RENAISSANCE ART:
PETRARCH AND
BOCCACCIO
RHIANNON ARNOLD AND
SOPHIA LEGGIO
PETRARCH: BACKGROUND
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Known as Francesco Petrarca
Born on July 20th, 1304 in Arezzo, Italy
Studied law in France like his father wished
Decided to then focus on studying classical authors
This inspired him to become an author himself.
He soon went on to become the Father of Humanism.
Petrarch, during his studies.
http://www.tuscanyvillages.com/francesco-petrarca-petrarch/
PETRARCH’S CONTRIBUTION TO
POETRY
Petrarch, aside from being the Father of Humanism, is most famously
known for his collections of poems about his love, Laura. One day while
at a church, Petrarch saw Laura and immediately fell in love. He spent
the rest of his life writing love poems to Laura, even after she died from
the Black Death in 1348.
All 366 of Petrarch’s poems written about Laura are collected in a book
called The Canzoniere. It was written in the vernacular, and many
people were able to read it. Of the 366 poems, 317 of them are
sonnets, which were rhyming poems that typically had some sort of an
argument written within them.
The Canzoniere written in the vernacular
http://brbl-archive.library.yale.edu/exhibitions/petrarch/3.html
“FATHER OF HUMANISM”
Petrarch is consider the father of humanity because
he combined classical European culture with
Christianity. He also influenced Humanism by writing
about the emotion of love.
Petrarch, the Father of Humanism
http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/2012/11/why-the-reformation-happened-when-it-did/
A painting of Petrarch with Laura.
https://bookhaven.stanford.edu/2013/07/a-birthday-card-forpetrarch-his-deepest-torments-are-shockingly-foreign/
This picture shows that
Petrarch’s heart belongs to
Laura.
Petrarch’s love, Laura.
http://notesfromapianist.wordpres
s.com/2011/04/06/sonnets-andsongs-tre-sonetti-del-petrarca/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrarch
BOCCACCIO: BACKGROUND
• Boccaccio was born in 1313 in Tuscany Italy
• His father did not support his interest in literature and sent him
to Naples to be an apprentice at a bank.
• He was encouraged by his father to attend law school, and
he went to Studium and studied cannon law for six years.
• While he was in Naples he fell in love with Fiammetta, and she
appears in almost all of his writings up until the Decameron.
Giovanni Boccaccio
http://litgloss.buffalo.edu/boccaccio/more.shtml
BOCCACCIO’S WORK
His most popular work was the Decameron, which was written in 13481354. It tells the story of 10 people fleeing Florence because of the
plague. They live in the countryside and each day one person is the
king or queen of all the others and decide how the day will be spent. In
addition the groups shared stories with each other, and over the course
of 10 days 100 stories were shared which is why it’s called the
Decameron or “Ten Days’ Work”. These stories cover a range of topics
about life and focuses on the human ability to overcome and exploit
fortune. It connects to the Renaissance because there are many
example of humanism in the story because there are many aspects
that are about human worth and dignity.
The Decameron painted by
John William Waterhouse
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Decameron
BOCCACCIO’S ARGUMENTS WITH THE
CHURCH
• He challenged arguments made by clerical minds
because they wanted to limit access to classical
works because they believed that they challenged
the church’s beliefs.
• He thought that ancient literature was important to
the development of the Renaissance and the flow
of humanistic ideas and writings.
The Duomo
Cathedral in
Florence
Statue of Boccaccio
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Boccaccio
http://traveltips.usatoday.com/
SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES
Petrarch and Boccaccio were not just similar, but they were related in many
ways. For example:
• Petrarch was Boccaccio’s inspiration
• After reading one of Boccaccio’s writings, the Tale of Griselda, he rewrote it in
Latin because he wanted such a wonderful story to be written in a language
more people could read it in.
• Both of their fathers didn’t support their passions for literature
Even though they were closely related to one another, they also had some
differences:
• Boccaccio is most famous for writing his book, Decameron, and Petrarch is
most known for his collection of love poems.
• Petrarch also wrote letters, some called “Familiar Letters” and more called the
Seniles. Boccaccio did not write any letters.
• Boccaccio created a book with 106 women’s biographies in it and Petrarch
didn’t write any biographies.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
• http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/7083
6/Giovanni-Boccaccio
• http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies
/dweb/boccaccio/life1_en.php
• http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1548
76/Decameron
• http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/4541
03/Petrarch
• http://www.biography.com/people/petrarch9438891#awesm=~oANXD4lGUN9gIn
THANK YOU FOR WATCHING
Petrarch
http://www.biography.com/people/petrarch-9438891
Boccaccio
http://commons.wikimedia.org/