Renaissance Dbq

The human race has gone through many extravagant eras and ages. From the space age to the Victorian era, humans have seen civilizations fall and revolutions ensue. Possibly the most well known era was the age of the Renaissance. The Renaissance was an advanced age fueled by an infatuation for art and literature. People began to focus on the concept of individualism, and portrayed that in their art. It was a progressive age in the sense of invention and art. A prominent difference between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance was the change from a religiously fueled society to a belief in a more secular world, and a stronger focus on humanism. Humanism was seen across the renaissance through art and literature. Unlike the Middle Ages, the Renaissance

Men of the Middle Ages didn’t have a strong grasp on their own individualism. They believed they were on Earth to appease God and get into heaven. Renaissance men celebrated the victories and creations of man, not just God. As author John R Hale writes in his novel Great Ages of Men: Renaissance in 1965, “ Medieval men had been preoccupied with searching their souls, but Renaissance men were much more intrigued with exploring, and indeed parading, their own personalities.” (Document 9). This quote shows that Renaissance men were not soul searching or looking for God’s meaning, they were digging into their own personalities. They cared more about being individuals. Developing their personalities was a very important aspect of the Renaissance man's life. That also reflects on humanism, which is the emphasis on the value of human beings and critical thinking. Renaissance men were valuing themselves higher than those from the Middle Ages. Another writer, Pico della Mirandola, states in Oration of the Dignity of Men that “I seem to have understood why man is the most fortunate creature and thus worthy of all admiration. For this is the very reason why man is rightly called and considered a great miracle and a truly marvelous creature” (Document 8). The importance of this quote is that it shows how Renaissance men thought of themselves. They believed they were worth appreciation and

People have told stories with marble, as well as ink. The focus of the Renaissance was the arts. Artists had evolved their skillsets since the Middle Ages, for example, their paintings weren’t 2D and they focused on people rather than just gods. The detail of sculptures and paintings became more realistic than it had been during the Middle Ages. In Michelangelo's sculpture David completed in 1504, he sculpted an image of David from David and Goliath holding a slingshot, before he kills the beast with a stone. (Document 7). This is vital to explaining the difference between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance because it depicts a mortal human with lifelike details. During the Middle Ages, sculptures were less realistic, and typically of higher beings that were not human. However, during the Renaissance, that changed. Sculptors had a firmer grasp on drapery, as seen in David, anatomy, and perspective. Humanism also played a part in the arts, since most art was influenced by the art of the Greeks and Romans. Artists wanted to revive the techniques and styles from those cultures. You can also see the difference between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance in artwork. In Leonardo Da’ Vinci’s 1490 painting The Vitruvian Man he depicts a sketch like picture of the male anatomy in motion. (Document 6) That’s a very important piece of artwork in comparing the two time periods because it shows how Renaissance men were