Renaissance Humanist Movement

 

 

Humanism is an intellectual philosophy based on the study of the classic literary works of Greece and Rome. Humanists study the liberal arts, grammar, history, rhetoric, poetry, moral philosophy; all based on the writings of Greek and Roman antiquity. The new thought process emerging from the study of the humanities was that God gave humans the gift of freewill, creativity and intellectualism to be used to the fullest extent that an individual sees fit to use it. During the middle ages, Europe was dominated socially and politically by clergy and aristocrats. The Great Schism did much to promote the birth of the Humanist Movement. The division of the church and the two popes, both of whom declared the other to be the anti-Christ, caused the people to lose their faith in the church leaders. It also caused the church to lose its temporal power and the papacy to lose its moral prestige. Humanism began as a drift away from Christianity in its medieval pious format. During the Renaissance it concerned a cultural and intellectual shift in focus from religion to the self and mankind's place in nature. It placed a great emphasis on art and denoted a swing toward virtue and value as an acceptable path to God instead of the biblical value of humility and introspection seen predominantly in the European thought process in previous centuries. A new view of human beings emerged as people began to emphasize individual ability. This high regard for individual potential gave rise to a new social ideal of the well rounded person who was capable of achievement in many areas of life. The Humanist Movement during the Renaissance essentially invited people to lead the good life.

 

Artists during the Renaissance sought to imitate nature in their works. Their search for naturalism became a tool to persuade the audience of the reality of the object, person or event they were trying to portray. New developments in technique such as one point linear perspective, scientific perspective and a more realistic relationship between figures and the landscape gave art a more realistic style. This caused people to look at art in a way they hadn't before, as a pragmatic continuation of their own world. Renaissance found man in a sort of purgatory between faith and reason where human beings were emerging as the center and measure of all things. Fifteenth century Florentine artists had spent time mastering the techniques for scientific observation of the world around them and were moving toward applying these new forms of creative expression in their paintings, sculpture and architecture.

 

. The Humanist Movement changed Europe socially and politically as well. The Renaissance marked a recovery from the perilous catastrophes of the plague and famine in the 14^th Century. Europe also underwent vast economic changes during this time. The shift to an economy based on trade and manufacturing as opposed to the agrarian based economy of the medieval period moved people into more urban settings where ideas were freely exchanged. As a result, the urban middle class grew and gained greater status which in turn provided disposable income. This transformation of social structure promoted literacy through the advent of new technologies like the printing press which changed European culture significantly. New political leaders emerged as urban leaders consisted of the middle class, not the clergy. The Church's role as a temporal mediator had been challenged. Wealthy families like Florence's Medici were gaining social and political influence which in turn greatly influenced many aspects of life including art. The Church continued to commission art but in contrast, society's new elite also became patrons. Civic humanists began to change the scope of political thinking. Bruni and Alberti argued for a republic style government based on the Florentine model in which every citizen would be responsible for themselves and one another. In addition, citizens were expected to uphold their civic duty to the city-state which further threatened the power of the Church.

 

Globally, much was changing that would form the boundaries of modern Europe and pave the way to the west. The Hundred Years War came to an end and the War of the Roses began. The Iberian Peninsula was united by the marriage of Isabelle and Ferdinand and much of Western Europe was developing a monarchial authority versus the existing papal rule. Further, maritime trade was becoming quite advanced. Commissioned exploration ended the isolation of peoples in the western hemisphere and led to the creation of the first truly global network of trade which naturally promoted the exchange of cultural and ideas.

 

The development of Humanism was a gradual process that started in the eleventh century with scholasticism and evolved throughout the Renaissance. It was the catalyst for political and social advancement in Europe for over 300 years led to a huge shift in the art world. The world as we know it would be very different today without the Humanist movement for it was during the Renaissance Humanist movement that independent expression and opposition of power was introduced and ultimately became a fundamental part of the western intellectual belief.