Renaissance Notes

The Renaissance“rebirth”

The Crusades, the Black Death, and the Hundred Years’ War all brought

about changes that led to a new way of thinking.

Economic Foundations of the Renaissance

• Trade flourished in Italy during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, creating unprecedented wealth in Florence, Genoa, and Venice.

– Italy was separated into city-states and enjoyed a democratic atmosphere- republics

• Florence was known for banking and textiles and was the center of the Italian Renaissance

• Usury: charging interest on money loaned (church did not allow)

• Credit: “buy now, pay later”

The Medici Family of Florence:banking family, ruled Florence, patrons of the arts

• Cosimo de Medici

– Banking

– Ruled Florence

– Supporter of artistic and scholarly projects

– Uses to taxes to build up city and make it a center for learning and the arts!

• Lorenzo de Medici (“the Magnificent”)

– Banking, also ruled Florence

– Patron of the arts- supported Michelangelo

Florence- the heart of the Italian Renaissance

Sforza Family- Milan

• Caterina Sforza ruled Milan

Isabella D-Esta of Mantua

• Sketch of Isabella by da Vinci• Patron of the arts

Intellectual Movements

Humanism: Intellectual

movement at the heart of the Italian

Renaissance

Classicism: Return to the ideals of

Greece and Rome

Secularism: Interest in non-religious world and enjoyment of

worldly pleasures

Celebrating the glory and power of humans and the

individual!

Seen in the intellectual thought, art, and

architecture of the time

Renaissance Literature

• Petrarch: the “Father of Humanism”, he wrote poetry about classical virtues and his unrequited love for a woman he called “Laura”. He wrote in Italian (vernacular) and Latin. Supposedly he died with a pen in his hand.

Renaissance Literature

• Dante Alighieri: The Divine Comedy, emphasized politics and human interested, wrote in the vernacular instead of Latin

Renaissance Literature

• Castiglione: The Courtier, a handbook on how to be a “Renaissance Man”. – Speak Greek and Latin

– Be charming, polite, and funny

– Strong and graceful

• Machiavelli: The Prince, secular treatise (long essay) on how to be a good ruler – “The ends justify the means”

– Discusses ancient leaders as examples of what a good ruler should do

Renaissance Literature

• Erasmus: The Praise of Folly- poked fun at the clergy, scholars, and merchants. He was from Flanders- Northern Renaissance

• Shakespeare: English playwright, wrote about the human condition in both tragedies and comedies

Art- Early Renaissance• Giotto di Bondone- carved frescos on human

figures that show depth and emotion

• Ghiberti- Carved the doors of the Florence Baptistery

• Brunelleschi- designed the dome of the Cathedral of Florence, the first dome

since antiquity!

Art- Early Renaissance

• Donatello: Sculpted the first free standing nude sculpture of “David”

• Masaccio- “The Father of Modern Painting”, shows perspective and distance

• Michelangelo

– The “David”

– The “Pieta”

– Sistine Chapel ceiling- “The Last Judgment”

– Dome on St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome

Art- High (later) Renaissance

• Leonardo da Vinci

– Painted “The Last Super” and “The Mona Lisa”

– Renowned engineer and architect

– Example of the “Renaissance Man”

• Raphael

– Painted “The School of Athens” and many Madonnas (pictures of Mary and baby Jesus)

Art- Northern Renaissance

• Durer- woodcuts and engravings

• Hans Holbein the younger- portraits (“Henry VIII”)

• Van Eyck- painting with vivid color and detail

– Example: “The Marriage Portrait”

• Peter Bruegel the Elder- paintings of weddings, festivals, and peasant life

Cultural Centers of the Renaissance

• 1400s- Center of the Italian Renaissance was Florence Italy

• 1500s- Rome became a center of art with Pope Julius II– Loved art and power and built St. Peters Cathedral

with the help of Michelangelo

• Renaissance ideas spread north through trade and travel.

• Flanders- present day region of Belgium was the center of the Northern Renaissance

The Northern Renaissance

• Northern Renaissance= Humanism + Christianity

• Art and writing is more infused with Christianity

• 1450- Johannes Gutenberg invented a printing press that used movable type. The Bible became an instant best seller….

Protestant Reformation

• People start reading the Bible for themselves and questioning the Catholic Church

• Martin Luther breaks away from the Catholic Church. 1517 posts 95 Theses

• 1536 Henry VIII separates from the Catholic Church creating the Church of England or the Anglican Church

• Sir Thomas More wrote “Utopia” about a perfect society. He was executed by Henry VIII for refusing to admit king > God.