How Did Giotto Renaissance Influence Humanism

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The Renaissance marked the transition from the Middle Ages to a more forward-thinking age inspired by a re-interest in the art and culture of ancient Greece and Rome. An important time to look at is the Proto-Renaissance era, which highlights the specific transition of style into the 15th century Italian Renaissance. Three factors contributing to the success of this transition were, where it began, the artistic innovations contributed by artists, and the influence of humanism.
Most scholars would agree that the Proto-Renaissance began in Florence between 1280-1400, and travelled to other Italian city-states such as Siena, Venice, Verona, Genoa, Bologna, Milan, and then to Rome. Though this timeline only guides the Italian Renaissance, and …show more content…
During the Proto-Renaissance era, there was an exploration of expressive faces, trying to create a more life like image in the lifeless style of the past, steering towards realism. Attempts were made to give more bulk to the drapery, other artists played with highlighting and dense shadows trying to create a more dramatic effect. Many works of art remain showing the evolution of art during this period, showing variations of style. The Florentine painter Giotto di Bondone, the most famous artist of the proto-Renaissance, made enormous advances in the technique of representing the human body realistically. Giotto, pioneered the new form of figurative "realism", which was fully developed by artists during the era of Renaissance art. A great example of artistic evolution is when one compares both paintings, one drawn by Cimabue’s, also know as Cenni di Pepo or Cenni di Pepi, called The Santa Trinita Madonna, CE 1280-90, with Giotto’s painting called The Ognissanti Madonna Enthroned CE 1305-10. These painting are taken in a different direction than the mainstream Byzantine style that dominated most of Europe; pushing to go towards a more human focused style. Though Cimabue’s painting is still reflective of Byzantine style, it has changed a great deal; while Giotto’s painting sees the most change in artistic style moving away from Byzantine characteristics. …show more content…
All having a huge role in Proto-Renaissance, whether the theory is true that artist fled from the pressure of the Byzantine Empire and that was what made them push away from those defining styles of Byzantine. The great artistic developments of artists pushing boundaries, going against what was mainstream appeal was at that time; as well as the philosophical changes that were occurring, pushing towards change and questioning religion. Sometimes the stars align to create something completely remarkable, as cliché as that sounds, would the outcome be the same without any one of these transitioning factors contributing to what would be the Italian Renaissance. The proto-renaissance could not exist without any of these listed factors being
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