Ch. 12 sec. 1 & 2

Early Renaissance

What was the Renaissance?

• Period following the middle ages (1350-1550)

• “Rebirth” of classical Greece and Rome

• Began in Italy• Moved to northern

Europe

• Italy was an urban society.

• Powerful city-states of the Middle Ages became political, economic, and social centers.

• Secular, or worldly, viewpoint developed.

• Age when power of the church declined.

• Society recovered from plagues and instability of the Middle Ages.

Objectives

• During the middle ages– Find God– Prove pre-conceived

ideas

• During the Renaissance– Find man– Promote learning

Causes of the Renaissance

• Lessening of feudalism– Church disrespected– Nobility in chaos– Growth of Middle Class through trade

• Fall of Constantinople– Greek scholars fled to Italy

• Education• Nostalgia among the Italians to

recapture the glory of the Roman empire

"The Renaissance gave birth to the modern era, in that it was in this era that human beings first began to think of themselves as individuals. In the early Middle Ages, people had been happy to see themselves simply as parts of a greater whole – for example, as members of a great family, trade guild, nation, or Church. This communal consciousness of the Middle Ages gradually gave way to the individual consciousness of the Renaissance."

– McGrath, Alister, In the Beginning, Anchor Books (2001), p.38.

Renaissance Man

• Broad knowledge about many things in different fields

• Deep knowledge of skill in one area

• Able to link areas and create new knowledge

Italian Background• Major city centers

– Venice: Republic ruled by oligarchy, Byzantine origins

– Milan: Visconti and Sforza families

– Florence (Tuscany): Republic ruled by the Medici

– Papal States: Ruled by the Pope

– Kingdom of Naples: King of Aragon

Italian Background• MILAN

– Located in the North at crossroads of the main trade routes.

– 1447 - Francesco Sforza conquered the city with a band of mercenaries – soldiers for hire.

– Built a strong centralized government with an efficient tax system that generated large revenues.

Italian Background• FLORENCE

– 1434 – Cosimo de Medici took control.– Medici's—family of physicians– Money in banking (opened first bank)– Financed wool trade– Became de facto rulers of Florence

Italian Background

• Cosimo de Medici– Advanced arts and education

• Piero de Medici– Continued father’s artistic

support• Lorenzo de Medici

– Poet– Friend of Michelangelo– Rebuilt University of Pisa– Continued to invite scholars to

Florence

Italian Background

• Piero de Medici– Forced to make military and

commercial concessions to King of France

– Medici’s forced out of the city• Savonarola

– Friar who decried money, power

– Gained power in lower class, but lost pope’s support

– Excommunicated and hung

NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI• Wrote The Prince, one of the most influential

works on political power.

• It concerns how to get and keep power.

• He argued that the prince’s attitude toward power should be based on understanding that human nature is self-interested.

• A prince, should not act on moral principles but on behalf of the interests of the state.

• First to abandon morality as the basis of analyzing political activity.

Renaissance Society• The noble or aristocrats were expected to

fulfill certain ideals as expressed in The Book of the Courtier.

• Peasants made up 85 to 90 percent of the total population.

• With the decline of the manorial system, more peasants were free.

• To maintain family, parents arranged marriages, agreement was sealed with a marriage contract, which included the terms of the dowry, a sum of money the bride’s family paid to the groom.

Humanism• Pursuit of individualism

– Recognition that humans are creative– Appreciation of art as a product of man– Well-rounded, universal person was

capable of achievements in many areas of life. Example, Leonardo da Vinci, was a painter, sculptor, architect, inventor, and mathematician.

• Basic culture needed for all• Studied subjects known as the humanities –

for ex. Poetry, philosophy, and history• Love of the classical past

FRANCESCO PETRARCH• Father of humanism.

• Generated a movement of finding forgotten Latin manuscripts, especially in monastic libraries.

• First modern poet.

• Emphasized using classical Latin (Roman, not medieval). The classic - Cicero was the model for prose and Virgil for poetry.

Vernacular Literature

• Some writers wrote in the language of their regions, such as Italian, English, or French.

• In the 14th century, the Italian works of Dante and the English works of Geoffrey Chaucer helped make such vernacular literature more popular.

DIVINE COMEDY The Canterbury Tales The Book of the City of Ladies

Soul’s Journey Portrays range of English society

Argues women are capable of learning

Written in Italian Written in English Written in French

Author: Dante Author: William Chaucer Author: Christine de Pizan

Education in the Renaissance• Education could change human

beings.• Wrote books on education and

opened schools.• Liberal studies to reach their full

potential.• Stressed physical education,

including dancing.• Females rarely attended classes,

those who did were not taught mathematics only religion, morals, and domestic, artistic skills.

Early Renaissance Art•Emphasized individual talent in painting, sculpture, architecture, literature and music.

•Architecture returned to the domes and columns of ancient Greece and Rome.

• Painters and Sculptors turned to new techniques.

• Music began to change and the types of instruments used!

Donatello•Donatello is considered the odd man out because of his unusual style and interests.•He was a major in carving reliefs, which was quite unique for his time.•Donatello carved in wood, bronze, and marble.

DonatelloDavidSaint George Mary Magdalene

Fresco•Painting done on wet plaster with water-based paints.

•Masaccio’s 15th century Frescos are considered the first masterpieces of early Renaissance art.

•His figures have depth because he used the laws of perspective and the organization of space and light.

MasaccioRealism and Expression: The Expulsion from Paradise

Perspective:Tribute Money

Ghiberti

• Sculpture competition with Brunelleschi

• Gates of Paradise

Gates of Paradise

“Sacrifice of Isaac” Panels

BrunelleschiGhiberti

Filippo Brunelleschi

• Founded Renaissance style– Simple lines– Substantial walls– Structural elements not hidden

Filippo Brunelleschi

• Il Duomo Cathedral’s dome (Florence)

Il Duomo St. Peter’s St. Paul’s US capital (Florence) (Rome) (London)

Dome Comparison

High Renaissance (1490-1520) Last stage of Renaissance painting

•Artistic giants:•Leonardo da Vinci – mastered realistic painting.•Raphael – greatest painter. His madonnas were specially admired.•His famous fresco, School of Athens, reveals a world of balance, harmony and order.• Michelangelo – accomplished painter, sculptor, and architect. •His paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome show the beauty of an idealized human being who reflects divine beauty.

LEONARDO DA VINCI

“O investigator, do not flatter yourself that you know the things nature performs for herself, but rejoice in knowing that purpose of those things designed by your own mind.”

Leonardo da Vinci

Michelangelo

DavidThe Pieta

Sistine Chapel

Northern Artistic Renaissance

• Present-day Beligium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands – took a different approach to realistically portraying the world.

• They illustrated books and wooden panels for altarpieces, in part because their Gothic cathedrals did not have the wall space on which to paint frescoes.

• The small scales made them masters of detail.

Flanders• Important artistic center in the north.• Flemish painter Jan Van Eyck was among

the first to use oil paint, which allowed the artist to use a wide variety of colors and create fine details.

• German artist Albrecht Durer incorporated the laws of perspective.

• His famous, Adoration of the Magi, keeps the northern emphasis on details but fits them together harmoniously according to the laws of perspective.

ALBRECHT DURER’S Adoration of the Magi

JAN VAN EYCK