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The Renaissance
THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
1. The Italian Renaissancea. Causes
i. Increased trade with Asia and other regions as a result of the Crusades
ii. Growth of large, wealthy city-states in Italy
iii. Renewed interest in the Classical learning of the Ancient Greece and Rome
iv. Rise of rich and powerful merchants, who became patrons of the arts
v. Increased desire for scientific and technical knowledge
vi. Desire to beautify cities
b. Humanismi. Scholars began to think about the
characteristics of a good educationii. Rhetoric, grammar, poetry, history, Latin and
Greek1. Became known as the humanities and gave use
to the movement known as humanismiii. Humanist emphasized individual
accomplishmentiv. 3 writers who contributed to the movement
1. Dante Alighieri2. Giovianni Boccacio3. Franceso Petrarch
c. Secular Writersi. Focus was secular- they had a
worldly rather than a spiritual focus
ii. Baldassare Castiglione1. Wrote “The Courtier”
a. Describes how gentlemen and women should act during the Renaissance
b. Book suggests 4 ideasi. Speak of serious
subjects as well as amusing ones
ii. Know Latin and Greekiii. Well acquainted with
poetry and historyiv. Be able to write prose
as well as poetry
iii. Niccolo Machiavelli1. Was a political
philosopher and statesman
2. Experiences shaped his view on how governments should rule
3. Wrote “The Prince”a. Encourages harsh
treatment of citizens and rival states
b. Advises rulers to separate moral from politics
c. Insists a ruler must do whatever is necessary to maintain power
d. Sciencei. Nicholas
Copernicus1. Challenges the
church’s idea about nature
2. Polish astronomer3. Suggested that
the sun sat at the center of the universe, orbited by planets and stars
ii. Galileo Galilei1. Italian
astronomer2. Wrote that the
earth orbited the sun
3. Placed under house arrest by church officials
e. Patronsi. The Medici
1. A wealthy, powerful family that ruled Florence and supported the arts
2. Lorenzo de Medici
a. Supported some of the most talented artist of the day
2. Italian Renaissance Artistsa. Leonardo da
Vincii. Was a painter,
writer, inventor, architect engineer, mathematician, musician, and philosopher
ii. Two famous paintings
1. The Mona Lisa2. The Last Supper
iii. Recorded ideas for building armored tank of a flying machine
iv. Sketches of the human anatomy
v. Designed and built canals
vi. Developed a machine to cut threads in screws
v. Designed the first machine guns
b. Michelangelo Buonarrotii. Two famous
sculptures1. Pieta
a. Communicated themes of grief, love, acceptance and immorality
2. Davidii. Sistine Chapel
1. Scenes from the Old Testament painted on the ceiling
c. Raphaeli. Renowned painter
and architectii. “The School of
Athens”1. Is a fresco (a
painting made on fresh moist, plaster)
2. Shows Plato and Aristotle surrounded by philosophers from the past and present who were admired by the humanists
d. Danoto Bramante
i. Architect who designed St. Peter’s Basilica
THE NORTHERN RENAISSANCE
1. Northern Renaissancea. Hanseatic League
i. A merchant organization that controlled trade throughout Northern Europe
1. Helped ideas of the Italian Renaissance spread to the North
ii. Artists who fled from Italy also helped spread ideas
b. Johannes Gutenburgi. Cast letters of the
alphabet onto metal plates and locked plates into a wooden press
ii. With this text could be printed on both sides of the paper
iii. 1st publication was the Bible
iv. Explosion of printed material quickly spread Renaissance ideas
2. Philosophers and Writingsa. Erasmus
i. Wrote about the need for a pure and simple Christian life, stripped of the rituals and politics of the church on earth
ii. Advised the education of children
iii. Works would fan the flames of the growing discontent with the Roman Catholic Church
iv. Works were later censored and condemned by the Church
b. Sir Thomas Morei. Wrote “Utopia”ii. Contains both
criticism of English government and society and a vision of a perfect society based on reason
c. William Shakespearei. English playwrightii. Inspired by
ancient and contemporary works of literature
iii. Plays helped spread ideas of the Renaissance to a mass audience
d. Christine de Pisani. Italian writerii. Wrote “The City
of Women”1. She discusses
different views of women and their role in society
iii. Championed equality and education for women
3. Artistsa. Albrecht Durer
i. Used the Italian techniques of realism and perspective in his own work
ii. Works exhibited features unique to the northern Renaissance
1. Painted in oils
b. Jan van Eycki. Focused on
landscapes and domestic life
ii. Fused the everyday with the religious through the use of symbolism in paintings
1. A single candle or the light streaming through a window are representations of God’s presence