essay on humanism in the renaissance

Humanism of Renaissance Era Essay

Introduction, the meaning of humanism, the influential humanists.

Bibliography

The Western history of humanism traces its origin from the 16 th century renaissance period when thinkers suddenly deviated from the Platonic perception of the universe to Aristotelian realism. Focus shifted to the importance of human as the central being in the universe. This paper discusses humanism as conceived in the renaissance era and the influential personalities whose works sustained it.

Humanism stems from a philosophic reflection that was majorly practiced by thinkers in the West, though some thinkers also came from the East. The underlying crux of their thought was the essence of the human person in the universe. Consequently, thoughts were advanced on the primary end of human life as working for the happiness of humans on the earth. [1] They propounded the thought of enjoying, developing, and availing to human beings the copious material, spiritual, and cultural goods extracted from the natural world.

The profundity of the implications of this gesture is indescribable yet congenial and common sensical. It is this human-centered theory of life that is referred to as humanism [2] . Humanism as a philosophy therefore, emanates from the enduring need of human beings to make their lives significant, “integrate their personalities around some clear, consistent, and compelling views of existence, and to seek definite and reliable methods in the solution of their problems. [3]

In the previous medieval era before the renaissance period, the thought system revolved around the Church as a custodian of immaterial truths. Platonic philosophy, precisely the concept of world of forms, had dominated the medieval era that subjected the human body, as a shadow of a real body in the world of forms, to little or no attention at all. [4]

However, towards the end of 16 th century there was a paradigm shift towards Aristotelianism that advocated the importance of the actual object of reality from which Plato had abstracted his ideas. [5]

Humanism consequently, developed as the central theme of the renaissance period. Scholars shifted their focus to the human person whose needs were to be satisfied instead of spending much time on ideal truths promulgated by the Church. Even though God was retained into the picture, people became inquisitive about their beliefs attempting to replace ridiculous teachings of the Church with more plausible theories such as the Copernicus revolution.

There were many scholars from a plethora of fields who shaped the renaissance era, but this paper will be limited to a few of them. They include Francesco Petrarca, Niccolo Machiavelli, Baldassare, Dante, Boccaccio, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, and Cervantes.

Francesco Petrarca has been referred to as the “Father of Humanism” due to the spectacular work he did to the modern Italian language. He was a prolific writer with a bias on poetry using the Latin language to do most of his writings. Petrarca’s poems included Canzoniere and Trionfi, which he wrote in his native Italian language. [6]

Among the scholarly works he wrote in Latin are Secretum, a secretive manuscript fraught with guilt, which is an account of his imaginary talk with St. Augustine of Hippo; Rerum Memorandum Libri, which details cardinal virtues; De Vita Solitaria, an exaltation of solitary life; Itinerarium, among other works. Using the knowledge of Cicero’s letters, he compiled his letters into two copies of books: Epistolae familiars and Seniles [7] .

Niccolo Machiavelli is credited for his political masterpiece, The Prince, in which he gave a completely different conception of a government. The book was originally written in Italian, his vernacular, a tradition that characterized writers in the renaissance era. Using the term ‘state’ (status) to ground the jurisdiction of a prince, Machiavelli unknowingly bequeathed the subsequent eras with a term that would be used to refer to political territories [8] .

In The Prince, Machiavelli gives different types of princedoms totally unrelated to the Aristotelian models of democracy, monarchy, oligarchy, et cetera. He uses the terms ‘tyrant’ and ‘prince’ interchangeably and describes personalities that he should adopt depending on the state of their subjects. Machiavelli made a greater impact with his book on the political dynamics that would follow his generation.

Baldassare Castiglione also stands out as one of the gifted renaissance writers with his fictional debut, The Book of Courtier, written in his native Italian. In this book, Baldassare organizes a chain of dialogue between the courtiers of the Duke of Urbino, when he was a member of this court [9] .

A cool mind, melodious voice exuding elegant and courageous words, is the picturesque created by the author as attributed to the courtier. However, the courtier is expected to have a warrior spirit, have good knowledge of the humanities, classics, and be athletic [10] . This piece of writing has remained the undisputed account of the renaissance court life owing to its usage at the time as a manual of perfect courtier.

Dante Alighieri wrote his poem The Divine Comedy during the medieval era. The work has been praised as a masterpiece of Italian literature earning its position using Tuscan dialect that is the standard Italian. Dante creatively allegorizes the afterlife in a typical medieval world view as conceived by the Church. He divides the poem in three sections, namely: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso [11] . In the poem, Dante describes his journey from hell through purgatory to heaven, which figuratively depicts the soul’s path to God. [12]

Giovanni Boccaccio is another prolific writer whose collection of novels, The Decameron, has made him one of the influential writers in the medieval period. In The Decameron, Boccaccio describes how the Black Death ( Bubonic Plague) brought a bevy of seven women and three men together as they flee the villas of Florence which was the epicenter of the plague.

The book details the physical, social, and psychological effects that the plague had on the people of that region. It combines tragedy and love in a more articulate manner with a degree of allegorism. For instance, the seven women are said to represent the four cardinal and the three theological virtues while the three men represent the tripartite division of the soul. [13]

Giovanni Pico della Mirandola is credited for having written a literary masterpiece that extolled the power of human intellect and wittingly expressing the centrality of humans’ relation to the divine. His Oration on the Dignity of Man forcefully and polemically articulates the endeavor to focus all attention on the capabilities of human.

In this writing, Pico combined Aristotelianism, Platonism, Hermeticism, and Neoplatonism, thus, giving it a humanistic outlook. Human vocation is portrayed as a mystical vocation realizable in three stages: moral transformation; intellectual research, and identity with the absolute reality. [14]

Miguel de Cervantes was a Spanish writer of the renaissance era popular known by his novel, Don Quixote, which is the most influential literary work of the Spanish Golden Age. The novel is divided in two parts where the first part narrates stories revolving around two main characters.

The best known of such stories is El Curioso Impertinente where Anselmo is preoccupied by the temptation of testing his wife’s faithfulness and trapping her with his friend Lothario [15] . However, the scenario turned out to be disastrous to all the players. In the second part of the novel, Cervantes does acknowledge his critics concerning the digressions he made in the first part.

Humanism that characterized the renaissance period focused on the human capacity for greater intellectual growth that makes his relationship with God central. Consequently, the needs of man become so special and needed to be satisfied. During this period literature emerged as a medium of expressing the human social activities. Many writers with powerful creativity authored literary works that have remained the trademark of this period such as Pico’s Oration and Machiavelli’s The Prince.

• Alighieri, Dante & Appelbaum, Stanley. The divine comedy: selected cantos. Chicago, IL: Courier Dover Publications, 2000.
• Bloom, Harold. Miguel de Cervantes. Boston, MA: Infobase Publishing, 2005.

Bori, P. Cesare. The Italian Renaissance. An Unfinished Dawn ?Pico Della Mirandola. Web.

• Byfield, Ted. God in Man, A.D. 1300 to 1500: But Amid Its Splendors, Night Falls on Medieval Christianity. New York, NY: Christian History Project, 2010.

Canning, Ferdinand & Schiller, Scott. Studies in Humanism. Detroit, Michigan: Elibron.com, 1998.

Castiglione, Baldassare. The Book of the Courtier. Florida, USA: Courier Dover Publications, 2003.

Davies, Tony. Humanism. New York, NY: Routledge, 1997, p. 128; and Reese, W. Curtis. The meaning of humanism. London, UK: Prometheus Books.

Frost, Martin. The Book of the Courtier: Renaissance Man: Polymath. Web.

Garber, Daniel & Ayer, Michael. The Cambridge history of seventeenth-century philosophy: Volume 1, Volume 2. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Heidegger, M. The meaning of “Humanism”. New York, NY: Hulton Press, 1949.

• Hetherington, c. Stephen. Reality? Knowledge? Philosophy!: an introduction to metaphysics and epistemology. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press, 2003.
• Kleinhenz, Christopher & Barker, W. John. Medieval Italy: an encyclopedia, Volume 2. New York, NY: Routledge, 2001.

Lamont, Corlis. The Philosophy of Humanism . New York, NY: Humanist Press. Web.

Mary, Julia & Ady, Cartwright. New York, NY: John Murray, 1908.

Miller, David & Coleman, Janet. The Blackwell encyclopedia of political thought. New York, Wiley-Blackwell, 1991.

• Paetow, J. Louis. A guide to the study of medieval history for students, teachers, and libraries. California, USA: University of California, 1917.
• Tyre, Michelin. Italy, Volume 1992. New York, NY: Michelin Apa Publications, 2007.

Viroli, Maurizio. Machiavelli. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1998.

Zimmerman, Dean. Oxford studies in metaphysics, Volume 2. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2006.

• Canning, Ferdinand & Schiller, Scott. Studies in Humanism. Detroit, Michigan: Elibron.com, 1998; and Heidegger, M. The meaning of “Humanism”. New York, NY: Hulton Press, 1949.
• Davies, Tony. Humanism. New York, NY: Routledge, 1997, p. 128; and Reese, W. Curtis. The meaning of humanism. London, UK: Prometheus Books, 1973.
• Lamont, Corlis. The Philosophy of Humanism. New York, NY: Humanist Press.
• Zimmerman, Dean. Oxford studies in metaphysics, Volume 2. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2006; and Garber, Daniel & Ayer, Michael. The Cambridge history of seventeenth-century philosophy: Volume 1, Volume 2. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
• Miller, David & Coleman, Janet. The Blackwell encyclopedia of political thought. New York, Wiley-Blackwell, 1991; and Viroli, Maurizio. Machiavelli. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1998.
• Castiglione, Baldassare. The Book of the Courtier. Florida, USA: Courier Dover Publications, 2003; and Mary, Julia & Ady, Cartwright. New York, NY: John Murray, 1908.
• Frost, Martin. The Book of the Courtier: Renaissance Man: Polymath.
• Bori, P. Cesare. The Italian Renaissance. An Unfinished Dawn ?Pico Della Mirandola.
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• Chicago (N-B)

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Renaissance Humanism – An Exploration of Humanism in the Renaissance

What does it mean to be human? This question lies at the heart of Renaissance Humanism, described as an intellectual movement during the 13 th to 16 th Centuries CE, which started in Italy and spread across Europe. It was a revival of the Classical era’s philosophies and ways of seeing the world. This article will explore the question, “What is Renaissance Humanism?” and look at some popular humanistic art.

Table of Contents

• 1.1 “The Father of Humanism”
• 1.2 The Other “Forefathers” of Humanism
• 1.3 Platonic Revival
• 2.1 The “Vitruvian Triad” and the “Vitruvian Man”
• 2.2 Linear Perspective
• 2.3 “The Renaissance Man”
• 3.1.1 Filippo Brunelleschi (1377 – 1446)
• 3.1.2 Donatello (1386 – 1466)
• 3.1.3 Paolo Uccello (1397 – 1475)
• 3.1.4 Masaccio (1401 – 1428)
• 3.1.5 Alessandro Botticelli (1445 – 1510)
• 3.2.1 Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519)
• 3.2.2 Michelangelo (1475 – 1564)
• 3.2.3 Raphael (1483 – 1520)
• 3.3.1 Albrecht Dürer (1471 – 1528)
• 4 Beyond the Human
• 5.1 What Was Renaissance Humanism?
• 5.2 What Is the Humanism Art Definition?
• 5.3 What Were the Characteristics of Renaissance Humanism?

Historical Background: What Is Renaissance Humanism?

Before we go all the way back to when Humanism started, let us first jump to the 19 th Century. This is when the term “Humanism” originated. Two important scholars are worth noting, both of whom influenced the reception of the term and historically researched it as a “movement” during the Renaissance art era.

Georg Voigt, a German writer and historian, was one of these scholars. He started describing this movement and philosophical thought as “humanism”. He also wrote the theoretical text, Die Wiederbelebung des classischen Alterthums: Oder, das erste Jahrhundert des Humanismus (“Revival of Classical Antiquity or the First Century of Humanism”) in 1859, which explored the first century of the development of this term and idea.

The other scholar was Jacob Burckhardt, whose research on the Italian Renaissance had a wider scope than his counterpart Voigt. He explored the entire Italian culture and was considered one of the pioneers in the discipline of art history as well as cultural history.

It is also important to understand that during the Italian Renaissance, the word pertaining to the concept of “humanism” (as studied by Voigt) existed. These were in the form of humanista, which is Italian for “humanist” and the studia humanitatis , which is Italian for “humanistic studies”.

The concept, which was really a cultural movement, started during the Renaissance, and some scholars like Voigt believed it to have started with the poet and scholar Francesco Petrarca. Also known as Petrarch, he founded various lost manuscripts and documents written by the Roman philosopher, lawyer, poet, orator, writer, scholar, and statesman Marcus Tullius Cicero.

Cicero was an influential figure during the Roman period because of his intricate understanding and application of the Latin language. He extensively explored disciplines within the humanities in his writing, from philosophy, prose, rhetoric, and politics. Many described him as “eloquent” and on par with “eloquence”. He was also regarded as an authority on the Latin language.

It is no doubt that the depth of knowledge and wisdom that came from Cicero’s works and ideas sparked new insights in Petrarch when he found these Classical texts. In fact, it set the foundation for the Italian Renaissance and the return to the Classical era’s values and virtues.

It is also important to note that these ideas were discovered in many other Classical texts and not just from the ideas of Cicero alone.

“The Father of Humanism”

Petrarch was known as the “Father of Humanism” because of his contribution to this new way of perceiving man in relation to God. Although he was a Catholic and religious man, he also believed in man’s inherent abilities and greatness. He believed that God gave humans these abilities to live a virtuous life. This may have gone against what the church believed of man, who was said to be in need of God’s mercy.

Furthermore, Petrarch’s involvement in these new ideals also allowed other religious figures to involve themselves in it, which bridged a gap, so to say, between religion and the humanists’ ideals. For Petrarch, humanist ideals were about developing a better culture and society with morally guided human beings who able to go beyond illiteracy and the confines of the preceding Middle Ages.

This especially pertained to the tenets of Scholasticism, which was the dominant methodology for learning from around 1100 CE to 1600 CE.

During the 14 th and 15 th centuries, more people became educated in humanist ideals. The Latin school called studia humanitatis sought to educate in five major disciplines, namely grammar, history, poetry, moral philosophy, and rhetoric. Rhetoric was a major component of these studies and many people learned from other ancient Greek and Roman texts.

The Other “Forefathers” of Humanism

There were other scholars who contributed to the Renaissance humanist ideals and were seen as the “forefathers” of this movement along with Petrarch. These include the writers Dante Alighieri and Giovanni Boccaccio. However, Voigt also believed that Dante was not quite a matching counterpart to Petrarch in terms of Humanism because he came from the earlier Medieval period .

Dante wrote the Divine Comedy (1308 to 1320), a text about the afterlife reflective of Medieval beliefs. It is an influential text known for setting the foundations of Italian literature. It also contributed to the humanist movement – a slight shift away from solely religious sources – by including inspiration from Classical writers and philosophers like Virgil and Ovid.

