Unit 5: Art History · Lesson 1
Art History - Lesson 1
What this lesson is for
- Students will create artwork related to Art History - Lesson 1
- Students will express creativity through art
Them hath he filled with wisdom of heart, to work all manner of work.
Exodus 35:35
The Renaissance: Humanism, Christianity, and the Biblical Masterwork
The Renaissance (Italian: "rebirth," roughly 1400–1600) was a profound transformation of European culture centered in Italy. It began as a recovery of ancient Greek and Roman learning, philosophy, and art — and this recovery brought with it a new intellectual movement called humanism, which placed man at the center of inquiry and celebrated human achievement, beauty, and rationality.
This creates a real tension that students of art history must grapple with honestly: the Renaissance was simultaneously the great age of Christian art AND the birthplace of a secular philosophy that would eventually challenge Christianity. How do we understand this?
The Answer Is Complexity: Most Renaissance artists were sincere Christians working within a deeply Christian society. The humanist recovery of classical learning did not mean rejecting God — for most Renaissance thinkers, Greek philosophy was seen as preparation for the Gospel, not opposition to it. Michelangelo (1475–1564) was deeply devout, tortured by his sense of unworthiness before God, yet he painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling with the most magnificent biblical imagery ever created.
Michelangelo's Faith: Michelangelo wrote hundreds of religious poems (sonnets) meditating on his sinfulness and God's grace. In his final years, he devoted himself almost entirely to the Pietà Rondanini — a meditation on Christ's death that he was still working on days before his own death. He destroyed many of his own drawings because he felt they were too proud.
God can use imperfect, struggling people to create works of great beauty and truth. This is itself a biblical truth — David was a murderer and adulterer; Moses was a murderer; Paul persecuted Christians. 'God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise' (1 Corinthians 1:27).
Key Renaissance Artists and Works:
- Michelangelo: Sistine Chapel ceiling, David, Pietà, Laurentian Library
- Leonardo da Vinci: Last Supper, The Annunciation, detailed anatomical drawings
- Raphael: School of Athens, Sistine Madonna, Vatican Stanze frescoes
- Botticelli: Primavera, The Birth of Venus, late religious works (Mystic Nativity)
Practice: Research the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Identify six specific scenes Michelangelo depicted, their sources in Genesis, and how he organized the narrative across the ceiling space. Write a paragraph on what these biblical scenes tell us about Michelangelo's theological understanding.
Homework
No homework - great job creating today!
Note for the parent
Today's lesson covers Art History - Lesson 1. Estimated time: 40 minutes. Encourage independent work but be available for questions.
The first three of this lesson's 10 questions
What was humanism in the Renaissance context?
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Answer: An intellectual movement that placed man at the center of inquiry, celebrating human achievement, beauty, and potential.
Why does Renaissance humanism present a tension for Christians studying Renaissance art?
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Answer: Much of its greatest art was explicitly Christian in subject (the Sistine Chapel, frescoes, altarpieces), yet its underlying worldview was secular.
Which Renaissance artist painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel with biblical scenes?
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Answer: Michelangelo Buonarroti
Another 7 questions follow in the lesson itself, each one graded the moment it is answered.