Essay, Research Paper: Medieval And Renaissance Art

The Medieval and Renaissance art vary greatly in terms of subject and technique. Medieval art produced works that were less free in theme and style while Renaissance art explored on various techniques and depicted reality in its truest sense.
Architecture in the medieval period had so much religious influence while in the Renaissance many other buildings of nonreligious subjects were built. Therefore, town houses and commercial edifices were constructed other than churches. The structure of these buildings made use of the Greco-Roman principals of design. Gardens and terraces were added up to these structures.
Renaissance art portrayed human beings in paintings showing their varied facial expressions and attitudes. It depicted people as fully active and vividly alive in the paintings. Dimension, perspective, space and distance were evidently observed in all the art works of that period adding to its realism. The artists’ good grasped of the human anatomy encouraged them to portray human form credibly in their paintings. Their subjects were also placed in a particular setting of real life.
During the Renaissance, sculpture became and independent art form. Aside from religious subjects, which are a common product of medieval sculpture, various busts of prominent people and historical figures were produced during the Renaissance. The use of nude was particularly Renaissance. This technique presented a moving away from Christian traditions to a more worldly concern.
These reasons clearly illustrate the difference between Medieval and Renaissance art. These also present the different ways of thinking of people in both periods.


Word Count: 249