Early Renaissance
 Literally, “re-birth”
 1400-1494
 Renaissance values emerge in
different places at different times.
Renaissance Culture
“Rebirth”: Implies some “dead” cultural element is
“reborn”
 Classical learning
 Humanism and humanistic values
 Scientific method
 Classical forms of literature (epic poetry)
 Public theatre (secular comedy and tragedy)
 Classical forms of sculpture
 Classical orders of architecture
Renaissance Culture
But if some Classical elements were
“reborn,” other aspects of medieval culture
doubtless continued into the Renaissance
Christianity
Social class hierarchy
Patriarchal values
Renaissance or
“Early Modern”?
 Scholarly debate over whether the period is
characterized by a re-birth of ancient values, or
by the appearance of modern values.
 Rise of the nation-state
 Rise of early capitalism
 Rise of the rule of law
 Rise of a paid military
 Rise of secularism
Renaissance Literature
Baldassare Castiglione (1478-1529)
– The Courtier (1528)
Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527)
– The Prince (1513)
Castiglione, The Courtier
 a guide to courteous behavior or “conduct book”
for the upper classes
 composed as a set of after-dinner conversations
between ladies and gentleman
 a continuing debate over the traits that define the
ideal courtier and lady
Castiglione, The Courtier
 The gentleman:
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education in the arts and humanities
skill in horsemanship and swordplay.
a man of letters
proficient in music, drawing and dance.
ready for war / athletics
Castiglione, The Courtier
The Lady:
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a civilizing influence
consummate hostess
charming, witty, graceful
physically attractive, utterly feminine
well versed in the same areas as men, except
for athletics and arms
--p. 323
Castiglione, The Courtier
Question: What’s missing from these lists
of attributes of the ideal gentleman and
lady?
 status as faithful Christians
Is Christianity assumed? Yes, somewhat;
but no longer a central item of emphasis.
Castiglione, The Courtier
Question: Who is the audience for this
text? That is, who needs a guide to the
characteristics and appropriate behaviors of
the aristocracy?
The upwardly mobile mercantile class.
Machiavelli, The Prince (1513)
 the first “modern” text of statecraft and
political science
 a kind of guidebook for “princes,” or
anyone leading a state
 primarily concerned with pragmatic
leadership, not with ideals
 See Readings, pp. 17-20.
 See p. 323-324 in text.
Machiavelli, The Prince
 Famous (or infamous) advice:
– “It is better to be feared than loved.”
– “Rulers should cultivate a public image and
reputation suggesting their virtue, but should
be prepared to act otherwise when necessary.”
– “If it were possible to change one’s character
to suit the times and circumstances, one would
always be successful.”
Machiavelli, The Prince
 “Real truth, rather than imagination”
 “gulf” between how one should live, and
how one does live….
 “A man who wants to act virtuously in
every way necessarily comes to grief
among so many who are not virtuous.”
Machiavelli, The Prince
 “Since ecclesiastical principalities are controlled
by a higher power, which the human mind cannot
comprehend, I shall refrain from discussing them.
Since they are raised up and maintained by God,
only a presumptuous and rash man would
examine them. Nevertheless, one might ask how
it has happened that the temporal power of the
Church has become so great….”
Machiavelli, The Prince
 As a work of history, the emphasis is on
causation, and it does not look to the
workings of Providence.
As a work of philosophy, it assumes that
mankind cannot live up to the stated ideals
of virtue and right behavior.
 Anticipates late-Renaissance Skepticism
(Montaigne, Shakespeare)
Secularism in Renaissance lit.
 Castiglione
– Concerned with ideals
of courtly behavior
– Concerned less with
religion than with
social class and
accomplishments.
 Machiavelli
– Concerned with
pragmatic rules of
governing
– Little concerned with
religion, except to
dismiss it.
Origins of the Renaissance
Medieval crusades had been launched from
Venice
– development of Venetian naval power,
shipping routes (and wealth!)
Finance for the crusades was done in
Florence
– development of banking (and wealth!)
Origins of the Renaissance
 Rome, Florence, Venice (to a lesser extent other
Italian cities)
 Engaged in a rivalry for prestige.
 Each wants to be known as a city of art, culture,
and learning.
 Each governed by non-feudal oligarchy or
autocracy
 Lots of patronage for artists, scholars, composers,
etc.
Renaissance Humanism
 Humanism: the revived Classical notion of the
value and dignity of mankind; chief characteristic
of the Renaissance
 Reflected in the studia humanitatis
 A response to the growing interest in and
availability of Classical texts.
 Revived interest in Greek, as well as Latin.
 Educational curriculum grew beyond the
medieval liberal arts to include such fields as
history and poetry.
Renaissance Humanism
 One of the chief philosophical pursuits of Renaissance
humanism was Neo-Platonism (Ficino, the leading voice
of Florentine Neo-Platonism; his student Pico della
Mirandola)
 Brings Plato in line with Christianity, including Plato’s
idea of the immortality of the soul
 The importance of mankind’s free will (dignity)
 The notion of Platonic love: All love on earth is an echo
of the divine idea of love. Images of beauty (visual,
musical, poetic) are pleasing to the senses. But the soul
also associates those images with a higher level, with the
beauty of divine love. So all beauty, all love, becomes a
metaphor for divine love.
Renaissance Humanism
Great Chain of Being
A means of understanding how humanity
fits into the plan of God’s creation.
Aesthetic Principles
A return to Classical principles: balance,
symmetry, control, thought, simplicity
In architecture:
– Revival of the Greek architectural orders
– Use of mathematics to determine harmony and
proportion
Aesthetic Principles
In sculpture:
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revival of free-standing figures
revival of the contrapposto stance,
nudes
equestrian statues
Aesthetic Principles
 In painting:
– invention of “perspective”: the illusion of creating a
three-dimensional space in a two-dimensional artwork.
Giving “depth” to a two-dimensional work.
 Linear perspective: as objects move away
(toward the horizon) size gets smaller; objects
tend to converge at a vanishing point.
 Atmospheric perspective: as distance increases,
clarity and color decreases.
Renaissance Architecture
 Architecture: Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446),
representing the Early Renaissance style, wanted
to make a complete break with the Late Gothic
style. Leone Batista Alberti was the theoretician
of the Early Renaissance style who wrote about
the mathematical aspects of painting.
Brunelleschi also invented linear perspective
(achieving the illusion of depth on a two
dimensional surface, by organizing the picture
space around a center point, or vanishing point).
Renaissance Architecture
Brunelleschi’s studies led to the concept of
the Renaissance space (the notion that a
composition should be viewed from one
single position). After four hundred years,
the renaissance space as well as linear
perspective was challenged by Manet in
the 19th century.
Renaissance Painting
The genius of the revolution in painting in
the early Florentine school was Masaccio
(1401-1428). In the history of Western
painting, Masaccio’s Holy Trinity fresco is
the first example of the Renaissance space.
Renaissance Painting
Another masterpiece by Masaccio is The
Tribute Money. In the 1480s, Florentine
school was moving toward its culmination
in the early works of Leonardo da Vinci
(1452-1519).
It is with Giovanni Bellini that Venice
becomes another center of Renaissance art
comparable to Florence