BEST AMERICAN ART by Alexandra Jopp

Titian, Venus of Urbino, 1538. Uffizi, Florence By Alexandra A. Jopp --> The power and influence of the Christian Church was one of the leading features of the Renaissance. Not only was the church the dominant political force, it also directly shaped the lives of individuals throughout Christendom. Most people were poor and had very limited information about the world around them, and the church offered an explanation of the world – and beyond – that largely defined the weltanschauung of millions of Europeans. The High Renaissance – from the beginning of the sixteenth century to the closing of the Council of Trent in 1563 – was a period of remarkable cultural expansion, artistic enterprise and increasing demand for technical skill (which created a high degree of competition among artists). Many Italian nobles held refined courts, where they encouraged and protected artists. In Milan, for example, Francesco Sforza and, later, Ludovico il Moro, held courts – Ludovico ...

By Alexandra A. Jopp Love and passion: The female voice in Louise Labe's sonnets Louise Labé,  poètes  poètes There are certain epochs in the history of literature in which poetry was the predominant verbal art, such as the classical period of Greek and Roman antiquity, the era of European romanticism and the "golden" and "silver" age in Russian poetry. The poetic period of the Renaissance began in Italy in the 14th century and gradually expanded throughout Europe to join this short list. Characterized by the uses of personal applicability, limits and the purposes of human aspirations to understand the problems of society and what it means to be human, the poetry of the Renaissance, as much or more than any other art form, represents the "revival" and "rebirth" that defined the period. It can even be argued that the value of a person and of human life was not fully realized until the Renaissance. When we think about lite...