Italy: Birthplace of the Renaissance

17.1

The Italian Renaissance is a rebirth of learning that produces many great works of art and literature.

David (1501-1504), Michelangelo

Italy’s Advantages

The Renaissance Renaissance—an explosion of creativity

in art, writing, and thought Started in northern Italy Lasted from 1300-1600

Italy’s Advantages

Merchants and the Medici A wealthy merchant class develops More emphasis on individual

achievement Banking family, the Medici, controls

Florence Looking to Greece and Rome

Artists and scholars study ruins of Rome, and study Latin and Greek manuscripts

Scholars move to Rome after the fall of Constantinople in 1453.

Classical and Worldly Values

Classics Lead to Humanism Humanism—intellectual movement

focused on human achievements Humanists studied classical texts,

history, literature, and philosophy Worldly Pleasures

Renaissance society was secular—worldly

Wealthy enjoyed fine food, homes, and clothes

Classical and Worldly Values Patrons of the Arts

Patron—a financial supporter of artists

Church leaders spend money on artworks to beautify cities

Wealthy merchants also patrons of the arts

The Renaissance Man Excels in many fields: the

classics, art, politics, and combat

Baldassare Castiglione’s (pictured right)The Courtier (1528) teaches how to become a “universal” person

Classical and Worldly Values The Renaissance

Woman Upper-class,

educated in classics, charming

Expected to inspire art but not create it

Isabella d’Este, patron of the artists, wields power in Mantua

The Renaissance Revolutionizes Art

Artistic Styles Change Artists use realistic style copied from classical art,

often to portray religious subjects Painters use perspective—a way to show three

dimensions on canvas Realistic Painting and Sculpture

Realistic portraits of prominent citizens Sculpture shows natural postures and

expressions The biblical David is a favorite subject among

sculptors (although he looks more like a classical Greek)

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Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni

Portrait painted after 1535 of Michelangelo at the age of 60 by Jacopino del Conte

The novel and film The Agony and the Ecstasy is about him painting the Sistine Chapel for Pope Julius II.

Photo of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo, found of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

Michelangelo’s The Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel

The Renaissance Revolutionizes Art

Leonardo, Renaissance Man Leonardo da Vinci

—painter, sculptor, inventor, scientist

Paints one of the best-known portraits in the world: the Mona Lisa

Famous religious painting: The Last Supper

Leonardo’s Work: Painting

Left: Mona LisaAbove: The Last Supper

Leonardo’s Work: Science & Medicine

THE VITRUVIAN MAN STUDIES OF A FETUS FROM LEONARDO'S JOURNALS

Leonardo’s Work: Science & Medicine

INVESTIGATING THE MOTION OF THE ARM

ORGANS OF A WOMAN’S BODY

Leonardo’s Work: Inventions

Design of a flying machine based on bat’s wings

The Renaissance Revolutionizes Art

Raphael Advances Realism Raphael Sanzio,

famous for his use of perspective

Favorite subject: the Madonna and child

Famous painting: School of Athens

School of Athens by Raphael

The Renaissance Revolutionizes Art

Women Painters Sofonisba

Anguissola (pictured right): first woman artist to gain world renown

The Renaissance Revolutionizes Art

Women Painters Artemisia

Gentileschi (self portrait below) paints strong, heroic women (see right). Judith Slaying

Holofernes (1614-20) Oil on canvas 199 x 162 cm Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Renaissance Writers Change Literature

New Trends in Writing Writers use the

vernacular—their native language

Self-expression or to portray individuality of the subject

Petrarch and Boccaccio Francesco Petrarch,

humanist and poet; woman named Laura is his muse

Boccaccio is best known for the Decameron, a series of stories

Renaissance Writers Change Literature

Machiavelli Advises Rulers Niccolo

Machievelli, author of a political guidebook, The Prince

The Prince examines how rulers can gain and keep power

Renaissance Writers Change Literature

Vittoria Colonna Woman writer with

great influence Poems express

personal emotions

Northern Renaissance

1450…. Population rebounds from the Black Death and the destructive Hundred’s Year War ends in 1453

Italian Renaissance ideas spread to the North and mingle with the northern traditions creating a renaissance with its own style.

German and Dutch Painters

Albrecht Durer (German) creates art that is richer and more common based than the Italian art but rich in colors and themes

Jan van Eyck (Dutch) paints works that are realistic in details and show great individuality of the subjects.

Northern writers and Reform

Humanists tried to influence society with Christian values.

Desiderius Erasmus of Holland and Thomas More of England.

More writes Utopia about an imaginary place where greed, corruption, and war have been wiped out.

Women’s Reforms

Christian Humanist believed women should be educated, founded schools for women

Elizabethan England

1558 Elizabeth becomes Queen of England after the death of her half sister Mary “ Bloody Mary” both are daughters of King Henry VIII

As a women can be in here age she was highly educated and skilled in art, music, literature, and languages

William Shakespeare

One of the most famous playwrites and writers in history

He used the classics and drew on them for ideas and inspiration.

He is know to have created more words to the English language then anyone else

Many of his characters show the flaws in humans

Greatest Invention in History

Johann Gutenberg and the Printing Press Improved on the idea of the Chinese

around 1440 he designed a machine that would reproduce an entire page of a work.

Books could now be printed quickly and cheaply

First religious books (Bible) then others works.

This increased access to books inspires literacy in the general popualtion

Legacy of the Renaissance

The Arts Art drew on the style and techniques of

classical Greece and Rome Portrayed art in a more realistic manner Artists created work that was more secular in nature Writers began use of the vernacular Art praised individual acheivement

Changes in Society

Printing made information more available

Increased the desire to learn and literacy

Lead to an era of expanded discoveries

Christian Humanists tried to reform society

People began to question practices of religion, and politics