Boccaccio was another famous literary catalyst, and friend of Petrarch, within the humanist movement. He wrote various short stories titled, The Decameron (1353), which many people related to because it pertained to relevant everyday experiences.

He was also influenced by ancient Classical texts and would become, along with Petrarch and Dante, one of the leading figures in Italian literature. Furthermore, these men wrote in their vernacular (everyday or native tongue), which made the understanding of the concepts easier for those people who did not understand Latin.

Another important figure in the humanist movement was the Dutchman Desiderius Erasmus. With the help of the newly innovated printing press, which allowed for the spread of ideas from Italy to other parts of Europe, Erasmus was able to disseminate more copies of Greek and Latin texts, especially of the New Testament.

Erasmus was a devout Christian, although his work utilized humanist ideals, and he strongly believed that education should be made available to everyone and not only a select few. Other agents of change within this movement were scientists and mathematicians like Nicolaus Copernicus, who proposed that the Sun was at the center of our universe and not the earth.

The Medici family, who were wealthy bankers and patrons of the arts, commissioned numerous artists like Botticelli and Michelangelo to create various paintings, sculptures, and pieces of architecture during the Early and High Renaissance periods .

The Medici family also contributed to further studies that involved humanist ideals. For example, it was Lorenzo de’ Medici who started the Medici Library, also known as the Laurentian Library. This housed the personal collections of books and manuscripts, as well as classical texts, collected by the Medici family over the years.

Platonic Revival

The Accademia Platonica (“Platonic Academy”) is believed to have been started and sponsored by Cosimo de’ Medici in the mid-1400s. It was like a modernized version of the original Platonic Academy in Athens, which was founded by the Greek philosopher Plato around 387 BC.

Marsilio Ficino, a Catholic priest, philosopher, and scholar, was assigned by Medici as the head of the new school. Ficino also translated all of Plato’s texts into Latin and was an important proponent of the Neoplatonic movement. There were numerous members that subscribed to the Neoplatonic thought – Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola is another example. He wrote the philosophical discourse titled, Oration on the Dignity of Man (1486), which became one of the most important texts within Renaissance Humanism thought.

Mirandola’s Oration was refuted by the Pope because it was viewed as unorthodox in its ideas, but nonetheless, it is often described as the “Manifesto of the Renaissance”. It explored controversial ideas around the many abilities of humans, and that man has higher capacities and more freedom than other animals.

It also explored the advantages of developing oneself as a human being through virtues like justice and reason. Mirandola also mentions magic and the Kabbalah. Overall, he emphasizes the uniqueness of being human and the aim to transcend this life. The act of transcending this life will come from virtuous living and choices made from higher faculties.

The return to the Classics was a significant addition to and development of Renaissance Humanism.

The Medici family’s love of art and the Classical era furthered the dissemination of the Classical ideals among society beyond Florence, especially in the form of translated texts (from Greek to Latin). Furthermore, it was a great discovery in and of itself because it revived Classical texts that were lost for hundreds of years after the closure of Plato’s School in Athens.

Humanism Art

The Humanism art definition can be described as art that spans painting, sculpture, and architecture during the Early and High Renaissance periods, underpinned by humanistic ideals. Many artists during this time drew inspiration and knowledge from texts by Classical writers and practitioners in disciplines like architecture and sculpture.

Artists during the Renaissance drew from fundamental humanistic principles, which shaped and informed their art. Many of these principles were based around the ideas of beauty, proportions, order, and rationality.

An important part of humanistic art is that art and science became interdependent disciplines; in other words, art was created with a scientific foundation and perspective, which informed its beauty and composition. Below, we look at some of the artistic techniques and concepts that developed, including the leading figures who explored them.

The “Vitruvian Triad” and the “Vitruvian Man”

The Roman architect, writer, and engineer, Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (also just known as Vitruvius) was active during the 1 st Century BC. He was widely studied by Renaissance scholars and artists. His ideas contributed to how artists would design buildings and draw and paint the human form.

Vitruvius’ treatise, De architectura (“On Architecture”) (c. 27 BCE) was a compilation of 10 books that discussed Classical architecture and the Greek Orders, Roman architecture (including public and private buildings), building machinery, planning, decoration, and more.

What was significant about Vitruvius’ work was his holistic view on architecture and how it should impact people and the environment, as some sources state the “theoretical” and “practical” understanding of architecture was important to Vitruvius.

He introduced three characteristics or virtues, known as the “Vitruvian Triad”, to emphasize what a building or structure should look like, namely, firmitas (“stability” or “strength”), utilitas (“usefulness” or “utility”), and venustas (“beauty”).

Vitruvius influenced several Renaissance artists, including the famous Leonardo da Vinci who painted the Vitruvian Man (c. 1485), which is also termed the Canon of Proportions . This painting depicts two poses (often described as superimposed) of a nude male figure standing with outstretched arms and legs that touch the edges of a circle and square around him.

This work is done according to the proportions stipulated by Vitruvius himself, although da Vinci also made corrections to the proportions. Below the image, we also notice written notes by da Vinci describing what Vitruvius was aiming for in his proportions of man. This illustration is the epitome of Renaissance Humanism, as it applies both the practical principles from mathematics and scientific observation and the balance and beauty from the perfect proportions.

Furthermore, it also emphasizes man’s central place in the universe; the square symbolizes the earth, and the circle symbolizes the sense of unity and oneness.

Linear Perspective

Linear perspective, or One-Point Perspective, was another new discovery made during the Early Renaissance . It was Filippo Brunelleschi, an Italian architect, sculptor, and engineer, who provided a mathematical study of how perspective worked. Although he was also a sculptor, he was more of an architect and pioneered the One-Point Perspective technique, which continued influencing many other Renaissance painters like Masaccio, Lorenzo Ghiberti, and Leon Battista Alberti (who was a close friend and follower of Brunelleschi).

Alberti was a significant contributor to modalities like painting, sculpture, and architecture. He provided theoretical frameworks and systems from his three treatises for artists that would place them above the more common designation of being just craftsmen – they would become studied and intellectual artisans of their crafts.

Alberti’s three treatises were  Della pittura (1435) (“On Painting”), De re aedificatoria (1452) (“On Architecture”), and De statua (1464) (“On Sculpture”). These were some of the first theoretical publications on the different modalities of art, each one providing principles and techniques for artists.

“The Renaissance Man”

“The Renaissance Man” is an important concept that is a big part of what defines Renaissance Humanism, as it exemplifies someone who can achieve what they want and excel at many disciplines. This was true of many artists during the Renaissance, who were known as polymaths.

Alberti was among these and known as the first to introduce the concept of “Uomo Universale”, which is the Italian term for Universal Man, stating in his writings that “a man can do all things if he will”.

Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and many others were also polymaths and excelled in painting, sculpture, architecture, engineering, drawing, inventing, poetry, literature, music, science, mathematics, botany, geology anatomy, and more. This placed the artist at a level of genius and the man as a central powerful force in the universe.

Famous Renaissance Humanism Artwork

Below, we discuss some of the more famous Renaissance Humanism artworks spanned across the Renaissance time period. We will start from the Early Renaissance, during the 1400s, followed by the High Renaissance during the late 1400s to 1500s, and then mention some of the prominent artworks from the Northern Renaissance, which occurred during the 1500s.

Early Renaissance

There were numerous artists during the Early Renaissance, and we can start to see the emergence of Humanism ideals in how artists approached and redefined the subject matter they worked with. For example, religious or biblical figures were given more naturalistic qualities, which made the artwork easier to relate to. The idealized portrayal of divine figures from the prior Byzantine period was replaced with perfectly proportioned figures, often muscular in shape and with a radical human likeness.

Furthermore, artists started incorporating perspective in their compositions and created more depth and three-dimensionality by using mathematically based techniques and light sources.

Filippo Brunelleschi (1377 – 1446)

Filippo Brunelleschi designed the dome for the Cathedral di Santa Maria del Fiore (1296 to 1436) in Florence. This cathedral was one of the most significant buildings during the Early Renaissance and is an exemplary structure that gives life to humanistic ideals. It embodies mathematical accuracy in its proportions while simultaneously standing at 372 feet tall in its red brick beauty.

Brunelleschi built the dome in an innovative way, building a dome within a dome in order to create enough support for the building to prevent the dome from falling in on itself. He also designed new mechanics to assist during the building process.

This building is a testament to Brunelleschi’s skills in combining not only his knowledge of Classical architecture but also mathematical principles in order to create something similarly beautiful.

Other buildings by Brunelleschi include his public building, Ospedale degli Innocenti (meaning “Hospital of the Innocents”), which he started in 1419. The design was influenced by Roman architecture, late Gothic, and Italian Romanesque styles. This building is another example of the order and harmony portrayed in the structure and layout of columns, capitals, and archways.

Donatello (1386 – 1466)

Donatello was a sculptor during this period, famous for his bronze statue titled David (1440 to 1443). It is described as an “iconic” humanistic art piece because of the way Donatello portrayed the biblical figure of David.

Firstly, this is a nude, free-standing statue of a male figure – the last time we saw nude statues was during the Classical era. The semi-erotic and youthful biblical figure stands with the head of Goliath between his legs, a sword in his right hand, and his left hand resting on his left hip.

What makes the figure more erotic in nature is his effeminate body shape, long hair, and softer appearance as opposed to what we would expect from someone who had just killed a Goliath. Additionally, he has a laurel wreath in his hat and well-designed boots. His stance is in the classical contrapposto pose , which is a characteristic of many figures during the Renaissance era. It also gives a new sense of movement and relaxation to the figures.

This was another revival of techniques from the Classical era.

Paolo Uccello (1397 – 1475)

Paolo Uccello brought perspective, vanishing points, and light to life in his painting The Battle of San Romano (1435 to 1440) – another testament of humanistic art. This painting is part of three panels, depicting a battle scene between the Florentines and Sienese.

Examples of how Uccello portrayed perspective include the red and white lances on either side of the composition, almost leading our eyes to the vanishing point in the distance. This is further led by the lines from foliage in the distant fields. The foreground is full of action with striking reds, blues , and whites crowding the space.

Other examples of Uccello’s artwork include St George and the Dragon (c. 1455 to 1460) and the Hunt in the Forest  (1468 to 1470). The latter is another example of Uccello’s skillful utilization of linear perspective. We notice various figures, some on horses and on foot, with dogs running in the foreground moving into the receding forest ahead. This creates a sense of movement and three-dimensionality.

It is also important to note that Uccello painted in the Late Gothic style, and did not paint in the typical style we see in other Humanistic art, where figures are characteristically classical and portrayed with naturalism. What made his artwork stand out within the Humanism field was his precise preoccupation with linear perspective and utilization of color to create a heightened effect on the subject matter.

Masaccio (1401 – 1428)

The artworks by Masaccio, a Florentine painter, give a good example of how artists started incorporating perspective and naturalism in their subject matter and compositions. It is because of this that Masaccio is known as the “Father of the Renaissance”.

We can clearly notice the move away from the Gothic style that preceded this period of “rebirth” .

Masaccio’s Payment of the Tribute Money (1425 to 1427) was done for the Brancacci Chapel of the Santa Maria del Carmine and is part of a series of other paintings with religious themes. We notice that the artist is focusing on three narratives here (referred to as a continuous narrative) about the life of St. Peter.

The central figures are Christ with his disciples and the tax collector asking for payment. We notice Jesus pointing to Peter to collect the money. To the left of the painting, Peter is taking the money from a fish’s mouth, and to the right of the painting, we see him paying the tax collector.

There are various characteristics in this painting that suggest it is an example of humanist thought or influence. Namely, the figures are portrayed in a classical manner, evident by their draping robes, appearing as if they are statues from Antiquity. However, there is also a naturalism in their expressions and stances, which highlights their humanness.

Furthermore, Masaccio incorporated linear perspective and proportion in the landscape in the distance and in the architectural designs of the buildings in the foreground.

There is also a light source evident by how the artist depicted the cast shadows by the feet. This was another revolutionary characteristic of Masaccio’s painting because it indicates a sense of weather and gives the whole composition a three-dimensionality never seen before.

Alessandro Botticelli (1445 – 1510)

Otherwise known as Botticelli, we notice the move away from strict religious figures in his famous paintings La Primavera (c. 1482 to 1483) and The Birth of Venus (c. 1484 to 1486). Both paintings depict classical mythological scenes of the goddess Venus surrounded by numerous other gods and goddesses.

In La Primavera , we see the central figure of Venus, and to her left is the goddess of Spring, Primavera, and Chloris, a nymph, pursued by the god of wind, Zephyrus. To Venus’ right are the god Mercury and three dancing graces. Above Venus’ head is the smaller figure of Cupid shooting an arrow towards the three graces.

This painting is also believed to indicate the influences of Neoplatonic thought. Some sources suggest that the painting solely focuses on aesthetics and love (tied to the beliefs posited by Plato), evident by the composition and how the subject matter is arranged in a beautiful manner, from the figures all the way to the flowers strewn on the ground.

Other sources suggest the painting depicts narratives from Ovid, who was a Roman poet alive during the time of Emperor Augustus. Ovid was also regarded as one of the best Roman poets, along with Virgil and Horace, in the field of Latin literature. Furthermore, Botticelli was also exposed to the humanistic movement of the time and a follower of Dante’s work, as well as the philosopher Marsilio Ficino, who translated Plato’s texts.

This provides more context for Botticelli’s rich humanistic art.

High Renaissance

Starting around 1490 to 1527, the High Renaissance was a period of refinement of many of the techniques from the Early Renaissance. Some artists also pioneered new techniques, for example, da Vinci’s sfumato , and used new media like oils. This period in the Renaissance was almost like the epitome of artistic virtue and genius.

There were many artists who created masterpieces of art, but three have taken the spotlight, so to say. This was Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael. Another artist includes Donato Bramante, who was a leading architect of the time. The High Renaissance saw artists taking the stage as embodiments of the “Universal Man” or “Renaissance Man”, the core tenet of Humanism. Artists were considered geniuses; many were polymaths and excelled at a plethora of disciplines beyond art, indeed, personifying the Humanism culture.

Below, we look at some of the famous humanistic art from this period.

Leonardo da Vinci (1452 – 1519)

Da Vinci produced many masterpieces during his time, some including the famous Mona Lisa (1503 to 1506), Salvatore Mundi (c. 1500), The Last Supper (1498), and Virgin of the Rocks (1483 to 1486). In da Vinci’s paintings, there is a heightened sense of naturalism, noticed in each figure’s stance and facial features. There is also a mysterious quality in how the artist portrayed certain facial expressions, which we can see in the Mona Lisa’s  hint of a smile as she gazes at us from her seat.

In Virgin of the Rocks, da Vinci portrays religious subject matter. However, it is with an element of mystery, again, due to the unknown rocky, cave-like background behind the Virgin Mary, who is sitting with the infant figures of Christ and John the Baptist, and the archangel Gabriel.

In this painting, we notice da Vinci’s skilled craftsmanship (or genius) at painting. He creates three-dimensionality with numerous techniques like sfumato , which blends the lighter and darker colors to give the composition an intensity and emotiveness.

Although we see the portrayal of religious subject matter throughout da Vinci’s works, he does not create a sense of idealism in the figures. He almost brings the figure down to earth, making them appear human-like, which is something everyone can relate to.

