Summary of Renaissance Humanism
The art historian Jacob Burckhardt's The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (1860) first advanced the term Renaissance Humanism to define the philosophical thought that radically transformed the 15th and 16th centuries. Driven by the rediscovery of the humanities - the classical texts of antiquity - Renaissance Humanism emphasized "an education befitting a cultivated man," and saw the human individual "as the measure of the universe." Church leaders, scholars, and the ruling elite practiced and promoted the understanding of classical ethics, logic, and aesthetic principles and values, combined with an enthusiasm for science, experiential observation, geometry, and mathematics. Originating in Florence, a thriving center of urban commerce, and promoted by the Medici, the ruling family of the Italian city-state, the philosophy was connected to a vision in a new society, where the individual's relationship to God and divine principles, the world and the universe, was no longer exclusively defined by the Church.
Renaissance Humanism informed the works of groundbreaking artists, including Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli, and Donatello, as well as architects like Brunelleschi, Alberti, Bramante, and Palladio. These artists exemplified the ideal of the "Renaissance man" as they excelled at various disciplines and pioneered new techniques and inventions, defined the artistic canon and were heralded as "masters" in their own right.
Key Ideas & Accomplishments
Renaissance Humanism created new subject matter and new approaches for all the arts. Subsequently, painting, sculpture, the literary arts, cultural studies, social tracts, and philosophical studies referenced subjects and tropes taken from classical literature and mythology, and ultimately, Classical Art.
Renaissance Humanism elevated the concepts of aesthetic beauty and geometric proportions historically provided by classical thinkers such as Vitruvius and given a foundation of ideal form and thought laid down by philosophers such as Plato and Socrates.
The artists associated with Renaissance Humanism pioneered revolutionary artistic methods from one point linear perspective to trompe l'oeil to chiaroscuro to create illusionary space and new genres, including frontal portraiture, self-portraiture, and landscape.
As historians Hugh Honour and John Fleming noted, Renaissance Humanism advanced "the new idea of self-reliance and civic virtue" among the common people, combined with a belief in the uniqueness, dignity, and value of human life. As historian Charles G. Nauert wrote, "this humanistic philosophy overthrew the social and economic restraints of feudal, pre-capitalist Europe, broke the power of the clergy, and discarded ethical restraints on politics...laid the foundations for the modern absolute, secular state and even for the remarkable growth of natural science."
During this time, patronage dominated the art market as wealthy citizens took pride in promoting artists who created masterworks in a variety of fields from painting to science to architecture and city planning. This reflected the overall attitude of the importance of supporting the arts in a thriving society.
Many of the concepts of Renaissance Humanism, from its emphasis on the individual to its concept of the genius, or Renaissance man, to the importance of education, the viability of the classics, and its spirit of exploration became foundational to Western culture.
Overview of Renaissance Humanism
