Middle Age vs. Renaissance

1. Middle Age vs. Renaissance A Study of Two Periods Using Art

2. What do you notice about the people themselves? Creation of Adam, Sistine Chapel Michelangelo

3. Realistically Drawn • The characters are drawn with much more realism than in the Middle Ages. • They seem more human, while the Middle ages are more “cartoonish”. • Humanism, which states that people are more important than institutions, is seen through the similar treatment of Adam and God.

5. More Humanism in art

6. Hieratic Scale • The Middle age artist uses this technique to show people who is more important in the picture. • Why is the Renaissance painting not done this way?

8. What do you notice about the action or movement? St. George Fighting the Dragon by Raphael Unknown Artist

9. Movement • Renaissance artist were much better at showing movement through the use of curved lines • We naturally follow the curved line while straight lines tend to be “static”.

11. Where is the Book?

12. Perspective • In the Renaissance piece, the book is clearly on the table, as if the Pope was going to read it. • The Middle age piece has the book look like it was floating in front of the figure.

15. More on perspective • The horizon line runs across the canvas at the eye level of the viewer. The horizon line is where the sky appears to meet the ground.The vanishing point should be located near the center of the horizon line. The vanishing point is where all parallel lines (orthogonals) that run towards the horizon line appear to come together like train tracks in the distance.Orthogonal lines are "visual rays" helping the viewer's eye to connect points around the edges of the canvas to the vanishing point. An artist uses them to align the edges of walls and paving stones.

18. Assignment • Using what you have learned here today, you and a partner will draw a typical scene here at Stevenson during lunch in two ways. First, draw it using the ideas and philosophies of the Middle ages, then with ideas of the Renaissance. • Later each group will participate in a gallery walk and try to guess which picture is from which period.