This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
Slide 1
Slide 2
The Concept of the Renaissance Federico Chabod
Slide 3
The Traditional Concept The problem of Continuity Fustel de
Coulanges and his theory on the Barbarian invaders (tabula rasa)
The theory of continuity against the theory of things as they have
occurred (effects and dangers of each theory in itself) p. 151 The
traditional concepts: Middle Ages and Renaissance The praesens
tempus and media aetas according to Italians of the XIV and XV
(Boccaccio, C. Salutati, L. Valla, L. Bruni)
Slide 4
As the city of Rome perished at the hands of the perverse and
tyrannical emperors, so did Latin studies and literature undergo
similar ruin and diminution... And Italy was invaded by the Goths
and Longobards, barbarous, uncouth people, who practically
extinguished all knowledge of literature. Leonardo Bruni All
statues and paintings were smashed and torn... And thus were
destroyed not only statues and paintings, but the books and
commentaries and handbooks and rules on which men relied for their
training in this great and excellent and gentle art Lorenzo
Ghiberti
Slide 5
Slide 6
Vasari : criticism of the Christians but not of the faith. His
is an aesthetic criticism Voltaire: antipathy for Catholicism : it
is the guilt of religion, responsible for medieval obscurantism
(furor against the papacys power during the Middle Ages - spirit of
the Reformation) Voltaire echoes Ghibertis and Vasaris opinions
about the fall of the Roman empire, the advent of Christianity and
the barbarism of the northern invaders These opinions are amplified
by modern historians: Michelet, Burckhardt, Spaventa, Dilthey and
Gentile Die Kultur der Renaissance in Italien represents the period
as a sudden emergence of genius in the middle of a cultural and
artistic desert. Isolation of the Renaissance (no sense of
historical continuity)
Slide 7
Imitation of Classical Models Opinion expressed by the artists
of the time. The Renaissance has its origin when the glorious minds
that sprang from the soil of Tuscany... (turn to the ancient ruins
of Rome and start) distinguishing very clearly the good from the
bad and forsaking the old styles, they began once more to imitate,
to the limit of their energies and abilities, the styles affected
by the ancients... Giorgio Vasari Belief that the ancients had
exercised a direct influence on the rebirth of Art and Literature
was general (a direct consequence of numerous archeological
excavations)
Slide 8
New Critical Approaches The theory of continuity applied to the
Middle Ages and Renaissance Middle Ages: rich in variety,
stimulated by many problems, interests and aspirations; a restless
age, full of exuberant life Is the Renaissance a new phenomenon,
with features of its own, or is it a broadening (not very original)
of already present motifs and ideals? First step: distinguish
between every-day-life and the LIFE OF THE MIND, the theoretical
formulation of a CONSCIOUSNESS (mans thoughts and ideas)
Slide 9
Renaissance The term is used to describe a MOBILIZATION OF
IDEAS which is primarily ARTISTIC LITERARY CULTURAL The Renaissance
as an INTELLECTUAL reality, not as a PHYSICAL one An intellectual
construction in which human designs and actions conform to an ideal
system, to a spiritual creed, to a program of life Only when
transformed in a complete, theoretical affirmation, a practical
truth becomes a theoretical precept, a law explicitly credited with
a universal validity
Slide 10
Vix scio quae fuerim, vix Roma recordor; vix sinit occasus vel
neminisse mei. Par tibi, Roma, nihil cum sos prope tota ruina.
