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Renaissance - Seven Characteristics of Art
Renaissance - Seven Characteristics of Art
figure 1. A Medieval
representation of Jesus Christ
Byzantine icons.
(4) Renaissance artists portrayed non religious
themes
Medieval Art was exclusively religious in nature.
Most people believed the world would end in the
year 1,000 A.D., so any other art subject was
considered inappropriate. While Renaissance art
still focused on religious subjects and Bible
characters, there began to be a trend toward
painting scenes that were not religious. One of
the earliest Renaissance examples of a nonreligious theme was van Eyck's revolutionary
"Arnolfini Marriage." (fig. 5) Jan van Eyck
employs the art of depth and reflection by adding
a mirror on the back wall. The people viewing the
picture seem to be seeing their own reflection as
van Eyck invites the viewer into the scene.
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figure 9. "Moses" by
Michelangelo