Renaissance

3 Pages 653 Words

Before the time of the Renaissance, society, and people of the society were humble and modest. They left their great works anonymous and devoted and accredited God to all they were capable of doing. Christian humility strongly discouraged the idea of self-absorption, accordingly, throughout the Middle Ages, the recognition of such remarkable individuals were limited.
By the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, people began to glorify themselves and take pride in their uniqueness. This mentality was far different from that of the one where God was the reason for the greatness that one was capable of. People actually started to believe in their talent and recognize it. “…They had enormous confidence in their ability to achieve great things.” Leon Battista Alberti, a writer, architect, and mathematician made the remark, “Men can do all things if they will.” This concept of thinking displayed the ideas of self-confidence and self-worth. Although this self-confidence can sometimes be mistaken for arrogance, it was simply a time when people realized all that they were capable of and that they did posses qualities that others didn’t and were proud.
Many of the paintings, for example, Boticellis’s Portrait of a Youth, displays all of the characteristics that young men were thought to posses. The way the eyebrows are tilted, and they way his hand is across his chest, and the other examples of his body language all display self-confidence and self-worth. This theme is found commonly in the characters of many of the paintings created at that time.
At the time of the Renaissance, the revival of interest in antiquity, the recovery of manuscripts, statues, and monuments were greatly publicized and important. The aspect of the Renaissance of those that took a serious approach to the study of Latin classics became known as the “new learning,” or simply “humanism”. Humanism was the philosophical backbone of the Ren...