Sample Essay On God Vis-à-Vis Medieval Art

It is safe to say that God is very frequently described as an artist in medieval times. It can be traced if we take as an example of an Italian genius – Michelangelo. One may find such example in the course of history when an artist was compared with God in a Ludovico Ariosoto’s poem (Michelangelo ‘the divine one’) (Ariosto XXXIII, 2, 3-4). Hence, one may say that possible to assume that if an artist is God – all his creations are truly divine. With the help of art, artist was god-like, without restrictions, totally free, he had his desires and performed them with the help of art. However, Michelangelo’s works are very different from the artist before and even after him. Mainly because of his otherness, his art had much more sense and meaning and that described that he was an artist of the modern era with the way he thought and the way he produced his art. Moreover, Michelangelo was therefore seen in a very different way from the common artists who perceive art creation as just breadwinning. This factor brought about a new way of thinking amidst new artists after Michelangelo’s period.
With the course of time, people changed, their beliefs, ideas and worldview also underwent a lot of changes and art was no exception. Such eras of romanticism, neoclassicism and realism return us the art and architecture of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (Winckel 179) It is well known that neoclassicism was a movement predominantly in Greece and Rome in the early nineteenth century. Many different scholars and literary critics claim that neoclassicism was a very unemotional form of art. Judging by the name of the movement, it is possible and understandable to say that neoclassicism represented the revival of the classical art (Metmuseum). Even though neoclassicism was a form of art it was greatly influenced by the ideas of John Locke and Isaac Newton – geniuses in exact sciences. According to them they believed that everything in the universe is governed by mechanical principles and not by the God and his divine laws. Neoclassicism looks to geometry to achieve mathematical closeness to God (Mavromatis 87).
The movement of Romanticism emerged as a phenomenon opposite to neoclassicism. Emotional colorfulness, more beauty was resided for this form of art. Although romanticism does not show absolute truth or but in fact is capable of displaying feelings. Separated from common religious convictions, the romantics considered nature as the dwelling place of God. The Deity and the natural universe were considered the same. (Roach 1). An artist using this style was thought to have a completely egoistic nature, with their wishes and intentions ruling above all such as tradition. (Winckel 179) New experiences such as spiritual truth have been obtained with the help of creativeness and imagination. Artists that worked in era of Romanticism did not speak so much of authoritative revelations from a God. Nevertheless, romanticism was able to change the way an ordinary person viewed himself, his personal and impersonal relationships. This movement made a lot of changes in various levels of values. Romanticism probably was the most effective because of the reason that it was capable of lasting so long and was able to successfully spread itself. (Winckel 180)
Additionally, realism was the accurate and realistic representation of any human, place or environment. The most prominent representative of the realism school was Gustavo Courbet. The realism school representatives were administered by benevolence and the need for social reforms(Winckel 180) In the realism piece of work the absence of God is predominantly noticeable. Through these three stages from neoclassicism to romanticism and then finally to realism, we are able to understand how presence of God is more noticeable in his absence. This is recognizable due to the fact that God has created a human in seven days; however, it took these artists three movements spread over two centuries to make a piece of art, which started as a severe emotionless piece to finally look natural and full of emotion.

Work Cited

Ariosto, Lodovico. Orlando Furioso. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1975. Print.
Mavromatis, Kally. Akron Churches. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Pub., 2008. Print.
Metmuseum.org,. 'Neoclassicism | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline Of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum Of Art'. N.p., 2015. Web. 7 Jan. 2015.
Roach, Steve. The Romantic Era – 19Th Century. 1st ed. London: N.p., 2015. Print.
Winckel, Ludo J. The History of Religion and Art. Ontario: N.p., 2015. Print.