Hildebrand de Lavardin (Le Mans, 1106) Nichil actum fore potavi, si
que legendo didiceram, non aggrederer exercendo. Cola di Rienzo
(1350) Nos... Volentes et desiderantes... Voluntates, benignitates,
et liberalitates antiquorum romanorum principium... imitari. Decree
of the sovereignity of the Roman People I August 1347 Imitatio -
legere becomes exercere. Instead of an elegy, there is a
determination to revive the ancient splendors and glories of Rome
Men must imitate the ancients in matters calling for strength and
vigor... (they must adopt) the true and perfect ways of antiquity,
not the false and corrupt. Niccol Machiavelli (Larte della
guerra)
Slide 11
Limitation of Medieval thought a) the relationship between God
and man; b) the Christian and Augustinian sense of sin and grace
(religious conception of the world) The Classic authors remained
ornaments in the works of the Middle Ages, intended to give luster
to the moral and spiritual ways of the medieval philosophers
(Dante?) Il est remarquable... que pendant la priode la plus
radieuse de la Renaissance les types iconographiques transmis et
donc altrs, - soient presque partout abandonns au profit des types
retrouvs dans leur puret premire. J. Seznec, La survivance des
dieux antiques
Slide 12
For the Medieval scholar, Rome was imitable, but only as
Christian Rome, capital of Christianity The Renaissance viewed Rome
as the ideal moment in human history, in which the highest
aspirations of mankind were realized. Imitation becomes a pattern
of life
Slide 13
Realism and Individualism In the Middle Ages realism is
episodic, emotional. The detail is realistic, but the general
conception is not. The Prime Mover of life and human history is
located outside the world and the destinies of men are determined
by the will of God. The sensibility is human and mundane, but the
spirit is nourished by an inner life located outside carnal
humanity Medieval and Renaissance historical descriptions? What is
the difference? (177) The conceptual (vs impressionistic)realism of
Guicciardini and Machiavelli
Slide 14
The realistic description of physical traits is undertaken only
if it serves to complete the moral description (178) Renaissance
Realism Villanis (medieval chronicler) Historiae Fiorentine a)
passionate moral appeals (God, devil etc.). b) no interpretation,
no sense of human individuality Machiavellis Historiae Fiorentine
a) no supernatural presence b) man is the primary agent of history
c) the supernatural as fatality, casualty d) natural deterministic
realism (sins are political not moral)
Slide 15
Machiavellis political realism is not concerned with right and
wrong, good and evil But since it is my purpose to write what may
be useful to those who need it, I have thought it more fitting to
concern myself with the effective reality of things than with
speculation. For many have imagined republics (Plato) and
principates which have never been seen or known to exist in
reality. Machiavelli Il principe Political realism: How things are,
not how things should be No supernatural Will to explain the
immediate causes of events
Slide 16
Art in the Renaissance Aim of the medieval artist is the
glorification of the Creator (Theophilus, Schedula diversarum
artium) Renaissance artist (L. B. Alberti, Della pittura) a) is
conscious of the intrinsic merit of an artwork b) aims at creating
the beautiful and immortal c) glorification of humanity and its
achievements d) Nature is imitated (scientifically) per se, not as
a mirror of Gods power Liberation of the artist from every
restriction that is not dictated by artistic reason The world
becomes a synthesis of lines, volumes and colors
Slide 17
Novelty of the Renaissance Realism and individualism (from
Alberti to Machiavelli, Ariosto and Galileo) lead to the
affirmation of the complete autonomy of art, politics, science and
history Ars gratia artis The typically medieval conception of the
world in which no branch of human activity could be considered
independent from life as a whole is abandoned
Slide 18
Man and God Main issues raised by the new system a) how can
Nature be reconciled with the excellence of man b) how to reconcile
man and Nature with God Art and politics are no longer serving a
supernatural purpose but ethics still is! The idea of a purely
rational ethic, independent from religion, is unthinkable Ethics
concern itself with the question: how things ought to be (vs. how
things are) The need to justify the world and existence, nature and
creature, will and fortune, brings man back to the idea of a
transcendent God of humanity
Slide 19
The Treatise as Genre A treatise is a prose work that analyzes
a problem in all its aspects. It is the demonstration of a thesis
