填空题 .Humanism and Renaissance Art
    Humanism is the idea that human life and its natural surroundings are more important than a religious-centered view of the world. Its origins lie in ancient Greece and can be seen in Greek art, which depicts humans with anatomically correct proportions. The notion of humanism spread to other parts of the ancient world but then declined when the Roman Empire fell. Gradually, humanism was replaced by religion as the primary focus of life as well as art. Artwork produced in the Middle Ages, which began roughly after the fall of Rome, is almost entirely focused on religion while human aspects are secondary concerns. For instance, saints and other religious figures are depicted in medieval paintings as having halos, and the holy people themselves are much larger than normal humans. In addition, the mathematical precision with which the ancients showed both scale and depth in their works became a lost art.
    It was not until the late fourteenth century in Florence, Italy, that a revival of humanistic thinking began. At first, it was mostly scholarly and literary in form, but over time, this rediscovered philosophy spread and had a profound influence on establishing the era known today as the Renaissance. Humanism had a particularly powerful effect on artists then. Slowly, artists moved away from religion being the focal point of their work as they began showing humans in a more realistic manner. In artwork in which religious figures were depicted, they were no longer wearing halos or looming over other humans. They were instead drawn or painted on the same scale. In Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper, for instance, Jesus and his disciples are represented naturally as real people rather than as iconic figures of Christianity.
    Nature became prominent in Renaissance art, too, as humans were placed in natural scenes, and nature was represented more realistically. The rediscovering of the ancient mathematical method of drawing humans and the using of depth in artwork led the way to paintings showing people more realistically. Painters learned the art of foreshortening, which gave paintings an illusion of depth not found in prior periods. The depth and lifelike aspect of Renaissance art was further enhanced by the invention of oil paints, which enabled artists to work in more detail and to include more naturalism in their works. ❶ Furthermore, artists of that time embraced the human body as a work of art. ❷They accomplished this by showing the body nude more often than clothed and by putting the beauty of the human body on full display. ❸Michelangelo's sculpture David is the prime example of this as it shows a nude human body in perfectly chiseled proportions.❹
    Art patrons, such as the Medici family of Florence, also encouraged the influence of humanism on art. Not satisfied only with artwork with religious themes, individuals of wealth and social standing sought artists who could provide more secular views in their art and commissioned works with humanist aspects. A final way in which humanism affected Renaissance art concerned how people perceived artists. At one time, artists were regarded as craftsmen rather than specialists, which is why hardly any artists from the Middle Ages are known today. However, people recognized the true genius of men such as Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Raphael, so they—and many others—are remembered today for the brilliance of their work.
    *anatomically correct: properly representing the human body
    *halo: a disc or circle of light around the head of a divine or holy individual12.  Vocabulary
    ______=exactness