Reinesance and Reformation look at beauty

It is almost unimaginable to think that two periods could have such an effect on the Western Culture, but the Reformation and the Renaissance changed the culture and brought the west to a new order. While the Renaissance focussed on humanism and shaped ideas of beauty, the Reformation changed perceptions on authority, especially in the church.

Beauty in the Western Culture

Beauty is a very important aspect in the Western culture. Females will spend a chunk of time in front of mirror putting on make-up, in an attempt to look presentable. Some will go to through the trouble of changing their appearance by having surgery to have the ideal face or body. The Renaissance was the rebirth of the medieval period, where they brought back the Greek and Roman idealism. They focused on humanism where they explored mankind’s most creative, intellectual, spiritual and artistic parts. Morals degraded and they were concerned about themselves; instead of focussing on God.

One of the things that artists at that time explored was beauty. During this time, the images changed from Madonna (Mary, mother of Jesus), to Venus, the goddess of love. Painters started making humans real by using different colors and shades. While women were painted in their full figure, they were portrayed without any flows and with a certain mystery. A good example is Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci. The woman, although not a Venus, has a sense of beauty that shines through her smile. The mystery of it is there is no explanation in the painting why she seems happy and content. Another good depiction of the change of perception on beauty is The Birth of Venus by Botticelli. This was such a change from the Sistine Madonna by Raphael. The morals seemed to change where a woman’s beauty used to be a very private issue. Women seemed to be encouraged to explore their beauty. They were encouraged to explore their body and instead of hiding behind the males, make a broad statement and come out of their “shell” that had been created by the Gothic age. Nudity, which had been almost a taboo especially in the arts, became a very open issue and was portrayed in both paintings and sculptures. Obsession with physical beauty and having a certain weight is not a new idea for this culture. In paintings, physical beauty was emphasized and the ideal woman was the one with curves and could get in certain dress sizes. Nevertheless, while the media continues to influence the ideals on beauty in the Western culture, the roots are in the arts found during the renaissance.

The authority in the Reformation

Today, in most countries executive decisions are not made by one person. Even the churches have a governing body that oversees functions of certain church district. In the Western Culture, it is very hard to find centralized control, where one man is making the decisions that will effect a population of people. The Reformation played a big role on bringing about democracy. According to the authors of World history since 1500: The Age of Global Integration, “The Reformation was closely associated with the formation of powerful national states in Western Europe…” (Upshur, Terry, Holoka, Goff, Cassar, 372)

Although this was not the beginning of the strong nations, this brought on a change in the way that the power was shared. Very specifically was the change in the Church. The Roman Catholic Church was basically ruling England, since the catholic beliefs were imposed on the political life of the state. However, with the reformation came the end of papacy. Significantly, there was an apparent change when Henry broke from the Catholic Church and Elizabeth restored the Anglican Church. This allowed the Protestant reformation to flourish in England. Through this, the Council of Trent was formed, which was among the first church council to be created. Today, we see how this has changed governmental operations today. The separation of Church and state originated from here. In addition, the Protestant reformation brought on the idea of denominations, which we still have today. Now, Church councils and distribution of power is common in a churches and governments.

In the changes brought about by the Reformation and the Renaissance, we can find disadvantages and disadvantages. For example, presently we have a skewed image of beauty. What does it mean to be beautiful? Is it the make up, the perfect face, the ideal body or having the least possible amount of clothing on? However, beauty is neither covering your whole body nor being naïve about your body. Every woman needs to find their own beauty, without the influence of the media. Change is inevitable; however, we do not need to violate our morals in order to conform to society.