Ideas from Europe and Asia changed the world by giving people different ways to express themselves. The introduction of different types of art, including music and painting styles were stepping stones to the art and music that we have today.
We made a triptych, which is basically a 3 paneled painting, to show how ideas from Europe and Asia changed the world. I made my triptych have a theme, which was music. Every panel represents a different period. The left is in the Renaissance, the centre is modern day, and the right is before the Renaissance.
On the left panel on the triptych I put many Renaissance innovations. I’ll cover a few now. I put music notes because the first sheet music was invented in the late 1400s. Another I included was the trumpet and the shawm, two musical instruments that we still use today. I also added screws to hang up the clock and the painting of Martin Luther. Screws we’re actually invented in the Renaissance, so that’s cool. Ignore the dog butt for now. Ideas from the Renaissance created many things that changed the medieval world, like clocks, and innovations to help people express themselves, like trumpets, sheet music, and shawms.
In my middle panel, I put a thermometer, which was invented in the Renaissance. I made the dog butt transform into a Borzoi with it’s head in a can of Pringles. Why? ‘Twas merely a red herring to see if you were paying attention (although I could make the argument that it shows the evolution of some dogs over time). Anyways, I also put a digital clock to show the evolution of clocks from my last photo. I added a printer, the modern version of a Renaissance era printing press. They even invented an early version of the piano, called the harpsichord, so I incorporated a keyboard. Ideas from the Renaissance that changed my world today include things like the clock, the keyboard, sheet music, and different interpretations of art, by allowing people to express themselves in unique ways.
Ideas before the Renaissance included things that paved the way for other innovations in the Renaissance to make people’s lives easier and more comfortable. I showed this in my right panel by putting in an hourglass, chess and a spinning wheel. I also included ways for people to express themselves, in the form of instruments like the flute, the harmonium (an early version of the harpsichord) and the lute. I also tried to make it look like a church because people were very religious and music was only really allowed in church.
I think the most stressful part of this project was when I got a revision on my sketch. I had started to make my other panels and I was worried that I was going to have to redo my whole project, even though it basically just said, “Add more innovations.”
For me, the part I liked most about the project was making the images. Even though it was probably the hardest part, it was really fun to mash different images together to make the image Frankenstein I call my triptych.
So, what did I learn by doing this project? I learned about how things from the Middle Ages evolved and advanced during the Renaissance. I think a good example of this is the flushing toilet. In the Middle Ages, people had simple toilets like outhouses, which were outside. But in the Renaissance, some genius asked, “Hey, why can’t we have the toilet IN the house?” And thus, the flush toilet was born. The Renaissance was also a time of thinking. In 1517, Martin Luther saw that the Church was collecting indulgences, and he said that, “Hey this looks like a scam,” and a whole bunch of people agreed and formed Protestantism. The Renaissance was a time of great thought, art and innovation.
As a bonus, here’s some work I did along the way.
<?php echo do_shortcode(‘
First Draft of Left Panel
