Italy: Birthplace of the
Renaissance
Standard(s) and EQs
SSWH9 The student will analyze change
and continuity in the Renaissance and
Reformation.
EQ: What factors led to Italy being the
birthplace of the Renaissance?
Italy: Birthplace of the Renaissance
• The word Renaissance means
“rebirth.”
• Occurred between 1300 and
1600.
• Began in Northern Italy (a
natural gateway between east
and west) and spread to the rest
of Europe.
• Revival of the classical
traditions of the Greeks and
Romans.
Why did the Renaissance begin in
Italy?
• Italy had a tremendous amount of overseas
trade.
• Thriving cities (urban areas where ideas can be
freely shared).
• There was a wealthy merchant class as a result
of new banking and manufacturing.
• Access to the classical heritage of Greece and
Rome
Characteristics of the Renaissance
• The Renaissance was
an age of recovery
from disasters of the
14th century.
(Black Death)
• Challenged medieval
intellectual values and
styles.
• As a result of this new view of human
beings, people began to place an
emphasis on individual ability.
• Cultural reawakening.
• Society focused on the secular or
worldly rather than the spiritual
The Italian States
• The major Italian city-states were Milan,
Venice, and Florence.
• Italian traders conducted business with
merchants from the Islamic world to as far
away as England and the Netherlands.
• Milan was the richest of the trading cities.
• All three major city-states were run by
powerful merchant/aristocrat families.
The Medici Family
• Banking family who ruled
the city-state of Florence.
• Cosimo de Medici won
control of the government
by giving large loans to
the ruling council.
• Lorenzo the Magnificent
ruled following his father’s
death as a dictator but kept
up the appearance of an
elected government.
Humanism
• An intellectual movement based upon the
study of the classics of Greece and Rome.
• Focused on humankind as the center of
intellectual and artistic endeavor.
Emphasized human potential and
achievements
• Humanists studied the liberal arts -grammar, rhetoric, poetry and philosophy.
• Encouraged citizens to take an active
role in their government.
• Had a profound effect on education.
Renaissance writers introduced the idea
that educated people were expected
strive to master almost every area of
study.
A man who excelled in many fields was
praised as a “universal man.” Later ages
called such people “Renaissance men.”
Standard(s)
SSWH9 The student will analyze change and continuity
in the Renaissance and Reformation.
Why Florence?
Who were Machiavelli, Leonardo Da Vinci and
Michelangelo?
What is humanism?
EQ: In what ways did art change during the
Renaissance?
Vocabulary: perspective, vernacular, secular, patron,
Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael Sanzio, Michelangelo
Buonarroti, Machiavelli, utopia
Warm Up: Interact with History p. 470
Literature
• Many authors choose to abandon the
use of Latin in literature and focused
on the local vernacular to write their
works.
• In the 14th century Dante Alighieri
and Geoffrey Chaucer helped make
vernacular language more popular.
• The Divine Comedy
• Guide was Roman classical poet Virgil
• Greco-Roman themes & writing in the
vernacular
Francesco Petrarch
• “Father of Humanism”
• Explored the glories and personal
achievements of man
• Emphasized secular not religious
subjects
• Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales
Education in the Renaissance
• The Renaissance saw the
development of printing in
Europe.
• Johannes Gutenberg’s printing
press played a major role in the
advancement of education
during the Era.
• The printing of books
encouraged scholarly research
and the desire to gain knowledge.
Art and Architecture
• Stressed more secular subjects in
literature & art
• More realistic portrayals of people &
nature
• Painting turned to realism from
medieval formalism and stiffness
• Led by painter Giotto
• New Techniques
• Perspective
• New colors
• Oil paints (more luster to
paintings)
• Return to Greco-Roman
styles
• Leonardo da Vinci
• Personified the ideal
“Renaissance Man”
• Not only a jack-of-all-trades,
but also a master of many
• Military engineer, anatomist,
botanist
• Self-taught
• Raphael
• Famous for his many
paintings of the Madonna
• Fresco The School of Athens
• Depicts Plato and Aristotle
surrounded by philosophy and
science
• Michelangelo
• 4 different popes commissioned works
by him
• Sistine Chapel commissioned by Pope
Julius II
• 10,000 square feet, 343 figures (1/2
of which are 10 feet in height)
• Took 4 years to complete
• David
• 18 feet tall
• Perfect example of the Renaissance artists
devotion to harmony, symmetry, and
proportion
Architecture
• Gothic Style gave way to Greco-Roman
style incorporating domes & columns
• Brunelleschi
• Florence Cathedral considered pinnacle of
Renaissance architecture
• Modified a design to support the expansive
weight of the dome
Patronage
• Patrons
• Wealthy and educated merchants
• Commissioned art & sponsored cultural
activities
• Cosimo de Medici and his son Lorenzo
• Greatest of all patrons
• Church also source of commissions
• Papacy launched a building program
culminating in St. Peter’s Basilica
Renaissance and Politics
• Niccolo Machiavelli
• Served as a diplomat for Florence.
• Wrote The Prince on political power.
• Emphasized realistic discussions of how to seize and
maintain power
• The end justifies the means
• Being feared is more important than being loved if a
leader has to choose between the two.
• Many writers of the time stressed ethics and Christian
moral principles.
• Machiavelli was the first to abandon morality as the
basis of political activity.
Concerned with being politically effective rather than
morally right.
• Being feared is more important than being
loved if a leader has to choose between the
two.
• Many writers of the time stressed ethics
and Christian moral principles.
• Machiavelli was the first to abandon
morality as the basis of political activity.
• Concerned with being politically effective
rather than morally right.