humanism

Humanism 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.