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Reflection: Early Renaissance Art in Europe During the 15th century in Europe, a prosperous middle class arose in the Netherlands, France, and Italy. They supported scholarship, literature, and the arts. Their generous patronage led to the revival of classical art, architecture, learning, and creativity called the Renaissance. Merchants began to have a rising social status. Humanism is a term that refers to the revival of classical learning and literature. Humanism promoted a “worldview that is focused on human beings, an education that perfects individuals through the study of past models of civic and personal virtue, a value system that emphasizes personal effort and responsibility, and a physically or intellectually active life that is directed at a common good as well as individual nobility” (Stokstad 613). The greatest humanist was Petrarch, who saw history in three periods: the ancient classical world, the “dark ages,” and a rebirth. Petrarch also introduced writing in the vernacular, as opposed to Latin; Giotto introduced a vernacular style in painting. The people of the Renaissance had an appreciation of Greek and Roman culture, and classical antiquity was considered the standard model. Popular subjects in art were history, religion, and mythology. Portraiture became more common, and anatomical accuracy became important. Linear perspective, which created the illusion of three dimensional space on a two dimensional surface, developed. The Renaissance began in 14th century Italy, and spread to the rest of Europe in the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries.
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