Here is a summary of the characteristics of art from the Classical, Medieval, and Renaissance periods that you brainstormed as a class last Friday.
If you have chosen persuasive essays 1 or 3, these points may help you in your argument.
Classical Art
Medieval Art
Renaissance Art
Classical Art
Examples: Bathing Venus, Grave Stele of Hegeso
Characteristics:
- Artists valued balance and harmony.
- Figures were often more perfect than in real life
- Bodies looked active, and motion was believable.
- Faces showed no emotion.
- No clothing
- Scenes showed either heroic figures or people doing tasks from everyday life.
- No sense of perspective
Medieval Art
Examples: Madonna and Child in Majesty
Characteristics:
- Religious subject matter
- Important figures are shown as larger than others around them
- Figures look stiff with little sense of movement
- Fully clothed
- Faces were serious and showed little emotion.
- Flat and two-dimensional
- Backgrounds were one color.
Renaissance Art
Examples: Madonna and Child with Two Angles, Primavera, Pieta
Characteristics:
- Artists showed religious and non-religious scenes.
- Art reflected great interest in nature.
- Figures were life-like and three-dimensional, reflecting an increasing knowledge of anatomy.
- Bodies looked active and were shown moving.
- Nude or clothed
- Faces expressed what people were thinking.
- Colors were shown responding to light (shadows, shading, etc.)
- Paintings were balanced and symmetrical.
- Full backgrounds show perspective.
