The RenaissanceThe Age of Discovery

1300-1500

Made by: Sarah Gilliam and Lena Han

Transition from the Medieval World to the Renaissance• When Constantinople fell to the Muslim Turks in 1453, Byzantine

Christians fled to the West• These refugees brought with them classical scholarship that had

originally been lost to the West• Medieval artists who originally strove to suggest strong spiritual

characters started exploring ways to suggest actual figures standing in realistic landscapes during the Renaissance• An increased interest in this world, rather than the spiritual world,

was emphasized (Humanism).

Humanism• Humanism emphasizes the importance of human beings, their

actions, and inherent individual value• Focus of education shifted to the humanities: grammar, rhetoric,

history, poetry, and moral philosophy• Tried to produce people more engaged in civic life• Attention shifted to Jesus’s life and the early martyred saints• Increased emphasis on materialism, leading to the beginning of

capitalism

Secularism

• Dealing with non-religious matter• Closely related to humanism, the philosophy, literature, and art of the

Renaissance began to include themes more related to humans• For example, Shakespeare wrote plays about themes such as jealousy,

love, and political power

Individualism

• Belief in individual values of each person in society• Attention did not shift away from religion. Rather, it shifted to the

individual person’s relationship to God• Celebrated things that made each person different, including

appearance, personalities, talents, and skills

Classicism• Renaissance comes from the word “rebirth”, referring to the

reemergence of classical ideals• Renewed interest in art and learning of Greeks and Romans• People began studying long-forgotten books written during the

Classical Age• Borrowed Greek and Roman architecture and sculpture

Two separate Renaissances in EuropeThe Southern Renaissance• Italy• Focused on accurate visual

structure (Perspective)• Ideal beauty• Fresco and Tempura Paint

The Northern Renaissance• The Netherlands, France, and

Germany• Oil Paints on altarpieces• Intense Realism• Protestant Reformation and

Counter Reformation

Beginning of Southern Renaissance

• Double shelled Dome design, developed by Brunelleschi• Based on Roman arches and domes

Dome of the Florence Cathedral

Beginning of Southern Renaissance

• Greater emphasis on naturalism• Sculpture was influenced by the Greeks

David, by Donatello

First freestanding nude statue

High Renaissance

• Leonardo Da Vinci was an inventor, architect, engineer, painter, sculptor, scientist, and musician, the epitome of a Renaissance Man.• Sfumato, coming from the Italian word fumo, meaning smoke, is the

use of mellowed colors and a blurred outline.

Mona Lisa

High Renaissance

• Michelangelo was the most well-known sculptor of the Renaissance.

David

Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

High Renaissance• Linear and Atmospheric Perspective

The School of Athens (Philosophy), Raphael Sanzio

The School of Athens, Raphael

Pythagoras

AristotlePlato

Euclid

Socrates

Diogenes

The School of Athens, Raphael Cont.

• Includes statues of Apollo and Athena• Vanishing point in the piece is between Plato and Aristotle• Was painted using fresco on one of the walls in the Pope’s library at

the Vatican• Also is known as the wall representing Philosophy• Part of the Stanza della Segnatura.

High Renaissance• Tintoretto combines some Mannerist techniques with Charioscuro• Mannerism: works characterized by the distortion of certain elements

such as perspective, the use of acidic colors, and the twisted positioning of subjects• Chiaroscuro: dramatic contrasts of light and dark

The Temptation of Adam

Northern Renaissance• More focus put towards real aspects of society.• Portrayed all types of citizens. (Both peasants and nobility)• Famous for mainly oil paintings on wood.• Used atmospheric perspective.

The Four Horsemen, Durer

The Peasant Dance, Peter Brueghel

The Van Eycks• Hubert Van Eyck was a very popular artist during the Renaissance, but

he now is overshadowed by his brother Jan Van Eyck, who took over the Ghent Altarpiece once Hubert died.• Jan Van Eyck also made the Arnolfini Wedding, one of his more

famous pieces.The Ghent Altarpiece

The Arnolfini Wedding

Ghent Altarpiece

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