Humanism the renaissance and m
Humanism the renaissance and mHumanism
The introduction of the concept of humanism greatly affected
the Renaissance. The Humanistic influence shaped Renaissance
art, writing, education and thinkers, its ideas were spread among
all aspects of life. Machiavelli�s writings during the
Renaissance were also affected by the ideas of humanism. His
ideas reflect the thoughts of humanism in the way he thought
governments and societies should be organized.
Humanism�s influence on art was very obvious, it could be
seen slowly infiltrating all art throughout the Renaissance. At
the begging of the Renaissance, most art was very dark and
dismal. The works portrayed people doing very menial labor, the
people did not seem happy and their clothing was very plain. As
the Renaissance progressed and humanism�s influence was more felt
the paintings used lighter colors, the people in them were
smiling and their clothing many times included gold trim or
accents. The late Renaissance art also has a larger focus on
religion, as humanism inspired people in many forms by the use of
religion.
Humanism came about with the idea that a person should have
a very rounded education covering many aspects of society
especially history, geometry, and art. During the renaissance as
the ideas of humanism spread, especially in its educational
sense, more schools and universities were erected and a much
higher percentage of people were formally educated. The
universities helped many people become educated, and their
education helped all of society because many of them went on to
challenge their teacher�s rash observations of the world and make
great discoveries. This proliferation of education was also
helped by many inventions such as the printing press which came
about because people had more to live for.
Many great thinkers during the renaissance were also
affected by the ideas of humanism. More people were educated
during the renaissance and therefore more intelligent people that
simply thought about the world and ways to make it better. These
thinkers included Da Vinci, Galileo, and Machiavelli. Leonardo
da Vinci was one of the most influential people of the
Renaissance. His notebooks were recovered and they contained
schematics of machines that have just recently been invented.
His inventions that were ahead of their time just show the
inginuity and determination of people during the Renaissance.
Another great thinker of the time was Galileo, His works showed
the spirit of humanism greatly. Galileo�s works went beyond
terrestrial research and his research was many times focused on
the solar system.
Machiavelli�s writings were some of the most influential
throughout the renaissance. His writings helped to reform
society and government after the Renaissance and are still
studied today as part of a �modern humanistic� course of study.
His writings show humanistic thoughts in many ways, he shows this
in his �ideal� orginization of a government this very well. The
way he describes the perfect government is with well rounded
departments. He also believed that a ruler should not mistreat
his citizens, but not pamper them either. Machiavelli�s views
were not completely humanistic, though, he did not feel that
everyone should have a liberal humanistic education. He felt
that those who do simple jobs, serfs and other farmers, should
not have this wasted on them.