Art and the Renaissance

The Renaissance was a time of major change. A video that showcased the change was the Cataclysm: The Black Death Visits Tuscany. I chose this video because I thought it would be interesting to see how things changed because of country wide disease. Some believe the less realistic style of art after the plague was influenced by the plague itself, but many others believe it was due to internal development. Even if depicting human like forms, they were not as realistic as Giotto's work throughout this time. He wanted to create humanistic work with real life expressions. This was much different from the very specific depictions of religious art that lacked emotion. This relates back to the readings on Giotto where he connects the religious with the realistic to give holy figures emotion. The text also relates back to the video on the change of art after Giotto, during the plague. Artists started creating visually crowded compositions, which is believed to be influenced by despair. Another video viewed was Florence: Heart of the Renaissance. This video discussed how art and science merged together to further develop art. 3 dimensions came from this development, and it was a transition from medieval to modern art. This shows the change of artists coming out of the churches shadow. This relates back to the text on how the Roman Catholic church and Protestant churches influenced art (even though much of the Protestant art was destroyed). The church had the most control over what art was made. These videos further showed the development of the change in art and people. The videos also connect how politics, economics, and religious developments all affected each other. Debt led to the unfinished cathedral in Sienna, and then further affected by the plague. Much of the population passed away, and many did not receive the burials they wished and deserved. This information puts into perspective how everything in the world causes change.