The renaissance and Middle Ages periods had many similarities and differences in art and socially. Both periods were filled with extremely talented artists and they helped to mold the future of our artistic world by pushing social norms and creating new ways of creating and expressing art.
A1: Earlier Historical Art Period
Middles Ages art was largely commissioned by the Roman Catholic Church. “The focus of art was not to imitate optical reality, but rather to teach spiritual truths, aid in meditation and convert non-Christians,” (MindEdge 3.12). There was a strict social hierarchy in place during these times in Europe, and those citizens of the Middle Ages liked structure in everything. They had belief that God was the organizer of the cosmos, the human body had only four elements and their interest was in showing these things in their art (MindEdge 3.12). Art was kept anonymous to give the greater glory to god and keep subjects in the social hierarchy. Middle Ages art was normally flat,…show more content… This painting shows the feet of the subject pointed downward as if they are floating in space. The faces show no emotion and the most important subject in the painting is larger than all the others. This painting was a fresco painting. Moving into the Renaissance era, painting began to evolve and the perspective and subjects changed. An example of a painting from the Renaissance period would be The Expulsion from the Garden of Eden by Masaccio, 1426 (Artable). In the painting the feet of the individuals are walking on the ground, showing that their weight is being supported. There are shadows behind the body and emotions are shown on the faces of the subjects within the painting. When comparing the two you can see the major changes from each era and how the artist began to use more knowledge of the human anatomy and