THE RENAISSANCE A.D , SOME RENAISSANCE VOCABULARY Secularism: worldly (non-church/nonreligious) perspectives Humanism: based on the study of classic Greek and Roman literature, architecture, art, and culture. Humanists studied grammar, rhetoric (the art of effective argument and communication), poetry, moral philosophy (ethics), and history. In todays education, we call these subjects the Humanities. Feudalism - A combined economic and social system that defined the Middle Ages. THE RENAISSANCE Renaissance means rebirth. The Renaissance can be split into two parts: Italian Northern (The rest of Europe/north of the Alps) It comes about after prolonged exposure of the Crusaders to the Middle Eastspecifically the variety of trade goods and the rediscovery of Greek and Roman ideas combined with Arab technology preserved in places like Baghdadand Europes recovery from the ravages of the Black Death. It is marked by a rise in secularism, the decline of the power of the Catholic Church, and the rise of Humanism. Trade: Created a wealthy class who became patrons of the arts. Classicism: Revival of Greek & Roman achievements & writings. Questioning Spirit Intellectual & Artistic Creativity Secularism: Other than religion. Humanism: Glorification of people & human reason. Individualism: Emphasis on the importance of the individual and achievements. ITALIAN RENAISSANCE The Italian Renaissance came first. It centered around the wealthy class (aristocracy) that were rising out of the growing trade wealth of powerful families like the Medici. There was a STRONG focus on religion esp. Catholic Christianity. Add to this a touch of Roman/cultural revival and we see a curious blend of Catholicism and Greco-Roman myth in the artistic work produced. ITALIAN RENAISSANCE Paintings and art tended to show how wealthy and powerful the aristocracy (the folks that commissioned or paid for the art) were. Finally, secularism and the spirit of humanism began to destabilize the central power of the Catholic authority throughout Italy and Europe. Secularism and humanism merge and change peoples focus from an emphasis on faith to an emphasis on individualism and a more worldly approach to understanding life and reality. NORTHERN RENAISSANCE By contrast, the Northern Renaissance came later. It was heavily influenced by the Protestant Reformation (a movement that desired to reform or fix problems with the Catholic church). The Northern Renaissance tended to emphasize the daily life of peasants and idealize the simple, pious life. The North held on to Middle Ages art and architecture for much longer too. Finally, because there werent as many trade cities, there was less concentration of wealth as we see in Italy there just wasnt as big a market for art and ideas in the north. ITALIAN VS. NORTHERN RENAISSANCE Italian: Subject Matter: Classical Myth and Religious Scenes. Style: symmetrical, balanced, good sense of mass, linear perspective. Known For: figures with mass and volume, knowledge of underlying anatomy. Media: fresco, tempura, oil Example: Michaelangelos Creation of Adam, from the Cistine Chapels Ceiling. Northern: Subject Matter: Domestic Interiors, Portraits, Religious Scenes. Style: attention to surface detail, naturalism. Known For: minute surface detail. Media: oil on panel. Example: Jan Van Eycks Arnolfini Wedding. ITALIAN VS. NORTHERN RENAISSANCE Michelangelo's Creation of Adam, Sistine Chapel ceiling. Notice how God is pictured as an old bearded man, reaching out in strength to Adam who is too weak to reach out to GodAdams wrist is limp in comparison to God. The old, bearded God is a classical Greek/Roman image of Zeus/Jupiter image rather than the traditional image of God understood from the Bible and Christian Tradition. Notice too how there is bulk and substance to the forms of all the persons depicted. Michelangelo had a deep grasp of human anatomy and we feel like we can actually touch and feel the weight of Adam, God, (Eve/Mary, and the other beings depicted. ITALIAN VS. NORTHERN RENAISSANCE Notice that God is surrounded by figures and bolts of material that are in the shape of a cut-away human brain deep understanding of anatomy. Michelangelo Michelangelos Statue of David This is the Vatican, folks! ITALIAN VS. NORTHERN RENAISSANCE Jan Van Eycks Arnolfini Wedding. This work is a portrait of Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and his wife, but is not intended as a record of their wedding. His wife is not pregnant, as is often thought, but holding up her full-skirted dress in the contemporary fashion. Arnolfini was a member of a merchant family from Lucca living in Bruges. The couple are shown in a well-appointed interior. The ornate Latin signature translates as 'Jan van Eyck was here 1434'. The similarity to modern graffiti is not accidental. Van Eyck often inscribed his pictures in a witty way. The mirror reflects two figures in the doorway. One may be the painter himself. Arnolfini raises his right hand as he faces them, perhaps as a greeting. Van Eyck was intensely interested in the effects of light: oil paint allowed him to depict it with great subtlety in this picture, notably on the gleaming brass chandelier. IMPORTANT FIGURES OF THE RENAISSANCE Cosimo de Medici - In 1434, Cosimo de Medici consolidated the power of Florence in his and his family's hands, beginning the reign of the Medici that would last in Florence until