THE
RENAISSANCE
What was the Renaissance?
• The Renaissance was a period of time
from the 14th to the 17th century in
Europe.
• The word "Renaissance" means "rebirth".
How did it begin?
• The Renaissance is generally considered to have started in Florence, Italy
around the years 1350 to 1400. The start of the Renaissance also was the
end of the Middle Ages.
• One of the big changes in the Renaissance was in the basic way people
thought about things. In the Middle Ages people thought that life was
supposed to be hard. They grew up thinking that life was nothing but hard
work and war.
• However, around the 1300s, the people in Florence, Italy began to think
differently about life. They studied the writings and works of the Greeks and
the Romans and realized that earlier civilizations had lived differently.
• This new way of thinking was called Humanism. Now people thought that
life could be enjoyable and they could have comforts. They started to think
that people should be educated and that things like art, music, and science
could make life better for everyone. This was a real change in the way
people thought.
Renaissance Art
• Renaissance art is often divided up into two periods:
Early Renaissance (1400-1479) - Artists learned by
trying to better classical artists focusing on symmetry
and creating the perfect form. This era featured such
artists as Giotto, Masaccio, and Donatello.
High Renaissance (1475-1525) - A rising interest in
perspective and space gave the art even more realism.
Great artists such as Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci,
and Rafael flourished during this period.
School of Athens by Raphael featured
philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, and
Socrates
Artist 1 - Jan
van Eyck (1395 - 1441)
• Jan van Eyck was a
Flemish painter.
• He is often known as the
"father of oil painting"
because of all the new
techniques and advances
he made in oil painting.
• Van Eyck was known for
extraordinary detail in his
paintings.
• His works include the
Arnolfini Portrait,
Annunciation, Lucca
Madonna, and the Ghent
Altarpiece.
Artist 2 -
Michelangelo (1475 - 1564)
• Michelangelo was a
sculptor, artist, and
architect.
• He was considered to be
the greatest artist during
his time.
• He is famous for both his
sculptures and his
paintings.
• His two most famous
sculptures are the Pietà
and David.
• His most known paintings
are frescos on the ceiling
of the Sistine Chapel.
the Pietà
Artist 3 -
Raphael (1483 - 1520)
Raphael was a painter
during the High
Renaissance.
His paintings were known
for their perfection.
He painted many portraits
as well as hundreds of
paintings of angels and
the Madonna.
His works include the two
angels, the The School of
Athens, Portrait of Pope
Julius II, and the
Disputation of the Holy
Sacrament.
Artist 4 -
Caravaggio (1571 - 1610)
• Caravaggio was one of
the last great
Renaissance artists.
• He was known for his
realistic physical and
emotional paintings.
• He also made use of light
in his painting for added
drama.
• His art influenced the
next era of painting called
the Baroque style of
painting.
The Taking of Christ by Carravagio
Artist 4 – Leonardo
da Vinci (1452 – 1519)
• The term Renaissance Man means someone who is
good at everything. Leonardo is considered to be the
ultimate Renaissance man.
• Some people claim he invented the bicycle.
• He was very logical and used a process like the scientific
method when investigating a subject.
• His Vitruvian man is on the Italian Euro coin.
• Only around 15 of his paintings are still around.
• The Mona Lisa is also called "La Giaconda" meaning
the laughing one.
• Unlike some artists, Leonardo was very famous for his
paintings while he was still alive. It's only recently that
we've realized what a great scientist and inventor he
was.
Inventions
Renaissance Inventions
included the telescope,
eye glasses, flush toilet
and the submarine
Galileo Galilei
• Galileo Galilei was
an Italian scientist
who helped open the
eyes of the world to a
new way of thinking
about the workings of
our solar system and
astronomy in general.
Galileo Galilei
• Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa, Italy, on the 15th of February 1564, he died
on the 8th of January 1642.
• Among his inventions were telescopes, a compass and a thermometer.
