Middle Ages vs Renaissance Art Periods

When seeking two art periods to compare and contrast, fewer artistic examples provide a starker depiction of radically changing ideas and mentality than the art of the Middle Ages against that of art from the Renaissance. First, art originating from the Middle Age will be thoroughly analyzed for context. Afterward, art from the Renaissance period art will be analyzed next to it for its departures on from Middle Age techniques and thinking, before the two are finally systematically compared and contrasted. First, art from the Middle Ages, also called art from the Medieval period, characterized a European period of little social change, general poverty, and few scientific advances. The Catholic Church remained an imposing force upon Midieval society, and dominated much of daily life. Art clearly served the role of worship above all else, and the Catholic Church actually commissioned much of the artwork of the period. Much of this art filled churches and monasteries, and took the form of sculptures, paintings and drawings, stained-glass windows, metalwork and mosaics, among other forms. The iconographical nature of the art is substantial, as it above all served the purpose of perpetuating the Catholicism of the early church. It was largely confined to Europe and areas that the Byzantine and Roman empires had once occupied, such as parts of northern Africa. It lasted almost a thousand years, from approximately around 500 C.E. to perhaps as late as 1400 C.E. The depictions within the art reflected its purpose – worship. Religious icons such as saints, the Virgin Mary, Jesus and his disciples, and other depictions provided clarity and images for believers. The images portrayed onto the media arguably reflect the times, lacking in brightness, movement, or attitude. The characters shown rarely appear upbeat. An excellent example that validates some of these generalities is Pietro Cavallini’s The Last Judgment. This painting in the Santa Cecilia in Rome uses drab

References: Finnan, V. (2013). The last judgement. Retrieved from http://www.italian-renaissance-art.com/Last-Judgement.html Gortais, B. (2003). Abstraction and art. Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences , 358(14-135), 1241-1249 . Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3558216 The last judgement. (2001). Retrieved from http://www.lib-art.com/artgallery/8284-the-last-judgement-pietro-cavallini.html