1. Italy: Birthplace of the Renaissance

2. Setting the Stage
During the late Middle Ages, Europe suffered from both war and plague. Those who survived wanted to celebrate life and the human spirit. They began to question institutions of the Middle Ages, which had been unable to prevent war or to relieve suffering brought by the plague. Some people questioned the Church, which taught Christians to endure suffering while they awaited their rewards in heaven. In northern Italy, writers and artists began to express this new spirit and to experiment with different styles. These men and women would greatly change how Europeans saw themselves and their world.

3. The Renaissance
Explosion in creativity in art, writing and thought that lasted from 1300 to 1600
Means rebirth
Innovative art and literature styles
New values- importance of the individual

4. Why it Started in Italy Thriving cities Wealthy merchant class
Most of Europe was still rural
Plague allows survivors to demand higher wages- less business opportunities led people to get involved in art
Wealthy merchant class
Didn’t inherit like nobles- used own skills
Belief in individual achievement grew
Classical heritage of Greece and Rome
Wanted to return to learning of the Greeks and Romans

5. Classical and Worldly Values
Humanism- movement focused on human potential and achievements
Secular- worldly rather than spiritual
Focused on here and now
Patrons of the arts- financially supported artists

6. The Renaissance Man A man who excelled in many fields
Should be charming, witty, well educated in the classics, dance, sing, play music, write poetry, be a skilled rider, wrestler and swordsman

7. Renaissance Woman
Should know the classics and be charming, but shouldn’t seek fame
Expected to inspire art but rarely create it

8. The Renaissance Revolutionizes Art
Portrayed religious subjects, but in a realistic style
Used perspective- 3-D on flat surfaces
New emphasis on individuals

9. The Renaissance Revolutionizes Art
Michelangelo Buonarroti- painter, architect, sculptor and poet
Used realistic style when depicting the human body
Dome of St. Peter’s, ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, David

10. The Renaissance Revolutionizes Art
Donatello- statue of David (boy who became a great king)
First free-standing nude sculpture in Europe since ancient times

11. The Renaissance Revolutionizes Art
Leonardo da Vinci painter, artist, inventor and scientist
Studied muscle movements and veins, filled notebooks with observations and incorporated them in his art
Wrote backwards
Only 17 of his paintings survive today
Mona Lisa, The Last Supper

12. The Renaissance Revolutionizes Art
Raphael Sanzio- studied Michelangelo and Leonardo
Famous for use of perspective
Filled rooms of Pope Julius II’s library with paintings- called the Raphael Rooms

13. Renaissance Writers Change Literature
Wrote works that reflected their time
Wrote for self-expression or to portray the individuality of their subjects

14. Renaissance Writers Change Literature
Francesco Petrarch- poet, wrote about Laura, his ideal
Little is known of Laura, except that she died of the plague in 1348

15. Sonnet 227 Breeze, blowing that blonde curling hair,
stirring it, and being softly stirred in turn,
scattering that sweet gold about, then
gathering it, in a lovely knot of curls again,
you linger around bright eyes whose loving sting
pierces me so, till I feel it and weep,
and I wander searching for my treasure,
like a creature that often shies and kicks:
now I seem to find her, now I realise
she’s far away, now I’m comforted, now despair,
now longing for her, now truly seeing her.
Happy air, remain here with your
living rays: and you, clear running stream,
why can’t I exchange my path for yours?

16. Renaissance Writers Change Literature
Giovanni Boccaccio-
the Decameron- realistic stories told by a group waiting on the plague to pass Florence

17. Renaissance Writers Change Literature
Niccolo Machiavelli-
the Prince- how a ruler can gain and keep power in spite of his enemies
Idea that most people are selfish and corrupt