RENAISSANCE ART

Likely the most recognizable part of the Renaissance is its art. During the Renaissance, painting, sculpture, and

other forms of art were produced in massive quantities. Renaissance art was seen as a “rebirth” of classical traditions

(from Ancient Greece and Rome), but it transformed those forms of art by adding many more realistic elements based

on new scientific discoveries. As a result, Renaissance art is seen as being both very realistic and very beautiful.

Renaissance artists used a variety of techniques to make their art more realistic and more beautiful. For one

thing, artists made use of perspective, which makes objects in art seem as though they have the right height, width,

depth, and position in relation to each other when seen from a particular place. Second, artists used certain techniques

that gave the impression of depth, or three-dimensionality. As a result of these and many of new practices, Renaissance

art is worth a lot of money today.

Two of the most famous Renaissance artists were Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarotti (commonly

just “Michelangelo). Leonardo da Vinci was a combination of an artist, scientist, and inventor. His most famous artistic

work is the Mona Lisa, which many people consider the most famous painting in the world. As for Michelangelo, he

expressed human emotions (such as, anger, sorrow, and strength) in his paintings and sculptures. His most famous work

of art is The Last Judgment on the wall of the Sistine Chapel, which is the official residence of the Pope.

RENAISSANCE WRITING

Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa

Wall of the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo

Until the time of the Renaissance, most literature was written in Medieval Latin or French, which was the

language of those who were educated. Unfortunately, many common people could not read either language and often

had no money to afford the writings. As a result, to reach more people, Renaissance writers began to write in the

languages, such as English and Spanish, that people spoke every day. For example, Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The

Canterbury Tales and William Shakespeare wrote his many plays (such as, Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet) in English. At

the same time, Miguel de Cervantes wrote his most famous novel, Don Quixote, in Spanish.

Renaissance writers were greatly helped by the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in 1450.

Although the Chinese had invented the printing press earlier in Asia, Gutenberg, who is known as the “father of printing

in the Western world”, developed the idea of movable type. The printing press made books much more widely available,

and, therefore, less expensive for people to buy. The combination of using everyday languages to write, as well as the

invention of the printing press, thus made Renaissance writers’ texts much easier to access and read.

Chaucer Shakespeare

de Cervantes

Gutenberg Printing Press

de Cervantes GutenbergPrinting press

RENAISSANCE SCIENCE

During the Renaissance, advances and discoveries occurred in geography, astronomy, chemistry,

physics, mathematics, medicine, and engineering. Two important events led to these developments. First,

Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire (the former Eastern Roman Empire), fell in 1453 to

Muslim invaders. After the invasion, important scientific texts from Ancient Greece and Rome were

rediscovered. Second, the newly invented printing press allowed ideas to spread faster than ever before.

Taken together, these two developments allowed for new scientific discoveries.

Despite these events, the greatest achievements in science came not during the Renaissance, but

rather immediately afterward during a period called the Scientific Revolution. As the separation between the

Renaissance and Scientific Revolution, which took place during the 16th and 17th centuries, is hard to find, we

will count the Scientific Revolution as part of the later Renaissance.

The Scientific Revolution transformed Ancient and Medieval views of nature and laid the foundations

for modern science as we know it today. As there were far too many scientific discoveries to list here, only

three will be mentioned. First, René Descartes helped established the scientific method, which you studied

with Ms. Hauldren. In addition, Nicolaus Copernicus proved that the Sun, not the Earth (which had been

thought previously), was the center of the universe. Finally, Galileo Galilei made significant improvements to

the telescope and helped to found modern physics.

René Descartes Nicolaus Copernicus Galileo Galilei

RENAISSANCE POLITICS

As changes occurred in art, writing, science, and other disciplines, politics also changed. During the Renaissance,

Western European countries (namely, England, France, and Spain) became more powerful. In these countries, monarchs

centralized authority, which means they concentrated power in themselves. These countries had some characteristics in

common. For one thing, they had professional armies – in contrast to the feudal system from the Middle Ages. Second,

monarchs controlled nearly all power and left little to none for anyone else in their countries. Third, countries started to

engage in diplomacy (the act of managing relations among countries). Fourth, monarchs began to create professional

bureaucracies (groups of non-elected individuals that carry out functions) in their countries. Taken together, these four

changes and many others created large political changes that created the basics of the modern country as we

understand it today. Finally, it must be mentioned that it was during this time that England, France, and Spain all began

to take the shape of the modern countries they are today.

Although there were many rulers in England, France, and Spain who were incredibly important during the

general time period of the Renaissance, we will focus on three. In England, Henry VII strengthened and stabilized

England, which had previously been consumed by conflict between rival groups that wanted power. During his time in

power, he led England to peace and wealth. In France, Charles VII succeeded in driving English soldiers, who had

occupied part of France, out of the country. By his death, France was well on its way to being a powerful and centralized

country free of the English military presence. Finally, in Spain, Isabella I and her husband, Ferdinand II, kicked out the

Muslim invaders who had occupied Spain since the 700s, as well as Jews who had been living there. In doing so, she

united Spain and spread Christianity throughout the territory.

Henry VII (England) Charles VII (England) Isabella I (Spain) Ferdinand II (Spain)

NAME ________________________________________________ PERIOD ______ DATE _________________________

Renaissance Art1) What did Renaissance art add to classical art?

2) What is “perspective”?

3) Who was Leonardo da Vinci and what did he do?

4) Who was Michelangelo and what did he do?

Renaissance Writing1) What big change did Renaissance writers make to their writing?

2) Who was Geoffrey Chaucer and what did he do?

3) Who was William Shakespeare and what did he do?

4) Who was Miguel de Cervantes and what did he do?

5) Who was Johannes Gutenberg and what did he do?

6) What was significant about the invention of the printing press?

Renaissance Science1) What happened in 1453 and why was it significant?

2) Did the greatest scientific advancements occur during the Renaissance? If not, when did they happen?

3) Who was René Descartes and what did he do?

4) Who was Nicolaus Copernicus and what did he do?

5) Who was Galileo Galilei and what did he do?

Renaissance Politics1) What four things happened to England, France, and Spain?

2) Who was Henry VII and what did he do?

3) Who was Charles VII and what did he do?

4) Who was Isabella I and what did she do?

Answering the following questions IN COMPLETE SENTENCES: 1) What is Humanism, and how is it related to the Renaissance?

2) What changes were happening in the culture?

3) Why were those changes happening?

4) Give TWO specific examples of how things were changing in the culture. You need to choose two of the following: art, writing, science, politics.