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# Renaissance Classicism

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Renaissance Classicism cut out the extraneous detail and showed the world as it was. From Classicism sprang two movements: a countermovement that was definitely anti-classicist?, Mannerism, and a later movement that became a sort of Classicism on a grand scale portraying power and authority Baroque. Before and during the Reformation?, [Leonardo da Vinci]?, Raphael?, and Michelangelo? defined the [Classicist art movement]?. But, a disheartened Michelangelo? later introduced Mannerism with the dissonance and anxiety in his [The Last Judgement]?. Mannerism, which, in a way, represented the human soul during in the Reformation?, defined itself by breaking all the rules. Baroque painting entered the scene after the Reformation bringing grandeur and normalcy, introducing nothing paradoxical, showing only the [didactic lesson]?.

The Classicists entered on the heels of an artistic revolution, which was the Renaissance and ushered in the Reformation? ([da Vinci]? and Raphael? died during the years Luther was being ordered to recant). The use of light, shadow, foreshortening, and perspective had been perfected and was at the fingertips of these great men. Classicism idealized the world as it was and as the artist felt it. Classicism left out the extraneous detail to go for the truth of the matter and emphasize the noble. This style of painting was the first to stress a balance and harmony in art and nature. Furthermore, it was subsidized by the Pope primarily for the painting of his chapel and by the rich Italian families that wanted to have that which the church? had.

[Da Vinci]? even with his unexplainable dissonance mastered the harmonious in his paintings as he used space to even out [The Holy Family with St. Anne]? and [The Madonna of the Rocks]?. [The Last Supper]? portrays Jesus standing out NOT because he is at the center of the painting, but because he represents calm in a chaotic time.

Raphael?'s [School of Athens]? borrowed from [da Vinci]?'s [The Last Supper]? in its arrangement of characters. However, Raphael? chose to show the classical thinkers of Greece and Rome vice [da Vinci]?'s [Christ and the Twelve]?. He displayed them modestly, each in a pose that epitomized the individual. [Sister Madonna]? continued such modesty and gave nobility to Mary? that had never before been seen.

Michelangelo? would be the most powerful of the classists, unintentionally influencing the Mannerist? movement with his anxious painting. This talented sculptor?, painter?, architect, and poet? would finish the [Sistine Chapel ceiling]? in less than five years (1508-1512). His painting on this ceiling was an extraordinary accomplishment portraying the anatomically correct human body in any position. His [Holy Family]? featured more motion in a smaller space with figures looking almost sculpted, like [Greek gods]?. In 1534, he completed [The Last Judgement]?. At the peak of the [Protestant Reformation]?, this painting displayed the dissonance, anxiety and chaos ripping at the church's fabric. In doing so, it gave rise to an [art movement]? that had already begun to rumble - Mannerism.

Exaggerated Classicism would be called Baroque.

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Last edited March 25, 2001 11:28 pm (diff)
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