Humanism, Reformation, and Italian Renaissance Art History

The Cultural Movements of the Renaissance Era

Humanism: Focus on Intellectual Development

Humanism is a cultural movement that originated in the fourteenth century and extended into the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in Europe. Its primary aim was to achieve the full development of the intellectual capacities of human beings, striving for the ideal that humanists believed existed in ancient Greece and Rome. Key figures included Erasmus of Rotterdam and Dante Alighieri.

The Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation refers to a series of religious movements that arose in the sixteenth century in Western Christianity, leading to new forms of Christian practice. In the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, the Catholic Church held significant political and economic power.

Martin Luther's Core Principles

Martin Luther aimed to reform the Church, basing his movement on three core ideas:

1. Only faith can save people, not their actions in life.
2. The priesthood is universal, meaning specialized training for the priesthood is not necessary.
3. Reducing the importance of priests as intermediaries between people and God.

The Counter-Reformation

The Catholic Church decided to organize a council (the Council of Trent) with the aim of recovering the lost faithful by introducing a series of internal reforms.

Renaissance Art: A Branch of Humanism

Renaissance art is defined as a cultural movement born in Italy in the fifteenth century, serving as the artistic branch of Humanism. It is a remarkable movement, especially in architecture, sculpture, and painting.

Key Characteristics of Renaissance Art

• Architecture: Decoration included medallions, scallops, and stone blocks. Buildings included churches (iglesias), palaces, and libraries. Emphasis was placed on unitary and rational space, utilizing decorative forms such as columns, arches, and domes.
• Sculpture: Characterized by naturalism, perspective, interest in movement, and the pursuit of beauty.
• Painting: Key features included the use of perspective, the importance of color, the introduction of oil paint, and themes involving the nude, landscape, and mythology.

The Quattrocento (15th Century Florence)

Major artists and works of the Quattrocento include:

• Brunelleschi: Churches of San Lorenzo, Pitti Palace, the Florence Cathedral Dome.
• Alberti: Santa Maria Novella.
• Donatello: St. George.
• Ghiberti: Baptistery Doors (Gates of Paradise).
• Masaccio: Adam and Eve, The Trinity.
• Botticelli: Primavera, The Birth of Venus.
• Andrea Mantegna: The Lamentation over the Dead Christ.

The Cinquecento (16th Century Rome)

Rome became the new capital of art during the Cinquecento:

• Bramante: Tempietto of San Pietro in Montorio.
• Michelangelo Buonarroti: Pietà, David, Moses, the Creation of the World (Sistine Chapel ceiling), Laurentian Library staircase.
• Leonardo da Vinci: Mona Lisa, The Last Supper.
• Raphael Sanzio: The School of Athens, various depictions of the Virgin.
• Giorgione: (Works listed in the original text include: Portrait of Charles V, The Bacchanal, The Rain of Gold).