Introduction
Artists in the late nineteenth century resembled renaissance artists because both of them tried to challenge societal concepts. The extent to which artists in both eras expressed those notions shall be examined in detail subsequently. However, these artists operated in different scientific, social and economic periods and their ways of highlighting societal wrongs differed substantially in the renaissance versus the late nineteenth century. Also, the extent of these differences will be studied below.
Comparison
Artists in the renaissance awoke to the realization that there was more to life than just religion. They were placing so much focus on humanism and this was the same idea being carried forward by the artists at that time. It should also be noted that religion still took up a large portion of society’s dwellings but artists were drawn to newer possibilities that scientific inquiry brought ought with regard to human potential. Artists within the renaissance period began embracing principles of realism but not as much as their counterparts within the late nineteenth century. Individuals such as Boccaccio and Machiavelli are just one of the many examples of persons who encountered society’s popular assertions. (Kloss, 2007)
Artists in the renaissance were different from their counterparts in the late nineteenth century owing to the fact that they were pioneers in the age of realism. Prior to this period, society considered Christianity as the only source of heroes. Also, most literary expressions largely focused on informing people about living a righteous lifestyle. However, in the renaissance, artists wanted to break away from societal norms. This also meant that the issue of depicting other individuals in an ideal manner was slowly being neglected. Most of the artists felt that there was a need to reflect what was going on in society. Paintings and sculptures now began embracing simpler characters that were reflective of this period in history. Artists within the Renaissance were highly revolutionary. This period in history was responsible for introducing one of the most renowned artists and painters in the world of art; Leonardo da Vinci. Da Vinci was revolutionary because he went against the norm. First of all, he was responsible for introducing a realistic tendency in his art. He did this through a series of forms but his most dominant one was the human figure. While the latter artists still did few religious pieces, one cannot ignore the fact that he managed to encompass a new dimension known as the human spirit. Leonardo Da Vinci was the artists responsible for creating the “ Mona Lisa”. (Cronin, 1992)This painting is one of the most longstanding ones in human history as it is still one of the most loved paintings to date. The reason behind this endearing element to his work is that Da Vinci brought out the real human spirit.
The latter tradition was present in the renaissance and is one of the most sought after qualities in modern art. It should also be noted that artists within the renaissance era also tapped into scientific observation. This particular artist was responsible for pioneering some of the earliest studies in human anatomy. In other words, Leonardo Da Vinci showed the world that art and science were not that different from one another in that they could be combined and used to illustrate other perspectives. Artists in this era were therefore able to change society by introducing a concept of balance in the way that society perceived religion. If renaissance artists had not had the courage to carry out these changes, then chances are that all of art would still be religious in nature. Additionally, thinkers would be limited to a narrow field. However, because of the fresh perspectives brought in the renaissance, then society began having the freedom to think, observe and experiment with other readers at the same time. This made art a more realistic concept. (Raffini, 1998)
The nineteenth century on the other hand was characterized by a number of changes both economically and socially. Self determination was an aspect that had been carried around various nations such as Austria, Germany, Italy, Holland and Great Britain. These nations underwent a metamorphosis that was not just reflected on the overall outlook in society; it was also seen through the individual’s outlook. (Finocchio, 2004) Most people were highly interested in images that were impassioned in nature. People within society were highly sensible and most artists did a good job of capturing this. Members of society in the nineteenth century were highly emotional and the same thing was demonstrated by art too. Romanticism was the name of this movement and almost all artists began demonstrating the subjective element of the human being. Feelings were treated as the object and the subject of an art form. In fact, this was something that could be seen by sculptors, painters and other types of artists. It can therefore be said that artists within this realm were quite different from their counterparts in the renaissance era owing to the fact that they tended to reflect the overall perceptions of society; through romanticism, they did not pioneer a new concept; instead, they reflected what was being said by society in general. Besides this, artists in this period took a reminiscent approach too. This was because they may have been conscious of being thrown into the future. They therefore opted to revive some of the past European actions. For instance classicism had often been intermingled with other forms of art such as;
• Egyptian art
• Gothic art
• Renaissance art
Unlike the renaissance era, nineteenth century art was characterized by rises and falls of other forms of art at different times of the period. (Burke, 1999) It should be noted that the Romantic Movement was one of the longest lasting eras of that time because even when the pioneering artists had passed away, their spirit lived on in ways that had not been anticipated before. This made the movement highly influential in the lives of societal members even in future generations. The artists of this era were instrumental in providing a basis against which these future generations could better understand their past. They now understand why it is necessary to respect individual genius and focus on subjective experiences as well. Shown below is a depiction of a romantic painting made by Antoine Wiertz
Source: Finocchio, 2004)
The late nineteenth century was characterized by another movement known as realism. Its essentially sought to convey messages of an objective and truthful image of contemporary life. While some elements of realism were present in the renaissance era, this movement thrived more in the current scenario than in the late nineteenth century. Some of the artists who stuck in this movement had grown weary of the extremism present in the romantic era and they felt a need to change this a little more. Consequently, artists in the late nineteenth century tended to draw more inspiration from direct observations of day to day occurrences compared to their counterparts in the renaissance era. These artists were revolutionary in their own way because they were responsible for elevating ordinary working class citizens into art and literature. This changed their status from being members of a mass group to becoming individuals in their own right. Artists in the late nineteenth century therefore resembled those in the renaissance era because both of them attempted to look into some of the challenges facing society i.e. idealization of religion in the renaissance and idealization of the upper class in the late nineteenth century. One of the artists who was instrumental in propelling the realism movement was Gustave Courbet. His attempts can be linked to those ones that had been carried by Da Vinci because he challenged the status quo. Some of the pieces that Courbet worked on included
• The Stone breakers
• The young women from the village
• The burial at ornans
• The painter’s studio (Tinterow, 1987)
Some of the work that Gustave carried out was treated negatively by other individuals who labeled him as a political threat that hated authority. These assertions were made after completion of one of the paintings mentioned above; it was known as the Stonebreakers. In this painting, the latter artist was trying to depict native people who were showing the dignity of work. Consequently, his critics claimed that instead of dwelling on the people who lead society, this artist was focusing on the person being led. They also claimed that he was trying to despise authority by under-looking the role that they had played in making society what it was currently. Some said that the stonebreakers was an ironic depiction of life in society as people knew it. This was because industrialized nations were incapable of freeing people from some of the unpleasant tasks that the ordinary man under took.