the end of the Renaissance. Cosimo built up strong connections throughout Italy and Europe in his capacity as a banker, and applied the wealth of Florence in patronage of artistic and intellectual endeavors. He is the money behind the Italian Renaissance. IMPORTANT FIGURES OF THE RENAISSANCE Lorenzo de Medici - Lorenzo de Medici, known as 'Il Magnifico,' was Cosimo's grandson. Lorenzo lived more elegantly than had Cosimo, and enjoyed the spotlight of power immensely. Under his control, the Florentine economy expanded significantly and the lower class enjoyed a greater level of comfort and protection than it had before. During the period of Lorenzo's rule, from 1469 to 1492, Florence became undeniably the most important city-state in Italy and the most beautiful city in all of Europe. Florence was the epicenter of the Italian Renaissance. IMPORTANT FIGURES OF THE RENAISSANCE Leonardo da Vinci - Perhaps the greatest single figure of the Renaissance, Leonardo excelled in painting, sculpting, engineering, biology, and many other fields. He traveled around Italy, and eventually France as well, making observations on nature and seeking commissions. Many of his contributions were ideas for inventions which were not built until long after his death. His most famous completed work, the Mona Lisa, is the most famous portrait ever painted. The Mona Lisa IMPORTANT FIGURES OF THE RENAISSANCE Boccaccio - One of the first writers of the early Renaissance, Giovanni Boccaccio, a Florentine, is most noted for writing the Decameron, a series of 100 stories set in Florence during the Black Death that struck the city in Boccaccio explores, in these stories, the traditions and viewpoints of various social classes, greatly based on actual observation and study. Set in Italy during the Black Death About 7 women and 3 men who hide in a villa for two weeks and tell a different story each night A series of realistic, sometimes off- colored stories The Decameron presents both tragic and comic views of life IMPORTANT FIGURES OF THE RENAISSANCE Donatello - The greatest sculptor of the early Renaissance, Donatello was born Donato di Niccolo di Betto Bardi. Donatello studied under both Ghiberti and Brunelleschi, and went on to create several masterpieces for Cosimo de Medici in Florence. His most important work is the David, which depicts the Hebrew king in the classical style of a Greek god. David was the first freestanding nude figure sculpted since the Roman era. Donatello went on to create the first bronze statue of the Renaissance, showing an incredibly realistic soldier on horseback. Donatellos Equestrian Statue of Gattamelatta Donatellos David IMPORTANT FIGURES OF THE RENAISSANCE Raphael - Hailed as the greatest painter of the Renaissance, Raphael, born Rafaello Sanzi, worked in Rome under papal commissions from Pope Julius II and Pope Leo X, decorating much of the Vatican. The most widely known of the series of murals and frescoes he painted is the School of Athens, which depicts an imaginary assembly of famous philosophers. He was considered so important by his contemporaries that when he died at the premature age of 37 he was buried in the Pantheon. Included in this painting are: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Diogenes of Sinope, Pythagoras, Euclid, Archimedes, Ptolemy, Alexander the Great, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Donatello, and even the great Arabic scholar Averroes or Ibn Rushd IMPORTANT FIGURES OF THE RENAISSANCE Johann Gutenberg - Gutenberg is credited with inventing the printing press in Germany in 1454, and printing the first book, theGutenberg Bible, ushering in the age of the printed book, during which books became cheaper and more accessible to the general population. Gutenbergs great advance wasnt actually in inventing the press itself: this was old technology. His great advance was in the concept of movable type. This dramatically reduced printing time and made for mass production of books possiblean educational leap forward for mankind that was as important as the development of the internet for us today. IMPORTANT FIGURES OF THE RENAISSANCE Niccolo Machiavelli - Niccolo Machiavelli may be the most famed writer of the Renaissance. His most well known work, The Prince is a political handbook arguing that it is better for a ruler to be feared than loved. The Prince - Written by Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince was a guidebook for the ruler Machiavelli hoped would eventually unite Italy to drive out foreign threats. The Prince argues that it is better for a ruler to be feared than loved, and has served as a handbook by European leaders for centuries since its publishing in 1513. IMPORTANT FIGURES OF THE RENAISSANCE Dante - Italian poet, writer, theorist, philosopher, and political thinker born in Florence, Italy. He is referred to as the Father of the Italian language. He wrote The Divine Comedy, an epic poem about Dantes vision of his travels through hell, purgatory, & heaven. His vision is broken up into 3 parts: the Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradisio. IMPORTANT FIGURES OF THE RENAISSANCE William Shakespeare - Of, course, while the Italians had Dante, the English had this guy. Shakespeares ability to illuminate the depth and range of the human experience is one reason for his enduring popularity. He told compelling stories with great characters; and