Renaissance: Art, Literature, and Cultural Transformation
Renaissance: A Cultural Transformation
RENAISSANCE: A profound and complex transformation of human culture is seen in all areas of life. It also jumps to artistic ideals, literary and philosophical world of Greco-Latino origin. It appears in Italy in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and extends to other countries.
Origin of the Renaissance
In the late Middle Ages, the bourgeoisie is engaged in commercial activities, leading to economic prosperity. They try to imitate the Greek and Latin classics. In Italy, five rich and powerful families become patrons of artists. They inherited works of Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio. The discovery of the printing press was also crucial.
Humanism and its Features
It was an intellectual and cultural movement that originated in Italy in the XIV century and extended all over Europe, especially in Spain.
Characteristics of Humanism:
- They knew and studied classical languages and literatures.
- They imitated the classical models and were interested in anthropocentrism.
- Rational, individual, man is the center.
- Literature and other arts are an open edge to life, beauty, love, and happiness.
- More concern for the vernacular.
Cultural Context
The development of the Spanish Renaissance aligns with a better understanding of classical antiquity and the emergence of humanistic pursuits that come from Italy. It defines the canon of beauty: the proportion and order of composition, balance in language and content, in verse and prose rhythm, and harmony and clarity in the arts. For the beauty of the woman, she has to have blond hair, a red mouth, and striking eyes. It eschews, and rejected or betrayed love.
Themes and Motifs
They will acquire a classically inspired, secular, pagan, and sensual style. Recurring issues include carpe diem, the beatus ille, the bucolic, and mythology.
First and Second Renaissance
Reign of Charles I: A time of greater vitality, aesthetic influences, and ideological intellectuals in Europe.
The literature is represented by Garcilaso de la Vega.
Reign of Philip II: Renaissance elements were nationalized. The Counter-Reformation and religion shape the culture and art of this time.
Mysticism
Mysticism is a spiritual movement that seeks to reach the maximum experience of spirituality. There are three stages on the way to God:
- Way of Purification: The soul is freed from sins and passions through asceticism and prayer.
- Way of Illumination: The soul is illuminated with understanding of the sacred mysteries.
- Way of Union: The soul comes into contact with God in moments of ecstasy.
Petrarch and the Renaissance
The Petrarchan Features:
- Topics: Medieval courtly love. Resource-classical motifs has many Latin poets, to express joys and sorrows of an impossible love.
- Expression of feelings: Brings many feelings to life.
- Language: Intelligence, inspiration, and ingenuity with verses are clear language, polished, transparent, and full of images.
- Poetic Figures: Antithesis, correlations, paradoxes, alliteration, metaphors, and similes.
- New Metric Forms: Lines are usually endecasyllabic compositions. The sonnets, but also silva, stay, song…
Poetry
Spanish Traditional Poetry:
In the XVI century, poetry read classical and popular works, with court poetry and popular poetry still in the cancionero. The poetry of this century, with ballads, achieved great fortune in the 2nd half.
Italianate Poetry:
It is a more cultured and innovative poetry, and is the predominant style.
Characteristics:
- Metric Renewal: The biggest innovation was the hendecasyllable, which combines with seven syllables.
- Idealization of the beloved and expression of love.
- They develop bucolic and pastoral issues.
- They look at the verses the “lyrical” the poet.
In the 1st half of the century, both styles of poetry will cross. The octosyllabic Renaissance ideas, and poets do not give up altogether Italianate to the previous metric castellana.