Renaissance

AnewperspectiveWesternculture’sgreatrebirthArtasweknowittodaywouldnotexistwithouttheRenaissance.WidelyconsideredthemostinfluentialphenomenoninEuropeanart,architecture,literature,andscience,themovementrevolutionizedtheWesternconceptionofrealityandheraldedtheemergenceofmodernityoutoftheMiddleAges.TheRenaissancefirstgainedmomentuminItaly,attheendofthe14thcentury,spreadingacrossEuropeoverthecourseofthenextcenturies,withdynamicepicentersinFlorence,theLowCountries,andGermany.Themovementfounditsintellectualbasisinhumanism,derivedfromclassicalGreekphilosophy.Acrossart,science,literature,andpolitics,proponentsoftheRenaissanceavowedthatmanwasthe“measureofallthings”anddeterminedtoreplacescholasticmedievalconfineswitharevivalofantiquity.Undertheinfluenceofhumanism,artistsadvancedanatomyandgeometrytoreachnewfeatsoffigurativeaccuracyandrevolutionizerenderingsofperspectivetoreflectthehumanexperienceofplaceinspace.InFlemishpainting,artistssuchasBruegelbroughtnewtechniquesandaneverydaysensibilitytolandscapesandstillliveswhileinGermany,DürerandCranachpioneeredanunprecedenteddramaandpsychologyinwoodcutandengraving.FromFlorencetoNuremberg,VenicetoBruges,thisessentialintroductioninTASCHEN’sBasicArtseriesprovideadependablefoundationtothetransformativereachandsweepoftheRenaissanceera.Throughthemovement’sfamedluminariesandlesser-knownproponents,itssocialandpoliticalcircumstance,anditsdiversionsanddevelopmentsovertimeandgeography,wetakeinanextraordinaryphenomenonofcenturiesofchangethatprofferedindividualgenius,regionalvariety,andawholesalereconfigurationofseeingandrepresentingtheworld.Featuredartistsinclude:FraAngelico,GiovanniBellini,HieronymusBosch,SandroBotticelli,PieterBreughel,LucasCranachtheElder,AlbrechtDürer,ElGreco,MatthiasGrüünewald,HansHolbeintheYounger,FraFilippoLippi,Masaccio,Michelangelo,Parmigianino,Pontormo,Raphael,Tintoretto,Titian,PaoloUccello,Veronese,andLeonardodaVinci.