The Renaissance In Italy
Renaissance – 1300s-1500s – “Rebirth”
Why Italy? –
•Renewed interest in the culture of Ancient Rome.
•Artifacts and remains were visible.
•Italian cities such as Florence survived the Middle
Ages and became very strong trading states.
•Powerful merchant/banking families such as the
Medici’s became patrons, economic and political
leaders and promoted this growth.
•Stressed education and individual achievement.
Lorenzo
the Magnificent
1478 - 1521
Cosimo de Medici
1517 - 1574
Florence Under the Medici
Medici Chapel
The Medici Palace
The Renaissance In Italy
Art – reflected classical styles, religion, and
individual achievement.
Donatello – created life-size sculptures and
worked in the perspective
Leonardo da Vinci – genius in many fields who
mixed his knowledge with his art; Ex: Mona Lisa
Michelangelo – Sistine Chapel and a genius in
many fields
Raphael – blend of Christian and classical
styles. Famous for his portrayals of the Madonna
Anguissola & Gentileschi – famous women
artists
The Renaissance In Italy
Humanism – focus on worldly subjects rather than
spiritual issues
•Petrarch
•Creative powers of the human mind
•Question the classical works
•Development of the humanities
1. Realism & Expression
 Expulsion from
the Garden
 Masaccio
 1427
 First nudes since
classical times.
2. Perspective
The Trinity
Perspective!
Perspective!
Perspective!
Perspective!
Perspective!
Perspective!
Masaccio
1427
Perspective!
First use
of linear
perspective!
What you are,
I once was;
what I am,
you will
become.
3. Classicism
Greco-Roman
influence.
Secularism.
Humanism.
Individualism  free
standing figures.
Symmetry/Balance
The “Classical Pose”
Medici “Venus” (1c)
4. Emphasis on Individualism
 Batista Sforza & Federico de Montefeltre: The
Duke & Dutchess of Urbino
 Piero della Francesca, 1465-1466.
5. Geometrical Arrangement of
Figures
 The Dreyfus
Madonna
with the
Pomegranate
 Leonardo da
Vinci
 1469
 The figure as
architecture!
 Filippo Brunelleschi
1377 - 1436
 Architect
 Cuppolo of St. Maria
del Fiore
Filippo Brunelleschi
• Commissioned to
build the cathedral
dome.
– Used unique
architectural concepts.
 He studied the
ancient
Pantheon in Rome.
 Used ribs for support.
Brunelleschi’s “Secret”
Brunelleschi’s Dome
Other Famous Domes
Il Duomo
(Florence)
St. Peter’s
(Rome)
St. Paul’s
(London)
US capital
(Washington)
The Liberation of
Sculpture
 David by Donatello
 1430
 First free-form bronze
since Roman times!
The Baptism of Christ
Verrocchio, 1472 - 1475
Leonardo
da Vinci
 Vitruvian Man
 Leonardo da
Vinci
 1492
The
L’uomo
universale
Leonardo, the Artist:
From his Notebooks of over 5000 pages (1508-1519)
Mona Lisa – da Vinci, 1503-4
ParodyThe Best Form of Flattery?
A Macaroni Mona
A Picasso Mona
An Andy Warhol Mona
Mona Lisa OR da Vinci??
The Last Supper - da Vinci, 1498
& Geometry
vertical
The Last Supper - da Vinci, 1498
horizontal
Perspective!
Refractory
Convent of Santa
Maria delle
Grazie
Milan
A Da Vinci “Code”:
St. John or Mary Magdalene?
