Why This Painting Style Was Scandalous

During the Renaissance, the adoption of linear perspective in painting did spark some controversy among religious groups. Renaissance painting emphasized realism, proportion, and the use of linear perspective to create depth and a sense of three-dimensionality on a flat surface, often focusing on humanist and classical themes. In contrast, Medieval painting was more stylized and symbolic, with less concern for natural proportions or realistic perspectives,

In a chapter of "The Grid Book", Professor Hannah B. Higgins writes about how this shift was indicative of a change in popular culture. The logic of a linear perspective indicated a viewing self that was capable of understanding and controlling the world rationally, making them feel somewhat less susceptible to the whims of an almighty God than their Medieval forbears.

Paintings in this video include:
The School of Athens - Raphael
The Holy Trinity - Masaccio
Girl Before a Mirror - Picasso

[sample.sanctuary]

I could write down all the sources of the art used in the video, but I shouldn't.

The School of Athens (1509-1511) by Raphael, Stanza della Segnatura in the Apostolic Palace

Coronation of the Virgin by Catarino Veneziano (1375), Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice

The Crucifixion, part of the Sant'Elena polyptych (1426~1436) by Michele di Matteo da Bologna, Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice

St. Ansovino and Girolamo (c. 1490), part of the Duomo di Camerino polyptych by Carlo Crivelli, Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan

The Marriage of the Virgin (1504) by Raphael, San Francesco church in Città di Castello, Umbria

The Holy Trinity (1426~1428) by Masaccio, in the Santa Maria Novella, Florence

Frescos in the Temple of St. Sava, Belgrade (2016-2020) by various painters from the Russian Academy of Fine Arts

Girl before a mirror (1932) by Picasso, in the MoMA, New York City

[Post_the_most]

This explains why the medival paintings look so weird, like the castle walls are just 1, 5 to 2 times larger than the soliders trying to raid the castle

[jackcooper]

To be noted, people definitely had more accurate maps in the Middle Ages for real use. They just also had display maps for aesthetic purposes.

[KaiserWhilelmthesecond]

Guys it’s just painted in perspective
It’s not that small

[dragonrings]

So you think religious people thought the School of Athens painting was immoral... It was commissioned by Pope Julius II and is still currently in the Vatican. So which religious people are we talking about exactly?

[AaronRotenberg]

I'm pretty sure in elementary school they told us some nonsense about how the Renaissance artists discovered correct perspective and before that no one had figured out how to paint realistically so all their proportions were wrong.

[MTerrence]

I think that one bit of context that would have enriched this video was that this fresco was commissioned directly by Pope Julius II for his personal apartments in the Vatican - and that, after Julius died, Pope Leo X ratified that decision by having them finished.

[joeschianodicola]

interesting point on the cyclical ebb and flow of trends in culture. both early medieval and modernist eras celebrated abstraction, though the latter left behind the religious reasoning.

[AriSolMorningstar]

I love medieval art, so many people dismiss it as people in the past not knowing how to paint but i love that it was all intentional artstyle
I also love how this transcendent view gives a way of imagining a scene that a realistic painting cant convey as simply

I wish i was more knowledgeable about art to know how to verbalise it, but it's cool 👍

[noahminton]

Your shorts about art history are the best! Keep ‘em coming!

[ABHINAV-bols]

You have made good use of the shorts medium to convey things with brevity

[anacondafilms]

Person in medieval times: breathes

Everyone: B L A S P H E M Y

[DabbertjeDouwe]

In some medieval paintings, perspective is actually used but inverted: we are the ones being observed by the depicted ones, often divine beings.

Edit: Think this is the first time a comment of mine got >100 likes... Thanks!

[MagicDonny]

Who considered scandalous if it was the pope himself that commissioned the great rennaissance masters to make this works? Also because according to what I remember Raffaello was extremely popular during his life (his nickname is the divine painter).

[timothybodey]

Perspective is my favorite thing about art personally. Like I freehand single point because I've been doing it for almost a decade. I started doing 5 point perspective recently, and having that many vanishing points is a fun challenge to attempt freehanding.

[bb]

I was fortunate enough to see that up close and personal when I was in Rome last year. Absolutely amazing painting. I could stare at it for hours.

[thenamesianna]

I remember seeing it irl in the Vatican museums. Such a beautiful and surreal experience, although what followed, the Sistine Chapel, was even greater.

[TheGrenadier]

You can't claim "a lot of [unnamed] religious people" disliked that when the literal Popes were financing people who painted like that.

[christopherhorn]

He’s right about everything except the immoral part. This painting was commissioned by the Catholic Church.

[thewestisthebest]

It’s cool to use both styles. I see in perspective everyday so sometimes I want to see art that isn’t in that perspective

That kind of art can be thought revoking but painting in perspective can also capture the beauty and reality of the world