The Renaissance

The Renaissance which means "rebirth" became a very important era in our history. During this time period, between the 14th and 15th centuries, a shift towards the Modern age resulted, transforming Europe forever. The reason for this shift can be seen in certain significant changes, attitudes and exciting new ideas that marked a new horizon, a shift that would ultimately change our future. These changes overall marked a brand new beginning for those during the Renaissance. Adventures were on the horizon and a sense of individualism evolved, but how did the Renaissance even begin? What was the magic that rekindled a flame that would burn brighter and bigger over time? I believe the only true answer is humanism. The disasters of the Late Middle Ages allowed a sense of optimissum to enter people's lives, and humanist idea's only fueled this optimissum to become what is known as the Renaissance; a rebirth of culture, classics and learning. Humanism was the most important factor in the changes that occurred during the 14th and 15th centuries.

The ideas of humanism is what initiated changes, changes such as education and learning. With the beliefs of humanist educators, medieval education and ideas of learning changed. By replacing the logical approach with a liberal-arts curriculum (a study of grammer, rhetoric, poetry, history and philosophy) educators were more likely to produce scholars that would play a more active role in society and would help further knowledge. These educators and Renaissance teachers really believed in the importance of the individual, earthly pursuits and tried to revive an interest in classical writers. With such genuises at work, their ideas brought change, and their work to this very day still gains recognition, work from such genuises as Francesco Petrarch. Francesco Petrarch was a famous poet and writer of his time. Today he is known as the first humanist. By studying classical literature and experiencing love from afar he started having ideas, ideas that rejected medieval ones. Mostly Petrarch believed in earthly physical love and living an active life and these ideas lead the way for future Renaissance writers and thinkers. Therefore by analyzing our very natures we were able to gather valuable knowledge about ourselves.

You can also see humanist ideas reflected in art, for example artists started to glorify humans instead of making them smaller than religious figures. Art was still very religious during this era, but started mixing and moving towards naturalism. This allowed the 14th and 15th centuries to mark a new style for artists of all kinds. With the spread of humanist ideas, artists of the Renaissance became majorly influenced and wanted to reflect this positive outlook on humanity through their artwork, such as Michelangelo, a great artist who painted the Sistine Chapel. With using persepective and depth, artists started creating a more realistic image and by focusing on the ideal human form instead of our imperfections, artwork reflected a time of optimissum. Therefore depicting nudes in artwork took up a renewed interest in the minds of many painters and sculpters. Works of art such as the "Birth of Venus" by Botticelli became the first painting of a female nude and a sculpture, "David"; the bibilical giant killer is known as the first nude, life-sized sculpture of the Renaissance. With the study of human anatomy, artists such as Donatello and Leonardo da Vinci could use their knowledge to redifine thier artwork to look even more realistic. Other than studying human anatomy, Leonardo da Vinci was defiently known as a true Renaissance man and genuis. With his many talents and interests, he became a famous painter, sculpter and engineer. His painted portrait of the Mona Lisa is one of his most famous, well-known paintings, but most of his other projects and ideas ended up in notebooks and never seen the light of day, since he was also known to be a famous procrastinator. Still these notebooks found a way to influence science and technology. Designs of flying machines, submarines, weapons, parachutes and sketches of how the human body works have all made their way into our future one way or another. It seems almost every part of the Renaissance reflected an idea that was cultivated from humanism. One significant reflection in architecture was represented in the Santa Maria del Flore; the greatest achievement of the 15th century. At first the dome that was suppose to be placed on top of the cathedral remained unfinished. No one knew at first how to put an unsupported roof on top of a 42 m diameter. This problem was eventually solved by studying the Pantheon in Rome; a very Renaissance influence, since humanists reflected on classical works, and ideas of the past. The dome that was finally completed, changed medieval architecture.

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