The Renaissance Period, 1400 to 1600

The Renaissance period, 1400 to 1600, was a time of political and religious instability. The instability in the church allowed for an increase in humanism. Politically, the ongoing war between England and France might not create an environment for creative growth. Yet, with the political unrest, arguments between religious and secular issues, and increased prosperity across Northern Europe, visual arts made a comeback.

Renaissance Art focused on humanism. Art took on a natural feel. Sculptures were made with new techniques and materials. They also used the human form instead of a stylized form. Artists studied the human body, fabric, props and how they interact with the human body. Sculpture of the Renaissance was not about a stereotype icon but a realistic human doing a realistic function.

The Baroque Period, 1600 to 1700, showed a time of expanding minds. Humans had recently learned that the Earth wasn't flat and that it revolved around the Sun. Galileo was investigating out neighboring planets. Sculptures also like to use several materials, or use one material to simulate several materials, when creating masterpieces. Sculptures of this time portray movement. They are scenes of some action or individuals caught in movement.

Baroque sculptures were either religious or political in nature depending on the region. As a result, identifying specific characteristics or styles unique to Baroque sculptures is difficult. Yet even with these differences, there are three unique qualities to this type of visual art: realism, pictorial effects, and technical mastery. The pictorial effects show a whole picture in the sculpture. You don't just see the main object of the sculpture but the bystanders and the road or the house. The technical mastery is displayed in the attention to the details of each character and the portrayal emotion through the medium.

While the Renaissance era opened the door to humanism and the ability to use the human form in art, the Baroque era went a step further and put emotion in the equation. Renaissance art showed humans in natural form. It opened the door to the artists of the Baroque period. Now, it was about expressing the emotion behind the art, through the art. New techniques and styles were able to allow the artists of the Baroque period to create that sculpture that expresses the emotion that might have been felt by the individuals that exact moment.

The Renaissance

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