THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE AP Topics: 1.2 Secularization of thought and culture 1.4 Major trends in literature and the arts 1.7 Developments in literacy, education, and communications 2.1 The rise and function of modern state in various forms 2.3 The evolution of political elites and development of political parties… 3.2 The role of urbanization in transforming culture and society

 Renaissance—”Rebirth” of classic culture  “European thinkers began to reject traditional, rigid ideas about the world and humanity’s place in it and to embrace more modern ways of thinking. This included new ways of looking at religion, money and financial dealings, and how people should govern themselves.”  “It was a time in which a few people in a tiny corner of the globe tried to change themselves for the better and in the process changed the world.

 Why did the Renaissance begin in Italy (Florence)?  Great wealth  Geography  Great patrons of the arts  The Medici Family

 Credit developed in Italy during the Renaissance.  Banker’s table—banca (“banks”)  Use of creidt stimulates increased volume of trade throughout Europe The Banker and His Wife 1514

 Humanism—study of Greek and Roman classics and of Church Fathers.  Humanitas—study of grammar, rhetoric, poetry, history, politics, and morals.  Francesco Petrarch—”Father of Humanism” ( )

 Chiaroscuro—the use of shading to enhance naturalness.  Linear Perspective—adjustment of the size of figures to give a feeling of continuity.  Created a “three-dimensional canvas.” Saint Sebastian (1474), Botticelli

The School of Athens, 1511