Term Papers on A Comparison Of The Medieval And Renaissance Eras

Term Paper Title	A Comparison Of The Medieval And Renaissance Eras
# of Words	1033
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	4.13

A Comparison of the Medieval and Renaissance Eras

     It is amazing how significantly various aspects of society can and will
change over a prolonged period of time.  Between the time periods of the
Medieval era and the Renaissance, one can note numerous significant changes,
mainly those pertaining to art and religion.  In general, ideals and subjects
during the Renaissance became more secular. In Medieval times, people seemed
to focus mainly on the church, God, and the afterlife; Whereas during the
Renaissance, the focus was more secular: humans and life on earth. Although
these two eras differ in many ways, the most concentrated differences deal with
the realms of architecture, painting, and philosophy.

     Architecture noticeably shifted from religious awe to classical reason
between the Medieval era and the Renaissance.  During the Middle Ages,
architecture was aimed mainly at making advancements in the church.  Medieval
cathedrals had very distinct features, such as pointed spires, which were
exactly that -- spires, or steeples, that were pointed and extended upward from
the tower area; the rose window, which was a large stained glass window that
was located on the front of the tower; and squared-off exterior walls, which
were a contrast to the usual rounded exterior designs that people were
accustomed to.  Overall, cathedrals during this time could have very elegant
features due to the excellent techniques of support and stabilization.
Buttresses, simple extensions of the cathedral wall to enhance support, and
flying buttresses, stone structures set away from the cathedral wall and
attached at the top, contributed to the excellent support that Medieval
cathedrals experienced.   While architectural advancements during the Middle
Ages were concerned mainly with making elegant reformations in the structure of
the cathedral, architecture during the Renaissance was much less religion-
centered, and revolved more around classical reason and secularity.
Architecture in this time was concentrated mostly with the design of castles,
such as the home of the prevailing Italian Medici family, perhaps the richest
family in Europe.  Architectural focus had changed from the cathedral in the
Medieval era to other, more classical and secular subjects, such as castles and
homes of significant rulers.

     The style, subjects, and overall attitude of painting was something that
underwent very significant changes during the progression from Medieval times
to the Renaissance. Generally, paintings became more secular, and less focused
on aspects of the church, as the Renaissance approached.  Medieval paintings
seem to be focused almost entirely on religion and are given heavenly
attributes, while paintings of the Renaissance consist mainly of secular
subjects and contain much more realism, especially noted in human subjects.  In
Giotto's Madonna With Child, a Medieval painting, any observer will obviously
notice that the child and woman are very awkwardly proportioned, indicating the
lack of realism.  However, in the Mona Lisa, by DaVinci, and The Marriage of the
Virgin, by Raphael, both paintings of the Renaissance, it is evident the amount
of realism that the artists were attempting to portray.  Both of these
paintings are extremely realistic, seemingly three-dimensional, very well-
proportioned, and involve large amounts of shading to accentuate the realism.
When considering the subjects of Medieval painting, the majority of them were
religious oriented or somehow involved the church, whereas religion ...

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