Essay Example on Southern & Northern Renaissance Art: Secular & Religious Differences

Introduction

In the Renaissance period, there was a variation in artwork depending on the region. In other words, there was the Southern Art and Northern Art. On the other hand, during the time these two regions differ based on cultural values. The Southern Renaissance was more secular compared to the Northern Renaissance which was more religious. In other words. The Sothern Renaissance included Italy in modern times while the Northern Renaissance consisted of countries such as Germany and England. The Renaissance improved the popularity of art as well as other fields of studies, including architecture, literature, and religion. Compared to the North, the Southern Renaissance had a very different outlook on the perception of art. In most cases, the Southern artists created paintings about the Roman mythologies, Greg eek, gods and goddesses. All these paintings reflected the values and cultural status of society. The Northern artwork mainly concentrated and depicted the religion.

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Southern Piece of Art (Mona Lisa Painting by Leonardo Da Vinci)

Mona Lisa is a half-length oil painting by the most famous Southern Renaissance painter, Leonardo da Vinci. The Mona Lisa is the most popular artwork designed in Florence between the years 1503 and 1506; it is widely known, most written and visited a piece of western artwork history. Since the 15th century, Mona Lisa painting has been one of the most precious paintings in the globe (Atalay, 2011). According to most historians, the painting is believed to be a portrayal of Lisa Gherardini. The Mona Lisa painting is currently in Paris, displayed at the Louvre Museum. The paint was fashionably made of oil on a common wood panel that was popularly used by the artist during the Italian Renaissance. Leonardo da Vinci, the painter was a highly skilled individual who was a sculptor, draftsman, engineer, and architecture.

The Renaissance art was characterized by individualism, naturalism, focus on perspectives, concentration on perspectives and a sense of realism and emotional expression. The sitter's mysterious smile is an expression of emotion that characterized most renaissance paints; the Mona Lisa painting also depicts an element of realism; the rendering of shadow and light to enhance the illusion of dept leads to naturalism and realism, the technique used by different painters during the Renaissance (Atalay, 2011). The gentle smile portrayed by the sitter attempts to indicate realism and emotion applied by most renaissance artists. Mona Lisa depicts the cultural aspects of Southern Europe, they were mainly concerned with the human figures, perhaps beauty and the societal happiness among the people. The artwork also reflected intellectualism and the societal progress in terms of cultural practices specifically for the people in Italy. Leonardo da Vinci through his magnificent work on Mona Lisa showed a philosophy of humanism. Different humanists in the reconnaissance alleged that humanity is supreme since links the spiritual world with the mortal world. Human values and human welfare such as secularism were massively enhanced. Individuals began to do things according to their likings and self-improvement.

Northern Piece of Art (Painting of Samson and Delilah)

Northern Art mainly reflected the religious activities and biblical stories. For instance the painting of Samson and Delilah is a biblical story. In Northern Europe, most of the people were Christians, and they mainly followed Catholicism. Their paintings, therefore, reflected the cultural practices of religious activities as well as the historical biblical stories.

While the Southern artists mainly involved in portraying fashion characterized by the stylish lifestyle, Northern artists were deeply entrenched in religious activities and as such, they used painting and other different artworks to store information and to write stories on various religious activities in their present, past and future history. The art piece of Samson and Delilah indicates the biblical story of the strongest man in the bible, Samson. The human figures evident in the Northern Renaissance paintings, although very sensible or realistic, were different from the ones produced in Southern art (Atalay, 2011). In the high reconnaissance, different objects used to convey different meanings were commonly used. There was also a tendency to use oil paintings on the woodcuts to create paints and different artworks. The woodcuts were used both in the Northern Renaissance paintings and in early Italian art. Even though the human figures are present in both the Northern and Southern art, there are different styles that are used to predict the culture of a particular region. The Mona Lisa artwork mainly reflects emotional expression while in the Northern piece of art, the painting of Samson and Delilah, there is the representation of the struggle and the facts related to religious endurance and historical stories of the bible. Humanists in the Northern reconnaissance art alleged that humanity is absolute as they can be used to transform the moral world and society. Besides, the religious images could be used to establish morality in society and especially among the people who are religious.

Reference

Atalay, B. (2011). Math and the Mona Lisa: The art and science of Leonardo da Vinci. Smithsonian Institution.