Contemporary art vs. Renaissance art

I think that it is somewhat difficult to compare the art of today, to the art of the renaissance. In my opinion, art of the renaissance set the standard and basics for what art should mean and even how it is made. I think that European art and artists during the renaissance are like the "founding fathers" of art and architecture. The artists of the renaissance brought to life different paintings by creating/discovering things like illusionism, shadowing, and linear perspective. These artists pushed the boundaries sometimes of what was acceptable and what was not. Art and architecture during the renaissance often represented a person's status and rank in society. For one to have a pictured painted or drawn of him or her meant that he or she were of a higher status in society. This is still somewhat equivalent of how it is today, only because it can sometimes be pricey. Although, in the United States it is not as difficult as it would have been to receive this treatment during renaissance times.

Architecture during the renaissance also represented a lot of different things for the culture and individually. For an individual to create or have created a large piece of work, often meant that that person had power. Today, buildings and architecture in the United States seem to more often be created for a particular city, rather than for that individual. Or at least the creator is not as well recognized as some of the emperors of the renaissance.

I do not feel that I am all that knowledgeable of art of this time in the United States as some people, but I also do not think that I am much different from the general public. I think that in the United States, art and architecture is not as widely know to the general population as it was during the renaissance. The art during the renaissance would very often have symbolic meanings behind them, whereas, today the art of the United States seems to fall short of how much art meant to those during the renaissance. I believe that art and architecture of the United States still has meaning and value behind it, but just not as much as art during the renaissance. Sometimes I feel that art during the renaissance is more real that contemporary art because artists long ago had less to work with, but yet they set such a high standard for those to follow after them. Artists like Leonard da Vinci will forever be known to most people, whereas, it would be very difficult for me to name a contemporary artist in the United States at this time. I do not have anything against contemporary artists, or think that they do not create good quality work, I just think that they are not as widely publicized as some artists like musicians.