View Page: Ancient Influences on Renaissance Art

	Ancient Influences on Renaissance Art
	written by heberj / 09.20.2004

Section Three

3 of 5

Conclusion

Michelangelo's slave

One of Michelangelo's unfinished slaves.

The Renaissance was a time when artists came to again value the classical ideals. These included realism, symmetry and harmony, and the idea that physical perfection implied a perfection of both mind and spirit. It was at this same time that the repopulation of Rome caused many major ancient artistic works to be found again, and the combination of these two events had profound consequences for the arts. The artists of the time were able to learn profound amounts from these old statues. Some of the statues found were in spectacular condition such as Apollo Belvedere and some were not, as the Belvedere Torso, but all had some imperfections and had incurred some damage throughout the ages. This led many people to the desire to repair the statues and while many attempts were made to do so, the repairs were quite often done incorrectly and only damaged the statues further. Michelangelo protested these restoration attempts from an artistic perspective and a respect for the sculpture. These damaged sculptures can also be seen to have influenced his work on the 'unfinished statues', a set up statues that are clearly not completed figures but at the same time their not having been finished adds an incredible element to the work. This question of restoration is still present with us today however, all over Rome damaged structures are present, leaving the question of to what extent should these be restored and rebuilt, and to what extent should they be left exactly as they are found.

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