Described as “humanizing the secular”, da Vinci’s work is a clear example of humanistic art.

Michelangelo (1475 – 1564)

Michelangelo’s David (1501 to 1504) is another masterpiece indicative of Humanism ideals. It is the figure of David with a slingshot over his left shoulder. This is a marble statue of the biblical figure, although it is embellished with the classical contrapposto stance, as well as the fact that it is the first nude marble sculpture since Antiquity.

Michelangelo is almost transporting us back to the Classical era, where marble statues of muscular nude males were the epitome of the human figure. In fact, this statue is estimated to stand at over 17 feet tall and is a perfect depiction of the ideal male form, in turn, becoming the perfect depiction of beauty.

Raphael (1483 – 1520)

In Raphael’s School of Athens (1509 to 1511) we are reminded again of Classical revival. The whole composition is Classical in nature, depicting various philosophers talking and contemplating. The surroundings are also suggestive of classical architectural structures, for example, the columns and arches, including the design being of a Greek cross.

Plato and Aristotle are the two central figures. Other famous Greek philosophers include Pythagoras, Ptolemy, and Euclid, among others. There appears to be a fluid discourse between all the figures, also suggesting the amalgamation of the various disciplines of the humanities and the avid desire to learn about all types of intellect.

There are two statues, the Greek god Apollo to the left and the goddess Athena to the right. Each corresponds to the two primary philosophers in the center (Plato and Aristotle). The composition is also dynamic, and we almost feel a part of the bustling crowd – the arch bordering the scene in the foreground suggests almost as if it is a stage we can walk onto any moment.

Northern Renaissance

Artists in the Northern parts of Europe were not as interested in the Classical as the Italian artists were. Nonetheless, Humanism still prevailed throughout these parts of Europe. Desiderius Erasmus is described as the “Prince of the Humanists”. He was a Catholic priest and translator of various texts including the New Testament (1516).

A distinguishing characteristic between the Northern Humanists and Italian Humanists was a focus on creating a personal relationship with God versus being told by the Church how to relate to God.

There was a turn towards more ethical ways of living, as well as a focus on more everyday lifestyles of the ordinary human being as an individual. Nature was also studied and portrayed in artwork, which gave rise to new genres of painting like still lifes, landscapes, and portraiture.

Albrecht Dürer (1471 – 1528)

In Albrecht Dürer’s painting titled, Self-Portrait with Fur-Trimmed Robe (1500), we become aware of the Humanist perspective because the artist is placing himself, as an individual, as the primary subject matter of the painting (compared to how artists were often secondary in paintings, depicted as figures in the background, with minimal focus on them).

He is gazing right at us with a serious and stern facial expression, and he is wearing a dark brown fur-trimmed coat. His right hand is raised up touching his coat; some sources suggest his fingers are reminiscent of a gesture of blessing.

The figure appears almost Christ-like, emphasized by his long hair falling neatly down both shoulders. The background is also dark with a lighter side on the right. The artist utilizes the technique called chiaroscuro to depict the transition from light to dark.

Albrecht Dürer was an important Northern Renaissance artist because he was exposed to the Humanist movement in Italy and was influenced by other artists like da Vinci. He was also a part of Humanist circles in Nuremberg. He explored mathematical concepts like perspective and proportion and wrote several treatises, namely, Four Books on Measurement (1525) and Four Books on Human Proportion (1528).

Beyond the Human

While Humanism was a cultural development, or zeitgeist, so to say, of the Renaissance era, bringing about many socio-political changes for the Western civilization, it was also replaced by other movements that did not feel the need to depict perfect proportions or symmetry.

The Mannerist art movement developed shortly after the Renaissance came to an end. Artists started creating subject matter and figures that were not in proportion with offset perspectives. There was a clear move away from the classical values of order and harmony from before. The art movement after Mannerism was called the Baroque period , which revisited certain aspects from Renaissance Humanism like naturalism, perspective, as well as mythological subject matter.

The Renaissance Humanism movement certainly set the stage for new ways of seeing the individual, the world, and the universe. It questioned many beliefs and perceptions of man’s place in the greater scheme of things. It was a cultural blossoming of ideas in almost every discipline available, from literature, music, visual arts , and architecture to science, technology, engineering, astronomy, and so much more. 

Take a look at our Humanism Renaissance webstory here!

Frequently Asked Questions

What was renaissance humanism.

Humanism in the Renaissance was a cultural and intellectual movement during the 13 th to 16 th Centuries CE. It started in Italy and its ideas spread across Europe. It was considered a revival of the Classical era’s philosophies after the discovery of lost books by Greek and Roman philosophers like Plato.

What Is the Humanism Art Definition?

The Humanism art definition can be described as art during the Early and High Renaissance periods influenced and informed by the prevalent humanistic ideals of the time. Many artists during this time drew inspiration and knowledge from texts by Classical writers and philosophers. The ideals of beauty, order, and symmetry underpinned many of the Humanistic artworks.

What Were the Characteristics of Renaissance Humanism?

Humanism in the Renaissance is characterized by the avid studying of ancient literature from the Classical era, studying languages like Latin, moving away from Scholasticism, providing and believing in education to develop a better human being, the belief in the power and autonomy of the individual, virtues, ethics, and critical thinking, as well as creative exploration in the arts.

Isabella studied at the University of Cape Town in South Africa and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts majoring in English Literature & Language and Psychology. Throughout her undergraduate years, she took Art History as an additional subject and absolutely loved it. Building on from her art history knowledge that began in high school, art has always been a particular area of fascination for her. From learning about artworks previously unknown to her, or sharpening her existing understanding of specific works, the ability to continue learning within this interesting sphere excites her greatly.

Her focal points of interest in art history encompass profiling specific artists and art movements, as it is these areas where she is able to really dig deep into the rich narrative of the art world. Additionally, she particularly enjoys exploring the different artistic styles of the 20 th century, as well as the important impact that female artists have had on the development of art history.

Learn more about Isabella Meyer and the Art in Context Team .

Cite this Article

Isabella, Meyer, “Renaissance Humanism – An Exploration of Humanism in the Renaissance.” Art in Context. June 30, 2021. URL: https://artincontext.org/renaissance-humanism/

Meyer, I. (2021, 30 June). Renaissance Humanism – An Exploration of Humanism in the Renaissance. Art in Context. https://artincontext.org/renaissance-humanism/

Meyer, Isabella. “Renaissance Humanism – An Exploration of Humanism in the Renaissance.” Art in Context , June 30, 2021. https://artincontext.org/renaissance-humanism/ .

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Humanism in renaissance Italy

The noble achievements of our far-off ancestors, the men of ancient Rome, are forgotten, and have become impossible to modern men. Where was the painter’s art till Giotto tardily restored it? A caricature of the art human delineation! Sculpture and architecture for long years sunk to the merest travesty of art and are only today in the process of rescue from obscurity; only now are they being brought to a new pitch of perfection by men of genius and erudition. Of letters and liberal art at large, it is best to be silent altogether. For these, the real guides to distinction in all the arts, the solid foundation of all civilization, have been lost to mankind for 800 years and more. It is but in our own day that men dare boast that they see the dawn of better things. Matteo Palmieri, La vita civile (1429) [1]

These sentiments, expressed by the Florentine humanist, Matteo Palmieri, in his dialogue on civic life and the virtues of the perfect citizen, eloquently evoke the optimism of renaissance humanism. Despite living in an age of war and plague, Palmieri and his contemporaries characterized their era as a riniscita , or rebirth of classical culture based on humanism—an educational program rooted in the writings of ancient Greek and Latin authors that extolled the active life of the citizen and praised humanity’s capacity to achieve greatness through knowledge and free will. Humanism looked to antiquity for inspiration in reforming society and had a tremendous impact on all aspects of life in renaissance Italy—and Europe more broadly—from government to the arts .

Perugino’s fresco demonstrates humanism’s influence on the arts in the Renaissance. Two classical arches with Ionic columns as well as an octagonal temple occupy the background. The fresco also depicts the vibrant life of Renaissance cities: young men play ball or strut in groups in a large square—itself a testament to rational city-planning schemes of humanists and artists. Perugino, Christ Giving the Keys of the Kingdom to St. Peter , Sistine Chapel, 1481-83, fresco, 10 feet 10 inches x 18 feet (Vatican, Rome)

Much of the artistic output of the renaissance was the product of a fruitful dialogue between artists and humanists. Wealthy patrons sponsored the careers of humanists and favored artistic works influenced by ideas derived from Greco-Roman antiquity. Artists who were inspired by humanists’ revived interest in antiquity also used ancient Greek and Roman models to inform their works. Filippo Brunelleschi and Donatello traveled to Rome to learn the principles of harmony, symmetry, and perspective by viewing its ancient ruins and statuary firsthand, and artists (including Sandro Botticelli and Pietro Perugino ) began depicting classical poses and mythological allegories in their paintings. [2] Much of Italian renaissance art—even overtly religious works—was grounded in humanistic principles.

This map of Florence reveals the development of linear perspective and bird’s eye mapping techniques that developed in the Renaissance. Medieval maps of cities were often spatially flat and relied on symbolism to depict important buildings and sites. Veduta della catena (chain map) of Florence, c. 1471–72, attributed to Francesco and Raffaello Petrini, etching, 1.25 x 1.38 m (Palazzo Vecchio, Florence)

What was humanism?

Map of Italy 1494 with city-states and kingdoms

Humanism was the educational and intellectual program of the Renaissance. Grounded in Latin and Greek literature, it developed first in Italy in the middle of the fourteenth century and then spread to the rest of Europe by the late fifteenth century. This program, called the studia humanitatis, or the humanities, was thought to teach citizens the morals necessary to lead an active, virtuous life, which its proponents contrasted with the contemplative life of ascetic monks and scholars. As a product of the Italian city-state republics , humanism was a system born in the city and made for the citizen. Although scholars in earlier centuries had embraced classical learning , humanists rediscovered many lost texts, read them with a critical and secular eye, and, through them, forged a new mentality that shaped Italian and European society from from approximately the mid-14th to the mid-17th centuries. 

Although humanist ideas had circulated in Italy since the late twelfth century, their main proponent was the Florentine poet, Francesco Petrarch. Born into an exiled family, Petrarch grew up in the French city of Avignon  and attended law school in Bologna. Inspired by his love of antiquity and the Latin writings of Cicero, Petrarch rejected the legal profession to pursue the life of a poet and collector of ancient texts. He spent much of his free time hunting for lost and neglected works of classical authors and twice found major caches of Cicero’s writing, most notably an unknown collection of Cicero’s letters, the Epistolae ad Atticum , in the chapter library of the Verona Cathedral in 1345. He copied the manuscript in the library and soon circulated it among his friends and associates. By the fifteenth century, through the efforts of Petrarch and his followers, Cicero’s taut, philosophical style of writing became the standard in Latin prose.

Left: Petrarch achieved fame for his Latin and Italian poetry in his lifetime. In 1341, he was the second writer to receive the laureate for his poetry since antiquity. Andrea del Castagno, Francesco Petrarch , c. 1450, fresco on wood, 247 x 153 cm (Uffizi, Florence); right: This fanciful fresco depicts Cicero as a child reading a book. The image highlights the advent of solitary, silent reading that was coming to replace the tradition of oral reading during the Renaissance. Depictions of solitary readers in their study were popular throughout the period. Vicenzo Foppa, The Young Cicero Reading , c. 1464, fresco, 101.6 x 143.7 cm (Wallace Collection)

Through these letters and other ancient texts, Petrarch was able to enter the Roman world so distant to him. Petrarch was the first scholar to recognize the cultural gap between his own age and Cicero’s. Of course, previous scholars throughout the middle ages made use of classical literature, but they read these texts through strict religious lenses and saw themselves inhabiting the same culture as Julius Caesar and emperor Augustus . It was just a world grown old and ruined by time. Petrarch, with his historical consciousness, recognized that he and his fellow Italians were living in a world starkly different from their Roman ancestors with a different set of values. Petrarch advocated reading Cicero and other Roman authors as a means of finding models for eloquence and exemplary comportment. 

To highlight this cultural gap between ancient Rome and fourteenth-century Italy, Petrarch envisioned a new way of conceptualizing the past. He portrayed antiquity as a golden age, replete with virtuous men, great deeds, and good morals. It was the period from the fall of Rome right up to his own age that was, to his thinking, the dark age. Indeed, Petrarch coined the term “ medio evo ” (middle ages) to connote the decline of Roman values, letters, and arts. Petrarch greatly exaggerated the decline of culture in the middle ages with its towering cathedrals and innovations in trade, science, and theology. Regardless, Petrarch pictured his age as a rinascita (rebirth) of classical learning and culture, and created an image of the middle ages as dark and ignorant—an idea that still persists (problematically) to this day.

This page from a manuscript edition of Lucretius’s De Rerum Natura demonstrates the humanistic script—called italic—that allowed others to easily read and make transcriptions of ancient texts. Lucretius’s philosophical poem was discovered by the humanist, Poggio Bracciolini, in a German monastery in 1417. This manuscript is a later transcription, made in Paris in 1563. (University of Cambridge)

Petrarch’s tolling of the bell to revive Roman antiquity reached appreciative ears. By the early fifteenth century, humanists actively scoured dusty monastic libraries in Italy, France, and Germany, finding more letters of Cicero, Lucretius’s Epicurean poem, On the Nature of Things ( De Rerum Natura) , and a host of other ancient texts. Greek scholars, fleeing from the Ottoman attacks on the Byzantine Empire , brought Homer, Plato, Sophocles, and other Greek manuscripts to Italy, as well as taught ancient Greek to a generation of humanists, hungry for learning and for a connection with antiquity.

Who were the humanists?

Nogarola is most famous for her debate with the patrician humanist, Ludovico Foscarini, that resulted in Dialogue on Adam and Eve (1451). Isotta Nogarola, with Angela Nogarola (her aunt poetess), Elogia Virorum Literis & Sapientia Illustrium … imaginibus exornata Seite 339 (Ill.) (Padova: Sardi, 1644)

Humanists were a diverse group as individuals but shared a common passion for antiquity and for Latin prose and rhetoric. Most humanists came from relatively well-heeled backgrounds—they were sons of noblemen, patricians , merchants, and notaries . Many patrician women, like Laura Cereta and Isotta Nogarola, were able to acquire a humanist education and take part in the intellectual life of the renaissance, but moralists frequently discouraged them from pursuing the active life of a teacher, professor, or writer. Nogarola, a writer from Verona, had acquired an education in the studia humanitatis and entered into debates on the role of women in Renaissance society with male humanists. Due to the hostile reception of her activity in humanist circles that questioned her chastity, she retired from the public, never married, and concentrated on sacred literature rather than secular writings. Patrician and noble women, however, often expressed their humanist interests by commissioning works of arts inspired by the classical tradition. Isabella d’Este , the Marquise of Mantua, gained fame as a patron of such Renaissance painters as Giovanni Bellini, Andrea Mantegna, and Pietro Perugino.

