Question

Choose ONE work by any of following artists: Leonardo, Raphael, or Michelangelo and discuss in a paragraph how their work expresses the rebirth of the Classical past in terms of: naturalistic human forms in complex poses, emotional complexity, rational space, balance, calm, dignity of the human form, Humanistic values

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary.

(Answer) Leonardo DaVinci - The Renaissance is and probably always will be one of the most defining periods of art. It began around the 1300’s and lasted until the 1600’s. The word “Renaissance” simply means “rebirth” or “reawakening.” It has been rightly called so because; it was the awakening of humanity in terms of media. Prior to this period, an artist would surely express themselves through their work. However, it was in the Renaissance that this expression began to have meaning and motive. Most of the time, the motive in these works has been to simply enlighten mankind.

Artists like DaVinci and Michelangelo particularly thrived at this time since there wasn’t much of political hindrance that would leave the population in too much distress to focus on creating art. The dominant Medici family in Florence, where the Renaissance is said to have originated, brought about economic prosperity through the Medici Bank as well. Also, the invention of the metal movable type which is a certain type of printer and concrete had lead to artists having their own tools with which to create.

In a simple exercise, one can meet an artist who has a normal job or works for a living. One might ask this artist if they are able to paint when they have a work deadline, have to crunch numbers or are stressed about their personal life. The artist will almost certainly say that they cannot create good art when they do not possess the peace of mind or their life is too fast-paced. An artist who has to paint within a deadline would be a different situation because all they have to focus on is their painting.

If one speaks to this real person who is an artist in today’s fast world, one might understand the implications of the Renaissance and the reason why so many artists came out of it. These artists did not have to worry about the economy since it was prosperous. Florence was, at the time, quite a liberal place and hence artist like DaVinci could be freely expressive without being at the receiving end of the snide feelings of a conservative. This is when artists could focus on creating beautiful things and they had the peace and calm around them to encourage their endeavours.

The polymath Da Vinci traced the Vitruvian man, the last supper and other works that involved a certain depth about human contortion and figures. The artists of this time went beyond simply tracing out the human form but, began to trace it out with the purpose of expression. Expression through art was the fashion of the time and an artist like Leonardo Da Vinci would have probably not thrived as much at any time or any other place.