The Italian Renaissance

What is the Renaissance? A time of rebirth in Europe. After the Dark Ages, Europe awakened and looked back to the “golden times of Rome and Greece.” Lasting from around 1300-1600, it was a time of great works of art, an interest in science and learning, renewed interest in literature, and rebirth of philosophy and intellectual thought. It has its beginnings in Italy and spreads throughout Europe.

Causes of the Renaissance Increased trade with the Middle East. Rediscovery of Roman and Greek texts and ideals. New social values (going secular). Questioning the Catholic Church’s role. Italy was mostly war free. Patrons would pay artists for their work. Helped spread by the printing press. Longing for better time.

Renaissance Philosophies Humanism: A study of classic texts that focus of the human experience. Instead of looking at things from a moralistic view or Christian view, humanists studied through ancient Greek values and sought to examine life from the human perspective—including human potential and achievements. The humanists revived the studies of history, literature, and philosophy. Secularism: The material world, not the religious one. You live for the here and now—live for the moment. It is a lifestyle that is separate from the church and its teachings.

Patrons People who fund causes. During the Renaissance, patrons, like the Medicis or some of the popes, donated money to fund the arts buy commissioning art projects for the city or for their own private collection. Most of the art that came out of the Renaissance was made possible by a patron supporting an artist.

The Medici Family A powerful family in the Italian city of Florence—the city that the Renaissance first begins to grow from. They were wealthy traders and bankers and influence the government, but did not directly run it. Cosimo de Medici, and his grandson Lorenzo, was a virtual dictator in Florence. Despite their shortcomings, the Medicis also loved the arts and helped to sponsor artists and sculptors to help make Florence more attractive.

Question Time 1. How did patrons help to start to Renaissance? 2. Where did Renaissance artists get their inspiration from?

Renaissance Man A man who can do it all, or is talented in many fields. Someone who is called a Renaissance Man is multitalented. They can do art, play politics, dance, have self control, be intelligent, etc. It was the ideal that all men should become. Examples of Renaissance Men can include: Leonardo DaVinci, Michelangelo, and later on Ben Franklin.

Artistic Perspective A technique in art that creates the appearance of 3-dimensions. While classical artists used it, medieval artists stopped its practice. It was revived by the renaissance artists. It is based on an optical illusion in which parallel lines in the painting meet up at a vanishing point in the background somewhere.

Leonardo DaVinci 1452-1519. A painter, sculptor, inventor, and scientist. He painted the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. He had sketches of many future inventions, such as the helicopter. He wrote his notes backwards, so you would have to use a mirror.

Leonardo DaVinci

Raphael 1483-1520. A great artist during the Renaissance. His paintings include School of Athens. Many of his paintings have to deal with the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child.

Michelangelo 1475-1564. One of the greatest artists during the Renaissance. He painted the ceiling to the Sistine Chapel and designed the dome for St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. He also sculpted David.

Michelangelo

Donatello 1386-1466. Another great artist during the Renaissance. Most of his work are sculptures, but he also did a lot of religious themed art.

Dante Alighieri 1265-1321. He wrote books in his native Italian language, not the common written language of Latin or Greek for literature. His book, The Divine Comedy, is a story about a man who searches for his lover in Heaven and Hell.

Niccolo Machiavelli A writer from the city of Florence. He was good friends with the Medici family. He wrote a guide book called The Prince. It was a book that helped rulers keep an eye on enemies and can stay in power. Also in the book, he reasons that people are selfish and corrupt. “Ends justify the means” “Better to be feared than loved”

Boccaccio Another Italian writer. His book, The Decameron, was written in 1353. It is a cutting edge story that is sarcastic and showcases the flaws of humans and human nature. It is similar to the Canterbury Tales in that it is a collection of stories across the social classes. Very popular in Italy.

Question Time 3. Which of the Renaissance artists did you think is the best? Why? 4. Which of the pieces of art from this time that you saw did you like the most? Why? 5. In your opinion, who is a modern Renaissance man? Why? 6. Do the ends justify the means? Why or why not?

Northern Renaissance By the middle of the 1400’s, the Renaissance spreads out of Italy and into Germany, France, and England. Painters in France and the Netherlands, like Rembrandt, pick up from where the Italians left off. Humanist writers ply their trades in England and Spain (like Cervantes).

Elizabethan Era England’s Renaissance. It happens during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603). It was a time when the written arts came to the forefront of English Culture.

Utopia A story by Thomas More. In Greek, the word means “no place”, but because of the story, in English it has come to mean “an ideal place”. It is a story about a land where there is no war, crime, corruption, greed, or money.

William Shakespeare 1564-1616. Greatest of the English playwrights and one of the best of all time. His poetry and plays still resonate with us today. His humanistic influences are shown in his struggles between lovers (Romeo and Juliet, Othello) and in flawed people (Macbeth, Hamlet, King Lear).

Effects of the Renaissance Increased learning all across Europe. Increased trade. More questioning of ideas. More questioning of the church. Later revolutionary social movements. Increased love for one’s own nation and nationality.

Question Time 7. Why did the ideas of the Renaissance spread? 8. What affects did the Renaissance have on the rest of Europe? 9. How is the Elizabethan Era England’s artistic golden age?