Villa Petrarca, in the Paduan town of Arquà Petrarca (photo: John M. Hunt). In the years after Petrarch’s death, the villa became associated with the famous humanist. In 1546, the patrician, Paolo Valdezocco, bought the house and transformed it into a shrine dedicated the poet’s life.

However, many humanists came from humbler backgrounds but managed to obtain their education through patronage, natural talent, and hard work. Indeed, humanists were the first western scholars to argue for a nobility of spirit, based on merit and skill, rather than a nobility of blood, based on lineage and ancestry. Most humanists found work as professors, librarians, and secretaries for princes and state chanceries. The prime goal of most humanists was to find a patron willing to support their intellectual activities. Petrarch was able to retire in a villa in the Euganean Hills thanks to patronage from the Carrara despots of Padua . Cosimo de’ Medici allowed Marsilio Ficino  the use of his villa in Careggi as a writing retreat. With secure positions, humanists could complete their work in exchange for writing poems, orations, and histories that extolled the virtue, power, and magnanimity of their patrons. For every Petrarch and Ficino, whose fame and learning attracted patrons, there were probably ten humanists who had to scrape by as tutors or secondary-school teachers.

The humanist agenda

Humanists sought to rediscover lost and forgotten texts, purge them of mistakes made by monastic scribes through a rigorous philological analysis, and circulate them in handwritten copies (later, with the advent of the printing press, humanists began to publish printed versions of these texts). In the mid-fifteenth century, after the introduction of Greek texts into Italy due to Ottoman attacks on the Byzantine Empire , humanists translated these texts into Latin, making them more accessible to those who could not read Greek. They often made copious annotations in these manuscripts to help the reader understand them. Moreover, they often published their own works which consciously emulated the style and substance of the ancient authors. 

At their core, humanists were educators. They devised their educational program, the studia humanitatis , in complete opposition to the Scholastic tradition (based on logic and theology) that had gained prominence in the middle ages. Humanists wanted a curriculum that would not make theologians but make citizens useful to governments and society. They placed five disciplines in the curriculum of the studia humanitatis : grammar, rhetoric, poetry, moral philosophy, and history. Each of these disciplines served a specific purpose in fostering virtuous, active citizens of the city-states. These subjects, based on reading Latin (and, later, Greek) authors was to arm citizens with the eloquence, morality, and examples of virtuous behavior of the ancients. The values of the ancient Romans and Greeks would perfect citizens and help them realize their potential as individuals endowed with free will to know the good and to act on it.

Like Plato and other ancient philosophers that preceded them, the humanists aspired to have princes implement their ideas of moral reform.  Many, like Leon Battista Alberti, had grand visions of city-planning, which only a prince or a government could execute. Humanists also sought to change Italian society at the individual level by creating uomini universali —well-rounded men who could be useful to society. 

Medieval and renaissance intellectuals conceived the chain of being as a ladder or stairway. With their bold emphasis on free will, renaissance humanists, such as Pico della Mirandola, argued that individuals were not rooted in one place on the ladder but could move up or down the chain of being. Ramon Lull’s Ladder of Ascent and Descent of the Mind , first printed in 1305, here 1512 (Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Göttingen)

Although having diverse views on philosophical matters, humanists were united by a secular view of humanity’s place in the world. They gave orations on and debated the idea of the dignity of man. This concept gained momentum with the revival of Neoplatonism after Marsilio Ficino’s translation of the entire corpus of Plato’s extant works in 1469 and his harmonizing of Christian theology with Platonic ideas.

Ficino’s pupil, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, took this idea further in his Oration on the Dignity of Man , written in 1486. Pico argued that in the chain of being humans occupied a privileged space due their capacity to learn and grow as individuals. They were the median between God and animal and plant life; and they could become “terrestrial gods” due to this thirst for knowledge or stagnate from ignorance. Human dignity lay in this free will—humans could choose where they stood in the chain of being and played a role in shaping themselves and the world.

Much of the iconography and story-line of Botticelli’s fresco was influenced by Marsilio Ficino and the writings of Angelo Poliziano, the court poet of Lorenzo “the Magnificent” de’ Medici.  Sandro Botticelli, The Birth of Venus , 1483-85, tempera on panel, 68 x 109 5/8″ (172.5 x 278.5 cm) (Galeria degli Uffizi, Florence; photo: Steven Zucker , CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Moreover, humanists not only praised human dignity but also the human body. Rather than being something to hide and be ashamed of, humanists and artists of the renaissance began to depict for the first time since antiquity favorable images of the nude human body, and on a large scale not seen since antiquity. For instance, Venus was portrayed in her classical pose, the Venus pudica —naked but modestly covering her nudity with her arms and long hair rather than as a fully clothed aristocratic woman, as medieval artists had portrayed the goddess. The motif of the Venus pudica is best represented by Botticelli’s Birth of Venus , commissioned by the Medici family in the early 1480s. Even biblical figures could be portrayed in their human nakedness. Nothing like this was possible before 1400 since medieval moralists had nothing but contempt for the human body, seeing it as a receptacle of sin and generally depicted it negatively.

Humanism and the arts today

Cover of The New Yorker, 2014

Humanism continues to shape our social, visual, and intellectual world. The liberal arts education of modern universities is based on the humanistic educational program and its principles. Students must take core requirements in history, literature, and languages during their first two years. The goal of university educators, like their humanist forebears, is to create well-rounded citizens who can make contributions to their communities and the world. Humanists, like university professors, optimistically believed in the liberating power of an education and its power to transform lives. The art of the renaissance influenced by humanism provides a visual framework for much of the world.

The Birth of Venus sneakers, from MOA MASTER OF ARTS

Botticelli’s Birth of Venus is a case in point. Images of the painting have been used on t-shirts, coffee mugs, magnets, and even shoes. Even those without a deep knowledge of antiquity, renaissance or art recognize the pose and hair of Botticelli’s Venus. The fact that this art can be found everywhere in society from television advertisements to street graffiti in cities attests to its enduring relevance.

[1] W. H. Woodward, Studies in Education during the Age of the Renaissance (Cambridge University Press, 1906), p. 67.

[2] Vasari tells us that Brunelleschi went to Rome to measure the ancient ruins.  Giorgio Vasari, The Lives of the Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), pp. 116–17.

Additional resources:

Read another essay about humanism and Italian renaissance art on Smarthistory

Read more about Greek painters making their way to renaissance Venice

Burke, Peter. The Italian Renaissance: Culture and Society , 3 rd edition. Princeton University Press, 2014.

Celenza, Christopher S. The Lost Italian Renaissance: Humanists, Historians, and Latin’s Legacy .  Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004.

Dempsey, Charles. The Portrayal of Love: Botticelli’s Primavera and Humanistic Culture at the Time of Lorenzo the Magnificent . Princeton University Press, 1992.

Grendler, Paul F. Schooling in Renaissance Italy: Literacy and Learning, 1300-1600 . Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989.

Hankins, James. Virtue Politics: Soulcraft and Statecraft in Renaissance Italy . Harvard University Press, 2019.

King, Margaret L. and Albert Rabil, eds. Her Immaculate Hand: Selected Works by and about Women Humanists of Quattrocento Italy . Center for Medieval and Early Renaissance Studies, 1983.

Kristeller, Paul Oskar, Renaissance Thought and Its Sources . Columbia University Press, 1979.

Panofsky, Studies in Iconology: Humanistic Themes in the Art of the Renaissance . Icon, 1972.

Seznec, Jean. The Survival of the Pagan Gods: The Mythological Tradition and Its Place in Renaissance Humanism and Art . Princeton University Press, 1953.

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A Guide to Renaissance Humanism

The intellectual movement began in the 13th century

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What Is Renaissance Humanism?

Origins of humanism, the 15th century, renaissance humanism after 1500, the end of renaissance humanism.

• M.A., Medieval Studies, Sheffield University
• B.A., Medieval Studies, Sheffield University

Renaissance Humanism—named to differentiate it from the Humanism that came later—was an intellectual movement that originated in the 13th century and came to dominate European thought during the Renaissance , which it played a considerable role in creating. At the core of Renaissance Humanism was using the study of classical texts to alter contemporary thinking, breaking with the medieval mindset and creating something new.

One mode of thinking came to typify Renaissance ideas: Humanism. The term derived from a program of studies called the "studia humanitatis," but the idea of calling this "Humanism" really arose in the 19th century. There remains a question over what exactly Renaissance Humanism was. Jacob Burckhardt ’s seminal 1860 work, "The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy," solidified the definition of humanism into the study of classical—Greek and Roman—texts to affect how you viewed your world, taking from the ancient world to reform the "modern" and giving a worldlier, human outlook focusing on the ability of humans to act and not blindly follow a religious plan. Humanists believed God had given humanity options and potential, and humanist thinkers had to act to make the most of this.

That definition is still useful, but historians increasingly fear that the tag "Renaissance Humanism" pushes a large range of thought and writing into one term that doesn’t adequately explain subtleties or variations.

Renaissance Humanism began in the later 13th century when Europeans' hunger for studying classical texts coincided with a desire to imitate those authors in style. They weren’t to be direct copies but drew on old models, picking up vocabulary, styles, intentions, and form. Each half needed the other: You had to understand the texts to take part in the fashion, and doing so drew you back to Greece and Rome. But what developed wasn't a set of second-generation mimics; Renaissance Humanism began to use knowledge, love, and maybe even obsession with the past to change how they and others saw and thought about their own era. It was not a pastiche, but a new consciousness, including a new historical perspective giving a historically based alternative to "medieval" ways of thinking. Humanism began to affect culture and society and powered, in large part, what we now call the Renaissance.

Humanists operating before Petrarch, called "Proto-Humanists," were mainly in Italy. They included Lovato Dei Lovati (1240–1309), a Paduan judge who may have been the first to mix reading Latin poetry with writing modern classical poetry to major effect. Others tried, but Lovato achieved far more, recovering among other things Seneca’s tragedies. A hunger for bringing old texts back to the world was characteristic of Humanists. This searching was vital because much of the material was scattered and forgotten. But Lovato had limits, and his prose style stayed medieval. His pupil, Mussato, connected his studies of the past to contemporary issues and wrote in the classical style to comment on politics. He was the first to deliberately write ancient prose in centuries and was attacked for liking "pagans."

Francesco Petrarch (1304–1374) has been called the Father of Italian Humanism, and while modern historiography plays down the role of individuals, his contribution was large. He firmly believed that classical writings were not just relevant to his own age but saw in them moral guidance that could reform humanity, a key principle of Renaissance Humanism. Eloquence, which moved the soul, was the equal of cold logic. Humanism should be a doctor to human morals. Petrarch didn’t apply much of this thinking to the government but worked at bringing together the classics and the Christians. The Proto-Humanists had been largely secular; Petrarch bought religion in, arguing that history can have a positive effect on a Christian soul. He has been said to have created the "Humanist program," and he argued that each person should study the ancients and create their own style.

Had Petrarch not lived, Humanism would have been seen as threatening Christianity. His actions allowed Humanism to spread more effectively in the late 14th century. Careers needing skills of reading and writing were soon dominated by Humanists. In the 15th century in Italy, Humanism once more became secular and the courts of Germany, France, and elsewhere turned away until a later movement brought it back to life. Between 1375 and 1406 Coluccio Salutati was chancellor in Florence, and he made the city the capital of Renaissance Humanism’s development.

By 1400, Renaissance Humanism’s ideas had spread to allow speeches and other orations to become classicized: diffusion was needed so more people could understand. Humanism was becoming admired, and the upper classes were sending their sons to study for the kudos and career prospects. By the mid-15th century, Humanism education was normal in upper-class Italy.

Cicero , the great Roman orator, became the core example for the Humanists. His adoption jibed with a turn back to the secular. Petrarch and company had been politically neutral, but now some Humanists argued for republics to be superior to the dominant monarchies. This wasn’t a new development, but it came to affect humanism. Greek also became more common among the humanists, even if it often stayed second to Latin and Rome. However, a huge amount of classical Greek knowledge was now worked in.

Some groups wanted to adhere strictly to Ciceronian Latin as the model for languages; others wanted to write in a style of Latin they felt more contemporary. What they agreed on was a new form of education, which the rich were adopting. Modern historiography also began to emerge. The power of Humanism, with its textual criticism and study, was shown in 1440 when Lorenzo Valla proved The Donation of Constantine , ostensibly transferring much of the Roman Empire to the Pope, was a forgery. Valla and others pushed for Biblical Humanism—textual criticism and understanding of the Bible—to bring people closer to the word of God that had been corrupted.

All this time Humanist commentaries and writings were growing in fame and number. Some Humanists began to turn away from reforming the world and focused instead on a purer understanding of the past. But Humanist thinkers also began to consider humanity more: as creators, world-changers who made their own lives and who should not be trying to imitate Christ but finding themselves.

By the 1500s, Humanism was the dominant form of education, so widespread that it was dividing into a range of sub-developments. As perfected texts passed to other specialists, such as mathematicians and scientists, the recipients also became Humanist thinkers. As these fields developed they split, and the overall Humanist program of reform fragmented. The ideas ceased to be the preserve of the rich, as printing had brought cheap written materials to a wider market, and now a mass audience was adopting, often unconsciously, humanist thinking.

Humanism had spread across Europe, and while it split in Italy, the stable countries to the north fostered a return of the movement that began to have the same massive effect. Henry VIII encouraged Englishmen trained in Humanism to replace foreigners on his staff; in France Humanism was seen as the best way to study scripture. John Calvin agreed, starting a humanist school in Geneva. In Spain, Humanists clashed with the Church and Inquisition and merged with surviving scholasticism as a way to survive. Erasmus, the 16th century’s leading Humanist, emerged in the German-speaking lands.

By the mid-16th century, Humanism had lost much of its power. Europe was engaged in a war of words, ideas, and sometimes weapons over the nature of Christianity (the Reformation ) and Humanist culture was overtaken by rival creeds, becoming semi-independent disciplines governed by the area’s faith.

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Humanism by Paul Grendler LAST REVIEWED: 27 June 2017 LAST MODIFIED: 27 June 2017 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195399301-0002

Humanism was the major intellectual movement of the Renaissance. In the opinion of the majority of scholars, it began in late-14th-century Italy, came to maturity in the 15th century, and spread to the rest of Europe after the middle of that century. Humanism then became the dominant intellectual movement in Europe in the 16th century. Proponents of humanism believed that a body of learning, humanistic studies ( studia humanitatis ), consisting of the study and imitation of the classical culture of ancient Rome and Greece, would produce a cultural rebirth after what they saw as the decadent and “barbarous” learning of the Middle Ages. It was a self-fulfilling faith. Under the influence and inspiration of the classics, humanists developed a new rhetoric and new learning. Some scholars also argue that humanism articulated new moral and civic perspectives and values offering guidance in life. Humanism transcended the differences between the Protestant and Catholic Reformations, as leaders of both religious movements studied and used the ancient Latin and Greek classics. Because of the vast importance and broad scope of humanism, it is not surprising that scholars have studied it intensively and view it in different ways. This article provides a sampling of some of the best and most influential scholarship on the subject and demonstrates the broad impact of humanism in the era of the Renaissance and Reformation.

Because humanism is a vast topic, overviews are few. Nauert 2006 is brief but has the advantage of presenting a single viewpoint, while Rabil 1988 is large and has many authors.

