Art history
The age of enlightenment refers to the change when humanity experienced growth in terms of their intellectual capacity. The period lasted between the 18th and 17th centuries. Kant who was the person behind coining this theory claimed that man had already matured beyond to point that he would think for himself. This means that he would be free of any influences from church or the Greek philosophers among others (Jackson). During this era, new ideas were born and new ways of doing things were coined. Some of the old scientific and artistic disciplines would be touched. The most common disciplines that were affected by enlightened thinking include politics, philosophy, epistemology, art, movements among others. This essay seeks to focus on art and pieces of art that were made during this period. It will seek to check two pieces of art that had been exposed to enlightened thinking and the influence of humanism on the art of the renaissance.
Humanisms according to the history books was an intellectual movement that was embraced by the civic leaders, the scholars as well as the writers. The movement hailed between the 14th and 15th century in Italy. This movement was determined in making the difference in the already existing constructs of doing things (Singh). Some of the notable ideas that the movement had was introducing a program that ensured the culture was revived. These programs had a focus on the legal and moral philosophy among other aspects that fell in the line of literary. The movement grew to include other parties such as the Greek and the roman arts. These contributed to the development of renaissances.
The two common art pieces have been exposed to the two influences that took place in different eras. The influences posed by enlightened thinking and humanism are different and has a way of ensuring the difference are clear. The first art piece is Raphael piece called the school of Athens. It is dated in 1509 which means it falls in the era of humanism. On the other hand, there is a piece called oath of horatti done by Lois David. This piece was done in 1874 which showed that it was during the era of enlightened thinking. This comparison and contrast will show the differences or similarities between the two and they have had been influenced in the art of renaissance (Joe).
The school of Athens piece employs perspective when drawing the eyes of a viewer in an animated scene that include important people like Socrates. At the center there are of the piece there are different characters from the book of Plato’s. This image depicts a great sense of philosophy as expressed in the facial gestures as well as the intense conversations. This piece has been described as one of the popular renaissance humanists. Some of the art is so nice on the art by showing contemporary portraits. The setting as well is depicted to show a classical that has arches and columns. The building is designed with a Greek cross (Muscato).
The art by David Louis is utilizing the neoclassic technique which used line and color to illustrate the shadows, skin tone, and realism. The new classical style that was revived ensure that there was a better manner to express it than the idea itself. David ensured that all the pieces that he had should be clear, delineated, drawing and the model (Jackson). The new classical way that was revived during this period of enlightened thinking ensured that the piece was clear and did not depict any signs of brush strokes.