian and upper European renaissance the art styles changed along with the rest of Europe’s culture, economy, and the shift of power from the nobles to the monarchs. While decreasing the power of the papacy and the churches influence on art and literature. This shift in Europe lead to the new style of art called humanism. Humanism showed the perfection of the human body with proper proportions. During this style period the greatest works of art in the world came to existence. During this period great artists flourished using many new techniques of art. Artists were being commissioned by the church, monarchs, and rich nobles for paintings and statues. This era brought out the greatest artists and creations through the style known now and forever as humanism. The Mona Lisa. One of the first paintings you think of when it comes to renaissance art. Created by Leonardo Da Vinci who also created many inventions that inspired modern technology as well as laying the basis for the studies of the human anatomy and modern day flight. A few of his great works are the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, and the Vitruvian man. The Mona Lisa was painted from 1503- 1506 but was thought to have been worked on until 1517. Today it is on display at The Louvre museum in Paris, France. The Mona Lisa’s humanistic design of which the era it was painted in shows in the foreground of the painting. The painting of the famous woman shows perfect detail of the human body. Right away you are drawn to look at her face and her hands. Her face shows perfect humanistic detail. Her face is not perfectly geometrical which is true about the human face. The hardest part of the human body to paint are the hands. The hands are painted to such perfection that it seems that they have been photo copied onto the painting. You can easily tell humanism influenced this painting to the point that it is the only thing you see until you continue to study it and notice the background. Another of Leonardo Da Vinci’s great paintings is The Last Supper. Painted from 1495-1498. In such a short time the painting shows amazing detail. The painting is on display at the monastery of Santa Maria della Grazie in Milan, Italy. It depicts Jesus and his 12 followers dinning together. If you look closely at the humanistic influence of the painting you see the perfect proportions of the people. In the painting the people are in amazing detail. If you look closely at the faces it is detailed so perfectly that you can see that his eyes are closed and he is praying. You can see the detail in all the faces and are able to tell all the expressions and emotions in all the faces of each and every person. The details in the background and foreground make the humanistic structure of the painting really pop to the point at where the first thing you look at is Jesus in the center of the painting. The painting also embodies a religious theme. Michelangelo. An all-around great artist. His greatest works include the giant 8 foot sculpture of David from the biblical story of David and Goliath. He also painted a part of the Sistine chapel, this is where the painting The Creation of Adam is displayed. It was commissioned by the church from 1511-1512. It embodies a major role in the painting of religion. It shows god surrounded by angels reaching out to Adam in the very beginning of the biblical stories. The amazing detail that is showing the perfection of the human body. The muscular proportions of the bodies seem to have an influence from Greco-Roman culture which is all about the perfection of the human body. The proportions of the entire body are perfect to the mark as if Michelangelo was looking at a person when he painted this work on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel.