Do You Like Renaissance Paintings?

Personally I like Renaissance very much, it's been Europe's first acknowledge of the humans as the center of the Universe. Probably the most important artists of all times were born in this era: Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli, Raphael. Painters were also influence by Architecture: the development of perspective helped them to reach high degrees of perfection, and the study of light, shadow and anatomy were considered a must, for those who really wanted to become great. The beauty of nature, as well, was a subject depicted by many painters, especiallly Botticelli, whose grace and use of soft colors were essential qualities to create masterpieces like Primavera and The Birth of Venus.

 

I like Da Vinci's paintings from this period of time. I don't know too much about the other painters. Da Vinci trained with a doctor working on cadavers studying there parts of the bodies. He made drawings of the muscles showing how all were connected along with the boned. He also was a chemist from what I have read about him. His grandfather was a chemist and learned the chemistry from him. His achievement's include his self portrait, the drawings of a helicopter, and a machine gun.

 

Renaissance paintings are definitely beautiful, but I think they're overrated. A lot of this has to do with overexposure. The Mona Lisa and Sistine Chapel frescoes are beautiful, but they're so famous that they lose their impact. The Botticelli paintings you've mentioned are a good way to demonstrate this problem. Both of them look great, but Primavera is my favorite since I don't see it very often. Still, the Birth of Venus has enough going on in the background that it hasn't become as boring as the Mona Lisa.

I also think Renaissance paintings are too perfect looking. A little bit of "ugliness" or surrealism can go a long way. Picasso and Van Gogh weren't perfect, but I think they made a larger impact with their work. There's also enough structure in their paintings that we wouldn't call them postmodern.