The art of Renaissance

  The rich princes and merchants of the Renaissance wanted new paintings and statues to decorate their new palaces and churches.

  Some of the greatest artists in the West lived during the Renaissance. Many of them were Italians, including Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci. They used different new ideas to make new art.

~~~~~ Bodies ~~~~~

Artists cut up dead bodies to find out where the muscles and bones were. This can help them to make their paintings and statues more realistic.

~~~~~ Ordinary people ~~~~~

Most printings in the Middle Ages were about religion or rich people (nobles). Renaissance artists painted ordinary people doing ordinary things. The artists sill dram pictures about religion. They would often use the face of the rich man who paid for the drawing.

~~~~~ Nature ~~~~~

Artists made careful drawings of nature. They drew plants, animals, rocks and water. The artists practised drawing different parts of the body.

~~~~~ Perspective ~~~~~

In the Renaissance the artists found out how to use perspective to make things look near or far away. They could draw bodies lying down too.