The%20Origins%20of%20the%20Renaissance

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The Origins of the Renaissance

• 1400-1600

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What is The Renaissance?

• Rebirth of learning in Europe between 1400 and
  1600
• Knowledge of Greece and Rome was recovered
• The arts (painting, sculpture, etc.) flourished

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Italy

• The Renaissance began in northern Italy
• City-states like Pisa, Genoa, and Venice had
  grown wealthy from trade
• Bankers made large profits by loaning money to
  princes and popes

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• Italy in the 1400s-its not a country yet!

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• The new wealth of these city-states supported the
  Renaissance
• The wealthy middle class had the time and money
  to become patrons of the arts
• The Medici family in Florence was the best known
  of these

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Catherine de Medici
Lorenzo de Medici
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Renaissance isms
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Humanism

• Renaissance scholars believed civilization had
  reached its height in ancient Greece and Rome
• Middle Ages were a barbaric time when
  civilization declined
• Therefore, scholars encouraged a return to
  subjects taught in Greek and Roman schools

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• Renaissance scholars attempted to recover
  original Greek and Roman sources
• The humanities would be revived (study of
  grammar, rhetoric, poetry, history, etc.)
• Goal was a well-rounded education

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• Petrarch is considered the father of humanism

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Secularism

• Italian Humanists didnt abandon God, but did
  tend to focus on the things of this world rather
  than the next
• Enjoying life on earth was a good in itself

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• Humans were noble creatures capable of great
  accomplishments, not just sinners in need of
  salvation
• Depictions of secular (non-religious) subjects in
  art became more common

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Individualism

• For Renaissance Humanists, human beings were the
  pinnacle of Gods creation (man is the measure
  of all things)
• Individual accomplishment and genius began to be
  praised
• Artists began to take credit for and sign their
  works