30 Times People Snapped A Pic And Realized It Was “Accidental Renaissance” (New Pics)

We highly recommend following the subreddit yourself so you can see others’ submissions and even submit your own. Who knows? Maybe becoming a member will inspire you to look for perfect lighting and take a new perspective on your off-hand digital snaps of daily life.

If you start looking for “renaissance shots” to take, however, that does raise the question of what an accidental renaissance scene might actually look like in everyday life - and what a scene might look like in any other art style, for that matter. Understanding some of their key visual elements may help you keep an eye out for them! Each style is inextricably linked to the social, political, and cultural context of its times, but we’ll try to stick to the visuals. Let’s begin!

Renaissance paintings

The Renaissance was nothing short of a revolution in European painting, so the changes between it and olde medieval styles are many. Perhaps the single concept best capturing the Renaissance style is chairoscuro - the use of bold contrasts between light and dark to build a sense of depth. The mysterious background shadows and the pronounced folds of robes or tapestries that we might associate with Renaissance paintings are all a part of the Renaissance trend of using strong differences in light to reinforce a sense of space and depth in flat paintings.

Other changes included the use of linear perspective, a greater sense of realism borrowed from ancient Mediterranean works, and the study of anatomy, light, and realism.

Baroque paintings

The Renaissance art style gave way to mannerism and then to the Baroque period. Given their relationship, some of the things we associate with “accidental renaissance” paintings may actually be elements of Baroque paintings instead.

The Baroque period built on and borrowed from the Renaissance period but had a few key visual elements that set it apart. One was an increased focus on “liveliness” as opposed to the relatively static scenes favored during the Renaissance period. In the Baroque period, we see many scenes of people seeming to have been captured while moving or speaking - a common theme in “accidental renaissance” photos. Another element is tenebrism, which built on the Renaissance concept of chiaroscuro. Tenebrism was a focus on using composition in the dark spaces of a painting to give it a shadowy and mysterious look.

Rococo paintings

The Baroque period and the Rococo period that followed it were, in quite a literal sense, like night and day! Gone is the gloom and the seriousness. Rococo paintings introduced livelier pastel colors, brighter light, and naturalistic themes.

Other key focuses in the Rococo period included a focus on detail and playful subject matter. Throughout Europe, these two themes were often used to portray the aristocracy at play - enjoying themselves while beautifully dressed and surrounded by flowers.