Leonardo, the Scientist (Anatomy):
Pages from his Notebook
Leonardo, the Inventor:
Pages from his Notebook
 David
 Michelangelo
Buonarotti
 1504
 Marble
The Popes as Patrons of the Arts
The Pieta
Michelangelo
Buonarroti
1499
marble
The Sistine Chapel
Michelangelo
Buonarroti
1508 - 1512
The Sistine Chapel’s Ceiling
Michelangelo Buonarroti
1508 - 1512
The Sistine Chapel Details
The
Creation
of the
Heavens
The Sistine Chapel Details
Creation of Man
St. Peter’s Basilica
School of Athens 1511 - Raphael
The School of Athens – Raphael, 1510 -11
Da Vinci
Raphael
Michelangelo
Averroes
Hypatia
Pythagoras
Zoroaster
Ptolemy
Euclid
Perspective!
Betrothal
of the Virgin
Raphael
1504
The Renaissance In Italy
Architecture – rejected the Gothic style and
used columns, arches, and domes; Ex:
Brunelleschi
Literature – poetry, books on politics, “howto” books
Castiglione – Ideals of a man and woman
**Machiavelli – “The Prince” – The Ends
Justifies The Means
The Northern Renaissance
•Mid 1400s in Flanders.
•Albrecht Durer – known as the “German
Leonardo” – studied under the Italian masters and
spread the ideas of the Renaissance – works
featured religious upheavals and a wide range of
interests.
•Jan & Hubert van Eyck – rich details and the use of
oil paints.
•Pieter Bruegel – used vibrant colors to depict daily
life.
•Peter Paul Rubens – realism, classical themes, and
artistic freedom.
Adoration of the Trinity - Durer
Dürer
The Last
Supper
woodcut, 1510
Durer – The Triumphal Arch, 1515-1517
The Triumphal Arch, details
Hans Holbein, the Younger (1497-1543)
• One of the great German artists
who did most of his work in
England.
• While in Basel, he befriended
Erasmus.
– Erasmus Writing, 1523 
• Henry VIII was his patron from
1536.
• Great portraitist noted for:
– Objectivity & detachment.
– Doesn’t conceal the weaknesses
of his subjects.
Artist to the Tudors
Henry VIII (left), 1540
and the future Edward VI
(above), 1543.
Bruegel’s, Tower of Babel, 1563
Bruegel’s, The Beggars, 1568
Bruegel’s, Niederlandisch Proverbs, 1559
Bruegel’s - The Peasant Dance (1567)
Bruegel’s, The Harvesters, 1565
Jan van Eyck (1395 – 1441)
• More courtly and
aristocratic work.
– Court painter to the
Duke of Burgundy,
Philip the Good.
• The Virgin and
Chancellor Rolin, 1435.
Van Eyck:
 The Crucifixion
&
The Last Judgment 
1420-1425
Peter Paul Rubens - The Elevation of the Cross, 1610–11.
The School of Fontainebleau - France
,
Gallery [right] by Rosso
Fiorentino & Francesco
Primaticcio
,
1528-1537
The English Were More Interested in
Architecture than Painting
Hardwick Hall, designed by Robert Smythson in the 1590s,
for the Duchess of Shrewsbury [more medieval in style].
Burghley House for William Cecil
The largest & grandest house
of the early Elizabethan era.
The Northern Renaissance
Humanists –
•**Erasmus – new edition of the Greek New
Testament; translated works into the vernacular;
challenged the worldliness of the Church and the
immoral behavior of the clergy.
•**Sir Thomas More – pressed for social and
economic reforms – “Utopia” – describing the
ideal society.
The Northern Renaissance
Literature –
•Rabelais – used comedy, adventures, travel, and
war to offer opinions on serious subjects such as
religion and education.
•**William Shakespeare – enough said!
•Cervantes – The Adventures of Don Quixote.
•**Johann Gutenberg – the invention of the
printing press.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePwNQ9o03ig&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h025a8GFlyI
The Protestant Reformation
Lutheran - 1517 full scale Revolt – mainly
against the sale of Indulgences.
•95 Theses -Christians could only be saved
through faith.
•Reject tyranny of Rome.
• 1521 he was Excommunicated.
•Declared an outlaw but received help from
Prince Frederick.
