Proto-Renaissance: The Italian Renaissance
The Renaissance was a more forward-thinking age inspired by a re-interest in the art and culture of ancient Greece and Rome. This essay will cover the period in time right before the Italian Renaissance kicked off called Proto-Renaissance, and the factors contributing to its success. The three factors that contributed to the success of this transition were, where it began, the influence of humanism, and artistic innovations contributed by artists. These factors are considered to be essential in the new coming artistic style of naturalism.
The origins of Renaissance art can be traced to Italy in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. During this period called “Proto-Renaissance,” sometimes referred to as Trecento, from 1280-1400, Italian scholars …show more content…
and artists saw themselves as reawakening to the ideals and achievements of classical Roman culture. Most scholars agree that the Proto-Renaissance started in Florence, and travelled to the other Italian city-states such as Siena, Venice, Verona, Genoa, Bologna, Milan, and then to Rome. Although this timeline only reflect the Italian Renaissance, it’s important to note that the English, Spanish, French, German, along with a few other countries had their own renaissance. A time were they too had to re-think how thinks worked, and of course some the style did blend and evolve as they reached new cultures and influences. One might ask why Florence, why during this period, why; A theory to answer the “why,” that has gotten support from scholars is the possible pressure that was being felt in the Byzantine Empire to the east by Islam, making some of the artist flee the grate traditions of the east and forcing artist to think beyond the traditions of the medieval, arriving in Italy. The Renaissance was impactful in many ways, touching many aspects of life including the fine arts, architecture, dance, literature, music, philosophy, science, technology, and even warfare. In the later 14th century, the proto-Renaissance was stifled by plague and war, and its influences did not emerge again until the first years of the next century.
Humanism can be seen through a vast majority of works created in the Renaissance period, and if one looks at art during the Proto-renaissance period from artist such as Maso di Banco, active around 1330-1350 CE, who developed a special sense for abstract surface effects and Taddeo Gaddi,1300-1366 CE, who introduced experimental illumination effects into fresco painting, one can see the shift away from the divine and into a more natural feel.
Some scholars also view the shift in artistic developments during this period, in Italy, as more philosophical perspective towards religion. For example, The Franciscan Order that was founded in 1209, promoted ministering to the poor and sick. They did not try to scare the masses into believing by reminding them of the damnation that awaited them. They replaced punishment and the supernatural by the story of the salvation of man. They valued nature, and art tried to imitate the natural world. Thus, artist envisioned capturing a more natural form of art and straying away from the divine and unreal characteristics of the Byzantine style of art. Tradition has it that the Florentine painter Giotto di Bondone was the first to break away from Byzantine tradition in favor of a purely naturalistic form of
representation.
Giotto di Bondone is known as remarkable artists pushing towards naturalism and striving for realistic representation in his art. The Florentine painter Giotto made enormous advances in the technique of representing the human body realistically. A great example of artistic evolution is the comparison of Cimabue’s painting titled, Santa Trinita Madonna, 1280-90 CE, with Giotto’s painting titled, Ognissanti Madonna Enthroned 1305-10 CE. Though Cimabue’s painting still incorporates many Byzantine characteristics such as the appearance of the divine and unrealistic, the likeness of all the angels to one another, and the floating of the angels to name a few. While Giotto’s painting creates differences in his angels faces and almost layers them on top of each other to show depth, using fewer lines in comparison to Cimabue’s painting, to illustrate depth, and instead using color variation such as the knees to show them protruding outward, and the coloring on her breast to show faint but realistic features. Though both of them do try showing an illusion of space, Giotto of course, making a few bigger strides there. Those are a few examples in the evolution of art during this period, straying further away from Byzantine style, and instead choosing a more natural form of art. Giotto is considered the pioneer for a more realistic form of art, going against the mainstream Byzantine style of Europe during this time.
