Influence Of Romanism In The Renaissance

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How did pagan and Graeco-Roman traditions influence Renaissance artists?

At the end of the fourteenth century, a period of intellectual and artistic change started to develop that continued for one hundred and fifty years and has come to be known as the Renaissance. The Renaissance was essentially an intellectual movement but it was also the artistic expression of a period of cultural upheaval that marked the end of medievalism and the transition into the modern world. It is characterized by a change from superstitious thought dominated by the institutions of church and feudalism to a humanist intellectual approach which led ultimately to the development of modern scientific thought and the enlightenment.

The cause for this seismic upheaval is unclear but one can see the influences from all over Europe that seem to be focused on Italy. Europe was still recovering from the effects of the Black Death and perennial wars. Increased wealth in Northern Europe and the development of printing meant that new ideas were able to be promulgated. Increased wealth of individuals and cities was coinciding with turmoil in the church which had up until that point rigidly controlled the expression and commission of artistic endeavour. The Italian cities of Venice and Genoa had grown rich on trade, largely with Byzantium and the Orient. Florence had become rich as a result of trade in wool, silk and jewelry and was home to the vast wealth of the rich, powerful, sophisticated Medici family. The expansion of shipping (the so called “Age of Discovery” led to other influences and stimulus of new ideas and a desire to explore the world. The weakened influence of the Church also allowed the Renaissance to flourish. It’s weakened state allowed t...

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...ans of preparation for eternity, whereas Beauty afforded a glimpse of a transcendental existence. As artists sought to express these depths they looked back to an era of classical form drawing on principles of Greek and Roman art, which in turn was inspired by primal images of paganism that we recognize now as archetypes that shape our very humanity.

The Renaissance re-established Western art in a manner which remained unchallenged until Picasso and Cubism. In search for a new set of artistic values, the artists and thinkers of that time drew their inspiration from the ideas and ideals of ancient Greece and Rome which themselves drew on pagan archetypes which could express the new world they found themselves in. It is perhaps ironic that the iconoclasts of that time looked back to antiquity to deliver us into a new era of thought, understanding and beauty.

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