Post #1

    The Renaissance, is the most interesting cultural movements of all. During this time there were great changes in art and science.
    One of the reasons for this change was the movement of ancient scholarly scrolls from the Middle East to Italy after the sacking of Constantinople. These scrolls brought ancient knowledge to Europe, bringing them out of the dark ages and inspiring new interest in art, science, and education. The Renaissance can be seen as the beginning of the love of innovation, learning and artistic expression that carried through to today in Western culture.
    Another reason for the artistic explosion, according to a history book in my collection, was the patronage of the Medici family. While not graced with a royal title early on, the family made their fortune through banking and trade. Much of this fortune went to supporting the arts. Later in the 16th century the family was given ducal lands and titles.
    Artists like da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael are focused on, in my opinion, because of the amount of work they produced in a variety of media such as paint, sculpture, architecture, and poetry. All three men were veritable “Jacks-of-all-trades”, motivating the phrase “Renaissance man”. All men loved learning, experimentation, and art. Actually, it is said that while they all had similar styles and interests, these three men greatly disliked each other.
    The return of the ancient Greek scrolls to Europe also brought Greek mythology and stories to those who previously had little or no knowledge of them. From looking at some of the paintings in the text, this inspired many works of art depicting these stories and a return to the love of the classical Greek ideal of beauty. Nude women in paintings were portrayed in a style similar to the Greek cannon of proportions. Returning to the Greek ideals was also a way of making nudity socially acceptable, just like in ancient times, by covering up the genital region of women and making them the "shy Venus"; their nudity being part of whatever they were doing, such as bathing or breast feeding. Portraits became popular, both of individuals and of families. Religious art was still popular, but now had a focus on realism and humanism, giving the paintings more movement and life.