Writing 150
Arts- MWF
Judging Art as a Visual Chronicle of the Human Experience
Art is an incredibly powerful form of communication that has played a significant role throughout the centuries of recorded human history. While much of human communication utilizes words to communicate, art employs light, perspective and other elements to evoke emotion and convey messages. The most primitive forms of art were colorful drawings on cave walls by cave men, who drew them as a means of recording daily occurrences. As time passed, art began to develop further as an instrument of communication when people began to use various shapes and colors to illuminate their vision. By the time of the Italian Renaissance, art was completely reinvented by …show more content…
Michelangelo was a famous sculptor of the High Renaissance and produced art that portrayed the magnificence of humanity. Considered one of the four giants of the Italian Renaissance, Michelangelo produced various large scale works of art such as the Pietà in St. Peter’s Cathedral and the statue of David. The statue of David, which was carved from an enormous marble block, is considered his most influential work and became one of the defining art of the Renaissance due to the revolutionary nature of the statue’s message. Prior to the Renaissance, the Western world was in an uncertain, gloomy period known as the Middle Ages, which was dominated by Christianity. During the Middle Ages, people believed that the universe was divided into the heavens, which was the divine realm of perfection and truth, and the world of man, which was the corrupt realm of misery and deception. In addition, mankind was tainted due to the Original Sin and as such, was regarded as helpless and ignorant. According to the Christian Church, the only recourse for man was to submit to God and his earthly spokesmen, the pope. Consequently, medieval art depicted humans as dirty animals that suffered inexplicable pain due to their ignorance and …show more content…
While other artists accurately depicted David as a short, young boy, Michelangelo depicted David as a marvelous man, who is strong, handsome, confident and capable. This David is neither an ignorant monster nor a helpless animal caught in the machinations of fate. Instead, he is a rationale, adept human being contemplating not about whether or not he should fight, but rather how he should fight and achieve victory against this greater foe. Therefore, through its impeccable display of human physical fitness and unwavering expression of confidence, the statue of David purported that the Renaissance man had no reason to submit to a god and pray for salvation. Instead, he could break away from medieval authority and decide his own fate to pursue success, fight for glory or even slay a giant just as David had slain