Humanism In Renaissance Art

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During the Renaissance, many ideas had formed, but none as substantial as humanism. Humanism was a cultural movement that revived the Roman and Greek culture such as. This revival inspired works of art not only in the Italian Renaissance but as well as in the Northern Renaissance. Humanism can be found in many Renaissance visual arts pieces such as Sandro Botticelli with his painting the Birth of Venus, Raphael in School of Athens, and statue of David by Michelangelo. First, the Birth of Venus was painted by Botticelli for the Medici family. This painting is influenced most obviously by the subject of the painting itself. Venus was a Roman goddess for love and fertility, and the theme of the painting was influenced by the Greek writer Homer, where it was said that after Venus was born, she rode on a seashell and sea foam to the island of Cythera. As such, the painting depicts Venus standing on top of a seashell, riding the shell to the shore. Another humanistic aspect of the painting was its realism and individualist style of each figure. The detail that was paid to each person, with distinctive features that clearly defined from one figure to another was also an influence of humanism. This, as well as the nudity depicted by the painting, was…show more content…
By the title alone, it shows the importance of education, a view shared by many humanist of the Renaissance as humanism also shifted to the importance of the individual and their potential as well as pursuing education. Plato and Aristotle were both important figures that humanists drew ideas from and also that because Aristotle is seen pointing outwards (to the viewer of the painting) it is seen as a showcase for the idea of individualism, an idea that had stemmed from humanism. Another example of that being how, like in the Birth of Venus, each figure is distinguishable from the next, with individual characteristics that set them

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