Fundamental Concepts, Methods and Modes
In the Humanities
Imagination, Values, and Emotions

Renaissance versus Baroque

February 2014

The Renaissance era has been considered a time of move into the modern day. The term Renaissance means rebirth, and came from the French. The Renaissance started in Italy and extended throughout Europe between the fourteenth and seventeenth century. It was throughout the Renaissance that Europe saw many large social, scholarly and economic changes. Old-fashioned values of the Church were lost which in turn permitted artists the freedom and liberty to discover the human mind and body.
The Renaissance era allowed art to progress far past conventional and traditional religious focus to imitate human feeling and realism in art. Although faith continued to be the core guidance during the Renaissance, the beginning and acknowledgment of human form, expression and scientific study became very lively inspirations within the arts. Renaissance art saw the rebirth of nature and the human figure. Sculpting and painting practices advanced greatly throughout the Renaissance. Artists started using different methods like laws of portion, physical appearance, the linear perspective, balance, and physical appearance. Main characteristics of Renaissance art included admiration and tribute to the human body and nature, realistic linear perspective and importance on the association of light and shadow. Some of the world’s finest artists are from the Renaissance period and include: Michelangelo, Raphael, and Leonardo da Vinci. (Wikipedia, n.d.)
The Baroque period started in Rome and began about the end of the 16th century and came to an end around 1750. The word Baroque comes from the Portuguese language and means “irregular” or “flawed pearl”. Some believe that Baroque period was a reaction to Protestant