Artistic Masters

The "Masters" of the Renaissance and Baroque eras are called the masters for a reason.  They not only created beautiful works of art, but they "mastered" their technique as well.  They understood lighting and shadows.  They knew how to engage the viewer and add depth to their work.  Their works looked realistic, and eye catching.  They provoked thought in their viewer.  All these things are key elements to becoming a master in the art world.

Ever since these time periods, there has been no art quite like that of the Masters.  Their pieces are unique in composition, content, and technique.  

Although there are some modern artists who are very skilled at what they do, I do not think any of them will ever reach the level of popularity that the Masters have accomplished.  This may be because in these days, digital art and photography have become a much larger part of the art world.  Painting is still admired as beauty, and takes much skill to create; however I don't think that paintings like the ones from the Renaissance are even in demand in this time period.  Because of the availability of different mediums (such as photography, computers, digital art) and the widespread use of these things, I think it is much easier for someone to obtain the skills necessary to create beautiful art.  Therefore for one to be extremely talented does not make them too far above the rest.  

Another point I have to make is that the paintings from the Renaissance and Baroque periods contained countless amount of symbolism.  I don't recognize things like that near as much in modern art.  The content from the artwork created  by the masters is so deep and has so much meaning, whereas modern art has been extremely simplified and looked at as something of beauty, or interest to look at.  It also serves as decoration more than anything, so the content of art from the past and art of today is very different.