Art of the Renaissance
Artistic Inventions of the Era, Part 1
1. Renaissance Artists used a printing press to create multiple copies of a book or image that could be distributed and shared. Medieval artists hand-copied texts and illustrations, one at a time!
1. Renaissance Artists used a printing press to create multiple copies of a book or image that could be distributed and shared. Medieval artists hand-copied texts and illustrations, one at a time!
2. Renaissance Artists used actual models (dead and alive!) to learn about the true appearance of the human form by drawing studies. Medieval artists copied what earlier artists did, or drew simple figures they made up themselves.
3. Renaissance Artists used accurate proportions: they paid attention to the size of parts of a figure to ensure it was realistic. Medieval artists made disproportionate figures and didn't care about realistic proportions.
4. Renaissance Artists used value to show form: shading makes forms look three dimensional and real. Medieval artists kept things simple, flat, and solidly colored, and didn't try as hard to make images have depth.
5. Renaissance Artists used Linear Perspective: a system of drawing that uses guidelines and fixed points to create the illusion of depth and dimension on a 2D surface. Medieval artists sometimes overlapped, but didn't try to accurately observe or reproduce depth.