Week 1: Introduction

After doing a little browsing through our textbook, I feel that Renaissance art is so significant to our culture in the fact that so many pieces contain a lot of detail and I feel that our culture tends to be very aware of details. Most of the paintings that I glanced at appear almost three-dimensional and realistic. I think that our culture is sometimes more comfortable with what we see as normal and the realistic paintings portray what seem like mostly everyday activities or humans in their natural settings. Many of the paintings also seem to have an almost straightforward point to them when you just glance at them and I feel that our culture enjoys this because time is so precious that we want to get straight to the point, as fast as possible. We enjoy knowing answers and we enjoy knowing them even more when they are right in front of us and although I'm sure many of these paintings do have a deeper meaning, they show a great deal of naturalism. 

 

Renaissance art also seems to have a great deal of religion involved. I came across many religious painting in our book and I'm sure that they greatly appeal to our culture seeing as many people cherish religion. Most of the pieces specifically involved Christianity and portrayed Jesus on the cross or were found in Cathedrals and Churches similar to those from the early Christian period. Christianity made its breakthrough and within our culture, it seems to be practiced everywhere so of course, I feel, that pieces promoting Christianity and telling stories about the Christian belief are going to be popular. 

Overall, I think the the Renaissance era opened many doors to creativity which our culture loves. Not only in art but also with music and writing, the Renaissance era brought about different techniques for creation. It was also the time for furthering math and science. The 15th and 16th century, i feel, helped lead our culture to many of the hobbies, careers, and lifestyles that we have today. I think that the art created within the Renaissance period by prominent figures has also raised a lot of questions to our culture making it so important to us. For instance, the Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da VInci. This painting has brought up many questions within our culture regarding who Mona Lisa was. I have heard so many different theories behind this painting throughout our society which leads me to believe that we are so intrigued with the Renaissance period because of the normalcy it portrays but also the mystery.