What Was The Renaissance Individualism

The Renaissance represented a complete departure from the pessimistic and dark times of the middle ages, and a transition into a period of optimistic rebirth and celebration of antiquity that the middle ages did not have. Civilians during this period valued individualism, and devoted their lives to improving their communities and becoming better citizens. Furthermore, freedom city republics which as well were not prevalent during the middle ages, were an important aspect of the Renaissance. They spurred experimentation in all facets including intellect, art, and technology.

The Renaissance began in Northern Italy because of extensive trade networks and high rates of literacy. Due to the coming of the end of the Black Death during the middle
They represented a departure from medieval views by emphasizing individual talent and curiosity. This individualism was a major shift from the communal ideals valued within the guilds during the Middle Ages. Guilds were professional associations devoted to protecting the special interests of a particular trade or craft and were established to monopolize production and trade in the goods the guild produced. Page 342. Humanists were mainly concerned with the potential of the human being. They focused on progressing as a people which meant being extremely active members within society. Humanists such as Francesco Petrarch devoted themselves to multiple skills including grammar, rhetoric, history, poetry, and ethics. Renaissance humanists sought to resurrect a form of Latin and declared their version better than church law courts and universities. Humanists were extremely involved within the community by working as school masters secretaries’ bureaucrats’ official historians and ambassadors. They influenced society through education with an emphasis on the importance of language, history, and ability to read and write. Most importantly, they wanted citizens to be critical thinkers. The best example of the perfect “Renaissance Man” was Florentine painter and inventor Leonardo Da Vinci. Leonardo da Vinci was extremely talented. He designed stage sets, and carnival pageants, painted interior
Artists and painters reflected the true essence of the renaissance through realist paintings. The sculptures during the Renaissance had classical Greco-Roman influence. Artists such as Filippo Brunelleschi and sculptor Donatello, and all humanists’ artists were intrigued by the human anatomy. They applied math to their works in order to represent reality by creating an illusion of the third dimension. The math and visual theory was taken from Arab text. These artists were mainly concerned with how the eye perceives objects. This differed from the art during the Middle Ages. The art from the middle ages was patronized by the church, did not represent realism, lacked perspective, and was 1- dimensional. Architecture Ghiberti, creator of the north doors that depicted the biblical story of Jacob and Esau, utilized round arches, and classical columns. This was a renaissance style that was meant to create the illusion of depth. This illusion, called the linear perspective, used geometrical principles to depict a three dimensional space. Architecture during the middle ages consisted of pointed arches, flying buttresses, and was extremely detailed. The printing press developed in the 1450s gave way to a printing revolution and increased the availability of books during the centuries to come. However, During the Middle Ages, texts were hand written by