How does The Birth of Venus painting reflect humanism?

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PeterL

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I have a project that is really hard and my teacher is stupid and wont tell us what humanism is and whenever we ask what it is she says, Find it out on your own." But when i look it up online it doesnt make any sense so no one knows how to do this project. She told me to use this picture from the renaissance and explain how it reflects humanism. So can someone tell me how it reflects humanism?
 
Renaissance Humanism is the idea that instead of painting/writing about biblical texts (ie Pieta, Madonna and Child), the artist would incorporate greek and roman mythology, and be more (key word) human, and strive less for divinity.

Venus was the Roman Goddess of love, yes? So go from there.
 
Humanism is a pretty difficult concept to explain or understand. It's easier to understand maybe if you understand how people thought back then. People had no concept (before the Renaissance) of individuality, and there was no focus on mankind; instead, the focus was on God and celestial beings/the afterlife. Everything was considered a mystery that only God could understand. People had no science or any understanding of the world back then, so that's understandable.

In the Renaissance, this changed. Humanism placed value on humanity itself. It focuses on our ability to investigate things ourselves and understand the world around us. It focuses on reason, and rejects superstition. Some of the best examples of humanism can be found in Leonardo da Vinci's work, Shakespeare (especially Hamlet), etc. Some characteristics of humanism include an interest in Greek and Roman myth/art/culture, secularization (no longer focusing on religion), focus on the wordly life, and a focus on human potential and achievement.

The reason it's so hard to understand and explain is that this concept defines our culture and we just take it for granted--don't you think? That's why, if your teacher had explained the Medieval cultural view of the world first, it might have made more sense.

The Birth of Venus represents these ideas in several ways. The subject is a Roman myth and completely secular. Botticelli chose to portray Venus in a highly realistic way, focusing on a realistic human form. (Compare this to Medieval art, which had no concept of realism: http://www.hoasm.org/IIA/Richard1.jpg).

Let me know if you have any more questions!
 
Humanism is a pretty difficult concept to explain or understand. It's easier to understand maybe if you understand how people thought back then. People had no concept (before the Renaissance) of individuality, and there was no focus on mankind; instead, the focus was on God and celestial beings/the afterlife. Everything was considered a mystery that only God could understand. People had no science or any understanding of the world back then, so that's understandable.

In the Renaissance, this changed. Humanism placed value on humanity itself. It focuses on our ability to investigate things ourselves and understand the world around us. It focuses on reason, and rejects superstition. Some of the best examples of humanism can be found in Leonardo da Vinci's work, Shakespeare (especially Hamlet), etc. Some characteristics of humanism include an interest in Greek and Roman myth/art/culture, secularization (no longer focusing on religion), focus on the wordly life, and a focus on human potential and achievement.

The reason it's so hard to understand and explain is that this concept defines our culture and we just take it for granted--don't you think? That's why, if your teacher had explained the Medieval cultural view of the world first, it might have made more sense.

The Birth of Venus represents these ideas in several ways. The subject is a Roman myth and completely secular. Botticelli chose to portray Venus in a highly realistic way, focusing on a realistic human form. (Compare this to Medieval art, which had no concept of realism: http://www.hoasm.org/IIA/Richard1.jpg).

Let me know if you have any more questions!
 
Humanism is a pretty difficult concept to explain or understand. It's easier to understand maybe if you understand how people thought back then. People had no concept (before the Renaissance) of individuality, and there was no focus on mankind; instead, the focus was on God and celestial beings/the afterlife. Everything was considered a mystery that only God could understand. People had no science or any understanding of the world back then, so that's understandable.

In the Renaissance, this changed. Humanism placed value on humanity itself. It focuses on our ability to investigate things ourselves and understand the world around us. It focuses on reason, and rejects superstition. Some of the best examples of humanism can be found in Leonardo da Vinci's work, Shakespeare (especially Hamlet), etc. Some characteristics of humanism include an interest in Greek and Roman myth/art/culture, secularization (no longer focusing on religion), focus on the wordly life, and a focus on human potential and achievement.

The reason it's so hard to understand and explain is that this concept defines our culture and we just take it for granted--don't you think? That's why, if your teacher had explained the Medieval cultural view of the world first, it might have made more sense.

The Birth of Venus represents these ideas in several ways. The subject is a Roman myth and completely secular. Botticelli chose to portray Venus in a highly realistic way, focusing on a realistic human form. (Compare this to Medieval art, which had no concept of realism: http://www.hoasm.org/IIA/Richard1.jpg).

Let me know if you have any more questions!
 
Humanism is a pretty difficult concept to explain or understand. It's easier to understand maybe if you understand how people thought back then. People had no concept (before the Renaissance) of individuality, and there was no focus on mankind; instead, the focus was on God and celestial beings/the afterlife. Everything was considered a mystery that only God could understand. People had no science or any understanding of the world back then, so that's understandable.

In the Renaissance, this changed. Humanism placed value on humanity itself. It focuses on our ability to investigate things ourselves and understand the world around us. It focuses on reason, and rejects superstition. Some of the best examples of humanism can be found in Leonardo da Vinci's work, Shakespeare (especially Hamlet), etc. Some characteristics of humanism include an interest in Greek and Roman myth/art/culture, secularization (no longer focusing on religion), focus on the wordly life, and a focus on human potential and achievement.

The reason it's so hard to understand and explain is that this concept defines our culture and we just take it for granted--don't you think? That's why, if your teacher had explained the Medieval cultural view of the world first, it might have made more sense.

The Birth of Venus represents these ideas in several ways. The subject is a Roman myth and completely secular. Botticelli chose to portray Venus in a highly realistic way, focusing on a realistic human form. (Compare this to Medieval art, which had no concept of realism: http://www.hoasm.org/IIA/Richard1.jpg).

Let me know if you have any more questions!
 
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