1. Unit 6: 1500-1600 Renaissance Day 45: Italian Renaissance

2. What was the Renaissance?  Means “rebirth”—peaked at 1500  Transition from medieval to early modern world  Time of creativity and change  Revived interest in Greek and Roman learning/classics  Humanism: study Greek and Roman culture to understand own times  Focus on worldly subjects rather than religion  Emphasis on individual achievement  Humanities: grammar, rhetoric, poetry, history  Francesco Petrarch: Italian Renaissance humanist  Huge library of Greek/Roman classics (Virgil, Homer)

3. Italy  Starting point of Renaissance  Location encouraged trade (new ideas), even during MA Had city-states controlled by powerful families  Florence: Medici family  Rich merchants/bankers  Cosimo de’ Medici controlled gov’t 1434  Lorenzo “the Magnificent:” politician, patron of arts  Invited artists, poets, philosophers to palace

5. Art  Reflects humanist thought  Paintings set religious figures against classical Greek/Roman backgrounds  Portraits of famous contemporary figures  Sculptors revived classical forms  (1) Donatello: life-size statue of soldier on horseback  Roman art: realistic, medieval art: stylized  Renaissance art returns to realism  Followed rules of perspective, shading, anatomy  Social Art: blend beauty, utility & societal improvement  Adopt columns, arches, domes for cathedrals, etc  Filippo Brunelleschi, Donatello

7. Renaissance Men (2)  Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)  Artist, inventor, musician, anatomist, engineer, botanist...  Mona Lisa, Last Supper, flying machines, undersea boats

8. Ren Men (3)  Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564)  Sculptor, engineer, painter, architect, poet  “melancholy genius”—work reflects spiritual/artistic struggle  David, Pieta (20’s), murals in Sistine Chapel in Rome

9. Ren Men (4)  Raphael (1483-1520), youngest  “sweet and gracious nature”  Style blends Christian and classical  Portrayals of the Madonna, The School of Athens

11. Writing  Philosophy, scholarship, guidebooks  Baldassare Castiglione “The Book of the Courtier”  Manners, skills, learning, virtue a court member should have  Ideal differed for men and women (inner goodness transcends to outer beauty)  Niccolo Machiavelli “The Prince”  Didn’t discuss ‘ideal’ ruler, instead focused on real rulers  Ends justify the means, do whatever necessary to achieve goal  Viewed himself as ‘enemy of oppression/corruption’  Machiavellian now means ‘using deceit’ in politics

12. Engineering an Empire  “Da Vinci’s World”  Fold paper in half (hot-dog style)  On 1 st side, write “Knew”  On 2 nd side, write “Learned”  Fill out completely (1 side) be end of video