One of the most extraordinary changes associated with the Renaissance is how those living during the mid-fourteenth to the mid-fifteenth centuries came to regard themselves and their peers. Although the dominant figures of the Late Middle Ages were the Church and feudalism, both characterized by rigidity and oppression, accumulating wealth and mounting social changes allowed for a new emphasis on the importance of the individual to emerge. This change has been labeled Humanism and is highly evident in a myriad of social spheres throughout the Renaissance. The purpose of my essay is to illustrate that shift in popular thought using the medium of art.
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To better demonstrate this change I will first briefly address the art of earlier periods, specifically the Late Middle Ages. The art of the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries is delineated by a distinct stylization and simplification of .
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I believe there is a reason behind the stylized, two-dimensional depictions of humans during this time. The artists of this period were not less talented they were merely governed by different principals. As stated previously, the Church and feudalism were the social machinations of the Late Middle Ages; in this context the importance of a human lies only in their capability of gaining glory for God or their feudal lord. An individual cannot retain that glory and is therefore unworthy of the examination necessary for more realistic depictions.
It is the Humanist transformation of thinking that makes the highly sensitive art of the Renaissance possible. Very simply, people and specifically artists spent more time pondering and studying humans. Through Humanism the ideas of basic human dignity and the beauty of humans were realized. .