Nauert, Charles G., Jr. Humanism and the Culture of Renaissance Europe . 2d ed. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Excellent and concise one-volume survey of humanism across Europe. A good starting point both for students and scholars.

Rabil, Albert, Jr., ed. Renaissance Humanism: Foundations, Forms, and Legacy . 3 vols. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1988.

Forty-one essays by recognized authorities, each with bibliography, about humanism across Europe and specific themes. Vol. 1 deals with the foundations of humanism and humanism in Italy; Vol. 2, with the rest of Europe; and Vol. 3, with humanism and the disciplines, the professions, arts, and science. A good starting point for advanced students and scholars lacking knowledge in particular fields of study.

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Renaissance Humanism

Summary of Renaissance Humanism

The art historian Jacob Burckhardt's The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (1860) first advanced the term Renaissance Humanism to define the philosophical thought that radically transformed the 15 th and 16 th centuries. Driven by the rediscovery of the humanities - the classical texts of antiquity - Renaissance Humanism emphasized "an education befitting a cultivated man," and saw the human individual "as the measure of the universe." Church leaders, scholars, and the ruling elite practiced and promoted the understanding of classical ethics, logic, and aesthetic principles and values, combined with an enthusiasm for science, experiential observation, geometry, and mathematics. Originating in Florence, a thriving center of urban commerce, and promoted by the Medici, the ruling family of the Italian city-state, the philosophy was connected to a vision in a new society, where the individual's relationship to God and divine principles, the world and the universe, was no longer exclusively defined by the Church. Renaissance Humanism informed the works of groundbreaking artists, including Leonardo da Vinci , Michelangelo , Raphael , Botticelli , and Donatello , as well as architects like Brunelleschi, Alberti, Bramante, and Palladio. These artists exemplified the ideal of the "Renaissance man" as they excelled at various disciplines and pioneered new techniques and inventions, defined the artistic canon and were heralded as "masters" in their own right.

Key Ideas & Accomplishments

• Renaissance Humanism created new subject matter and new approaches for all the arts. Subsequently, painting, sculpture, the literary arts, cultural studies, social tracts, and philosophical studies referenced subjects and tropes taken from classical literature and mythology, and ultimately, Classical Art .
• Renaissance Humanism elevated the concepts of aesthetic beauty and geometric proportions historically provided by classical thinkers such as Vitruvius and given a foundation of ideal form and thought laid down by philosophers such as Plato and Socrates.
• The artists associated with Renaissance Humanism pioneered revolutionary artistic methods from one point linear perspective to trompe l'oeil to chiaroscuro to create illusionary space and new genres, including frontal portraiture, self-portraiture, and landscape.

As historians Hugh Honour and John Fleming noted, Renaissance Humanism advanced "the new idea of self-reliance and civic virtue" among the common people, combined with a belief in the uniqueness, dignity, and value of human life. As historian Charles G. Nauert wrote, "this humanistic philosophy overthrew the social and economic restraints of feudal, pre-capitalist Europe, broke the power of the clergy, and discarded ethical restraints on politics...laid the foundations for the modern absolute, secular state and even for the remarkable growth of natural science."

• During this time, patronage dominated the art market as wealthy citizens took pride in promoting artists who created masterworks in a variety of fields from painting to science to architecture and city planning. This reflected the overall attitude of the importance of supporting the arts in a thriving society.
• Many of the concepts of Renaissance Humanism, from its emphasis on the individual to its concept of the genius, or Renaissance man, to the importance of education, the viability of the classics, and its spirit of exploration became foundational to Western culture.

Key Artists

Overview of Renaissance Humanism

“After seeing this no one need wish to look at any other sculpture or the work of any other artist,” Giorgio Vasari said of Michelangelo’s David . Michelangelo’s masterpiece exemplified the Renaissance practice of highlighting the grandeur and importance of mankind.

The Important Artists and Works of Renaissance Humanism

Dome of Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (Florence Cathedral)

Artist: Filippo Brunelleschi

This photograph depicts the iconic octagonal dome of Florence Cathedral dominating the skyline of the city. A marvel of innovative engineering and design, constructed of over four million bricks, the dome became a symbol of Renaissance Humanism, its soaring buoyancy evoking classical proportion and mathematical order. At the same time, the red brick linked the era's "rebirth" with the tradition of Florentine stonework and the red emblem of the Medici. Viewed as rivaling the Roman Pantheon (113-115), the dome exemplified a new era of humanist values, as historian Paulo Galluzi wrote; "It unites technology and aesthetics in an astonishingly elegant way. It symbolizes perfectly the union of science and of art." When his design for the Florence Baptistery doors was rejected, Brunelleschi left Florence in disappointment and traveled to Rome. Wandering the city and countryside, accompanied by the young artist Donatello, he meticulously studied the design principles of Roman ruins and buildings and turned his energy toward architecture. His discoveries not only led to his design for the dome but the inventions that made constructing the structure possible, and his development of linear perspective - an idea that led the innovations of the time. The problem of creating a dome for Florence Cathedral was viewed as almost insoluble, until Brunelleschi radically created a new system of support by creating a dome within a dome. He also invented the horizontal crane and the mechanical hoist needed to lift and place the bricks in the herringbone pattern that made up an inverted arch. His work exemplified the combination of artistic principles, informed by knowledge of classical design, with tireless scientific innovation. At the same time, often keeping his designs and ideas to himself for fear that his rival might appropriate them, he also operated with the belief in the unique knowledge of the inspired and cultivated artist, as he wrote "Let there be convened a council of experts and masters in mechanical art to deliberate what is needed to compose and construct these works." The dome and the design principles embodied in it became fundamental to subsequent architects.

Sandstone, marble, brick, iron, wood - Florence

Artist: Sandro Botticelli

This famous Early Renaissance painting depicts figures from classical mythology: the god Mercury plucking a golden fruit from a tree, the three graces dancing together, and Venus, the goddess of love, at the center with Primavera, the goddess of spring, to her left. The meaning of the mysterious scene, located within a woodland garden, has been much debated by scholars, as it has been viewed as an allegory, a depiction of various scenes from the writing of the Roman poet Ovid, or as a purely aesthetic arrangement. At the same time, some critics have deeply analyzed the work, finding its elements, including the hundreds of specific flowers naturalistically depicted, as reflective of Neoplatonic thought. Neoplatonism emphasized ideal love and absolute beauty as reflections of the ideal forms posited by the Greek philosopher Plato. A sense of the hidden and sublime order of the world that, while pagan, was not inconsistent with Christianity, is shown in the artist's central figure, that simultaneously evokes Venus and the Virgin Mary. Botticelli's use of mythological subjects and his near nude female figures were groundbreaking. As art critic Jonathan Jones puts it, "Botticelli's Primavera was one of the first large-scale European paintings to tell a story that was not Christian, replacing the agony of Easter with a pagan rite. The very idea of art as a pleasure, and not a sermon, began in this meadow." Botticelli was particularly influenced by Dante, the early Renaissance poet, whose platonic love for Beatrice informed his Divina Commedia ( Divine Comedy ) (1308-21), depicting his journey through Hell and Purgatory to Paradise. The artist drew illustrations and wrote commentary on the famous poet's work. Associated with the artistic and intellectual circles around Lorenzo de' Medici, the artist was influenced by Marsilio Ficino. Later in his career, as Florence was roiled by the rise of Savonarola, a priest who railed against pagan art and influences, Botticelli refuted his earlier subjects and began to focus on a series of illustrations depicting Dante's vision of the suffering souls in Hell and Purgatory. Though his art fell into relative obscurity, it was subsequently rediscovered in the 19 th century and his paintings have become among the most recognizable artworks, reproduced in countless advertisements, brochures, and digital platforms.

Tempera on panel - The Uffizi Gallery, Florence

The Vitruvian Man

Artist: Leonardo da Vinci

This drawing shows the ideally proportioned figure of a man in two superimposed positions, standing within a circle and square. Due to the superimposition of poses and geometric forms, the symmetrical and balanced figure evokes kinetic movement, while the drawing feels almost three-dimensional as if the viewer were looking into a volumetric geometric space. Often called "The Canon of Proportions," and also known as "The proportions of the human body according to Vitruvius," the drawing and Leonardo's accompanying text reference the mathematical proportions of the Roman innovator. In the upper margin, Leonardo paraphrases from Book III of Vitruvius's De architectura , writing, "Vetruvio, architect, puts in his work on architecture that the measurements of man are in nature distributed in this manner." While in the lower text, Leonardo draws upon the architect's proportions but corrects them according to his own anatomical studies. Leonardo shared the architect's belief that the proportions of the human body were a kind of microcosm of the symmetry and order of the universe. Other Renaissance artists drew the human figure according to Vitruvian proportions, but Leonardo innovatively drew upon his own study of human anatomy, as he realized that the center of the square had to be located at the groin rather than at the navel, as Vitruvius thought, and that the raised arms should be level with the top of the head. Combining scientific knowledge and mathematical study with the aesthetic principles of ideal proportion and beauty, the drawing exemplified Renaissance Humanism, seeing the individual as the center of the natural world, linking the earthly realm, symbolized by the square, to the divine circle, symbolizing oneness. Later artists have continued to draw upon the image for inspiration as seen in William Blake's Glad Day or The Dance of Albion (c.1794), and Nat Krate's Vitruvian Woman (1989).

Pen and ink on paper - Accademia, Venice

Self-Portrait with Fur-Trimmed Robe

Artist: Albrecht Dürer

In this three-quarters portrait, the artist, dressed in a nobleman's coat with fur trim, faces forward with his right hand raised as if in a gesture of blessing. This, along with his intense and serious expression, evoke traditional images of Christ Pantocrater, as if the artist were a living icon. Using chiaroscuro, his image is shadowed, merging into the dark background, while light highlights the right side of his face and body. The artist has signed the work twice, and prominently, with his initials and the year alongside the phrase, "Thus I, Albrecht Dürer from Nuremburg, painted myself with indelible colors at the age of 28 years" which floats in the inky background. The groundbreaking work pioneered self-portraiture. Artists had been previously portrayed only as bystanders or secondary figures, often witnessing a scene. For example, Jan van Eyck's The Man with the Red Turban (1433) is thought to be a self-portrait but was presented as an anonymous individual. Dürer's image reflects the importance of the individual and the artist as an inspired genius, both concepts central to Renaissance Humanism. Dürer travelled to Italy as a young man and was influenced by Renaissance Humanism and the leading artists or the era. He played an important role in the development of Northern Humanism, as he synthesized classical models with cultural beliefs and devotional practices in order to create a better society. His closest friend in Nuremberg was the classical scholar and translator Williblad Pircklheimer, a leading figure in the city's Humanist circles. Their intellectual discussions ranged from the writings of the Humanist Erasmus to the use of perspective in Italian painting to the meaning of Egyptian hieroglyphs. In later life, Dürer's lifelong interest in geometry, proportion, and perspective was reflected in treatises including Four Books on Measurement (1525) and Four Books on Human Proportion (1528). As Jonathan Jones noted, the artist's "role model was Leonardo da Vinci... Dürer understood the sum of Leonardo's parts, at once craftsman, scientist and humanist intellectual. More than anyone else except Michelangelo, Dürer took up the challenge of the supreme Renaissance mind. And yet the sublime energies that Dürer's art channels are not those of a solitary mind but of an entire culture."

Mixed media on panel - Alte Pinakothek, Munich

Artist: Michelangelo

This iconic statue was the first male nude carved in marble since the classical era. It depicts the Biblical hero David, as he turns to face the giant Goliath with a look of purposeful assessment, his raised left hand grasping his shepherd's sling and a stone cradled in his right. Over 17 feet tall, his muscular figure was seen as not only reviving the ideal male beauty represented in classical Greek sculpture but surpassing it. As Vasari wrote, "...this figure has put in the shade every other statue, ancient or modern, Greek or Roman." The work also exemplified a humanistic awareness of individual sensibility, as David is poised and yet with a touch of adolescent awkwardness. For the people of Florence, the figure of David represented the emerging primacy of the city-state as a "giant killer" among the European powers. The artist employed a radical simplicity, as only the slingshot identifies the figure as David, and while the work evinces his mastery of anatomical knowledge, Michelangelo also deviated from the rules of proportion, making the right hand slightly larger than the left with his eyes looking in two slightly different directions. He did this because the work was created to stand at an elevated position on the base of Brunelleschi's dome of Florence Cathedral, and the sculptor seemed to have been aware that the work's full effect could be realized only by its relationship to the space around it, thus tweaking the anatomy in regards to the audience's viewpoint and unique perspective. As art historian Lois Fichner-Rathus noted, "No longer does the figure remain still in a Classical contrapposto stance, but rather extends into the surrounding space away from a vertical axis. This movement outward from a central core forces the viewer to take into account both the form and the space between and surrounding the forms - in order to appreciate the complete composition."

Marble - Gallery of the Academy of Florence, Florence

School of Athens

Artist: Raphael

This famous fresco employs perspective to draw the viewer's eye into an animated scene where noted Greek philosophers, including Socrates, Pythagoras, Euclid, and Ptolemy converse or sit alone in a moment of reflection. At the center, beneath replicating classical arches, Plato in orange robes and Aristotle in blue walk side by side as they discuss philosophy and represent the Humanist view that art and science, beauty and logic, were mutually compatible endeavors. The books the two men carry - Plato's Timaeus and Aristotle's Nichomachaean Ethics - were fundamental texts to Renaissance Humanists. The painting creates a dynamic sense of philosophy, as thought is expressed in gestures, facial expressions, and intense conversations. The cynic philosopher Diogenes sprawls on the stairs, while in the lower center the philosopher Heraclitus seems to be writing or drawing. Some of the figures are believed to be contemporary portraits: Pico della Mirandola as a young man, Michelangelo as Heraclitus, and Leonardo da Vinci as Plato. A statue of Apollo, the Greek god of music and art, is placed on the left, referencing Plato's philosophy of ideal forms, while Athena, the goddess of wisdom on the right, aligns with Aristotle's belief in empirical knowledge and logic. While the setting is classical with its arches and columns, the building is also designed as a Greek cross, influenced by the designs of the contemporary architect Bramante and representing the harmony between Christianity and the tenets of classical philosophy. This theme of harmony is reflected in the four frescos that Raphael painted for the study and library of Pope Julius II. The Disputation of the Holy Sacrament (1509-10) and The Cardinal Virtues (1511) depicted Christian subject matter, while The Parnassus (1509), showing the god Apollo, the muses, and noted classical and contemporary poets, along with The School of Athens , emphasized the classical world, reflecting both worlds united in the pursuit of wisdom.

