Idea Transcript
The Renaissance 1400-1600
The Renaissance • •
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The term “Renaissance” translates to “re-birth”. It was a cultural awakening signaling the beginning of modern times. The Renaissance began in the city-states of Italy, which were important centers of trade.
Humanism • •
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The Renaissance gave birth to humanism, the study of the Greek and Latin classics. Humanists sought fulfillment in daily life and believed individuals had dignity and worth. The belief in the ideal person- one who participates is a variety of activities- was renewed. The term Renaissance Man originates from this belief.
Humanism •
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Humanists opened schools to spread the study of history, philosophy, Latin, and Greek- The Humanities. Humanist schools would replace schools operated by the clergy in many areas of Italy.
Plato – A Greek Philosopher who was revered by the Humanists
Humanism •
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Humanism inspired new forms of writings about the daily life and feelings of people. Humanists broke free of the tradition of writing in Latin, making their beliefs available to the everyday person.
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Writing in everyday language was called vernacular. What difference did it make writing in vernacular rather than Latin?
Noted Humanists • •
Francesco Petrarca – wrote 366 sonnets, or short poems. Benvenuto Cellini – wrote the first modern autobiography. He encouraged anyone who had done anything of excellence to “describe it with their own hand.”
Francesco Petrarca
Benvenuto Cellini
Noted Humanists •
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Humanists like Lorenzo Valla pushed the long accepted traditions, assumptions and institutions. He would prove the document that provided the legal basis for the pope’s supremacy over kings was a forgery.
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How would challenges to long standing traditions affect European society?
Niccolo Machiavelli •
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One of the most revolutionary authors to rise from the Renaissance was Niccolo Machiavelli. In his book The Prince, he advised rulers how to gain and maintain power by any means necessary. Many modern day politicians who are seen as sneaky are termed to be “Machiavellian” in nature.
Niccolo Machiavelli author of The Prince
Machiavelli stated in his writing that the “end justifies the means”; what does this imply?
Government •
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Italy was not a unified state during the time of the Renaissance. It was divided into large tracts of lands run by powerful city-states. Some city-states were ruled by powerful families. Powerful politicians or family heads would rule as the signori.
The Italian City-States as they were in the time of the Renaissance.
Government •
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The city-states would fight each other for control of land and resources. Signori hired soldiers called condottieri to fight their wars making them costly. As a result they would establish permanent ambassadors in foreign citystates.
Why did signori use hired soldiers instead of citizen soldiers?
Renaissance Cities •
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Florence – Under the rule of the famous Medici ruling family promoted the ideas of the Renaissance. The Medici family used tax money to improve the city and to support artists, philosophers, and writers and to sponsor public festivals.
Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy
Renaissance Cities • • •
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Rome – By 1500 Rome had replaced Florence as the leading Renaissance city. The Pope and the Cardinals were the wealthiest and most powerful class. Renaissance Popes commissioned architects and artists to rebuild the ancient city. The most famous projects was St. Peters Basilica. The massed amount of manuscripts in the Vatican Library attracted scholars from all over Europe.
St. Peters Basilica in Rome
Corruption in Rome •
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Many Renaissance Popes were greedy and corrupt. In 1492 Pope Alexander VI bribed the College of Cardinals to elect him Pope. He then used the Church’s money to support his family. Pope Leo X had his forests stocked with exotic animals to entertain thousands of hunters for weeks. He also threw out his guests silver dinner plates after every meal.
Pope Alexander VI
Pope Leo X
Renaissance Cities • •
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Venice was ideally situated to maintain a trade monopoly with Asia. It was a link between Western Europe and Asia. The variety of cultures in Venice contributed to its art and architecture. Venice was a republic with an elected doge, or leader. A Gondola in the Canals in Venice
Renaissance Art • •
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Renaissance art focused on realism and lifelike representations. Although the majority of art was still devoted to religious subjects it had more of a secular, or worldly overtones. Artists experimented to create a sense of perspective, which gave their paintings in depth. They also studied anatomy so they could portray their human figures more accurately. The Crucifixion - Luca Signorelli
Questions 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
__________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ __________ family. __________ __________ __________ __________ Asia. __________
Means “re-birth”. The area for the start of Europe’s “Cultural Awakening.” The study of the Greek and Latin Classics. He wrote 366 Sonnets. He is credited with the writing of the first autobiography. Author of The Prince. Italian Renaissance City under the rule of the Medici
Home to St. Peters Basilica. He bribed the College of Cardinals. He stocked his lavish gardens and held hunting parties. City ideally situated to maintain trade with Europe and Means “worldly.”
Renaissance Assignment •
Choices: –
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Choose an influential personality from the Renaissance period and write an essay (500 words typed) on how they contributed to the Renaissance and its values. Choose a painter from the Renaissance and duplicate a piece of his artwork on to a ceiling tile. Choose a statue or sculpted art work and reproduce it in a miniature form. Time Frame: Two Weeks from today.