he did this so well, that we read and reread him even today in the 21 st century: 400 years later. IMPORTANT FIGURES OF THE RENAISSANCE Francesco Petrarch - Francesco Petrarch is often referred to as the founder of humanism. As one of the first humanist writers he explored modern life through the lens of the ancient Romans and Greeks, influencing with his works the later renaissance writers and the spirit of the times. NICOLAUS COPERNICUS Polish mathematician and astronomer that formulated the model that the sun, rather than the earth, is the center of the universe (heliocentric). His model also argued that the earth rotates yearly around the sun instead of staying stationary. This was controversial because it went against what the Catholic Church taught (even though he ironically dedicated his work to Pope Paul III). THE REFORMATION A.D AFTER THE GREAT SCHISM OF 1056 Remember that the Catholic Church divorced itself from the body of Christianity in 1056 over a question of Papal authority. The Pope of Rome excommunicated ALL of the Eastern Christian world because they refused to break with the traditional structure of the faith and acknowledge his leadership over the whole church. He takes with him the majority of the churches of Western and Northern Europe (i.e. Spain, France, Germany, and England). AFTER THE GREAT SCHISM OF 1056 Abuses of church authority begin to create serious problems in the West. Popes failed to meet spiritual needs as they focused on political and worldly desires. One Pope, Julius II the Warrior Pope, actually led armies as a military leader! Church officials used their offices to advance their careers and personal wealth. Ordinary parish priests did not understand their spiritual duties or genuinely know how to instruct on salvation and the spiritual life. AFTER THE GREAT SCHISM OF 1056 Abuses of church authority begin to create serious problems in the West. In the spiritual gulf that opened in the absence of real spiritual guidance, collections of relics and indulgences began to rise. A relic is a holy object: it could be a possession that once belonged to a saint such as a cross, a piece of clothing, a holy book, oras we saw in the Crusadessomething like the holy lance (the spear that was used to pierce Christ at the crucifixion or martyr a saint). Often relics were actually bones and body parts of the saints. An indulgence was a release from part or all of the punishment for sin. Some people would, for a price, buy and sell relics and indulgences both real and false. ALONG COMES LUTHER Martin Luther - A monk and Professor at the University of Wittenberg, Germany. Luther comes to believe that humans are not saved through good works, but by faith alone. He comes to this conclusion based on a method called Sola Scriptura or scripture alone. This is the primary reason he will be excommunicated from the Catholic Church. THE NINETY-FIVE THESES Luther was really upset by the abuses he saw in the church. Since he was not a very subtle man, he decided to make a list of his grievances with the church there were ninety-five of them and he nailed them to the door of the Church in Wittenberg! This is a powerful attack on the church, but the Pope fails to take Luthers grievances seriously, calling Luther some drunken German who will amend his ways when he sobers up. The door of the Wittenberg Cathedral REVOLUTION! WAR! To many others, this attack is a radical call for change, this idea will fan the flames of revolution across the Catholic world. Things are said, feelings are hurt, and more importantly power is threatened in January of 1521Martin Luther is excommunicated and declared to be an outlaw within the Holy Roman Empire through the Edict of Worms. By June of 1524 the Peasants War raged in Germany and Lutheranism, the first protestant church burst into being. ONCE THE SPLINTERING BEGINS, IT IS HARD TO STOP After Lutherans successfully separate themselves from Catholic authority many others jump out too. John Calvin and Calvinists idea of predestination. King Henry VIII dude was firing too many X chromosomes and was a serial misogynist. He kept marrying women and trying to father a son. When the girls didnt produce boys, he had his wives killed and tried with a new one. The Catholic Church says this is pretty wrong, so he formed the Church of England (Episcopal Church). John CalvinHenry VIII I want sons or Im giving you a really short haircut! Lets call it the Henry Bobble- head! God has already predestined you to heaven or hell and theres nothing you can do about it! Oh, and you cant know where you are going until judgement! CHOOSING SIDES Through it all, people had to choose sides: Spain, France, Italy, Ireland, and Poland generally went Catholic. Germany, England, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, and Hungary generally went Protestant. The big losers in all of this will, again, be the Jews. In Lutheran territories, Jews that refused to convert were persecuted viciously. In Catholic territories, Jews that refused to convert were segregated into ghettos. CHOOSING SIDES The Reformation events will lead to about 150 years of religious warfare in Europe. In the Eastern Orthodox world no reformation ever occurred or was necessary. The Reformation will drive much of the competition between nations during the age of exploration and will not really settle down until the Industrial Revolution.