Study On The Concept Of "Universal Man"

A group of versatile artists emerged in Italy in the 15 th century.These artists were not only painters but also writers,architects and engineers or scientists,which are known as “universal man”.The cultural historian Burckhardt pointed out that they have created brand-new and perfect works in every field.In addition to the art,they also delved into a wide range of scientific and philosophical issues.In this process,they had crossed the boundaries of disciplines.“Universal man” is the ideal model pursued by Renaissance culture in Italy.Their adherence to self-spirit,integration of knowledge and breakthrough of limitations also continue to influence the western artists and art historians of later generations.This paper is divided into five chapters.The first chapter gives an overview of the concept of the “universal man” in Italian Renaissance,combined with cultural,ideological,political and other factors to analyze the reasons why Italy was able to produce many “universal man” on art in the Renaissance.The second chapter takes Leonardo da Vinci as the sample of the “universal man” in Italian Renaissance,combined with his natural observation,scientific research and artistic thoughts to interpret his intellectual thinking mode.The third chapter starts with Giorgio Vasari's record of Leonardo's “universal man” image,through the comparison with Leon Battista Alberti's art thoughts,combined with Leonardo's “paragon”,to reveal the important influence of his art thoughts.The fourth and fifth chapters take the western descendants of the painting masters' works and art historians' studies as examples to prove the influence of Italian Renaissance concept of “universal man” in its painting creation and artistic research studies.