The Building Style of the Renaissance •
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The architects of the Renaissance returned to the classical Greek and Roman style of building with domes and columns. They sought beauty and comfort in their buildings adorning them with tapestries, paintings, statues, fine furniture, and glass windows.
Gothic- Medieval Architecture
Classical- Renaissance Architecture
Filippo Brunelleschi • •
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Brunelleschi is noted as the most famous architect of the Renaissance. He is best known for the dome he designed and completed in 1436 for the Cathedral of Florence. This dome was considered to be the greatest engineering feat of its time.
IL Duomo – Florence Italy
Renaissance Sculpture •
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Renaissance sculpture of nude figures resembled ancient Greek and Roman sculptures; they were not stiff and rigid like medieval sculptures. Some of the best known sculptors came from Florence – Donatello, Michelangelo, and Ghiberti. La Pieta – Sculpted by Michelangelo
Donatello •
Donatello one of the most famous sculptors of the Renaissance, was the first to cast a statue in bronze since ancient times.
Donatello's equestrian statue of Gattamelata
Lorenzo Ghiberti •
Lorenzo Ghiberti took 21 years to create 10 magnificent Old Testament scenes on bronze doors for Florence’s cathedral baptistery.
Renaissance Painting •
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Italian Renaissance painters departed from the flat, symbolic style to a more realistic style. The artist Giotto effectively captured emotion in a series of frescoes portraying St. Francis of Assisi. The Florentine artist Masaccio gave even greater realism to his paintings by using lighting and perspective.
Masaccio’s Tribute Money c.1425 What techniques did Masaccio use to give his painting depth?
Leonardo Da Vinci • • •
The greatest artist of the Renaissance was Leonardo da Vinci. Best known for the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. He was also a scientist and inventor as his designs included parachutes, flying machines, mechanical diggers, and artillery.
Da Vinci’s The Last Supper
Sketches of Leonardo Da Vinci
Questions 1. __________ Renaissance architects reverted to this style of architecture. 2. __________ Most famous architect of the Renaissance. 3. __________ This was considered to be the greatest engineering feat of the Renaissance. 4. __________ He was the first to cast a statue in Bronze since the ancient times. 5. __________ He spent 21 years creating a set of Bronze doors in Florence.
Michelangelo Buonarroti • •
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Michelangelo began his career as a sculptor in Florence. It was in Florence where he sculpted a marble statue of David, the legendary biblical king. He would later sculpt La Pieta, showing a dead Jesus in the arms of his mother. In 1505 Michelangelo would be commissioned to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome.
The Northern Renaissance •
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When France invaded Italy in 1494 King Francis I became fascinated by the Italian Renaissance. He brought Leonardo da Vinci and other artists and scholars to there court in France.
How did the capture of Da Vinci help spread the ideas of the Renaissance to Northern Europe?
The Northern Renaissance •
In 1440 a German metal worker named Johannes Gutenberg produced the first printing press. This was later used to spread the ideas of the Renaissance through Europe.
Johannes Gutenberg
The first printing press
How did the printing press help spread the ideas of the Renaissance?
The Northern Renaissance •
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Pierre Ronsard wrote his own sonnets with common humanist themes such as love, the passing of youth, and the poet’s immortality. Michel de Montaigne created an informal autobiography or the personal essay in which the writer would clearly express their views on a subject.
Pierre Ronsard
Michel de Montaigne
The Northern Renaissance •
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Humanism in the north took on a more religious tone. Known as Christian Humanists, they pressed for reform in the Catholic Church. The most famous Christian humanist was Erasmus of Rotterdam who encouraged his colleagues to study the Bible in Greek and Hebrew to gain a better understanding
The Northern Renaissance • •
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Jan and Hubert van Eyck painted scenes from the Bible and daily life in sharp, realistic detail. In England the Humanist Thomas Moore wrote the book Utopia, where he criticized society by comparing it with an ideal society. The two most famous writers of the English Renaissance were Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare. They wrote plays and stories about love, jealousy, ambition and love.
William Shakespeare • •
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Celebrated as the greatest poet of the English language. Shakespeare wrote numerous plays and poems, most of which became famous after his death. He is considered to be England’s national poet and his works have been translated into every major language and are preformed more than any other playwrights works.
Christopher Marlowe •
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Marlowe was and English playwright second only to William Shakespeare. A well educated man who was rumoured to be in the employ of the secret service. He was killed in a tavern at age 29 in a fight.
Questions 1. __________ Created the “personal essay”. 2. __________ Book in which society was criticized by comparing it to an ideal society. 3. __________ He encouraged people to study Greek and Hebrew to gain a better understanding of the Bible. 4. ___________ He invaded Italy and brought Da Vinci to France. 5. ___________ Considered to be England’s national poet.