Replacement in the old continent: the Church leaves, man enters
Humanism is a social, economic and
cultural movement that modified several patterns of the Middle Ages. In it, Theocentrism
gave way to Anthropocentrism, that
is, the human being and the human condition came to dominate European thought,
distancing itself from the Church.
In the sciences, humanistic thought
defeated the dogmas and precepts of the Church and brought relevant progress in
areas such as physics, mathematics, engineering and medicine.
The movement was so intense that science began to be developed to support
anthropocentric hypotheses, as well as Arts
and Literature. The religious domain
began to weaken and, with that, the focus on the human being strengthened.
Anthropocentrism X Theocentrism, the main conflict at the end of the Middle Ages
Anthropocentrism comes from the Greek Anthropos
(human) and Kontron (center), as well as Theocentrism Theo (God) and kentron
(center). The anthropocentric view argues that the world, as well as everything
in it, is for the greater benefit of human beings. His doctrine frees man from
the divine figure, which for many centuries was predominant in almost the
entire world. In Anthropocentrism – a “science
of man” – human beings are responsible for all their actions, be they
cultural, social, philosophical or historical.
Copernican Heliocentrism and Humanism are the main hallmarks of Anthropocentrism.
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473 - 1543)
claimed that the Earth revolved around the Sun and not the other way around, as
was thought in the Middle Ages. Copernicus' theory was a total opposition to
the Geocentric advocated by the
Catholic Church at that time.
The transition process from
Theocentrism to Anthropocentrism began between the 15th and 16th centuries,
with the emergence of Renaissance
Humanism and other movements led by philosophers, scholars and artists.
This transition brought about several social changes, such as the replacement
of the feudalist model by mercantile capitalism, the beginning of the great
navigations and the passage from the Middle
Age to the Modern Age.
Humanism in the Arts
The intellectuals and artists of
Humanism worked on themes that were related to the human figure, inspired by
the classics of Greco-Roman antiquity
as models of truth, beauty and perfection. The sculptures and paintings showed very high degrees
of detail in facial expressions and human proportions. This period was marked
by the development of various artistic techniques. In the plastic arts and
medicine, Humanism was represented in works and studies on anatomy and the
functioning of the human body.
With the Renaissance, few people
wanted to have works that represented the strength and power of the church and
the monarchy. The artists' basic assumption was the use of art as a vehicle for
social criticism, highlighting common themes among the population. Consequently,
the literary works and the great paintings and sculptures had Renaissance
traits and demarcated humanist ideals.
Secular Humanism
Secular
Humanism is a philosophical
current that addresses social justice, human reason and ethics. Followers of
Naturalism, secular humanists are usually atheists or agnostics, denying
religious doctrine, pseudoscience, superstition and the concept of the
supernatural. For them, these areas are not seen as the foundation of morality
and decision-making.
Humanism and Renaissance
The historical context of Humanism is
intertwined with that of the Renaissance, given that it was humanist thought
that established the ideological foundations that served as the basis for the
Renaissance movement.
Between the fourteenth and seventeenth
centuries, humanism determined a new attitude towards the religious doctrines
in force at the time, proposing a departure from them and a more rational and
anthropocentric interpretation of the world.
During the Renaissance, humanist
thought was also characterized by attempts to free the human being from the
rigid rules of medieval-era Christianity. In a broad sense, Humanism at this
time served as a struggle against medieval obscurity and led to the creation of
scientific behavior free from theological norms.
The Renaissance and its ability to change the world
There is no way to talk about Humanism
without talking about the Renaissance, a movement of artistic, literary and
scientific reform that originated in Italy in the 14th century and spread
across Europe until the 16th century.
For some authors, the Renaissance was
a movement that broke with the "cultural
and intellectual darkness" of the Middle Ages. Others believe that it
was a movement of separation of many philosophies of the medieval period, in
opposition to those who affirm that it was a movement of continuity and that so
it is inevitably related to the Middle Ages.
Artists of the time valued Greco-Roman
culture. They considered that the Greeks and Romans had a complete and human
view of nature, unlike medieval men. Moreover, because of that, the most valued
qualities in human beings at the time were intelligence, knowledge and artistic
gifts.
The Renaissance paved the way for the
development of various artistic styles and philosophical currents. Some
developed in accordance with Renaissance values, while others defined
themselves by distance, such as the Baroque,
characterized by the exaggeration of embellishments and grandeur, as opposed to
the simplicity of the Renaissance.
Cultural Renaissance
For art, the Renaissance meant the
creation of new genres of painting and sculpture, to respond to the new tastes
of society at the time. The first manifestations in the artistic field emerged
in Florence, Italy. Several
architectural works were built that remain to this day. In painting, Giotto was one of the first to follow
this trend.
The most important names were Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Donatello
and Rafaello, with several world-renowned
works of art.
Renaissance in Literature
Philosophy and Literature during the
Renaissance were strongly marked by humanist strands, which placed man in the
spotlight in all areas.
Some of the best-known literary
figures during the Renaissance were Miguel
de Cervantes (Spanish who made the connection between the Renaissance and
the Baroque), François Rabelais
(France) and Luís de Camões
(Portugal).
Scientific Renaissance
The Renaissance was also marked by
important scientific discoveries, especially in the areas of astronomy, physics, medicine, mathematics and geography. The Polish Nicolaus
Copernicus (1473 – 1543) made one of the discoveries of the time when he
contested the geocentric theory that the Earth is not the center of the
universe, but that it is simply a planet that revolves around the Sun.
In medicine, knowledge advanced with
work and experiments on blood circulation,
cauterization processes and advances in anatomy.
Commercial and urban Renaissance
The commercial and urban Renaissance
took place in the Middle Ages, especially in some cities in Italy, and
consisted of a set of factors that created new models of thinking and marketing
products.
The sale of these goods was also
responsible for the development of urban centers that often organized trade
fairs. When soldiers returned from expeditions, they often sold the spoils of
war. Thus, merchants and a new social class emerged, the bourgeoisie.
These rich merchants, known as
patrons, began to invest in the arts, which increased the artistic and cultural
development of the region. For this reason, Italy is known as the birthplace of
the Renaissance.
That´s all! In the next post, we will
deal exclusively with Humanism as a Literary
School.
Humanism In Italian Renaissance Art and Society