The Renaissance is an amazing period of time. It was the time when people began to realize how important it was to educate themselves and question their own beliefs and knowledge acquired mainly by the government and church’s influence. I loved the part that talks about humanism, especially the part about liberal arts. I always wondered why the term “liberal arts” was used, and I guess I finally got the answer. “The liberal arts are what are studied by free people and in turn are those arts whose studies make one free” (Knox). Having knowledge gives a person power to make decisions and therefore it makes you free.
The Renaissance was a time of change, growth and self expression, artists found in there creations a way to express their feelings, concerns and excitements of that time, and they did it in a beautiful way. The Italian Renaissance served as an example for other countries in Europe to do the same. One of my favorite examples is Spain. In the XVI century Spain’s military activity in Italy brought the Renaissance into the country. The press growth and the Italian Renaissance were the main factors that influenced the beginning of the Spanish Golden Age. The Golden Age is the period of time when the most amazing artistic works in Spain were created, mainly in literature.
I wonder if there is a modern time period that could be compared to the Renaissance. Could we compare this century when all the new technology is being used to create amazing works of art? What would be the main differences between the types of art?
2 comments:
I also enjoyed reading about what "liberal arts" is and "humanism." Your question about now being a time we could compare with the Renaissance times got me thinking. There is a certain group of people that live for liberty through the expression of art and other expressive forms. We are surrounded by a lot of people like this on campus. But, I've also spent some time in the business world and also among some very conservative "church people." Not to say that the lines are clearly drawn and you can't find humanism and liberty in the church world or working world, but compare these two pictures: an artist that creates things like architecture, paintings, clothes, etc. and then your stereotypical cubicle worker who stares at a computer all day and hates his life. There are probably more cubicle workers than creative beings. The Renaissance was a time of breaking out of the mold. I think we're becoming robots to our cookie cutter lives. People do still "break out" but not very many. Sorry to be depressing, but these our just my thoughts on comparing renaissance times to our times. My views are probably a little warped right now because I just got done watching the Matrix. :)
I definitely think you could compare the technologic overhaul to the renaissance. we've completely redefined how we socialize, shop, and learn. we've been given the tools to instantly educate ourselves on any topic. i wouldn't have compared the two before but your post really set me off thinking about how different things were before we used computers to do everything. it was our own little revolution.
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