IGNOU BDP BSHF-101 RENAISSANCE-HUMANISM, LITERATURE, ART AND ARCHITECTURE

BSHF-101 RENAISSANCE-HUMANISM, LITERATURE, ART AND ARCHITECTURE   

Download BSHF-101 Solved Assignment 2018-2019                  

                        RENAISSANCE

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to 17th century beginning in Italy in the late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not uniform across Europe, this is a general use of the term. As a cultural movement, it was marked by a series of new developments in the fields of art, literature, religion, philosophy, science, politics and gradual but widespread education reform. The Renaissance undermined the domination of the Catholic Church. Renaissance being viewed as a bridge between the Middle Ages and Modern Era. The Renaissance has a long and complex historiography, and there has been much debate among historians as to the usefulness of Renaissance as a term and as a historical delineation. 

Humanism

The chief characteristic of the Renaissance way of thinking was Humanism. Humanism controlled man, stressed his essential worth and dignity, expressed invincible faith in his tremendous creative potential and proclaimed freedom of the individual and his inalienable rights. It was centered on a notion of man that did not reject earthly joys, recognized the beauty and dignity of the human body, opposed religious asceticism and defended man's right to pleasure and satisfaction of earthly desires and requirements. The humanists rejected the religious mortification of the flesh and withdrawal from the world. They urged man to seek joy on this earth rather than, an afterlife which the church advocated. Their works were permeated with the faith that man with an active mind and body was capable of knowing and controlling the world, and fashioning his own happiness. These ideas increasingly narrowed the domain of divine and extended the domain of man.

Renaissance Literature

The language of literature for centuries had been Latin which only the educated could understand. The Renaissance marks the emergence of modern European languages.

The Renaissance literature in modern European languages was marked by significant changes in style and theme. Initially, the tendency was towards copying the Latin literary style. Its first impact was felt in poetry where the imitation of court poets was given up and new rhymes were adopted with themes which were increasingly secular. There were significant developments in drama, and increasing use of satire. A major development was in the field of prose writings. The earlier prose was a medium only for scholarly writings. Stories were told through poems. Now, the prose-story emerged as an extremely important literary form.

Impact of humanism on art and architecture during Renaissance.

Art and Architecture

The humanism of Renaissance found a brilliant expression in art and architecture. The purpose of medieval art was to express moral values and impart religious teachings. The Renaissance marked the rise of artist, each with his unique individuality and style, who enjoyed great prestige in society. Art was freed from religious ritualistic overtones.

Off all the art forms, Renaissance supreme achievement was in painting. The Renaissance artists looked upon art as an imitation of life. The artists studied optics and geometry and used their knowledge to develop perspectives in their paintings. They studied human anatomy to find the mechanism underlying gestures and expressions. Leonardo da Vinci considered painting a science.

The sculpture of the Renaissance period developed along the same lines as the painting. The medieval sculpture used images of saints and depicted religious themes as a part of the architecture. Architecture emerged as an art itself and ceased to be a religious medium. As in the case of painting, the growing knowledge of anatomy and the new standards of beauty also influenced the developments of sculpture. Gothic architecture began to decline and new styles of architecture began to be developed, first in Italy and later in other parts of Europe.

Philosophy

The dominant philosophical system of the pre-renaissance medieval Europe was scholasticism. It was based on logic and rejected experimental science and experience. The sense perceptions, according to this philosophy could lead to knowledge of the appearance of things but not of the reality which could be discovered by reason alone without reference to sensory perceptions. The Renaissance thinkers attacked scholasticism saying that it fed on itself, with its circular reasoning within a  closed system in which the basic premises bore no relation to reality. They asserted that knowledge could be gained by going out and studying mentally and manually the Book of Nature. Empiricism arose as a reaction to scholasticism and its speculative methods. Empiricism may be defined as an approach which holds that sensory experience is the only the source of knowledge. Empiricism, despite some limitations, marked a break with the past and paved the way for the advancement of modern science.

Advances in the field of science

Renaissance marked the beginning of modern science. One of the first achievement was in astronomy, an exposition by Copernicus of the rotation of the earth on its axis and its notion around the sun.

The invention of telescope, greatest scientific instrument of the age. Copernicus theory was confirmed by Galileo's observations. A complete account of the constant process of circulation of blood, from the heart to all parts of the body and back again was given by Harvey.  

See Also

Assignment question What do you understand by the term 'renaissance'? 12 marks. 250 words.