Marsilio Ficino Influence On The Renaissance

The Renaissance was marked with the rebirth of classical learning, celebration of the complexity of the human body, and the exploration of the divine outside of the Church's’ jurisdiction. The Renaissance began in the 1500’s and continued into around 1688, enriching European and surrounding cultures with new artistic perspectives, architectural techniques, philosophical ideals, and religious viewpoints. (“Renaissance Period”). The Renaissance also marked a time of shifts in theological perspectives regarding man and his relationship with the divine.
Sin was seen as a barrier between God and man in the Medieval ages, painting God as a wrathful, jealous, and untouchable being whose rage could only be appeased through confession and faith through

Renowned for his connection of Platonic philosophy with Christianity, Marsilio Ficino (d.1499) was a philosopher who attempted to seek out balance between complete dedication to the divine and the acknowledgement of Classical humanistic ideals. (Fiero 385). Ficino appended classical philosophy to Christianity through the proposition that the soul was immortal and that mankind was a “reflection of the divine” (Cacioppe). Many Renaissance artists, writers, and philosophers incorporated these ideas into their works as they aspired to portray “the link between the cosmos and human potential” that was taught in Ficino’s platonic academy (Cacioppe). Ficino’s idea that mankind was a reflection of the divine supported the celebration of man through humanistic ideas and influenced the similarities portrayed between the image of God and man in Renaissance art. Ficino inspired artists to illustrate this similarity between God and man because spiritual love was “inspired by physical beauty” ( Fiero 385). Perhaps the beauty and complexity of Renaissance art was found in this unique ability to combine humanistic egotism and devotion to God in effortless harmony. Although, however seamless the combination of the two elements seemed, much like the Mona Lisa’s background, the two elements remained starkly different when examined

1564) (Fiero 421). While Michelangelo created many famous works of art, one of his most celebrated displays of skill was his painting of the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling.One of the most renowned paintings that the Sistine Chapel ceiling boasted was the Creation of Adam. Ironically, the church, who did not condone humanistic power and near divinity of man, paid for a masterpiece of humanistic values that would forever loom over them. The Creation of Adam provided a portal into Renaissance thinking regarding the dualistic relationship between humanism and the divine and redefined the Church’s previous teachings of God. In Medieval theology, God remained distant from humans due to the barrier that sin had created. Illustrations of God were distorted are rarely depicted contact or positive interaction between humans and the divine, as illustrated by the Bishop of Winchester’s illustration of suffering in hell (Fiero 276). Furthermore, many Medieval paintings illustrated God in royal and elaborate attire, illustrating his power, prestige, overall incompatibility with humanity, and mans overall insignificance ( “Michelangelo's Creation of