The Human Body During The Renaissance Period

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Recommended: The rise of the Renaissance

The understanding of anatomy and physiology today deaden without the knowledge from the Renaissance period. Let’s take a short step to look at what is the Renaissance? Based on historians, Renaissance means rebirth because “it [is] believed that the human spirit [has] to be reawakened as it [is] in the classical (Greco-Roman) times” (The Renaissance). During this time, the new conception of human emerges as individualism which means a man can create his own destiny, and humanism where “humans are the center of the universe” (The Renaissance). With their free will and the motion in seeking personal fame, artists engage themselves in learning the structure of the human body to make their works more lifelike. With such knowledge, they build the …show more content…

As one knows, Dead Christ is completed in about 1490 which is in the Renaissance period. Most paintings in this time represent the human body accurately because many artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Andrea Mantegna, etc study the structure of the human body by dissecting human corpses. Besides the purpose to understand the structure of the human body, the Renaissance men also try to find the cause of death. This practice of dissection begins during the Alexandria era (c.300-250 BC). However, it is stopped during the Dark Ages “due to contemporaneous religious proscriptions” (Dissection). As artists enhance their knowledge of understanding the structure of human body, human figures in their art works appear more …show more content…

Reich. Cultural And Values. 7th ed. Vol. 2. Boston: Wadsworth, 2010. Print. "Dissection: Definition, Synonyms from Answers.com." Answers.com: Wiki Q&A combined with free online dictionary, thesaurus, and encyclopedias. Answers, n.d. Web. 30 May 2010. "Lamentation over the Dead Christ (Mantegna)." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Wikipedia, n.d. Web. 30 May 2010. "The Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation." Mr. Sedivy’s Highlands Ranch History. n.p., n.d. Web. 30 May 2010. Starling, Dan. "Andrea Mantegna's Lamentation over the Dead Christ." Danstarling.com. n.p., n.d. Web. 30 May 2010. Vandermast, Roberta. “Part Two: Humanism in the Renaissance.” WebCT. Valencia Community College, n.d. Web. 30 May

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