In fact, other realist critics felt that artists attempting this form of art were engaging in crude art forms. This was because one had to borrow some idealist styles and use them to depict ordinary day to day activities. The technique seemed to confuse critics owing to the fact that it was responsible for violating conventional rules. Additionally, it challenged what society had accepted as the norm because of the following;
-It Challenged gender role
-Challenged class distinctions
-Challenged rules of art (Nochlin, 1978)
A classic example of a painting in the late nineteenth century that demonstrates these concepts is the “Young Women from the Village” painting. This piece of art was created by Gustave. In his work, scale and perspective are represented in an unconventional manner. Besides that, he also challenges conventional understandings of class distinctions because he manages to show the level of closeness between the three women and he also brings out the fact that there is a rural middle class in the making. These women are engaging in an act of charity and it can therefore be asserted that members of the rural class are not just condemned to their positions in that they can contribute to society. All in all, one can claim that artists within this era were distinct from those ones in the renaissance because they dared to carry out political manifestos. Gustave asserted that he was translating the ideas, customs and epochs according to his own estimations of society.
In the late nineteenth century, there was another artist that represented common ideals to those of Gustave and he was known as Jean Francois Millet. The latter individual was responsible for the following pieces of art
• The Gleaners
• Sheep Beneath a tree
• Woman with a rake
Millet’s work was interesting because it was able to combine both elements of realism and romanticism. This work was important because it captured concepts that were still elements in society. One of the pieces that he did was known as the Gleaners. In this painting, Millet manages to show the stark realities of poverty in the rural areas. In fact, this work is reflective of what had been done by Gustave since both these artists took on a political agenda by challenging the status quo.
The latter piece was a very controversial one and this implies that artists within this period were operating in a manner that opposed societal ideals. Millet’s work is particularly interesting because of the fact that it possessed certain monumental qualities. When one examines these paintings, one can see elements of some of Michelangelo’s work. Millet tended to add sentimental qualities to his paintings thus making them distinct from the ones that had been done by his frontrunner Gustave. Through millet’s work, it can be seen that romanticism had been resurrected through a combination with realism.
Sculptors within the renaissance were unique in their own right when compared to those ones that followed in the late nineteenth century owing to the fact that most of them tended to reflect a new way of representing three dimensional figures. (Lopez , 1970)This was seen in the sculpture created by Giotto known as the Trecento. Work in the early renaissance was also highly characteristic of the need to express individual personalities rather than depict iconic images alone. The latter findings were enhanced by artists in the late nineteenth century. It should also be noted that artists in the renaissance era were different from those ones in the late nineteenth century because of the fact that thy focused on representing three dimensional paintings in two dimensional forms more accurately. Their work was carried forward into the late nineteenth century with great ease because its pioneers had been able to improve on it in subsequent years. In the renaissance era, artists represent human figures in naturalistic landscapes. These paintings possessed certain plasticity that had been unknown to them. The utilization of new techniques by these artists was common in both eras.
Conclusion
After an analysis of pieces of art between these era in history, it can be seen that there are more similarities than differences between these traits. First of all, they both challenged status quo. However, the manner in which they achieved this varied tremendously.
References
Lopez, R. (1970): The three ages of the Italian Renaissance; Virginia University Press
Raffini, C. (1998): Political approaches in renaissance Platonism; Peter Lang Publishing
Cronin, V. (1992): The flowering of the renaissance; Mc Milan Publishers
Burke, P. (1999): the Italian Renaissance; Princeton University press
Kloss, W. (2007): Great Artists of the renaissance; Smithsonian institution, 12, 3, 49
Nochlin, L. (1978): realism; Penguin Publishers
Tinterow, G. (1987): Introduction to Modern Europe; Metropolitan museum of Art, 4, 50
Finocchio, R. (2004): Nineteenth Century French realism, retrieved from http://www.metmuseum.org/
The author of this article is a holder of Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard University and currently pursing PhD Program. He is also a professional academic writer. ResearchPapers247.Com>
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