The Renaissance introduced a new concept on how the world is viewed; humanism. Humanism is the system of thought in which humans are given more importance than supernatural figures; the concept of religion and belief in God was still widely prevalent within Renaissance society, however, with the many scientific and artistic revolutions that took place in this time period, it encouraged people to change their mindset towards their beliefs. The depiction of God and other holy figures were given "human" elements in many Renaissance-period works, vastly different from how Middle Age artwork depicted Biblical figures. Artwork began returning to classic Greek and Roman virtues during the Renaissance, and art changed from having very two-dimensional, stiff figures, to delicately drawing an accurate representation of a human body, with facial expressions, realistic perceptions and realistic lighting.
Art in the Renaissance was less Biblical based, but still incredibly relevant to the Church; "Art and religion began to modernize together under the veil of Christian Humanism”.3 Biblical work in the Renaissance period include, but are not limited to: The Last Judgment, The Crucifixion of St. Peter, and the Sistine Chapel ceiling by Michelangelo; The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci; and The Lamentation over Dead Christ by Andrea Mantegna. These works contained significant religious connotations, showing that religion still had a large presence in creative work, but many of these works embedded the ideas and modernized concepts of humanism, which flourished during the Renaissance age. In regards to religious symbolism in Renaissance paintings, Raphael’s The School of Athens perfectly captures the new blend of humanism and relationship of religion in artwork; “Raphael sought to create an arena in which the humanism of the Romans and Greeks could coexist with the ideology of the Catholic Church”.4 The Renaissance allowed for the continuation of strong religious beliefs, but allowed for the fruition of the concept of humanism, blending both ideologies together, often being shown in artwork. Leonardo da Vinci, the artist behind The Last Supper, was able to show humanism in artwork, with extremely strong religious undertones; The Last Supper was a Biblical painting and da Vinci ensured it “[imbued] each character with humanity reminiscent of the ideals of Christian humanism”.5 The Renaissance period had a multitude of examples showing the relationship between religion and artwork, incorporating a newly adopted concept of humanism; “In late medieval and Renaissance Italy, theologians continually emphasized the humanity of Christ”.6 da Vinci’s The Last Supper humanized Jesus Christ, by providing him with feelings and emotions in the painting, but still staying true to how religion portrays Christ, giving him a halo to show how he is a higher power.
Religion and art in the Renaissance went hand-in-hand together; the Renaissance was a true period of time in which art became highly appreciated, and artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Michelangelo’s works effortlessly portrayed the relationship between the appreciation of religion and art, which contained the new Renaissance-worldview of humanism.
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3 “Faith, Imagined.” Columbia University, 2017. (accessed March 3, 2020),
http://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/maf2219/the-italian-renaissance-2/.
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid.
6 Sorabella, Jean. “Painting the Life of Christ in Medieval and Renaissance Italy.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, June 2008. (accessed March 7, 2020), https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/chri/hd_chri.htm.