The Renaissance

1
The RenaissanceRebirth

• 1300s-1600s

2
Renaissance rebirth

• Began in Italy
• Rome and all of its history was there
• Characteristics
• Revival in learning
• Urban society with a secular (worldly) viewpoint
  and wealth
• Recovery from disasters like the plague and a
  decline in the Churchs power
• Emphasized individual ability- Renaissance Man
  like Leonardo da Vinci

3
Important Italian City-States

• Florence (Northern Italy)
• Medici family (Lorenzo Medici especially)
• Cultural center of Italy

4
Niccolo Machiavelli

• Wrote The Prince
• About political power in the western world
• How to get and keep power
• Leader acts on behalf of the state and cant be
  concerned with what is morally right/wrong, only
  what will keep him in power

5
Renaissance Society

• 3 estates/classes
• Peasants/Townspeople
• 85-90 of the population
• Mostly merchants and artisans
• 1300s-1400s feudalism ended and urban poverty
  rose dramatically
• Urban society
• Patricians wealth from trade, industry, and
  banking (dominate community)
• Burghers shopkeepers, artisans
• Workers pitiful wages
• Unemployed 30-40 of population
• Nobles
• 2-3 of population
• Held most important political posts, advisors to
  the king
• Clergy

6
Humanism

• Intellectual movement of the Renaissance
• Based on study of the classics (ancient Greeks
  and Romans)
• Petrarch father of Italian humanism, began
  emphasis on using pure classical Latin
• 14th century intellectual life of solitude
  (monks)
• 15th century active life for ones state, study
  of humanities should be put to the service of the
  state so they served as secretaries in the
  city-states and to the princes and popes

7
Vernacular Literature (own language)

• Dante Divine Comedy a souls journey to
  salvation, written in Italian
• Geoffrey Chaucer The Canterbury Tales-
  collection of stories told by a group journeying
  to the tomb of St. Thomas a Becket at Canterbury
  in England, described English society, written in
  English
• Christine de Pizan French works written in
  defense of women, French vernacular

8
Education

• Humanists believed education could dramatically
  change human beings lives
• Liberal Studies
• Enabled people to reach full potential
• History, moral philosophy, rhetoric (public
  speaking), grammar and logic, math, astronomy,
  music, and physical education
• Purpose to produce individuals who follow a path
  of virtue and wisdom, a practical education to
  create complete citizens

9
Girls Education

• Few went to school
• Girls studied the classics and were encouraged to
  know some history, how to ride, dance, sing, play
  the lute, and appreciate poetry
• NOT taught rhetoric or math
• Religion and morals should be the foremost in
  educating Christian ladies so they could become
  good wives and mothers

10
Artistic Renaissance in Italy

• Humans became the focus of attention and were
  portrayed realistically
• Perspective enabled artists to create the
  illusion of 3 dimensions so art looks more
  realistic

http//www.nature.com/nature/journal/v407/n6801/im
ages/407134aa.0.jpg
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New Techniques in Painting

• Fresco painting done on wet plaster
• Masaccio very well known for his frescoes
• Also one of first to master perspective

The Tribute Money
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Sculpture and Architecture

• Donatello
• Sculptor
• Statue of Saint George realistic, freestanding
  figure

Donatello Statue of Saint George
http//www.artchive.com/artchive/d/donatello/donat
ello_george.jpg
13
Masters of the High Renaissance 1490-1520 Final
stage of Renaissance painting

• Leonardo da Vinci
• Realistic painting
• Goal was to create idealized forms that would
  capture the perfection of nature and the
  individual
• Dissected bodies to see how they naturally worked

Mona Lisa The Last Supper
www.latifm.com/artists/image/da-vinci-leonard...
www.penwith.co.uk/artofeurope/leonardo_da_vin...
14

• Raphael
• One of best painters in Italy
• Known for his Madonnas
• Tried to achieve an ideal of beauty far
  surpassing human standards
• Known for frescoes in the Vatican Palace

The School of Athens
www.penwith.co.uk/artofeurope/raphael.htm
15

• Michelangelo
• Painter, sculptor, architect
• Driven by desire to create, worked with great
  passion and energy on many projects
• Sistine Chapel ceiling in Rome
• Ideal figures in perfect proportions

http//www.italianvisits.com/people/michelangelo/i
mages/michelangelo-sistine_chapel.jpg
16
Northern Artistic RenaissanceLow Countries
Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands

• Flanders cultural and artistic center of the
  Northern Renaissance
• How was the Northern Renaissance different than
  in Italy? (besides happening a little later)
• Italy Large spaces to work on, mastered
  technical skills that allowed them to portray
  humans in realistic settings
• North Gothic Cathedrals (less space), no
  frescoes, painted illustrations for books and
  wooden panels for altar pieces, not as many
  learned perspective as quickly

17
Artists of the Northern Renaissance

• Jan van Eyck
• Among 1st to use oil paint, could use a variety
  of colors and create fine details with it
• Imitated nature by observing reality and
  portraying those details the best he could
• Did NOT use perspective

The Ghent Altarpiece
www.ibiblio.org/.../auth/eyck/ghent/ghentopn.jpg
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• Albrecht Dürer
• Learned perspective during trips to Italy
• Tried to use the details of the Northern artists
  and combine with the Italian techniques
• Tried to achieve a standard of ideal beauty based
  on careful examination of the human form

The Adoration of the Maji
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