Differences between medieval and renaissance art?

Answer 1

Medieval art was mostly focused on portraying Religion; they focused on bringing out the concepts/morals of Christianity, not at all focused on creating realistic figures.

The Renaissance means the rebirth, in this case the "rebirth of Classical Greek/Roman art" which focused intently on realism. Religion was not a major factor, whereas the artists' intent was not to show/bring out morals values of a particular religion. Art techniques were also revived, especially the Classical type of artwork/sculpture of a particular figure or painting, which seemed lost during the art of the Medieval.

Answer 2

Medieval art has no background and is not very realistic. The have colours like blue and gold which were very valuable at the time. Most medieval painting were religious they were also 2 dimensional e.g the halos are flat. Lack of perspective and proportion.

Renaissance art very realistic and in 3-D. Use of perspective and proportion and lots of colours. It has a background and depth. Linear perspective is used in some paintings. Not all paintings are religous.

Answer 3

There are several differences.

During Medieval times:

The vast majority (pretty much all) of art was religious. Nothing but religious depictions of scenes from The Bible.

Two dimensional drawings and no perspective.

A very somber mood on all paintings. Everyone looking very serious or in agony. (This is because the most important thing to the society during Medieval times was the idea of Christ sacrifices for humankind and the idea that we were all sinners. So it is a very heavy mood).

Renaissance Times:

There was still plenty of religious art being done but, paintings depicting mundane (not sacred) scenes and/or scenes from Greek/Latin mythology started popping up. The Birth of Venus by Botticelli can be used as an example of that.

The discovery of perspective by Brunelleschi had an immense impact on art as we know it. All of the sudden, artists realized how to make things look far away/close in a realistic manner.

The mood definitely lightened up on the paintings. People started to smile (Mona Lisa) and dance (the Three Graces on a painting called Primavera by Botticelli). This was a direct reflection on how society shifted its thinking from how God was very stern and punished everyone to the Humanistic style of thinking. The Humanists thought that men took center stage (instead of God) and they praised men's accomplishments. Very much like the Greeks and the Romans did before them.

This brings us to the term Renaissance. Renaissance means the rebirth, in this case, the artists of the time meant that they wanted to do a revival of art like the classical Greeks and Romans with their voluptuous statues and mythology themes.

This will get you started for now...

Answer 4

Medieval Art is completely focused on devotion to God, and, as a result, the human figure, or the idea of showing the human figure realistically, is not important. The main idea is to magnify ones devotion to God, to show ones total subjection to an all powerful Church, to focus on the worship of an omnipotent Saviour, and to look heavenward to an eternal life. Figures and designs in medieval art are abstracted and often formulaic, space is flattened, hieratic. There is strong emphasis on the use of clear narrative formats as storytelling devices in order to more readily communicate the vital message of heavenly salvation. In medieval art, heaven and the otherworldly are an all pervasive reality. In medieval paintings for example, gold or single -hued flat backgrounds abound, there is usually no attempt at showing the importance of earthly space, and linear and atmospheric perspective is absent. In medieval art, the idea of a "Heavenly Jerusalem" or city of God, predominates.

In Renaissance art there is a rebirth of classical forms and ideas. The human figure becomes powerful and central to art. The human form is depicted as firmly existing in a believable earthly space, with artists employing their new inventions of mathematical and atmospheric perspective. In Renaissance art, man is shown standing confidently on his own two feet bound by gravity in an earthly realm; in Renaissance art man becomes "the measure of all things".

Answer 5

The biggest difference between Renaissance art and Medieval art was the focus on artisitic realism.