Fresco - Vatican City

Self-Portrait as Bacchus or Sick Bacchus

Artist: Caravaggio

This painting is thought to be a self-portrait of the artist as Bacchus, the Greek god of intoxication, fertility, and the theater, a figure of wildly creative and destructive energy. Here, dressed in Attic garb and wearing a garland of ivy, he twists to face the viewer, a bunch of white grapes clutched in his right hand, his head oddly turned as if suggesting he is in pain. Cast in a greenish light, the pallor of his skin, accentuated by his blue lips and dark shadowed eyes, evokes dissolution or illness. On the table in front of him, a bunch of purple grapes and two apricots, are naturalistically rendered, while at the same time evoking a phallic shape. This was the first of a series of portraits, portraying a solitary young man in classical garb and emphasizing the hedonistic enjoyment of life. While drawing upon the classical subject matter of Renaissance Humanism, the work departed from that tradition in its naturalistic treatment of both the figure and its inclusion of still life. Here, some of the fruit on the table show signs of decay, and the figure, ill or, perhaps, drunk or hung over, is a radical departure from the Renaissance's idealized beauty and classical calm. The art historian Roberto Longhi attributed the work to Caravaggio in 1913 and, at the same time, identified the figure as Bacchus, giving it its title. Previously, the work had been titled A Satyr , as garlands of ivy traditionally identified the licentious half-men, half-goat figures that haunted the forests of Greek myth, while Bacchus was usually depicted wearing a wreath of grape vine, though a bit of ivy was sometimes interwoven. Longhi also explained the figure's sickly pallor as due to the artist's discharge from the Hospital of the Consolazione after a severe bout of malaria. However, some scholars favor the explanation of Giulio Mancini, whose study of Caravaggio in Considerazioni sulla pittura ( Thoughts on painting ), written between 1617 and 1621, attributed the artist's hospitalization to severe injuries sustained by a kick from a horse. In essence, the work conveys a kind of mystery and ambiguity, as if alluding to other meanings outside the pictorial plane, in keeping with the development of individualism toward the idiosyncratic and the psychological in the Mannerist and Baroque periods. Giovanni Baglione who wrote The Lives of Painters, Sculptors, Architects and Engravers, active from 1572-1642 (1642) said the artist used a convex mirror to paint the work and that it was originally a cabinet piece. The work was not commissioned, and it's thought that the young artist, in effect, painted it as a kind of advertisement of his skills in portraiture, classical subject matter, and still life, in order to attract patronage. But at the same time it may have announced his inclusion in the arcane scholarly circles associated with d'Arpino's studio where he then worked.

Oil on canvas - Galleria Borghese, Rome

The Discovery of Classical Texts

In Europe, as early as the 9 th century, many classical texts were being "rediscovered" by society's leading thinkers who would contribute to the rise of Renaissance Humanism. Most notably studied was De architectura , the first century BC treatise by the Roman architect Vitruvius. Employing mathematical proportions for architecture, the human form, and all artistic design, Vitruvius developed what was called the "Vitruvian Triad," or virtues of unity, stability, and beauty. The text informed the Carolingian Renaissance and influenced a number of leading thinkers, including the theologian St. Thomas Aquinas, the scholar Albertus Magnus, and the poets Petrarch and Boccaccio. However, it had subsequently been overlooked until Poggio Barccioline, a Florentine humanist, found a copy in the Abbey of St. Gallen in Switzerland in 1414 and, subsequently promoted it to Florentine humanists and artists. It became foundational to the architects Brunelleschi, Leon Battista Alberti, Bramante, and Palladio, as well as the artist Leonardo da Vinci, and has become part of the artistic canon to the 21st century.

The 14 th century poet Francesco Petrarca, known as Petrarch in English, has been dubbed both "the founder of Humanism," and "founder of the Renaissance." After discovering the letters of the Roman philosopher and statesman Cicero, he translated them, leading to their early and important influence among Italian intellectuals, scholars, and artists. He was also the first writer to compose his works in the vernacular rather than the traditional Latin.

Influenced by Vitruvius and a number of his contemporaries, the humanist Leon Battista Alberti became the primary theorist of architecture and art in the Early Renaissance . His three works, De Statua ( On Sculpture ) (1435), Della Pittura ( On Painting ) (1435), and De Re Aedificatoria ( On Architecture ) (1452) codified the concepts of proportion, the contrast of desegno , line or design, with colorito , coloring, and Brunelleschi's one-point perspective. A noted painter, poet, classicist, mathematician and architect, Alberti's books were the first contemporary classics of Renaissance Humanism. His writing also defined the ideal of the "universal man," as expressed in his motto, "A man can do all things if he will."

With the introduction of Plato's work, Platonism and Neoplatonism became a primary force in Renaissance Humanism. The Byzantine scholar Gemistus Plethon introduced the works of the Greek philosopher Plato at the 1438-39 Council of Florence and influenced Cosimo de' Medici, the head of the ruling Florentine family, who attended his lectures. Marsilio Ficino, an Italian scholar and priest, was also influenced by Plethon, dubbing him "the second Plato," and, subsequently with Cosimo's support, began translating all of Plato's work into Latin for the first time, which he published in 1484. As art historian James Hankins wrote, "Ficino's Platonic revival was among the most original and characteristic of Quattrocentro philosophy," and his influence grew to extend far beyond Florence. As a result, Renaissance Humanism emphasized aesthetic beauty and geometric proportions, derived from Plato's ideal forms.

Traditionally, it has been thought that, following the Council of Florence, Cosimo de' Medici sponsored what was called the Platonic Academy (also known as the Neoplatonic Florentine Academy), meant as revival of Plato's Academy led by Ficino. Other members of the group included Gentile de'Becchi, Poliziano, Cristoforo Landino, and Pico della Mirandola. However, contemporary scholarship has begun to refute this, finding it a legend, based upon a mistranslation of Ficino's writing and developed in later 16 th century works promoting the reputation of the Medici. In any case, Florence was the dynamic hub of Renaissance Humanism, as new works from the group appeared. Pico della Mirandola's Oration on the Dignity of Man (1486) has been called the "Manifesto of the Renaissance," as he emphasized the dignity and value of individual human life for its own sake, independent of religious thought.

The Italian City State

The development of Renaissance Humanism was profoundly connected to the rise of the urban middle class in the Italian city-state, as shown in Florence's dubbing itself, "The New Athens." The Florentine republic, ruled by the merchant class rather than a hereditary monarch, saw itself as akin to the classical republics of Greece and Rome. The Medici family, who became the de facto and sometimes official rulers of Florence for the next two centuries, derived their great wealth from the textile trade and the local wool industry, but much of their influence throughout Italy and later Europe was based upon banking. In 1377 Giovanni di Bicci de Medici had founded the Medici Bank, the first "modern" bank, and various political alliances were formed in the following centuries, bankrolling noble families throughout Europe. Though Giovanni's son Cosimo never held an official office, in power and influence, he was, in effect, the ruler of the city. His view of his role was essentially humanistic, emphasizing knowledge, an aesthetic sense, and individualism, combined with civic power and pragmatic wealth. A noted collector of classical texts and patron of the scholars who studied and translated them, he was also the leading patron of the arts, and, believing in the power of a humanistic education, established the first public library. Private patronage, evincing a belief not only in the unique genius of an artist but of the exceptional knowledge and taste that commissioned the work, became a dominant factor. At the same time, as historians Hugh Honour and John Fleming noted, Renaissance Humanism introduced "the new idea of self-reliance and civic virtue - civic and mundane," which involved the populace on every level rather than the medieval models of contemplative religious life or chivalric knights and kings.

High Renaissance

The term, High Renaissance , coined in the early 19 th century, to denote the artistic pinnacle of the Renaissance, referred to the period from 1490-1527, defined by the works of Leonardo da Vinci , Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (known as Michelangelo) , Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (known as Raphael) , and Donato Bramante. Humanism fueled the era's artistic achievement, as Pope Julius II envisioned Vatican City as the cultural center of Europe, reflecting the glories of Christendom and rivaling the splendor of ancient Rome. A leading art patron, he commissioned Raphael to paint religious and classical frescoes in his papal residence and Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel, combining biblical scenes with figures taken from Greek mythology.

The widespread humanist belief in the ideal of the Renaissance man, and the artist as a genius, meant that the leading artists created masterworks in a number of fields, from painting to architecture to scientific invention to city planning. Michelangelo was profoundly influenced by the discovery of the classical sculpture Laocoon (c. 42-20 BC), an excavation he supervised under the Pope's patronage.

Northern European Renaissance

In Northern Europe, while influenced by the Italians, Renaissance Humanism was primarily connected with the works of the Dutch Desiderius Erasmus and the German Conrad Celtis. A Catholic priest, Erasmus was called "the Prince of the Humanists," and his wide ranging work included new translations from Greek and Latin of The New Testament (1516), In Praise of Folly (1511) a satirical look at religion, and Adagia (1508) a collection of Latin and Greek proverbs. He argued for what he called "the middle way," a path bridging knowledge and faith, as well as Christianity and Humanism. Northern European Humanists had a great influence upon the development of the Protestant Reformation, as the emphasis on a person's pursuit of knowledge, reason, and a study of the liberal arts, extended into religion, developing a focus on the individual's relationship with God, rather than a mediating church. As a result less emphasis was given to classical texts and to classical subject matter, and the focus was often on ethics, the individual in society and community, and observation of the natural world and ordinary human life. Portraiture and self-portraiture, landscape painting, and genre scenes or elements, became distinguishing features of Northern European Renaissance art that was led by the likes of Albrecht Dürer and Jan van Eyck .

Concepts and Trends

Renaissance man.

The concept of the Renaissance Man was first advanced by the architect Leon Battista Alberti as he wrote of the Uomo Universale, or Universal Man, reflecting his belief that "a man can do all things if he will." The ancient Greeks, many of whom were polymaths excelling in philosophy, mathematics, engineering, and art, were seen as role models. Alberti himself exemplified the concept as he was also a leading poet, mathematician, scientist, classicist, cryptographer, and linguist and known for his physical prowess and skill as a horseman. As the critic James Beck wrote, "to single out one of Leon Battista's 'fields' over others as somehow functionally independent and self-sufficient is of no help at all to any effort to characterize Alberti's extensive explorations in the fine arts."

Many of the Renaissance's leading artists excelled in a number of fields, as seen by Michelangelo's work in sculpture, painting, architecture, and poetry, or Brunelleschi's architectural designs. Informed by his knowledge of mathematics, perspective, and engineering, Leonardo da Vinci became legendary as the model of the Renaissance Man. His discoveries crossed the fields of science, music, anatomy, geology, astronomy, botany, paleontology, and cartography, being surpassed only by his artistic achievements. As art historian Helen Gardner wrote, "his mind and personality seem to us superhuman, while the man himself mysterious and remote." When Giorgio Vasari published his The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects (1550), the ideal was further established and forever linked to the concept of the artist as an almost divinely inspired genius. Rather than skilled craftsmen, artists were seen as having an innate and exceptional gift that, driven by tireless curiosity and an inexhaustible creative imagination, could conquer any task.

At the same time, another effect was a valuing of the individual, irrespective of class or wealth, as the gift of genius could strike anywhere. The English Renaissance poet and playwright Shakespeare expressed this sentiment perfectly in Hamlet (1603): "What a piece of work is man, How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty, In form and moving how express and admirable, In action how like an Angel, In apprehension how like a god, The beauty of the world, The paragon of animals."

As the historian Paul Oscar Kristeller wrote, Humanists saw the classical legacy as "the common standard and model by which to guide all cultural activity." As the philosophy took hold, an emphasis on education in the humanities and the liberal arts spread throughout society. The word humanism originated in the Italian phrase, studia humanitatis , or study of human endeavors, introduced by Leonardo Bruni who wrote History of the Florentine People (1442), considered the first modern history book. He divided history into three periods: Antiquity, Middle Age, and Modern, and saw the Middle Age as a dark age, even though that era was defined and dominated by the Christian church. Humanism, combined with a study of classical texts, became a secularizing influence, developing a new curriculum that saw the modern age as awakening from a dark age to the light of antiquity.

Scientific Inquiry

The dialogues of Plato introduced humanists to Socrates, who was famously reported to have said that he was the wisest of men only because he knew nothing. His philosophical method emphasized inquiry and challenging assumed knowledge with an ardent round of questioning. As a result, Humanism valued skepticism, enquiry, and scientific exploration, countering its other impulse toward reverence of antiquity. As a result, observation of natural phenomena and experimentation drove the humanists: for example artists including da Vinci and Michelangelo studied human anatomy, engaging in autopsies on corpses, even though forbidden by the Catholic church. Art and science became equally important and often codependent endeavors.

Later Developments

Many of the concepts of Renaissance Humanism, from its emphasis on the individual to its concept of the genius, the importance of education, the viability of the classics, and its simultaneous pursuit of art and science became foundational to Western culture. As a result, subsequent artistic eras often defined themselves in comparison or in reaction to the principles, subject matter, and aesthetic values and concepts of Humanism.

Mannerist painting, reacting against Renaissance Humanism's classical ideals of proportion and illusionistic space, created disproportionate figures in flat often-crowded settings with uncertain perspective. In contrast, the art of the Baroque period returned to classical principles of figuration and perspective, while emphasizing naturalistic rather than idealized treatments. Yet, both Mannerism and Baroque eras built upon the mythological subject matter of Humanism, though further secularizing it, and took individualism as a tenet that drove the movement toward the psychological and the idiosyncratic.

This back and forth continued in subsequent eras, as the Rococo period, known for its light-hearted and pastel depictions of the individual in aristocratic life or in genres focused on ordinary people was followed by the Neoclassical period, which, once again, emphasized the classical principles and heroic subject matter of ancient Rome. Nevertheless, the concepts of Renaissance Humanism continued to be foundational and were subsequently developed, as the spirit of experimentation, inquiry, and discovery fueled the Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason. Individualism developed into the feeling and imagination of the Romantic era, and, combined with the concept of the republic and civic virtue and public education, informed American independence and the French Revolution.

Artists like Michelangelo, da Vinci, Botticelli, and architects like Brunelleschi, Alberti, and Palladio, were viewed as masters informing subsequent generations of artists, whether reinterpreting their works or challenging them. For instance, Salvador Dalí revisited both Albrecht Dürer's iconic Rhinoceros print and da Vinci's Last Supper in Surrealist configurations. Cindy Sherman photographed herself in the pose of Caravaggio's Sick Bacchus , while Nat Krate has reconfigured da Vinci's work in her Vitruvian Woman (1989).

Useful Resources on Renaissance Humanism

• Humanism and the Culture of Renaissance Europe (New Approaches to European History) By Charles G. Nauert
• The Culture of the High Renaissance: Ancients and Moderns in Sixteenth-Century Rome By Ingrid D. Rowland
• Renaissance Humanism: An Anthology of Sources By Margaret L. King
• BBC The Medici Makers of Modern Art complete mp4
• Documentary: The High Renaissance
• BBC Northern Renaissance 01 The Supreme Art
• The Medici Family and the Florentine Renaissance Rick Steves

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Content compiled and written by Rebecca Seiferle

Edited and revised, with Summary and Accomplishments added by Kimberly Nichols

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Humanism: The Heart of the Renaissance

The Renaissance, a vibrant period from the 14th to the 17th century, is often eulogized as the epoch of rejuvenation in myriad domains, including art, philosophy, and the sciences. Within this blossoming milieu, a seminal movement germinated to redefine the contours of European thought – humanism. This was not merely a fleeting trend or a superficial artistic inclination. Instead, humanism represented a profound paradigm shift, a recalibration of perspective that sought to position humans, with all their complexities and capacities, at the center of intellectual and artistic endeavors. This chapter delves into the genesis of humanism, seeking to elucidate the intricate tapestry of historical, philosophical, and cultural threads that wove together to birth this transformative movement. As we journey through the annals of the Renaissance, we will uncover how humanism evolved not just as a counterpoint to medieval scholasticism but as a dynamic, resonant philosophy that celebrated every individual’s intrinsic worth and potential.

