The Renaissance

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The Renaissance
Primavera by Botticelli
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The Italian Renaissance

• Renaissance means rebirth
• What was being reborn?
• Classical Greece and Roman culture and thought
• Began in what is now Italy
• Lasted from about 1300 1600 A.D.
• Spread throughout Europe

Palazzo Della Signoria in Florence, Italy
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Characteristics of the Italian Renaissance

• Urban society
• Secular worldly instead of religious concerns
• Recovery from the disasters of the 14th century
• Black Death
• Political disorder
• Crusades
• 100 Years War
• Economic recession
• New view of human beings and individual ability

Siena, Italy Piazza del Campo
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Middle Ages vs. Renaissance Art
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The Italian States

• During the Middle Ages, Italy had failed to
  develop as a monarchy
• Lack of single ruler made it possible for a
  number of city-states in northern and central
  Italy to remain independent
• Prospered from trade
• Exchanged good with the Byzantine and Islamic
  civilizations, England, and the Netherlands
• Obtained silks, sugar, and spices to take back to
  Italy

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The Italian States Milan

• 14th century-Visconti family established
  themselves as dukes of Milan and extend power all
  over Lombardy
• Francesco Sforza (condottiere-leader of a band of
  mercenaries) conquers Milan and becomes duke
• Built a strong, centralized state
• Efficient tax system

Duomo in Milan, Italy
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The Italian States Venice

• Grown wealthy from trading
• Small group of merchant-aristocrats ran the
  government on behalf of their own interests
• Trade brought enormous revenues became an
  international trade/economic power

San Marco in Venice, Italy
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The Italian States Florence

• Dominated the region of Tuscany
• In 1434, Cosimo de Medici took control of the
  city
• The Medici kept the republic form of government,
  but ran it behind the scenes
• Cosimo and Lorenzo put supporters in offices to
  carry out their policies
• Florence was the cultural center of Italy
• Medici family was famous for their patronage of
  the arts
• What does patronage mean?

Duomo in Florence, Italy
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The Italian States

• Europes monarchies were attracted by the riches
  of Italy
• Italian city-states turn to Spain for protection
  (mercenaries)
• Southern Italy (the Kingdom of Naples) became a
  battleground between French and Spanish dominance
• Spanish sack Rome in 1527 because they were not
  being paid
• Fighting, political change, and exploration of
  the New World end the Renaissance in Italy

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Machiavelli and the New Statecraft

• Wrote The Prince
• Concerned with political power and how to get it
  and keep it
• Must be based on an understanding of human nature
• A ruler acts on behalf of the state
• Dont do what is right morally, do what is right
  for the state

Machiavelli
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The Making of Renaissance Society Nobility

• Around 3 of the population
• Held political posts and advised Kings
• Castiglione describe the perfect noble in his
  work The Book of the Courtier
• Born, not made
• Work to be a warrior
• Have a classical education
• Standards of conduct
• Serve his prince in an effective and honest way

Isabella dEste
Pietro Medici
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The Making of Renaissance SocietyPeasants and
Townspeople

• About 90 of the population
• Serfdom declined and more peasants were becoming
  free
• Townspeople were divided also
• Patricians-wealthy traders, industry, and
  banking-dominated communities
• Burghers-shopkeepers, artisans, guild
  members-middle class
• Impoverished-unemployed, pitiful wages, 30-40
  pop.

Moneychanger and his Wife by Quentin Massys
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The Making of Renaissance SocietyFamily and
Marriage

• Parents carefully arranged marriages to
  strengthen business or family ties legally
  binding
• Dowry-sum of the money given by the wifes family
  to the husband upon marriage
• Father was the center of family mothers role
  was to supervise the household
• Children became adults when they were legally
  freed

The Marriage of the Virgin by Raphael
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Italian Renaissance Humanism

• Humanism was an intellectual movement based upon
  the study of the classics (Greece Rome)
• Humanists studied the liberal arts-grammar,
  rhetoric, poetry, philosophy, and history
• Petrarch (1304 1374)
• The father of humanism
• used pure classical Latin
• Created the term Dark Ages

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Education in the Renaissance

• Humanists wrote books and opened schools based on
  their ideas
• History
• Philosophy
• Rhetoric
• Poetry
• Astronomy
• Music
• Mathematics

Johannes Gutenberg
Gutenbergs Printing Press
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Northern Renaissance Humanism

• Erasmus
• Made new translations of the Bible through
  classic Greek and Latin studies
• Christian Humanism
• Influenced both the Protestant Reformation and
  the Catholic Counter-Reformation

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Vernacular Language

• Vernacular language spoken in local regions
• Began to compete with Latin
• Dante
• The Divine Comedy
• Father of the Italian language
• Northern Renaissance Vernacular
• Geoffrey Chaucers Canterbury Tales
• English

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The Artistic Renaissance in Italy
Branccaci Tributo fresco by Masaccio
Self Portrait by Leonardo da Vinci
Dome of the duomo in Florence by Brunelleschi
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The Artistic Renaissance in Italy

• Fresco-painting done on fresh, wet plaster with
  water based paints
• Figures had the illusion of being three
  dimensional
• Two major achievements
• Perspective
• Movement and human anatomy
• Architects were inspired by the buildings of
  ancient Rome

School of Athens by Raphael
Interior of San Lorenzo by Brunelleschi
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The Artistic Renaissance in Italy

• Mastery of techniques for a realistic portrayal
  of the world
• Da Vinci dissected human bodies to study anatomy
• Moved from painting realistic forms to ideal
  forms
• Glorified the human body

Pieta By Michelangelo Rome, Italy
Ospedale degli Innocenti Designed by
Brunelleschi Florence, Italy
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The Artistic Renaissance in Italy
The Last Judgement By Michelangelo Sistine
Chapel Rome, Italy
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The Artistic Renaissance in Italy
The Sistine Chapel Ceiling by Micelangelo
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The Northern Artistic Renaissance

• Artist
• Skilled in painting details
• Did not fully understand perspective
• Jan Van Eyck from Flanders
• Albrecht Durer from Germany
• Literature
• William Shakespeare from England

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Jan Van Eyck
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Albrecht Durer
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Rafaels School of Athens