In the Victorian era, critics tended to view the art of the Italian Renaissance through the prism of Enlightenment views about the role of the individual in the context of humanism (the ethical philosophy that holds that human life and agency have value separate from any supernatural or theistic beliefs). The celebration of the human form in Renaissance art was seen as a sign of a society ushering in an era of humanism; a new spirit of objectivity weakening the hold of religion was considered a major achievement of this era. However, recent scholarship on the subject has emphasized that the major works of Renaissance art seek to do more than simply extol the virtues of humanism. While many of the artists of the era do masterfully portray the human body, modern critics stress that their works also sought to glorify the principles underlying Christianity and the Roman Catholic Church, which commissioned a number of the most impressive works of the Renaissance. To what extent these artists intended to develop a humanistic version of Catholicism in their works, as opposed to simply portraying the trappings of Christian life as a means of disguising more subversive humanistic content, is open to question. However, those who have studied the art of the Italian Renaissance can attest to an undeniable air of reverence for the religious material found in many of these works. In 1999, Andrew Graham-Dixon published a book reviewing the Renaissance and the ideas behind it that supported the idea that these works were meant to convey more complex messages about humanism and its relationship to religion than imagined by many 19th century critics.

The main problem with assessing the validity of critical appraisals such as Graham-Dixon’s is that it is difficult to analyze the multiple levels of meaning in major Renaissance artworks through the prism of contemporary issues. All Renaissance art cannot be evaluated as ammunition in the battle between humanistic and religious ideas. Every apple displayed in a painting from that era does not necessarily symbolize temptation or man’s susceptibility to sin. To posit, as Bhalla does, that the three rear windows in Da Vinci’s The Last Supper symbolize the Holy Trinity risks making the mistake of assuming every element of a painting has a deeper purpose, although it can certainly be said that the work contains some symbolic meaning. Modern critics may envision every work of art from the late Renaissance as representing early salvos in the war between church and state that has raged in our times, as perhaps some 16th century viewers did. But the reaction of viewers of the time to art cannot be summed up by such an anachronistic formula. To do so is to envision Renaissance artists and their audience as unduly bound by rigid conceptions of a divide between church and state that, while an important component of modern liberal democracies, simply did not exist in its current form at the time.

1. It can be inferred from the passage that modern critics of Renaissance art generally differ from Victorian era critics of Renaissance art in which of the following ways?

A) Modern critics are more reverent of Renaissance art than Victorian era critics were.
B) Modern critics focus more on depictions of the human body in Renaissance art than Victorian era critics did.
C) Modern critics offer a more nuanced interpretation of the tension between humanism and religion in Renaissance art than Victorian era critics did.


2. The passage implies that modern criticism of Renaissance art is similar to Victorian-era criticism of Renaissance art in that

A) both tend to overlook the nuances in the messages that Renaissance artists sought to convey about humanism and its relationship to religion
B) both are prone to the tendency to interpret the art of the past through the lens of current concerns
C) both presume that 16th-century viewers of Renaissance art were not bound by the strict division between church and state that is a key feature of modern democracies
D) both are overly focused on the portrayal of the human form in Renaissance art, even though many Renaissance artists created works that do not contain human figures
E) both tend to see only one layer of meaning in major artworks of the past, even though the artists likely hid several layers of meaning in a single piece of art


3. Which of the following, if true, would most seriously challenge the author’s argument regarding the shortcomings of modern criticism of Renaissance art?

A) Renaissance artists and art viewers could not have conceived of a pure separation between church and state, as the notion of secular government did not exist in its current form.
B) Renaissance artists intentionally hid many layers of meaning in a single work of art.
C) Renaissance artists were often devout Catholics themselves, which is why they accepted commissions from the Church.
D) Though Renaissance artists were intrigued by humanist ideas, philosophy in general was often shelved in favor of addressing the more pressing issues of the time, namely the plight of the poor and the consolidation of wealth among dynastic families.
E) Renaissance artists were deeply concerned with the extent of the church’s control over everyday life and often used their art to convey themes that challenged religious authority.


4. According to the passage, the main issue with establishing the accuracy of modern analyses of Renaissance art is that

A) modern critics tend to perceive symbolic meaning in certain Renaissance artworks where no symbolic meaning actually exists
B) modern critics risk misinterpreting the symbolism of Renaissance artworks by evaluating them through the lens of present-era conditions
C) modern critics tend to overemphasize the importance of the human form in Renaissance artworks
D) modern critics often fail to account for the disagreement over the separation of church and state that characterized the Renaissance era
E) modern critics are over focused on the works of iconic Renaissance artists such as Leonardo Da Vinci and frequently ignore the works of lesser-known artists of the era