The rediscovery of classical world radically altered the art of painting such that artistic principals, including harmonious proportion, realistic expression and rational postures were emulated. As compared to the middle ages, Renaissance art is more lifelike and has greater depth.
One of the distinguishing features of Renaissance art was its development of highly realistic linear perspective. One of the first to paint in this new style was Giotto di Bondone, an artist from Florence. His paintings showed real emotion and the background of his paintings showed perspective. Perspective was part of a wider trend towards realism in the arts. Renaissance art is distinctly characterized by balance and proportion in the art forms and the use of airy, bright colors.
Very few artists in the renaissance period were known to paint self portraits. One of them was Albrecht Durer, who is known to have painted the greatest number of self portraits, next only to Rembrandt, 100 years later. Along the course of his travels, Durer collected several useful ideas which he brought back to incorporate into his expression of self portraits. His love for rich costumes of all kinds can very well be seen in his self portraits, in which he enjoyed playing the parts of actors with qualities that made him look distinguished or noble. In one of Durer’s famous portraits, which he completed at the age of 27, he shows himself as an extravagantly dressed Venetian gentleman with a cool, superior gaze looking out at the viewer. When compared to portraits painted by other German artists of that time, this portrait showed the realism of the Italian Renaissance rather than the traditional German Gothic style.
Some of the other artists of the Renaissance period where:
- Leonardo da Vinci
- Hugo van der Goes
- Michelangelo
- Jan van Eyck
- Hubert