Table of content

Origin and Growth of Humanist Thought

Humanism’s nascent beginnings can be traced back to the studia humanitatis, an educational curriculum grounded in the classics – works of ancient Greek and Roman literary, historical, and philosophical luminaries. These writings imbued with timeless wisdom, beckoned a new generation of scholars known as humanists. Nevertheless, their pursuit was not a mere academic exercise in antiquarianism; it was a fervent quest to retrieve the quintessence of human experience and wisdom from the gilded pages of antiquity.

The rise of humanist thought was partly a reaction against the dominant scholastic tradition of the Middle Ages, which often veered into arcane theological debates, at times neglecting tangible human experience. Humanists championed a return to the original texts, eschewing the often convoluted commentaries that had accrued over centuries. This reverence for the primary sources, known as ad fontes (to the sources), was a hallmark of humanist methodology.

Humanism found fertile ground in Italy, especially within the cultural crucibles of Florence and Rome. Visionaries like Petrarch and Boccaccio scoured monastic libraries, unearthing forgotten manuscripts of the ancients. Their original and translated writings catalyzed a ripple effect across Europe. Educational institutions began integrating these classics, fostering a critical inquiry and eloquent expression culture. Consequently, the humanist movement evolved into a pan-European phenomenon, breathing fresh life into literature, art, and intellectual discourse.

This era also bore witness to the Printing Revolution. The invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in the mid-15th century was instrumental in disseminating humanist texts at an unprecedented scale, further galvanizing the growth and reach of humanist ideas. As these texts became more accessible, a wider audience spanning various social strata engaged with the ancients’ rejuvenated wisdom, heralding an intellectual democratization age.

Thus, what began as an academic endeavor, a yearning to reconnect with the intellectual heritage of antiquity, blossomed into a robust, transformative movement. Humanism, emphasizing rationality, eloquence, and the tangible experiences of humanity, steered European thought out of the medieval quagmire and into the luminous dawn of the Renaissance.

The Impact on Art and Science

As the waves of humanist thought ebbed and flowed across the continent, they profoundly sculpted the landscapes of art and science, arenas where the human experience, in all its facets, became the paramount muse and metric.

In art, the humanistic ethos translated into a relentless pursuit of verisimilitude. No longer were figures painted as mere symbols or stylized representations; they emerged on canvases as vibrant, emotive beings, intimately ensnared in the tapestries of their environment and experiences. This ethos is exemplified by the works of the High Renaissance maestros – Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo. Their masterpieces, such as the “Last Supper,” the “School of Athens,” and the Sistine Chapel ceiling, bear testimony to the nuanced interplay of light, shadow, anatomy, and emotion, all harmoniously melded to capture the quintessence of the human spirit.

The revolution was not restricted to visual representation alone. Techniques like linear perspective, pioneered by artists like Brunelleschi, sought to mimic how the human eye perceived the world, transporting viewers into the very heart of the depicted scenes. Sculptors, too, embraced this human-centric approach. Donatello’s “David,” with its meticulous attention to anatomical detail and palpable aura of youthful defiance, is a testament to the Renaissance’s sculptural prowess.

Parallelly, the winds of change ushered in a seismic shift in the bastions of science. The humanist emphasis on empirical observation and the experiential knowledge of the natural world began suppressing the unquestioned allegiance to ancient authorities. Figures like Copernicus and Galileo, equipped with this reinvigorated methodology, dared to challenge the celestial orthodoxy of the time. Copernicus’s heliocentric model, which posited the sun rather than the Earth at the center of the universe, and Galileo’s telescopic observations, which further cemented this revolutionary cosmology, were not just scientific advances; they were audacious assertions of human capability to discern, understand, and reinterpret the cosmos.

Alchemy, the precursor to modern chemistry, underwent its metamorphosis. Pioneers like Paracelsus challenged traditional methodologies, advocating instead for experimentation and observation. This transition from speculative musings to empirical science laid the bedrock for future endeavors, heralding an era where humanity’s relationship with nature transitioned from passive contemplation to active exploration.

In essence, both art and science, during this luminescent epoch, were unified by a singular thread: an unwavering commitment to understanding, portraying, and celebrating the human experience in all its glory and complexity. The Renaissance, cradled in the arms of humanism, forever transformed how we perceive ourselves and the universe that surrounds us.

Humanism’s Influence on Politics and Society

Humanism’s tendrils extended far beyond the ateliers of artists and scientists’ laboratories. It reached into the chambers of power, reshaping the very bedrock of political thought and the societal structures that held civilizations aloft.

In an age dominated by feudal hierarchies and the divine right of kings, humanism infused a rejuvenating spirit of egalitarianism. The notion of individual worth became a powerful counter-narrative, subtly eroding the entrenched bastions of aristocratic privilege. Renaissance cities like Florence, under the aegis of the Medici dynasty, exemplified this transformation. Here, governance was not merely the preserve of the elite; civic participation became a cherished ideal, and politics a public discourse.

Niccolò Machiavelli, one of the period’s most incisive political thinkers, penned The Prince – a magnum opus grappling with statecraft’s gritty realities. While often misconstrued as a handbook for despotic rule, at its heart, Machiavelli’s treatise echoed the humanistic ethos. It heralded a shift from divinely ordained rulership to a more pragmatic, human-centered approach that recognized human nature’s complexities and vicissitudes.

Nevertheless, the waves of change were not limited to grand palazzos or courtly intrigues. They permeated the cobblestoned streets and bustling marketplaces. A burgeoning middle class, comprising merchants, craftsmen, and scholars, became potent catalysts for societal transformation. Their ascent, fueled by commerce and knowledge, presented an alternative to the age-old aristocratic order. The very fabric of society began to weave new patterns, with merit and capability occasionally overshadowing birthright.

Furthermore, the humanist focus on education germinated the seeds for societal democratization. Schools, no longer exclusive sanctuaries for the elite, opened their doors wider. The curriculum, too, underwent a metamorphosis. The trivium and quadrivium – the foundational liberal arts of the Middle Ages – expanded to encompass humanistic studies, thus nurturing well-rounded citizens equipped with the tools of rhetoric, logic, and critical thought.

Although ensnared in the strictures of patriarchal norms, women began to find avenues for intellectual and artistic expression. Figures like Christine de Pizan, with her pioneering works on women’s rights, exemplified the era’s slowly widening horizons.

In summation, humanism was not just an esoteric philosophy confined to dusty tomes or grand frescoes but a pulsating, living force that reshaped societies and governance. It championed the inherent worth of every individual, propelling the Western world towards a future where humanity would stand at the heart of all endeavors.

The Legacy of Humanism

The echoing reverberations of humanism, originating from the sun-drenched piazzas of Renaissance Italy, still resound in the annals of modern civilization, informing and influencing a gamut of disciplines, ideologies, and societal frameworks.

The Enlightenment, often dubbed the “Age of Reason,” was the direct progeny of Renaissance humanism. Philosophers such as Voltaire, Rousseau, and Kant, armed with the humanistic fervor for individual rights and rational thought, championed principles of liberty, equality, and fraternity. Their discourses laid the philosophical underpinnings for many modern democratic systems, underscoring the notion that governance should serve the governed, valuing each citizen’s intrinsic rights and dignities.

The humanist legacy flourished in literature, birthing genres that celebrated the human experience in all its multifaceted splendor. As an art form, the novel’s intricate explorations of individual psyche and societal dynamics owe much to the humanistic emphasis on personal narratives. With his magisterial Don Quixote, writers like Cervantes showcased the intricate dance between reality and perception, a theme deeply rooted in humanist ideals.

Educationally, the ethos of a well-rounded curriculum, emphasizing both arts and sciences, is a direct bequest from humanist pedagogies. Today’s liberal arts institutions, focusing on cultivating holistic, critical thinkers, are the torchbearers of this legacy.

Furthermore, humanism’s emphasis on archival research and returning to original texts laid the groundwork for modern historiography. In their quest for primary sources and unbiased recounting, today’s historians are unwitting disciples of the humanist methodology.

On a more personal, introspective level, the tenets of humanism resonate in our contemporary emphasis on self-awareness and personal growth. The culture of self-help, personal development, and the pursuit of a meaningful, purposeful life are all echoes of the humanist belief in the immense potential and worth of the individual.

Conclusively, while the ornate frescoes and classical sculptures of the Renaissance may seem distant and ethereal, their principles of humanism remain vibrantly alive, coursing through the veins of contemporary thought and culture. This movement, born amidst the Renaissance’s intellectual efflorescence, is a testament to humanity’s perennial quest for understanding, meaning, and progress.

Revisiting the Renaissance

When one stands at the nexus of time, gazing backward at the epochal tapestry of the Renaissance, it is not merely the breathtaking artistry or groundbreaking discoveries that captivate the soul; it is the indomitable spirit of humanism that emerges as the era’s luminous beacon. With its unwavering faith in the quintessential human experience, this ethos became the crucible in which much of modern Western thought, culture, and identity was forged.

The Renaissance, often encapsulated as a revival of classical learning, was, at its core, a profound awakening – a dawning realization of the potential, agency, and intrinsic value residing within every individual. This was a clarion call for personal empowerment, self-reflection, and intellectual liberation in an age dominated by dogma and feudal constraint.

Today, as we navigate the intricate challenges of the 21st century, the Renaissance serves as both a mirror and a beacon. It reflects our aspirations, struggles, and potential, reminding us of the heights humanity can scale when unfettered by prejudice and empowered by knowledge. It beckons us to recognize that true progress – whether in art, science, politics, or society – is invariably rooted in a deep understanding and appreciation of the human journey, with all its nuances and intricacies.

In this dance of time, as the past intermingles with the present, the humanism of the Renaissance emerges not as a historical relic but as a timeless compass. It urges us to be perennially curious, relentlessly inquisitive, and compassionate. For within the heart of the Renaissance lies a simple yet profound truth: To understand the world and shape its future, one must first and foremost understand, respect, and cherish the human spirit.

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How the Renaissance Challenged the Church and Influenced the Reformation

By: Lesley Kennedy

Updated: July 11, 2023 | Original: September 27, 2021

The Renaissance , roughly spanning the 14th to 17th centuries, marked a time of cultural, intellectual and scientific advances. From European discoveries of continents and shipping routes to new views of mathematics and astronomy to the advent of the printing press , the period of "rebirth" following the Middle Ages was marked by changing ideas, enduring masterpieces of architecture, art and literature (it was the time of Shakespeare , Galileo , da Vinci and Machiavelli )—and a movement toward political and religious freedoms.

The shift toward political and religious freedom in turn, helped spawn the Reformation movement , which caused a divide within the powerful Catholic Church , leading many Europeans to turn to then-new Protestant faith.

An Era of New Ideas

Stefania Tutino , a history professor at UCLA and intellectual and cultural historian of post-Reformation Catholicism, says the Reformation and Renaissance were two parallel but intertwined movements.

“The former concerned the theological nature and ecclesiological structure of the true Church of Christ,” she says. “The latter concerned the renewal of some key cultural, intellectual and artistic principles in light of the fact that what used to make sense in the Middle Ages was now no longer appropriate or useful or inspiring for a society that had seen many fundamental changes.”

According to Tutino, scientific advancements, including 15th- and 16th-century alternatives to the traditional Aristotelian physics and cosmology, and technological innovations such as the printing press , were important factors of novelty.

“Both Renaissance and Reformation were born out of the realization that the 'old' Medieval order was no longer sustainable, and scientific discoveries and technological innovations were some of the elements that made it clear just how inadequate the old structures were,” she says.

The Humanism Movement

The Renaissance included an intellectual movement known as Humanism. Among its many principles, humanism promoted the idea that humans are at the center of their own universe and should embrace human achievements in education, classical arts, literature and science. As part of this philosophy, scholars, authors, political leaders and others sought to revive the study of Greek and Latin classics.

“Many humanists began applying these principles to the study of the Bible and consequently to the political, cultural, liturgical and theological principles according to which the hierarchy of the Catholic Church governed its flock,” Tutino says. “In the process, a few humanists found much to criticize, and some of their criticisms echoed those of (Martin) Luther and other early Protestant leaders.”

However, she adds, while the aims and goals of the Humanist and Reformation movements were fundamentally different, “there were also areas in which the two of them met.”

According to Ada Palmer, associate professor of early modern European history at the University of Chicago, the Humanism movement broadened the palette of ideas people were thinking about.

“The movement began as an interest in reading the texts of ancient Greece and Rome because Europe—especially Italy— had become so war-torn, desperate and unstable that people really wanted a solution,” she says.

Because ancient Rome was powerful and stable with long periods of strength and unity, Palmer adds, it was believed that reading ancient books from that period might teach people how to replicate Rome's success.

“So they started seeking ancient texts and translating, reading and copying them, until having antiques became something that signaled political power and political ambition,” she says. “Soon everyone who's anyone had to have a classical library as a way of showcasing power.”

But while the goal of increasing stability failed, according to Palmer, one of the unintended effects of the movement was a new demand for books, which led Gutenberg to invent the printing press.

“It also meant there were a whole lot more ideas about big questions like how the world works, how the world was made, what good and bad actions are, how religion works, etc,” she says. “And it also meant they studied Greek more and realized that their old translations of the Bible and other texts had been wrong in a lot of places, and they started making new translations and corrections.”

Martin Luther and Protestantism

Palmer says the Reformation was a climax of long, slow processes which had started before the Renaissance, including the corruption of the Catholic Church. In her forthcoming book on the Renaissance, she describes a “prisoner’s dilemma.” “Bribing the pope or bishop was a huge advantage in politics,” she says. “Anyone who did so would win in a conflict, so no one could afford to not bribe the pope because if anyone else bribed the pope you were doomed.”

Disillusioned by the bribery and other corruptions of the church, including indulgences, which allowed citizens to buy absolution from sins, the German monk Martin Luther wrote the 95 Theses in 1517, allegedly nailing them to the chapel door at the University of Wittenberg in Saxony.

“The gradual accumulation of corruption eventually meant that indulgences were the last straw that broke the camel's back,” Palmer says.

The Power of the Printing Press

The printing press allowed the theses to be widely and quickly distributed throughout Europe, and although he was labeled a heretic by the church and excommunicated by Pope Leo X in 1521, Luther’s words connected with many.

“ Luther hit the right moment to be the first pamphlet star preacher, like being one of the first star bloggers, or star YouTubers, and he hit the right political situation for the governments of the region he was in to see him as a great excuse to do something they wanted to do anyway: get out of the giant papal prisoner's dilemma,” Palmer explains.

In this way, Palmer says, the intellectual movements of the Renaissance led to Reformation—by stimulating the demand for books and encouraging people to read more and to think about how to reform the present. This included re-reading the Bible, as Luther did.

