Renaissance

& The

Fine Arts

Literature

Renaissance attitudes and philosophy had a complex influence on the evolution of literature. Dante Alighieri, who wrote during the 13^th century, is often said to represent the transition in literature from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. Although his philosophy of life was rooted in the religious outlook of the Middle Ages, his great epic poem La divina commedia (1307, The Divine Comedy) reflects his powerful interest in all aspects of human life and behavior. The vivid language and imagery of The Divine Comedy, probably begun in 1307, paved the way for such later works as Giovanni Boccaccio's Il Decamerone (1353; The Decameron, 1620), a collection of realistic prose tales famous for their vivid and witty observations or contemporary life. Both Dante and Boccaccio were important in establishing the use of contemporary Italian rather than Latin as the standard language for literature in Italy. The love sonnets of Petrarch were also written in vernacular Italian; they were widely imitated throughout Europe and further increased the prominence of the Italian language.

During the influence of the Italian Renaissance literature was left throughout Europe. In Spain Miguel de Cerantes Saavedra wrote his allegorical novel Don Quixote (Part I, 1605; Part II, 1615). In France, Pierre de Ronsard applied the lessons classicism to French verse; Francois Rabelais wrote lusty, vigorous caricatures of the world around him; and Michel Eyquern de Montaigne wrote essays exploring his innermost thoughts with the same objectivity that others had reserved for the external world. The Renaissance also produced great literature in England. Of note are the sonnets of Sir Philip Sidney; the epic The Faerie Queene (published in successive editions, 1590-1609) by Edmund Spenser; and the plays of Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare, and other dramatists who wrote during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

Painting

Renaissance painter turned from the purely religious subjects of the Middle Ages to a depiction of the natural world. Technical advances in the representation of perspective, anatomy, and light and shadow were matched by a great expansion in subject matter. Portraits, studies of the human form, animals, landscapes, scenes of daily life, and historic events all joined religious subjects as according material for the painter.

Sculpture

During the Middle Ages, sculpture, like all medieval art, was subordinated to religious architecture and the needs of the Catholic Church. Although late medieval sculpture, known as Gothic was more realistic than earlier medieval sculpture, it was still highly stylized to symbolize certain religious ideas and conventions. However, Italian medieval sculpture had always preserved some elements of the classical tradition. Renaissance sculpture a reached its peak in the early 16^th century, primarily with the works of Michelangelo.

Note: What you hear playing in the background is a piece composed by LASSUS, Orlandus (1532-1594) it is a German Folk song and this piece was very popular in its day.