Renaissance Art
There are various similarities and differences between the renaissance art and earlier works. The Sistine Chapel has the most world –renowned feature of the Vatican Museums. Michelangelo painted the chapel’ s inspiring ceiling which depict episodes of Genesis which include scenes of the flood, creation of Adam and Eve, and their banishment from the Garden of Eden. These paintings are overwhelming and it creates Stendhal Syndrome; the unbearable sensory overload. From Michelangelo’s paintings, there exist noticeable difference between the earlier works, in that, the pictures are three dimensional, colors are far more vivid and the figures are more imposing. Unlike the Paleolithic times, the paintings at Sistine Chapel represent human beings who are characters from the bible. The Paleolithic pictures only represented animals for food and those representing strength. Human representations which were rare only appeared as half human/ half animal figures or as handprints.
The similarities include the aspect of religious belief just like earlier paintings. Michelangelo was inspired by what he had witnessed with his own religious belief, his character and his experiences at the Vatican. His paintings pass his spiritualistic ideas. The Chinese painters depicted realistic portrait paintings like in the late Ming Dynasty of the early 17th centaury. Just like the paintings of Michelangelo in the Vatican chapel, the Chinese portrait uses colors and human forms. The Portrait of Kangxi Emperor, Quianlong emperor and Yongzheng Emporore are excellent examples of realistic portrait paintings.What brings this difference is the effort of artists of the Renaissance; they include, Leonardo da Vinci, Filippo Lippi, Andrea Mantegna and Michelangelo Buonarroti among others. They fall under the golden age of art. They took the effort of looking at painting by first studying the human proposition and anatomy, use of perspective, and development of an unprecedented refinement in painting techniques and drawing.
Reference
Christus Rex Inc, (1995) Cappella Sistina. Retrieved from
http://www.christusrex.org/www1/sistine/0-Tour.html
On May 3, 2010
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