The Renaissance

The Renaissance

What is a “Renaissance?”• Renaissance – French word that means

“rebirth”.• The Renaissance was a time of change

throughout Europe, but especially in Italy

What caused the Renaissance?• 1) The Black Death• 2) Fewer people alive meant fewer

people to feed, so Europe needed fewer farmers. This allowed for parts of Europe to begin specializing their economies

What Caused the Renaissance?• 3) Increased trade with Asia as a result

of the Crusades• 4) Growth of city-states in Italy: cities

like Florence, Venice, and Milan became cultural and economic centers

• 5) Interest in the classical learning of ancient Greece and Rome

What Caused the Renaissance?• 6) People began to obtain great wealth

which allowed them to spend money or things like art

• 7) Increased desire for scientific knowledge

• 8) Desire to beautify cities

POP QUIZ• What does Renaissance mean?• How did the Black Plague help cause

the Renaissance?• What 2 ancient civilizations influenced

the Renaissance?

Renaissance Ideas• Humanism – an emphasis on individuals and a belief

that the potential of the human mind was limitless• Authors like Giovanni Boccaccio, Francesco Petrarch

and Dante Alighieri began to write in the vernacular – the everyday language of the people (instead of formal Latin)

• Humanists made advances in the fields of anatomy, geography, astronomy, and medicine

Renaissance Ideas• During the 1500’s many authors began writing

secular works – a worldly view rather than a spiritual focus

• Niccolo Machiavelli – author of The Prince where he gave his opinions on how governments should be run.

• “A prudent ruler cannot, and must not, honor his word when it places him at a disadvantage and when the reasons for which he made his promise no longer exist.

“If an injury has to be done to a man it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared.” 

“It is best to be both feared and loved; however, if one cannot be both it is better to be feared than loved.”

“The first method for estimating the intelligence of a ruler is to look at the men he has around him.” 

“Men ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot; therefore the injury that is to be done to a man ought to be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of revenge.” 

Science• Curiosity about the world encouraged great thinkers

to challenge the traditional ideas of science• Nicholas Copernicus – suggested that the sun is the

center of the universe and not the earth• Galileo Galilei – wrote that the earth revolved around

the sun which caused church officials to arrest him.

POP QUIZ• Define these terms in your own words

– Humanism– Vernacular– Secular

• What part of culture was Machiavelli most interested in?

• Why are Galileo and Copernicus good examples of humanism?

Renaissance Art• Even more than politics and writing, the

arts reflected the humanist spirit of the Renaissance

• Renaissance artists focused on the things they saw in nature, rather than symbolism and religious themes

Patrons of the Arts• During medieval times artists worked for the

church. In the Renaissance artists worked for whoever was willing to pay them.

• These buyers were called patrons• In Florence the Medici family gave huge

amounts of money to artists and musicians

Renaissance Art• Renaissance artists wanted to paint the

natural world as realistically as possible.• Artists used perspective – allows artists

to paint 3D objects on flat surfaces• Painters also experimented with new

ways of using color to portray shapes and textures

Medieval Renaissance

Ideal City by Piero della Francesca

Architecture• Even the design of buildings reflected

the humanist movement. Churches, palaces, and public buildings began using classical Greek and Roman style and moved away from the Gothic architecture of the medieval era.

Not Renaissance

POP QUIZ• What are some of the characteristics of

Renaissance art?• What allowed for more artists to

become successful during the Renaissance?

Michelangelo• Michelangelo Buonarroti was an Italian

artist known for his Pieta and David sculptures, and his painting of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Raphael• A renowned painter and architect best

known for his The School of Athens fresco

• Fresco – a painting made on fresh, moist plaster

Donato Bramante• One of the main architects of the

Renaissance movement in Rome.• His design of the St. Peter’s Basilica

influenced the appearance of many other churches in Italy.

The Renaissance Goes North• By the 1500’s the ideas of the Renaissance

had spread out of Italy and into cities like Paris, London, and Amsterdam

• Factors including trade, the movement of artists and scholars due to fighting in Italy, and the movement of northern scholars to Italy led to the Renaissance effecting areas in Northern Europe

A Book Revolution• In the mid 1400’s a German named Johannes

Gutenberg created the moveable type printing press.

• The printing press allowed for texts to be reproduced quickly and less expensively than by hand

• Gutenberg’s first publication was the Bible• Printed books allowed for easier access to

written materials and helped to spread the ideas of the Renaissance

Philosophy and Writers• Philosophy – the study of general

problems in the world• Desiderius Erasmus – a priest in

what is now the Netherlands who wrote about the need for a simple Christian life and that the church should avoid useless rituals and politics. He was later condemned by the Catholic church for his writings.

Philosophy and Writers• Sir Thomas More – English, a

friend of Erasmus, wrote the novel Utopia. More criticized the English government and gave his vision of the perfect society. His novel was so popular that people still use the word utopia today to describe an ideal society

Philosophy and Writers• William Shakespeare – English playwright who drew inspiration

from ancient and contemporary literature. He was able to describe human nature and natural science in his plays.

• Shakespeare helped to spread Renaissance ideas, like humanism, to the masses.

• Shakespeare’s plays focused on the lives of its realistic characters, instead of morality plays that were popular during the Middle Ages

• Thanks to Shakespeare London became a thriving theater town

and helped launch the first public theaters.

Artists of the North• While Italian Renaissance artists typically portrayed

Greek and Roman gods, Northern artists often depicted people as they really were

• Albrecht Durer – German who visited Italy and used the techniques of realism and perspective in his own works

• Jan van Eyck – part of the Flemish school (Netherlands), often focused on landscapes and domestic life