These factors are vital to the success of the Proto-Renaissance, later becoming the Italian Renaissance. Whether there’s any truth to the theory on how the pressures of the Byzantine Empire lead to the fleeing of artists, causing them to push artistic boundaries or not, it started in Florence and one can’t say what would have happened in history had it not spread from there. Another thing to note is the philosophical changes that were occurring during this period, and the challenges of religion versus science. Artist were pushing towards a more real
The origins of Renaissance art can be traced to Italy in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. During this period called “Proto-Renaissance,” sometimes referred to as Trecento, from 1280-1400, Italian scholars …show more content…
and artists saw themselves as reawakening to the ideals and achievements of classical Roman culture. Most scholars agree that the Proto-Renaissance started in Florence, and travelled to the other Italian city-states such as Siena, Venice, Verona, Genoa, Bologna, Milan, and then to Rome. Although this timeline only reflect the Italian Renaissance, it’s important to note that the English, Spanish, French, German, along with a few other countries had their own renaissance. A time were they too had to re-think how thinks worked, and of course some the style did blend and evolve as they reached new cultures and influences. One might ask why Florence, why during this period, why; A theory to answer the “why,” that has gotten support from scholars is the possible pressure that was being felt in the Byzantine Empire to the east by Islam, making some of the artist flee the grate traditions of the east and forcing artist to think beyond the traditions of the medieval, arriving in Italy. The Renaissance was impactful in many ways, touching many aspects of life including the fine arts, architecture, dance, literature, music, philosophy, science, technology, and even warfare. In the later 14th century, the proto-Renaissance was stifled by plague and war, and its influences did not emerge again until the first years of the next century.
Humanism can be seen through a vast majority of works created in the Renaissance period, and if one looks at art during the Proto-renaissance period from artist such as Maso di Banco, active around 1330-1350 CE, who developed a special sense for abstract surface effects and Taddeo Gaddi,1300-1366 CE, who introduced experimental illumination effects into fresco painting, one can see the shift away from the divine and into a more natural feel.
Some scholars also view the shift in artistic developments during this period, in Italy, as more philosophical perspective towards religion. For example, The Franciscan Order that was founded in 1209, promoted ministering to the poor and sick. They did not try to scare the masses into believing by reminding them of the damnation that awaited them. They replaced punishment and the supernatural by the story of the salvation of man. They valued nature, and art tried to imitate the natural world. Thus, artist envisioned capturing a more natural form of art and straying away from the divine and unreal characteristics of the Byzantine style of art. Tradition has it that the Florentine painter Giotto di Bondone was the first to break away from Byzantine tradition in favor of a purely naturalistic form of
representation.
Giotto di Bondone is known as remarkable artists pushing towards naturalism and striving for realistic representation in his art. The Florentine painter Giotto made enormous advances in the technique of representing the human body realistically. A great example of artistic evolution is the comparison of Cimabue’s painting titled, Santa Trinita Madonna, 1280-90 CE, with Giotto’s painting titled, Ognissanti Madonna Enthroned 1305-10 CE. Though Cimabue’s painting still incorporates many Byzantine characteristics such as the appearance of the divine and unrealistic, the likeness of all the angels to one another, and the floating of the angels to name a few. While Giotto’s painting creates differences in his angels faces and almost layers them on top of each other to show depth, using fewer lines in comparison to Cimabue’s painting, to illustrate depth, and instead using color variation such as the knees to show them protruding outward, and the coloring on her breast to show faint but realistic features. Though both of them do try showing an illusion of space, Giotto of course, making a few bigger strides there. Those are a few examples in the evolution of art during this period, straying further away from Byzantine style, and instead choosing a more natural form of art. Giotto is considered the pioneer for a more realistic form of art, going against the mainstream Byzantine style of Europe during this time.
These factors are vital to the success of the Proto-Renaissance, later becoming the Italian Renaissance. Whether there’s any truth to the theory on how the pressures of the Byzantine Empire lead to the fleeing of artists, causing them to push artistic boundaries or not, it started in Florence and one can’t say what would have happened in history had it not spread from there. Another thing to note is the philosophical changes that were occurring during this period, and the challenges of religion versus science. Artist were pushing towards a more real