The Reflection of Humanism in Renaissance Art

The Renaissance period was seen as a time of “rebirth,” greatly influenced by the acceptance of humanism.  Humanism wasn’t rejecting Christianity, many paintings depict religious icons as a matter of fact, but it did expand beyond portraying religious figureheads on the further interest in realism to human anatomy. We see portraiture of those who could afford it; the art work was no longer controlled by the church. Humanism in art glorified the beauty of the human body and sought to achieve realistic perspectives rather than flat, two dimensional views.

We see a strong ambition to create realistic linear and atmospheric perspectives in paintings. Before, objects and people were flat and had an unrealistic resemblance to what and who they were portraying. With the interest in humanism, however, we see carefully calculated paintings on how an object would look in real space; let us take, for example, a look at Perigino’s “The Delivery of The Key to Saint Peter.” Located on the wall of the Sistine Chapel, this fresco shows the development of linear perspective. As the people and buildings become farther away, they diminish in size and detail, just as we see in the real world. Also, when we look at the stones, we clearly see the space and size of and between each stone reducing as they disappear into the horizon. Further, the sky is not one stark color, but a gradient from blue to white as it too reaches the plane of the horizon. On a closer look at the architecture of the building, the correct use of perspective is used as well. The mid structure is facing us head on as the two on the left and right show their three dimensional properties.

Also, the use of color was greatly refined to further the illusion of depth and capture the essence of what we actually see in the three dimensional world. Perigino skillfully uses light and shadow to emphasize distance in not only the far way buildings, but in the very clothing of the people.  We see the shimmer of more luxurious fabric as appose to the duller colored. There is a direct point to where the light is coming from; we know exactly where the sun is located even though it is not actually in the scene. The desire to paint what is actually seen, to give the viewer a sense that they could simply walk into the painting was influenced by humanisms ambition for perfection.

Humanism also inspired how we see the people in this crowd. Before, they would be flat and incorrectly placed as to how their bodies and limbs would be proportionate to each other. Again, with a drive for realism, we see that when they are not facing forward and to the side, their arms and legs are (logically) not visible due to the fact that they are behind.

Humanism in art sought to reflect the real world, and, in turn, find beauty in things that were once unnoticed. Striving for this, works of art were meticulously  measured to show how we view the world we live in.

Sandro Botticellis "Birth of Venus"

The renowned painting the “Birth of Venus” by Sandro Botticelli reflects what was being sought after in art in the early renaissance art period in Italy, a stylized style with to classical realism.

Painted about fourteen eighty-five to fourteen eighty-six for the villa of f Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici at Castello, Sandro Botticelli used tempra on canvas for the “Birth of Venus,” depicting the goddess Venus emerging from the sea, waiting on a giant, scalloped, shell arriving on the sea shore. She is blown ashore by Zephyr (greek for the west wind) and Chloris, gliding along the left side, surrounded by falling roses. On the right, a nymph comes to greet Venus, rushing to dress the modestly nude goddess.

In terms of color, we see quiet of variety, from the bushes a lush green, deep blue from the sky, to the fiery red of Venus’s hair to her flawless pale skin. What I noticed is the fine use of color to further the three-dimensional   aspects of the painting. As the eye looks off into the horizon, we can see the dark blue of the ocean and sky fade to a lighter, almost white, on the horizon line, just as we see in real life. The green and yellow from the shrubs too fade, furthering the impression one can simply walk into the painting. Within the midground shrubbery, we can differentiate each leaf, for every one of them has its own highlighted area, showing us where the light playfully hits them. But though the way the light hits the greenery and how they fade back resembles a realistic trait, the way they are stylized goes far from what we normally see out in the world, each leaf almost too perfect, it is idealized, but stylized. Also, to bring attract the attention of the viewer, Venus’s ivory pale skin and red hair really stand out on the much darker background; even Zephyr, Chloris and the nymph are relatively darker compared the goddess’s soft colored skin.  Every line from these shapes are crisp and it is clear to see where one element of a shape begins and where one ends.

Going along with furthering the attention towards Venus, Sandro Botticelli uses many more element than color to fixate our eyes on the nude figure. On the left, the intertwined bodies of Zephyr and Chloris both gaze at Venus while helping reach the shore, we can clearly see their line of sight is directing us to the goddess’s arrival. Not only to they do that, but the shapes their bodies make almost seem to point our eye directly to Venus. On the right, we see the nymph hurryingly dashing to Venus, readying the drapery for the goddess. The fabric flows in such a way it yet again helps guide our eyes to the pale form. Also, the background too pushes the focus on Venus, the land ending in such a way that it furthers the attention to her. Venus herself uses her sexuality to draw our attention; one hand covering (with not too much success) her breasts as the other covers her genitalia.

Contrary to what was created by Leonardo di Vinci or Raphael, Sandro Botticelli had Venus is portrayed in classical realism. Her skin is flawless, revealing beauty not found in the real world, along with her hair cascading down her body in perfect waves of red. Her limbs and body are ideally proportional, but her neck is unusually long and her shoulders seem to be not exactly proportionate to the elongated arms. And her face is idealized in a manner we would again not normally see on an everyday woman. (Though what could we expect from the goddess of love?). She shifts her weight more on her left leg, allowing her right to gently rise, revealing the use of contra posture.

Overall, Sandro Botticelli’s depiction of the “Birth of Venus” reflects how classical realism was influencing Italy over naturalism. Perfection was admired and sought as beauty more than what was seen in everyday life. Even though the background greenery and wavy ocean exposes a more stylized taste, the depictions of Venus, Zephyr, Chloris and the nymph confirms the classical realism being beheld in Italy.