Renaissance Cultural Ideals

Renaissance cultural ideals and political realities are reflected in the art of the period in many different ways. To begin with, there was an increase of individual patronage of the bourgeois, merchants, bankers, popes, and princes, that wanted to both flaunt their wealth and status and also glorify themselves and their family by commissioning works of art. These patrons supported these struggling artists to both show that they have enough resources to support them as well as to produce paintings that reflect their wealth. This increase revealed the inequality that is shown by a hierarchy, the competitiveness of this time, and the expectation of reciprocity. Before the development of the ideals of the “renaissance artist,” the patron’s involvement

As the 15th century advanced, humanist ideas spread and the individual portrait emerged as a distinctive artistic genre that explored human ideals. The ultimate development of portraits revealed the desire for individualism and the significance of human focus. During this period of the Renaissance, the idea that the artist has a special talent and, in a way, is a genius, caused for a development of how artists presented themselves. Although more popular artists could defend their artistic styles and gain more independence from the patron, there were still many stipulations. Artists were still expected to be trained well in formal stylistic conventions and artistic techniques, which caused “academies” to form, which in many ways were similar to guilds. This lead to artists such as Giotto, Francesca, Mantegna, Donatello and Brunelleschi to explore more realistic styles that regarded perspective, balance, and proportions, which ultimately lead to a greater understanding. The words of Machiavelli are brought back into mind; that what you look like is more important than what you are, and that we must focus on this world and admit that people act like people, and only by doing this we can deal with things as they