Luther, who went on to found the Lutheran Church, translated the New Testament into German. His translation played a part in initiating the split in the Catholic Church into those loyal to the pope and Protestants and those who protested the rules of the Catholic Church.

At roughly the same time, in 1534, King Henry VIII caused further division within the Catholic Church when he made himself head of the Church of England after Pope Clement VII would not allow him to divorce Catherine of Aragon .

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Humanism In The Renaissance Essay

The Renaissance is marked as the rebirth of ancient culture for the aristocratic class that lived in Italy, England, and France circa 1350-1650. This is an era in which the term, Renaissance humanism emerged. What is humanism as it relates to the Renaissance? Well, this form of “Humanism can be defined as a movement that encourages the study of form and content of classical learning. Renaissance humanists were obsessed with the recovery, study, interpretation, and transmission of the intellectual heritage of ancient Greece and Rome” (Zophy 71).

This period is seen as a cultural and artistic movement in which people spoke of revolutionary ideas and great works of art from individuals such as, Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci. But, the Renaissance for a plethora of people also marks the birth of what is known as the modern world, the many events that were involved (the explorations and conquests of Columbus, Cortes and Pizzaro; the development of commercial trade, and the emergence of capitalism, etc. ), and of many intellectual figures (Luther, Machiavelli, etc. .

With all of these great developments that took place during this period, one could say that the people living in this era existed in a golden age, where everyone coexisted on a plane of equality; sadly, this is not the case. Many cultural and social developments emerged as a result of the Renaissance, and society did in fact flourish, but with it came a plethora of social oppression, and inequalities. The individuals that often suffered the most from social injustices were women.

The ideal woman of this time, according to scholars such as Christine de Pizan, and Castiglione, was often regarded as one that was well educated, well versed in the classics, able to dance, compose music, and be elegant in nature; however, they were barred from seeking fame, fortune, and were disallowed to take part in public life. For the most part, women contributed little to nothing towards political, economic, and social influences. “Scholarship, like most public activities of this time, was considered a man’s field during the Renaissance and the centuries that preceded it” (Zophy 76).

Indeed, only 186 European laywomen have been identified as book owners during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries” (Zophy 76). Only women that belonged to the elite were allowed to engage in such activities, and even then, it was quite rare; if you were a laywoman, then your options were ever more limited; it was either marriage or the cloister, and even with this, they were still harshly oppressed by men. To be a woman of the renaissance, meant a life full of rough and jagged paths; it was a life full of many quarrels and obstacles to be traversed in order to make a name for themselves.

It was in Italy, under the influence of Petrarch and Boccaccio, who translated Homer into Latin, was born in this mode, the humanist movement. Soon, dozens of authors began to emulate them, triggering an “infatuation for Plato,” to the point that in 1445 an Academy is founded solely to the study of this philosopher. And it is in this fashion, this rediscovery, that all thinkers of the Renaissance will feast, and take a new look at the nature of women; which is quite logical when you consider the role of women in ancient society.

Did not Aristotle doubt that women even had a soul? Did not Plato see the female as too base of a being (to be a partner of love, which is to say of engaging in the sexual act)? Furthermore, being a man during this period was not a necessarily a vice, but to place man over everything, and to revolve the entirety of humanistic thought around him, in essence, leads to a depreciation of the woman. Hereinafter, derived from this mode of humanistic thought, the term “Women’s Quarrel” came about, which in turn confirmed the state in which women lived during this period.

What is the ‘Women’s Quarrel? ” Well, it “was a long continuous literary battle between authors who attacked women and those who defended them” (Women Can Be Priests). Triggered by a lawyer, who proposed a new form of marriage contract, the Quarrel animated a plethora of intellectual circles, which lasted for thirty years during the sixteenth century. This movement led to a reflection on the woman, her status, and education. The initiator of the Quarrel, Andre Tiraqueau, affirms the necessity of a mutual relationship amongst males and females when it comes to marriage.

This statement of Tiraqueau, clearly affirmed the superiority of men over the woman, which according to Catherine Claude, “giving a protective role to the husband, since he is superior to the woman. ” This statement is inasmuch a restatement of the message that Tiraqueau wanted to send. The controversy, moderated by other humanist thinkers, will then overtime bring into existence a period in which an emphasis, and newly found appreciation for feminine virtues, and of course, to their faults as well, to a need for the education of women – which was already spoken of in this era by women such as, Christine de Pizan and Marguerite de Navarre.

Nothing really interesting came about from this famous Quarrel, if not the superiority, sustained by all, a finite family model structured in the fashion of male patriarchy. Conversely, if this mode of humanistic thought even at one point served in favor of the fairer sex, women often played the role of conductor, and a type of catalyst for intellectual thought in scholarly avenues. Indeed, while politically, women no longer had a minor role to play, many of them will distinguish themselves on a philosophical an artistic level.

So it is with Marguerite de Navarre, Francis l’s sister, born to a mother who placed an importance to education, which in time prompts Marguerite to study Hebrew, Latin, philosophy, theology and foreign languages: a “load” that would make her a major figure amongst intellectual circles. With a heightened interest for women scholarship, poetry, and a righteous cause stirring in the souls of many, the “Women’s Quarrel” will eventually make its way into the court of Navarre. This place is known by many historians as being an active home for intellectual discourse for humanistic thinkers of this time.

Here, Navarre ensures the friendship and services of scholars such as, Robert Estienne, Clement Marot, and even Francois Rabelais. In this mode, Navarra follows and aids in the ambitions of the women living in this era. Overtime, images of great figures such as, Eleanor of Aquitaine have even made its way into the castle of Marguerite de Navarre herself. Conversely, the beautiful Paule de Viguier, a widow and very wealthy individual will go as far as to use her fortune, and reputation to draw out on Navarre’s walls, as she aims to lay out in full the beauty and magnificence of the feminine soul.

Indeed, women existed in an era where men viewed them as inferiors, and only a handful of women were able to break through the glass ceilings of this era. The women of the renaissance faced much hardship, and even after so many reforms, one is often left asking if they even enjoyed, or in better terms had a renaissance at all. If you were a laywoman, then your options for a happy and prosperous life were ever more limited. To be a woman of the renaissance, meant a life full of rough and jagged paths; it was a life full of many obstacles to be traversed.

Nevertheless, the women of this age refused to back down, and even managed to make a name for themselves. The life of the woman was indeed unexamined for quite a long time, but began to be examined as more women began to question their roles, and economical standing amongst men. So to answer the question that is often asked by many, “Did women even have a Renaissance? ” Yes, they did have a Renaissance, although not as prosperous as men, they were to a certain degree, able to express themselves all the more. An extent that was expressed through an avenue of les Querelle de Femmes.

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How Humanism Affected Art in the Renaissance

This essay about the profound influence of Humanism on Renaissance art, emphasizing how it transformed artistic expression. Through the exploration of the human form, emotions, and perspective, Renaissance artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo captured the essence of humanity. Humanism inspired a deep dive into anatomy, psychology, and geometric principles, resulting in lifelike depictions and immersive compositions. By celebrating the beauty and complexity of the human experience, Renaissance art became a powerful reflection of the intellectual and cultural currents of the time.

How it works

In the grand tapestry of history, the Renaissance stands as a testament to the resilience of human ingenuity and creativity. At its heart lay the profound influence of Humanism, a philosophical current that swept across Europe, igniting a fervent desire to rediscover the essence of humanity itself. This intellectual awakening rippled through every facet of society, but perhaps nowhere was its impact more keenly felt than in the realm of art.

Picture, if you will, the bustling workshops of Renaissance Italy, where artists toiled tirelessly in pursuit of perfection, guided by the guiding light of Humanist ideals.

In their quest to capture the essence of the human form, masters such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo turned their gaze inward, delving deep into the mysteries of anatomy and physiology. Through painstaking study and observation, they sought not merely to depict the outward appearance of their subjects, but to reveal the very essence of what it means to be human.

Yet Humanism was not merely concerned with the physical; it sought to plumb the depths of the human psyche, to lay bare the rich tapestry of emotions that lie beneath the surface. In works such as Raphael’s “The School of Athens,” we see the culmination of this exploration, as figures from antiquity come to life, their faces alive with thought and feeling. Through their art, these masters sought to transcend the limitations of time and space, inviting us to contemplate the universal truths that bind us all together.

And what of perspective, that most elusive of artistic techniques? Here too, Humanism played a crucial role, inspiring artists to explore new ways of representing the world around them. Drawing upon the principles of geometry and optics, they created illusions of depth and dimensionality that had previously been unimaginable. The result was a revolution in artistic expression, as canvases came alive with a sense of vitality and movement never before seen.

In the end, the legacy of Humanism in Renaissance art is one of profound transformation. Through their tireless pursuit of knowledge and understanding, the artists of the Renaissance opened up new avenues of exploration and expression, paving the way for the great artistic movements that would follow. In their hands, art ceased to be a mere reflection of the world; it became a window into the very soul of humanity itself.

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Macron, Battling the Far Right at Home, Pushes for a Stronger Europe

In a major speech, France’s president returned to a familiar theme, warning that “Our Europe is mortal” if it does not become more self-sufficient.

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By Roger Cohen and Aurelien Breeden

Challenged by the extreme right and perhaps more vulnerable than at any time in his presidency, Emmanuel Macron of France sought renewed momentum on Thursday through a sweeping speech on the need for a more assertive Europe, a theme that he has pressed with urgency since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The nearly two-hour speech reflected Mr. Macron’s conviction that only a reinforced and “sovereign” European Union — a “Europe power,” as he puts it — can save the continent from strategic irrelevancy in an unstable world that is dominated by the United States and China and confronting wars in Europe and the Middle East.

“We must be lucid about the fact that our Europe is mortal,” Mr. Macron declared before an audience of government ministers, European ambassadors and other dignitaries. “It can die. It can die and whether it does depends entirely on our choices.”

The speech, at the Sorbonne University in Paris, was a follow-up to one that Mr. Macron gave in the same location in September 2017 . Then, Mr. Macron discussed the future of Europe and the European Union as a young, recently elected and disruptive president still enjoying a political honeymoon. Today, without an absolute majority in Parliament, and with his popularity falling after seven years in office, he has become a divisive figure and has struggled over the past two years to give direction to his second term.

Coming less than two months before elections to the European Parliament on June 9, Mr. Macron’s decision to speak out was widely seen as a bid to boost his centrist Renaissance party, which is placing second in the latest polls behind the far-right National Rally party led by Jordan Bardella.

Mr. Macron described a world at “a turning point,” in which a Europe that could no longer depend on America for its security, on Russia for its energy and on China for its industrial production must become more strategically autonomous, technologically innovative and militarily resilient.

“We are too slow and not ambitious enough,” he said, proposing that only through “power, prosperity and humanism” could Europe set out a distinctive model for the world. It should “never be a vassal of the United States,” he said, without making any radically new proposals.

There have been significant advances toward greater European integration since Mr. Macron’s first speech, which was in some ways prescient. The Covid pandemic saw Germany break a longstanding taboo and back the issuing of European joint debt, and the war in Ukraine has spurred increased European spending on defense, something Mr. Macron has long called for to reduce reliance on American military power.

But, always impatient with what he considers lazy thinking, as when he described NATO as suffering from “brain death” in 2019 because it had not adjusted to a changed world, Mr. Macron has also irked some of his European partners with his bold declarations. Not everyone in Europe is convinced that it is Mr. Macron’s role to lead the 27-member union to a different future.

Recently, the always difficult relationship between Mr. Macron and Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany has been roiled by differences over the war in Ukraine and how to manage the United States. Mr. Scholz was incensed by Mr. Macron’s recent suggestion that the deployment of Western troops in Ukraine could not be ruled out, a statement the president said on Thursday that he “stands by absolutely.”

“The essential condition of our security is that Russia not win its war of aggression against Ukraine,” Mr. Macron said.

Mr. Macron reiterated his support for the creation of a European “rapid deployment” force of about 5,000 military personnel, which was outlined by the E.U. in 2022 as a way to respond to external crises. It is expected to be fully operational in 2025. He also expressed support for the creation of a “European military academy” to improve coordination between European armies. E.U. member states, he said, should prioritize buying European military equipment over foreign materiel.

These are familiar themes from the president, who has struggled to overcome an image of aloofness. It was far from clear that his lofty visions, at a time of economic difficulty for many French people, would do anything to dent the popularity of Mr. Bardella, the far right’s 28-year-old prodigal son.

The longtime barrier against the far right coming to power, built around the broad conviction that the National Front (now the National Rally) was a danger to the republic, has collapsed as the party has become the largest single opposition force in Parliament.

“Our opponent in this European election is Emmanuel Macron, and I am telling French people that what we have to achieve on June 9 is set limits for the president of the republic,” Mr. Bardella said in a televised appearance on Thursday, before Mr. Macron’s speech. Mr. Bardella’s themes — anti-immigration rhetoric, the need for greater security and the fight against inflation — have resonated with an anxious France.

Mr. Bardella is the protégé of Marine Le Pen, the perennial far-right candidate for the presidency. His popularity has increased the chances that she may succeed Mr. Macron, who is term-limited, in 2027, or even that he become a presidential candidate himself.

Clearly taking aim at the extreme right, Mr. Macron said that “liberal democracy is not a given" and that the rule of law, an independent press, free universities, the rights of minorities and the separation of powers were being “denied” in too many European countries. He celebrated Poland as an example of an E.U. member turning its back on illiberalism, after its recent election that saw a centrist victory over the governing nationalist party.

Mr. Macron also said that he hoped to see the right to abortion enshrined in the European Union’s charter of fundamental rights; France last month became the first country in the world to protect access to abortion in its Constitution .

Aides to Mr. Macron insisted that the Sorbonne was not a campaign stop, arguing that Mr. Macron wanted to influence the European Union’s overarching strategic agenda for the next five years, which is expected to be decided by E.U. leaders after the June elections.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, in line with French government practice, they said that the crises that have gripped the world since his first speech in 2017 demonstrated that Mr. Macron was right in his insistence that Europe needs to be the master of its own destiny by shaking off technological and industrial dependencies, especially on China and the United States.

Anxiety is widespread in Europe that the American presidential election in November could result in a victory for former President Donald J. Trump, whose “America First” program and skepticism over NATO have increased concerns over European military and strategic dependency on the United States. For Mr. Macron, these developments have been a form of vindication of his seven-year-old warnings.

Roger Cohen is the Paris Bureau chief for The Times, covering France and beyond. He has reported on wars in Lebanon, Bosnia and Ukraine, and between Israel and Gaza, in more than four decades as a journalist. At The Times, he has been a correspondent, foreign editor and columnist. More about Roger Cohen

Aurelien Breeden is a reporter for The Times in Paris, covering news from France. More about Aurelien Breeden

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New American Technology: Project Maven was meant to revolutionize modern warfare. But the conflict in Ukraine has underscored  how difficult it is to get 21st-century data into 19th-century trenches.

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Our team of visual journalists analyzes satellite images, photographs , videos and radio transmissions  to independently confirm troop movements and other details.

We monitor and authenticate reports on social media, corroborating these with eyewitness accounts and interviews. Read more about our reporting efforts .