Historical Analysis On Berenson's Renaissance Painting Art Appreciation Theory

Bernard Berenson had a special interest in the history of Renaissance art in Italy.His Renaissance painting art appreciation theory has formed a mature and complete system.He inherited Morelli's method of detail identification and developed it,introducing tactile value,movement and space composition into appreciation of painting.With his own aesthetic experience as a bridge,he turned his personal aesthetic feelings into one of the techniques of painting appreciation,and boldly proposed that the fundamental method of painting appreciation is to grasp the quality sense of painting and the spirit of the artist.The art history of Renaissance is one of the core contents in the research field of Renaissance history.The theory of Renaissance art appreciation established by Berenson has become an important part of the study of Renaissance art history.He abandoned the art history vein around painting school and style which constructed by traditional art historians,combined the appreciation theory with the research of art history closely.He tried to write from the perspective of connoisseurs to create “new-style art history” on the basis of appreciation theory which was different from the traditional art history,that is,after analyzing painters' paintings techniques and quality of different paintings,he determined the attribution of paintings and made further progress to integrate the creation background of paintings into historical background of painters,while grasping the relationship between the painters,the degree of mutual influence,the development and inheritance of techniques and styles.The history of art written by him clearly shows the intergenerational relationship and connection among painters,and constructs the history of art purely from the works of painters.It tries to restore the historical scenes of painters under the Renaissance through the works of art itself,and represents the glorious era jointly constructed by painters of different styles in the Italian Renaissance.Berenson's pioneering move of applying the theory of appreciation to the study of art history has become the key to distinguish him from other art historians.