The Protestant Reformation
Doctrine –
• Salvation through faith - Rejected Church
doctrine (good deeds) - All people had equal
chance.
• Bible was the sole source of truth - Rejected
powers of priest/hierarchy etc.
•Called for Church modification. He rejected 5 of 7
sacraments.
• Banned indulgences, pilgrimages, and prayer
(saints), rituals and believed clergy could marry.
•Emphasized the Sermon.
The Protestant Reformation
Calvin – most important reformer to follow Luther.
•God was all-powerful and human were evil.
•God alone decided on achievement –belief in
Predestination. 2 people – Saints & Sinners. Calvinists
tried to live like saints.
•Set up a Theocracy in Geneva, Switzerland - Stressed hard
work, discipline, honesty, and morality - Very Strict in
religious and social customs - Urged singing in Church.
•Spread to several areas and triggered bloody battles
throughout Europe - Faced opposition from Lutherans.
•Huguenots (French Calvinists) vs. Catholics.
•Scottish Presbyterian Church split from the Calvinists.
THE CATHOLIC REFORMATION
•Between 1530’s & 1540’s, the Catholic Church, under
Pope Paul III set out to revive and reform the church.
•Council Of Trent – 1545 – Reaffirmed traditional
views:
1. Salvation comes through faith and good deeds.
2. Bible was a source of religious truth but not the
only source.
3. Looked to end abuses and corruption of the
clergy. Offered stiff penalties.
4. Created better schools to teach the clergy to
challenge Protestants.
THE CATHOLIC REFORMATION
•Had the Inquisition – used testimony, torture, and
forbidden books to root out witches, heretics, and
get scapegoats.
•Ignatius of Loyola – Founded Jesuits and strict
moral/spiritual code to combat heretics and
spread the Catholic faith.
•St. Teresa of Avila – Founded Carmelite Nuns.
PERSECUTION
•Targeted outcasts, witches and looked for
scapegoats.
•Specifically attacked the Jews and removed any
lenient laws that helped them.
•Forced Jews to live in Ghettos and anti-Semitism
increased.
•Jewish migration to Eastern Europe.
THE ENGLISH REFORMATION
•Henry VIII seeks to end papal control over the
English Church.
•Seeks an annulment from his wife Catherine of
Aragon but is denied by the Pope.
•1st He stirs up feelings against the pope, then he
takes over the church.
•Through Parliament, he passes Acts of Supremacy
– Henry is the supreme head of the Church of
England.
•Shuts down all Convents & Monasteries.
THE ENGLISH REFORMATION
•Offers aristocrats power in exchange for lands and
wealth.
•Allowed use of English Bible and kept some
Catholic forms of worship.
•Throne inherited by Edward VI but he died. Then
came Mary Tudor who feared Elizabeth.
•After Elizabeth came to power, she replaced Latin
with English and used The Book of Common
Prayer. She also kept some rituals and hierarchy
and reaffirmed that the monarch was the head of
the church.
THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION
•Copernicus proposes heliocentric model, which is
rejected by many including the church. His theory
contradicts Ptolemy.
•Tycho Brahe – set up astronomical observatory to
prove Copernicus right.
•Kepler – used information to calculate the orbits of
the planets.
•Galileo – assembled telescope – sees moon and
sunspots and moons of Jupiter. He is forced to recant
by the church.
•The New Scientific Method – observation and
experimentation.
THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION
•Isaac Newton – developed the theory of Gravity.
•Boyle – elements/compounds – pressure of gases.
•Galen & Vesalius – works in anatomy.
•Pare – ointment for healing.
•Harvey – Heart serves as a pump.
•Francis Bacon – stressed experiments/observations
and use of practical technologies.
•Rene Descartes – human reasoning - best road to
understanding. Discover truth through traditional
sources. “I THINK, THEREFORE I AM.”
All open the door to the Enlightenment of the 1700’s
Credits:
Mike McAndrew – Albertus Magnus High School
Susan Pojer – Horace Greeley High School