Morgan Harding
Professor Klee
HIS 104
11-13-2012
Art Reveals Much about the History of the Renaissance
The history of the Renaissance is shown in every aspect of their art. It is represented by their colors
and techniques, and it is shown by the way that they represented the people in their paintings and
sculptures. The artists of the Renaissance period looked back on the great artists before them for
inspiration, but they incorporated new techniques that gave their art a greater sense of light and color,
including “the technique of painting with oils, developed in the Low Countries [by Jan Van Eyck] during
the fifteenth century” (Hause, pg. 343).
When one looks at a painting or a sculpture from the Renaissance period, it is not hard to see what
inspired the great artists of that time the most: the human body. “The human body fascinated
Renaissance painters.” (students.sbc.edu) In fact, much of the art created in the Renaissance period
were paintings of people either posing or in action and sculptures of religious or mythological figures.
“Van Eyck appears to have painted many religious commissions and portraits of Burgundian courtiers,
local nobles, churchmen and merchants… Raphael…became a noted portraitist and painter of
Madonnas… Titan… became famous as a portraitist.” (nationalgallery.org.uk) These paintings and
sculptures show us much of the history and philosophy of the Renaissance, one example being in the
paintings done of women. According to history “the woman’s role in the Renaissance was to be a childbearer, a keeper of the home and a good wife” (students.sbc.edu), but painters such as Titan often
portrayed them as “Biblical figures, in high society portraiture or, most interesting of all, as nudes
portrayed in a very sexual manner.” (students.sbc.edu) It is believed that this representation of women
were projections of what the men of that time wanted them to be, or even an unconscious rebellion
against what society was. “Titian knew the power of sex and the female nude and used this knowledge
to sway royalty who enjoyed looking at nudes to commission paintings of naked women from the artist.”
(students.sbc.edu) Showing women to be more beautiful, mysterious, and sexual than they were in dayto-day life may be a very good insight into the male philosophy of the day. Another example of how
Renaissance art shows their history is the fact that the artists often explored “believable ways to
represent the world around them” and “placed greater emphasis on naturalistic art that could tell
stories.” (nationalgallery.org.uk) This means that while part of their art was focused on the more
mythical side of human nature, it also strived to represent the world around them as clearly and
naturally as possible. Da Vinci’s paintings of women are a very good example of those two sides. His
“Biblical figures are all very feminine and beautiful while the portraits of the rich seem a bit stiff and
contrived. [This] gives evidence to the way women were viewed in high society.” (students.sbc.edu)
Below are two examples of his art; one a drawing of a Biblical figure, the other a painting of a noble lady.
Leonardo Da Vinci- The Face of a Virgin- Date Unknown
Leonardo Da Vinci- Lady with an Ermine- 1485
The first picture- The Face of a Virgin- represents the side of their art that centered on fantasies of
women. The second picture- Lady with an Ermine- represents the side focused on portraying the world
around them clearly.
My point before, that artists in the Renaissance were obsessed with the human body, is represented
in their sculptures more than anything. Below is a photograph of a statue that shows how they
represented the human body and their obsession with it.
Giambologna- The Rape of the Sabine Women- 1574-82
You can clearly tell from this sculpture that the artists of the Renaissance liked to represent the
human body as being a beautiful, muscular masterpiece.
The above sculpture shows us another aspect of their history. Along with showing off the human
body, the artists often focused their art on religious and historical events. “The Rape of the Sabine
Women” gives us an image of a point in history in the early Roman period when the Sabines refused to
allow their women to marry Romans, and so the women were often abducted and “persuaded” into
marriage. Another example of this portrayal of historical events is “The Last Supper”, a painting by
Leonardo Da Vinci. He painted an image of what he believed the Last Supper would have looked like,
showing Christ and his disciples sharing their meal and conversing.
Leonardo Da Vinci- The Last Supper- Late 15th Century
Yet another example of the history found in their art is the way that they carefully constructed facial
expressions, poses and gestures. Da Vinci believed that they “should reflect the ‘motions of the mind’”
and therefore put much emphasis on those three aspects, believing that it would help tell the story
behind the art to the viewer.
Overall, the history of the Renaissance period is showed in the following ways: through their
paintings and sculptures of notable figures and religious figures and scenes, through their portrayals
(both realistic and unrealistic) of women in society, and through their representation of important
events in history. It is interesting to research the art of this era because after awhile you realize that for
the most part the only art centered on their modern events/people were the self-portraits and portraits
commissioned by nobles. The paintings and sculptures of events are based on things that had happened
before the Renaissance period. This reveals some very interesting aspects of their philosophy. When it
came to painting and sculpting events, they seemed to favor historical events over modern ones, but
they were quite obsessed with painting, drawing and sculpting the human body from live models and
fantasy women.
Works Cited:
nationalgallary.org.uk. Web. Date accessed: Nov. 13th,
2012<http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/renaissance-tour>
essential-humanities.net. 2008. Web. Date accessed: Nov. 13th, 2012<http://www.essentialhumanities.net/western-art/western-sculpture/renaissance-sculpture/ >
student.scb.edu. Web. Date accessed: Nov. 13th, 2012
<http://www.students.sbc.edu/kitchin04/artandexpression/renaissance%20art.html >
Drahman, Tess. “Women and Men in Renaissance Art.” students.scb.edu. Web. Date accessed: Nov 13th,
2012. <http://www.students.sbc.edu/drahman08/womenandmeninrenaissanceart(withimages).html>
“Renaissance Sculpture.” italian-renaissance-art.com. 2008. Web. Date accessed: Nov 13th, 2012.
<http://www.italian-renaissance-art.com/Renaissance-Sculpture.html>
Hause, Steven. Western Civilization: a History of European Society. Belmont: Thomson Wadsworth,
2005.