All About Italian Renaissance Art

The origins of the renaissance movement are found in Florence in Italy. The renaissance, which literally means \’rebirth\’, came about in Italy during the 15th century when several artists realized that art, culture, architecture and Italian Civilisation had declined during the middle ages and through the renaissance tried to revive the glories and developments of art from Roman Italy.

Filippo Brunelleschi takes the credit for having fuelled the Art Renaissance Movement in Italy though he is not the most known name connected with it. He was an architect by profession and was responsible for laying down the scientific laws of perspective based on which the Renaissance Art in Italy flowered later.

Excepting Giotto di Bondone who was an influential member of the Christian art movement in Italy throughout the 13th century, art from Italy had always been two dimensional.

Renaissance art in Italy rose to prominence as a result of the application of the laws of perspective which the artists followed to progress towards development. Gradually renaissance art in Italy began to fabricate pieces that reflected scenic nature and the real world to perfection.

Whereas art in Italy at the time of ancient Rome was a tool of the state, and under the patronage of the Catholic Church Italian art almost exclusively concerned religious subjects, renaissance art in Italy broadened the scope of art. Despite the fact that much of the most famous renaissance art in Italy is of a religious theme, artists at this time started to concentrate more on the natural world around them and tried to reflect this in their art.

Anatomy became of particular interest to a large number of renaissance artists in Italy and it is believed that during this period art was able to reproduce the human form exactly as it is in real life. Donatello was a master sculpture of renaissance art in Italy whose statue of St George can still be found in Italy today.

The 16th century is believed to be the pinnacle of the renaissance in Italy. Italy was inundated with artists of such excellent quality, whose likes have never been seen since. Raphael, Michelangelo and De Vinci are three such figures from the renaissance art movement in Italy who were all contemporaries of each other.

These Renaissance artists became so popular in their time that they were in demand in the different cities of Italy whose authorities and heads of state wanted them to produce works of art in their places.

Art in Italy can no longer be described as religious in totality because it is no longer the preserve of the church to direct such things in a secular country. However, there are still Italian artists who deal with Christian subjects. One such artist is Giacomo Manza who has been influential in the field of Christian sculpture during the 20th Century. The Bronze door of St Peter\’s Basilica was created by Manza.

Renaissance art in Italy is the finest on the planet. If you would like to view some good examples, read our page on fun things to do in Pisa.