Good Essay On The Renaissance

The Renaissance is a period of European history from 14th till 17th century, which is characterized by the “rebirth” of science, education, literature, music and art. The progress in science that has been made by Romans and Greeks was lost in the part of the Middle Ages, which is called Dark Ages. And the Renaissance is considered to be the time of “coming out of the dark”. The artist, as c creator is considered to be a key factor in the Renaissance period. The art became the way of artists’ self-expression and self-fulfillment.

There are some basic ideas and concepts that were common for the Renaissance, such as Humanism, Neo-Platonism and Aristotelianism.

Humanism is a philosophical movement that concentrated on the potential and the importance of man as an individual and their right to use of their own beliefs and rationality. The Humanists believed that the power of knowledge and science can be a powerful tool for creating a “complete man”. Also they declared that there is no conflict between newly interpreted wisdom of ancient existence and the supremacy of the Church. The Humanists thought that the study of the heritage of ancient Greek and Roman writer is the key to understanding of Christian doctrine.
Neo-Platonism is a philosophy of group of thinkers who wanted to reconcile the Christian doctrine with the Plato’s teachings. For example the most famous representative of Neo-Platonists was Michelangelo who believed that the spirit of Classical Art became the basis of formation the concept of beauty in the mind.
Aristotelianism is another school based on the writings of Aristotle. The representatives of this school, including Leonardo da Vinci believed that the beauty of art is the harmony between all the components.
During the Renaissance, the popularity and the influence of the Church was decreasing. The demands of people changed and were based on money not on devotion and it was difficult for the Church to adjust to such a new way of thinking.
Renaissance brought a lot of remarkable changes in art, science, philosophy and literature, which influenced the development of thought not only in Europe but also all over the world.

Work Cited

Campbell, Gordon. The Oxford Dictionary of the Renaissance. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2003. Print.