Renaissance vs Antiquity

The Birth of Venus - Sandro Botticelli, 1480s

The Renaissance was a period in European history, from the 14th to the 17th century, regarded as the cultural bridge between the Middle Ages and modern history. It started as a cultural movement in Italy in the Late Medieval period and later spread to the rest of Europe, marking the beginning of the Early Modern Age.

In the Renaissance, people talked about the Antiquity as it was something united. They talked about the Greco-Roman antiquities. But now we know that there are differences between Greek Art and Roman Art. A comparison of these two types of art is given down below: 

Greek Art

·        Original

·        Nature, simple shapes

·        Approved by artistic means

Roman Art

·        Copy Greek Art

·        Rationally, weighed

·        Logical evidence

Antiquity works inspired Renaissance artists. The Renaissance started with collecting works of Roman Art. So we can see the strong influence of Roman Art in Renaissance works, for example in ‘Adoration of the Magi’ by Nicola Pisano.

Adoration of the Magi - Nicola Pisano, 1260

Italian people almost weren’t interested in the destiny of Greek Art. Although there were some artists who were inspired by Greek Art. Artists who followed Greek Art had a poetic originality in their works. Piero della Francesca found out a deep understanding of Greek spirit and followed it. We can feel it in his work ‘Hercules’.

Hercules - Piero della Francesca, 1465

Venice was a source of Greek spirit in the Renaissance. It happened because Venice is related with Byzantium and thus with Ancient Greece. We can see the Hellenic charm in a Giovanni Bellini’s work – ‘The Feast of the Gods’.

The Feast of the Gods - Giovanni Bellini, 1514/1529

The Antiquity had a great educational value for Renaissance people. Although Italian people follow the Antiquity, they chose their own path of the art development. Instead of the Antiquity, Renaissance artists tried to find regularities in the world of accidentals. The little temple ‘Tempietto’ by Donato Bramante is considered as the most classical structure in the High Renaissance architecture. An antiquity temple has a unique precious attribute. It is a right for autonomous existence and belonging to the ultimate reality. But pillars of ‘Tempietto’ create only an architectural picture as a decoration for a stage which exists only for viewers. 

Tempietto - Donato Bramante, 1502