whose validity results from the confutation of all other antitheses
The themes can range from politics, to aesthetics, to science It
derives directly from the Greek and Roman tradition, from Platos
Dialogues, where a group of thinkers that debate their individual
philosophical positions The treatise can have a dialogical form,
that becomes a lively debate, or can be discursive, presenting
different arguments and contrasting perspectives Popularity of the
treatise a) the rediscovery of the classics b) exemplary form of
discussion and expression of ideas c) the necessity to theorize and
form a new model of man d) the projection on the page of a human
res publica whose aim is the education of free thinking human
beings
Slide 20
Niccol Machiavelli 1469 Born in Florence 1498 Is elected
secretary of the Florentine Republic 1500 Is sent as envoy to the
King of France, Louis XII 1501 Marries Marietta Corsini; will have
six children 1502 Envoy to Cesare Borgia, at Urbino and Imola 1503
Is sent to Rome for the Conclave (Pious III) 1506 Works for the
republic and organizes its army 1507-11 Travels to Tyrol
(Maximilian), then to Blois, to meet Louis XII. Later he travels to
Munich and France 1512 The Holy League of Modena decides the return
of the Medici to Florence. He is banned from the city for a year
1513 Imprisoned and tortured. Begins to write The Prince 1515-16
Offers The Prince to Lorenzo de Medici 1519 Composes The Art of War
1525 Completes the eight volumes of the Florentine Chronicles 1527
After the sack of Rome, Florence returns to the Republic. He dies
on June 21
Slide 21
The Prince and Its Ideology A negative evaluation of human
nature The conviction of human natures immutability The necessity
to keep these data in mind if one wants to enter a political career
(Realpolitik) The usefulness of examples taken from the past At the
light of his lucid realism, politica activity becomes a science
whose core is the foundation and maintenance of the state Political
actions shall not be evaluated on the basis of a moral code but
keeping in mind the principle of utility and congruence with that
given objective (previous point) Virtues are therefore: cruelty,
dissimulation, murder etc. Net separation between moral and
political judgement differentiates The Prince from previous
treatises (mirror of prince) popular during the Middle Ages
(catalogues of moral virtues) Contrasting aspects of Machiavellis
thought: a) the theorization of an absolute power (The prince) b)
his sympathy for the democratic government (The Discourses)
Slide 22
The Structure of The Prince
Slide 23
XI Ecclesiastical Principalities a) Reasons why Ecclesiastical
Principalities are secure and happy b) Why are E.P. so powerful now
when they once were not c) Present history: Alexander VI - Julius
II - Leo X XII Militia and Mercenary Soldiers a) Chief foundations
of a state b) Different kinds of arms c) Mercenaries (proof of
reality) d) What kind of sins have the Italian princes committed e)
Overview of the Quattrocento (church and princes) XIII Auxiliary
and Native Troops a) Definition b) Why are they worse than
mercenaries c) The symbolic meaning of Davids biblical story d) But
men with their lack of prudence initiate novelties and, finding the
first taste good, do not notice the poison within.
Slide 24
XIV The Duties of a Prince in Regard to the Militia a) Main
objective of a Prince b) Armed vs unarmed c) The art of war in
peace time d) Knowledge of hardship and territory e) Imitation and
study XV Of the Things for which Men, especially Princes, are
Praised or Blamed a) Concept of reality b) What ought to be done
(consequences) c) Know hows for a Prince d) Good and bad virtues
(reversed value) XVI Of Liberality and Niggardliness a) Praise of
the miserly Prince (good vice) XVII Of Cruelty and Clemency a)
Reasons for being cruel (consequences of leniency) b) To be feared
or loved
Slide 25
c) Description of humanity d) Hannibals example and the
historians e) Men love of their own free will but fear at the will
of the prince. XVIII In What Way Must Princes Keep Faith a)
Experience contradicts good intentions b) The beast and the man c)
Broken promises d) Deceivers and deceived e) Alexander VIs example
f) It is not, therefore, necessary for a prince to have all the
above- named qualities, but it is necessary to seem to have them.
g) To be or to appear to be h) Mercy, faith, integrity, humanity,
religion
Slide 26
Machiavelli and Fortuna Fortuna as ambiguous concept in M.?
Characteristics of Fortuna (images used) What is the role of
religion in a state (religio instrumentum regni) What is virtue for
Machiavelli? Are mans virtue, intelligence, energy enough to create
and shape history? Can man achieve anything by himself? Where is
God in his philosophy of man