The Renaissance

    There are few eras in history with the overwhelming impact of the Renaissance. The dominance of the Church that defined the Middle Ages was replaced by humanism. Man and his world transcended their place on Earth to become God in heaven. The art and architecture of the Renaissance included religious subjects represented by real people in real surroundings. Man superceded God and thereafter creates the world we inhabit.

    The Merode altarpiece is the earliest example of Northern Renaissance art. It is a triptych with Mary and Gabriel in the center panel. Mary is reading a book and Gabriel is about to announce that she will carry God's child. The right panel shows Joseph in another room with his carpentry tools. The left panel shows three people in the courtyard, including the person who paid for the altarpiece. The Annunciation happens to ordinary people on an ordinary day.

    Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. It represents the height of the Italian Renaissance, commissioned by Pope Julius II. The ceiling is painted in fresco, applying pigment to wet stucco. Scenes from the Old Testament cover the surface. In the middle, God and Adam reach out toward each other, fingers stretched to nearly touching. Who is creating whom? If there were no angels, they might be brothers. Man and God are not so different.

    Pieter Bruegel the Elder painted peasants in their natural environment. He uses oil paint which has translucent quality well suited to realism. His subjects farm, hunt, and dance. Religion is not portrayed. This is emphasizing man's importance in the world.

    The rebirth of secular art was paid for by merchants like the Medici of Florence. Money drove the art world then just as it does today. People who paid for art wanted to influence what was in the picture. They wanted to be in the picture with their wives looking sensible and prosperous. The religious subjects were replaced by ordinary people.

    Renaissance art benefited from the development of perspective. It made landscapes realistic and the people sizes depended on distance instead of importance. Backgrounds became more detailed and nature was featured. Man's world was  central.

    If the artists of the Renaissance did one thing, it was to help us to appreciate ourselves and the world around us. We are worth being made into art. We are Michelangelo's David and Bottacelli's Venus. We live in Bruegel's fields and dance at his wedding. Most of all, we create the world inspired by Leonardo's inventions. We are reborn in every way.