Renaissance 1300-1650

Renaissance in Italy

Renaissance means “rebirth” from the disorder & disunity of the medieval world

Began in Italy & lasted from 1350 to about 1500

Why Italy

Italy was the center of the Roman Empire

Center of European/Asian trade

Wealthy, powerful merchant class promoted cultural rebirth – the Medicis family

What was the Renaissance

New worldview – Focus on human experience/achievement instead of life after death

Spirit of Adventure – Curiosity to explore new worlds; Christopher Columbus and Nicholas Copernicus

Humanism – Study of worldly subjects and the classics instead of only religious issues; (grammar, rhetoric, poetry & history) most famous – Francesco Petrarch

The Arts

New Expressions Artwork portrayed religious figures but backdrops

were Greek & Roman Artwork depicted well-known figures of the time -

reflected individual achievement

New Styles Perspective, shading, study of anatomy and live

models

Architecture Abandoned Gothic style – too cluttered New styles used columns, arches & domes (like

the Roman built Pantheon)

Renaissance Painters/Artists

Leonardo da Vinci Mona Lisa, The Last Supper Studied botany, anatomy, optics, music

architecture & engineering

Michelangelo Sistine Chapel, Statue of David, St. Peters Sculptor, engineer, painter, architect &

poet

Raphael St. Peter’s Cathedral Architect & painter

Renaissance Writers Baldassare Castiglione – The Book of the Courtier

“How to” handbook for aspiring & ambitious men & women on skills, manners & virtues a member of the Court should have

Men – athletic, musical, knows literature & history Women – graceful, kind, lively yet reserved

Niccolo Machiavelli – The Prince “How to” book on

leadership The end justifies the

means Do whatever necessary

to achieve goals

Renaissance Moves North

Lack of economic growth & the plague slowed the spread of the Renaissance north

Began in Flanders – northern France, Belgium & Netherlands

Rebirth in Spain, France, Germany & England came 100 years later

Artists Albrecht Durer - engraver Jan & Hubert van Eyck – developed oil paint Pieter Bruegel – portrayed peasant life not religious themes Peter Paul Rubens – blended the classics with real life

Albrecht Durer Hubert van Eyck

Pieter Bruegel Peter Paul Rubens

Northern Humanists

Stressed education & classical learning

Emphasized religious themes

Revival on ancient learning should be used to bring about religious & moral reform

Desiderius Erasmus Called for the Bible to be written so all

could read Disgusted by corruption in the Church &

called for reform

Thomas More - wrote Utopia Called for social reforms to create an

ideal society

Shakespeare Wrote 37 plays - Twelfth Night, Richard III,

Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth Added 1700 words to the English language

Cervantes Wrote Don Quixote

The Printing Press

Johann Gutenberg – Mainz, Germany 1496 – printed the Bible using the printing

press

Printed books were cheaper & easier to produce

Literacy increased Knowledge from medicine, astronomy, law

& economics increased Europeans became exposed to new ideas