Values in art and painting : humanistic philosophy and the renaissance artist

Abstract

The term 'Renaissance' refers to the great fifteenth and sixteenth century flourishing of Italian civilisation. It embodied a new psychological condition of human personality. Contrary to the timid attitude of Man vis-a-vis the omnipotence of God which characterised medieval civilisation, Renaissance man had come to realise that his intellectual and artistic expressions need not be shackled by the metaphysical. This spontaneous reassessment of Man's capacities which characterised the Romanesque revival now found a profound conviction in the free power and valour of Man. This 'Humanism' was the product of a new philosophical direction. The rediscovery of the classical authors initiated by the humanistic poet Francesco Petrarca (1304-74) in the middle years of the fourteenth century was followed up during the fifteenth century by the philological and critical studies of Greek original texts. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, Greek intellectuals from that once Christian city fled (primarily to Italy) from the onslaught of the Muslim Ottoman Turks. This gave a new lease of life to Western civilisation. The knowledge of the classical Greek language now made it possible for the Italian intellectuals to rediscover Plato and Aristotle without the distortions which were inherent in the various interpretations and translations done by the Arab philosophers during the Middle Ages. The Classical ideal of Man's full autonomy and authority on the material world could thus be fully recuperated. The placing of Man at the centre of the universe and the exaltation of his rational capacities are in fact the leitmotif of Renaissance philosophy. This assertion was to lead to new artistic developments as well as scientific and geographical discoveries. For example, this humanistic philosophy encouraged an explorer-navigator like Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) to attempt the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in a bid to reach Cathay (China).