Proto Renaissance
The Proto Renaissance was the first wave of revival that flooded Italy. It was during this time (1280-1400) that scholars and artists finally realized how much knowledge and culture they lost during the Middle Ages, and they wanted to bring it back. The goal of the Proto Renaissance was to restore the values, languages, intellect and art that at had once flourished, and this process began with reintroducing realism to painting.
Prior to the Middle Ages, realistic images and sculptures were held in high regard, but once the world fell into the dark ages, realism was replaced with abstraction. Now, we see this switch once again, but instead of going further into abstraction, we move back to realism, and it is this backwards movement that allows society to advance. Because artists become so obsessed with creating realistic images of humans, they begin to learn more about human anatomy, and the concept of a "Renaissance man" develops. A Renaissance man being someone who is practiced in not only the visual arts but also the sciences, math, and writing. Everything was moving with an immediacy that had not been seen in centuries, but it all of this progress came to an abrupt halt when the plague and war consumed Europe.
Prior to the Middle Ages, realistic images and sculptures were held in high regard, but once the world fell into the dark ages, realism was replaced with abstraction. Now, we see this switch once again, but instead of going further into abstraction, we move back to realism, and it is this backwards movement that allows society to advance. Because artists become so obsessed with creating realistic images of humans, they begin to learn more about human anatomy, and the concept of a "Renaissance man" develops. A Renaissance man being someone who is practiced in not only the visual arts but also the sciences, math, and writing. Everything was moving with an immediacy that had not been seen in centuries, but it all of this progress came to an abrupt halt when the plague and war consumed Europe.