Written Assignment Unit 4

UoPeople University

AHIST 1401

(Instructor)

25 February 2021
 Introduction

Art I think is the greatest power and wealth of Human history.

Main section

In my opinion, the Renaissance changed the role of the artist. Because before the Renaissance
an artist wasn’t greeted with so much honor and respect. The new era of art changed the
importance of the artist. And I think 2 factors played a big role here.

The first one is the Church. When Christianity is became the main religion in Europe. The
church started to use the artists to build great architectures for them. They used artists to
make the interior and exterior of the Churches. All this helped to increase the role of the
Artist. For an example of Renaissance the “Last Supper” had done by Leonardo de Vinci on
the wall of the monastery, the “David” of the Donatello the first freestanding biblical bronze
sculpture had enormous influences on the art itself and brings it to the next stage of
prosperity. Under Church, patronage was created many great works of art. (Renaissance art,
n.d.).

“David” by Donatello
The second one is Growing the power of the private sector. After Martin Luther’s protestant
reformation at the beginning of the 16 century, the religious factor starts to play a lesser and
lesser role. All the power starts to move in hands of the private families, governments, and
other secular (non-religious) groups and they begin to hire artists with greater frequency
compared to the church. And the artist becomes very popular and well-paid work.
(Esperança, C. n.d.).

In the 17 th century, a new art style become popular – Baroque. For example, is a significant
biblical sculpture by Bernini “David”. The artist understands all naturalistic lessons that had
been gained during Renaissance, and adding to that an intense emotionalism, he put in his
sculpture dynamism, instability, realism, and energy which is uncommon to the Renaissance.
We clearly can see how the sculpture changed from Donatello's” David’s” (Unlocking an
18th-century French mechanical table [Video]. n.d.).

“David” by Bernini
“In the early years of the 1700s, at the end of the reign of Louis XIV (who dies in 1715),
there was a shift away from the classicism and "Grand Manner" that had governed the art of
the preceding 50 years in France, toward a new style that we call Rococo. The Palace of
Versailles was abandoned by the aristocracy, who once again took up residence in Paris. A
shift away from the monarchy, toward the aristocracy characterizes the art of this period.

The aristocracy had political power and wealth. Many of them involved themselves in
romantic intrigues. Indeed, they created a culture of luxury and excess that formed a stark
contrast to the lives of most people in France.” (Harris, B. and Zucker, S. n.d.).

Fragonard's The Swing

Fragonard’s The Swing very good example of Rococo style. Here we can see love, romantic
intrigue, the figures surrounded by a lush and overgrown garden. There many different
colors, and also the painting lack seriousness which uncommon in Baroque. (Harris, B. and
Zucker, S. n.d.).

Conclusion

From Art History we can see how artists from the Renaissance through Baroque and Rococo
gain power, wealth, and glory. And they left their trace in human art history forever.

Word count (547)

 References

Esperança, C. (n.d.). Baroque Art in Europe, an introduction. Khan

Academy. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/baroque-
art1/beginners-guide-baroque1/a/baroque-art-in-europe-an-introduction

Harris, B. and Zucker, S. (n.d.). A beginner’s guide to Rococo art. Khan Academy.
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/rococo-
neoclassicism/rococo/a/a-beginners-guide-to-rococo-art

Renaissance art [Video]. (n.d.). Khan Academy.

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/approaches-to-art-history/very-
beginner/renaissance-to-modern-art/v/renaissance-art-introduction

Unlocking an 18th-century French mechanical table [Video]. (n.d.). Khan Academy.

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/rococo-
neoclassicism/rococo/v/unlocking-18th-c-french-mechanical-table