R ENAISSANCE (1350-1550)
The Intellectual and Artistic Renaissance
Mrs. Brahe
World History II

O BJECTIVES
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Introduce humanism as the most important intellectual movement of the Renaissance
Emphasize the great artists and sculptors of the
High Renaissance period
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Michelangelo
Raphael
Leonardo da Vinci
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(Bernini statues)

H UMANISM
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Secularism and emphasis on the individual
Humanism: based on the study of the classics
(literary works of ancient Greece and Rome)
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 grammar, rhetoric, poetry, moral philosophy, history
Now called “humanities”
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Used pure classical Latin
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Later writers began to use vernacular (language of their region – like German, French, Italian)
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Masterpieces written in vernacular languages
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Italian: Dante’s Divine Comedy (journey through Hell,
Purgatory, and Heaven)
English: Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales (portrays all levels of English society – stories of pilgrims)

E DUCATION
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Liberal Studies
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History, moral philosophy, eloquence (or rhetoric), letters (grammar and logic), poetry, mathematics, astronomy, and music
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Goal: virtue and wisdom
Physical Education
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Javelin throwing, archery, dancing, running, wrestling, hunting and swimming
Women
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Rarely admitted to schools
Studied classics, history, learned to ride, dance, sing, play the lute, and appreciate poetry
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No mathematics or rhetoric
Religion and morals were foremost for “Christian ladies to become good mothers and wives”

T HE A RTISTIC R ENAISSANCE IN I TALY
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Goal: reality of objects or events, imitate nature
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Human beings were the focus (“center and measure of all things”)
New Techniques
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Frescos: painting done on fresh, wet plaster with water-based paints
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Expert – Masaccio (muh ZAH chee oh) of Florence
Human figures previously looked flat, now have depth
Perspective gives the illusion of 3 dimensions, realistic style
Technical side of painting (perspective & organization of outdoor space and light through geometry)
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Investigation of movement and human anatomy
(individual person, human nude as an art form)
Donatello – sculptor , realistic freestanding figures (above)

T HE T RIBUTE M ONEY BY M ASACCIO

F AMOUS I TALIAN A RTISTS OF THE
H IGH R ENAISSANCE (1490-1520)
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Leonardo da Vinci
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Realistic paintings , scientist – dissected human bodies
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Yet also stressed idealism (capture perfection of nature and the individual)
Raphael
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Madonnas (paintings of the Virgin Mary) ideal beauty
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Frescoes in the Vatican Palace (School of Athens – world of balance, harmony, and order)
Michelangelo
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Painter, sculpture, architect
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Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome – ideal type of human being with perfect proportions
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More beautiful body = more god-like the figure

S CHOOL OF A THENS BY R APHAEL

T HE C REATION OF A DAM BY
M ICHELANGELO – C EILING OF THE
S ISTINE C HAPEL IN V ATICAN C ITY

N ORTHERN A RTISTIC RENAISSANCE
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Low Countries
(now Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands)
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Gothic cathedrals with stained windows not conducive to fresco paintings of the Italians
Illustrations for books, wooden panels for altarpieces
Much smaller scale
Flanders (a low country)
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Jan van Eyck (EYEK) Flemish painter
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Among first to use oil paint, wide variety of colors and fine details
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Imitated nature by observing reality and portraying those details
Fiovanni Arnolfini and His Bride
Albrecht Durer
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German artist, two trips to Italy
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Ideal beauty based on careful examination of the human form
Adoration of the Magi

F IOVANNI A RNOLFINI AND H IS B RIDE
BY J AN VAN E YCK