Renaissance Humanism (Essay Sample)

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Renaissance Humanism
The end of the Middle Ages witnessed a tendency to renew attention to classical texts and emphasis on newfound confidence in the human mind, as capable of determining truth and falsehood. This mode of learning described what philosophers termed Renaissance Humanism, a European intellectual revolution that began in Florence, Italy, during the final decades of the 14th century (Tracy 15). The movement was a consequence of the reexamination of Latin and Greek texts by European scholars. Spitz (139) notes that, initially, humanist was a term that described Latin and Latin literature students and instructors, but by the mid 15th century, humanism referred to a curriculum consisting of poetry, history, grammar, ethics and rhetoric, and these formed the basis of humanist education. The humanist mode of learning consisted of examining ancient texts and analyzing them through rational thinking and empirical evidence. Humanism defined the passion for the study of human nature during the Renaissance period ( HYPERLINK "" ).
Michelangelo Buonarroti, like Niccolo Machiavelli and Giorgio Vasari, was a symbol of Italian Renaissance in poetry. He was a sculptor, painter, engineer and architect. Michelangelo continually portrayed human subjects in his works of art. He believed that the purpose of art was to depict ideal beauty of human nature and, therefore, represented human figures as not involved in any activity. In addition, he believed that it was not enough to imitate the past civilizations of Greeks and Romans, but there was a need to surpass them. As such, he represented Christian subjects with an idealistic perspective of classical antiquity. Unlike Burckhardt, and Machiavelli who believed that the Renaissance society was a purely secular one, Michelangelo held a different perception that human nature was extremely religious. As such, Michelangelo’s artwork used the Christian context as basis and contradicted Burckhardt’s view that the paintings and writings of the time depicted the pagan nature of the Renaissance society. Michelangelo’s religious perception of human nature is also similar to that of More. Additionally, Michelangelo viewed humanism as the focus on man, his achievements and special place in the divine plan of the universe. He conceded that man is the link between the divine world and that of the living, and that he was greater than the angels were because he had the ability to shape his destiny. Thus, Michelangelo depicted human nature during the Renaissance as undergoing rebirth, from servitude of sin in the Middle Ages, to independence, strength and beauty.
Giorgio Vasari represented Italian Renaissance in elements such as painting, architecture, writing and history. From a humanistic perspective, Vasari, unlike Machiavelli, More and Michelangelo, focused on art history. He argued that history should teach and provide inspiration to human nature by maintaining records of significant careers and achievements of famous figures. His argument was that art possessed a history and had experienced a rebirth with the Renaissance. To demonstrate his point, Vasari included biographies of artists in his writings (the Lives) on the history of art, and thus provided a wealth of knowledge on art and artists who were symbols of the Italian Renaissance. As Boccaccio did when writing his novels, and borrowing from the copying of manuscripts from Bracciolini, Vasari conducted tours of Italy, obtained correspondence, read about artists, interviewed them and their friends to compile their biographies and integrate them into his writings on the history of art.
Niccolo Machiavelli and Thomas More were both political philosophers who criticized the leadership of their time. Machiavelli represented Italian Renaissance in elements such as poetry, music, comedy and political philosophy (Machiavelli 9). He was a political philosopher who examined the practice of political power in society. Kreis (1) observes that, instead of creating imaginary societies and prescribing how leaders ought to run them, Machiavelli examined the existing social structures of his time and leaders’ behavior towards their subjects. He was describing actual human behavior rather than their potential conduct in the future or in an imaginary sense. From a humanistic perspective, then, he argued that human nature consisted of good and evil, but in the case of politics, he believed that the evil was greater than the good. As such, Machiavelli proposed that in the execution of political leadership, human nature was evil because leaders could use any means to maintain their power, including fooling and tricking their subjects by spreading false doctrines ( HYPERLINK "" ).
Thomas More was a symbol of Christian humanism, unlike Machiavelli, who represented secular humanism. More was religious and sympathized with ordinary citizens, unlike Machiavelli who was anti-clerical and in support of political power. Brucker (112) points out that, More, unlike Machiavelli, believed that the state’s purpose was to promote the common good of its citizens rather than the power of the political leadership. Unlike Machiavelli who studied actual human behavior, More proposed an imaginary and futuristic society in which people would be good ( HYPERLINK "" ). Unlike Machiavelli, More believed that human nature was not evil, but instead, evil existed in the social systems that man created. His ideal society was one in which there would not be any stratification into classes and division of labor would not exist. As such, he was criticizing his own society, which he viewed as wanting in the religious Christian ideals that should have been its foundation. More’s views on a society in which citizens would help each other and perform good deeds to one another are similar to Bruni’s views on human nature. Najemi (616) observes that Bruni belonged to the school of civic humanism, which held the view that perfect ...