• Galileo built on the work of others to create a telescope with around 3x
magnification, he later improved on this to make telescopes with around 30x
magnification.
• With these telescopes, Galileo was able to observe the skies in ways
previously not achieved.
• In 1610 he made observations of 4 objects surrounding Jupiter that behaved
unlike stars, these turned out to be Jupiter’s four largest satellite moons.
They were later renamed the Galilean satellites in honour of Galileo himself.
• The discovery of these moons was not supported by the scientific principles
of the time and Galileo had trouble convincing some people that he had
indeed discovered such objects. This was similar to other ideas put forward
by Galileo that were very controversial at the time.
Galileo Galilei
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•
•
•
•
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Galileo and others began to disprove that the Earth stood still and objects
travelled around it. He became very unpopular with the Church.
Galileo refused to believe Kepler’s theory that the moon caused the tides,
instead believing it was due to the nature of the Earth’s rotation (helping
prove that even the smartest people can make mistakes).
Famous Galileo quotes include:
“In questions of science the authority of a thousand is not worth the
humble reasoning of a single individual.”
“See now the power of truth; the same experiment which at first
glance seemed to show one thing, when more carefully examined,
assures us of the contrary.”
“Alas! Your dear friend and servant Galileo has been for the last
month hopelessly blind; so that this heaven, this earth, this universe,
which I by my marvelous discoveries and clear demonstrations had
enlarged a hundred thousand times beyond the belief of the wise men
of bygone ages, henceforward for me is shrunk into such a small
space as is filled by my own bodily sensations.”
The Printing Press
• Representing the new
thinking of the
Renaissance, the
most significant
invention of this
period was invented
by Johannes
Gutenberg – the
Printing Press
The Story of the Printing Press – P1
• Six hundred years ago people had to hand write a book
because they didn't have any presses.
• The books were so rare that the most precious books in a
church's library were chained to the reading tables.
• A book back then would cost as much as a house in town or a
good-sized farm! Johannes Gensfleisch Gutenberg was the
man who saved the trouble of writing books by hand.
• When he was young he loved to read books, but making a
single book would take months, even years, and Johann didn't
want to wait that long so he planned to do something about it
some day.
The Story of the Printing Press – P2
• Johann started his invention by making metal letters. With the
techniques he learned from the Mainz Mint, but Johann had to carve
out the metal.
• He arranged them into a sentence and pressed a pieces of paper
against the letters with his hands.
• When he did it with his hands the ink did not come out evenly.
• They had a press so that the water would dry out of the paper.
• That is when Johann decided he needed to make a press. He and
his partners gathered the materials and started their work.
• By 1450 he was back in Mainz because he was running out of
money for his paper, metal, and all the ink.
• He also printed The Bible of 42 lines, the oldest surviving book in
the western world.
• It was completed by August 15, 1456.
• While he was alive no printed material was credited to him.
William Shakespeare – P1
• William Shakespeare is
regarded by many as the
greatest play-write of all
time.
• His writings have been
translated into more
languages than any other
author.
• In writing his plays,
Shakespeare created up to
1,700 words including the
word ‘assassination’.
William Shakespeare – P2
• He is credited to have written
39 plays including Hamlet,
Macbeth, Julius Caesar and
Romeo and Juliet (left).
• His plays were divided into
three types – comedies,
tragedies and histories.
• Interesting fact: Shakespeare’s
wife and children were
illiterate.
Summary of the Renaissance – P1
• No period of history can boast of greater beauty than
The Renaissance.
• This was the period, from approximately early 14th
century to late 16th century, that gave us Leonardo da
Vinci, Michelangelo, and Shakespeare.
• The word 'renaissance' is a French word which means
'rebirth'.
• The people credited with beginning The Renaissance
were deliberately trying to imitate the classical models
of Ancient Greek and Rome.
• They were attempting to return to that golden age that
they felt represented a high point for civilization.
Summary of the Renaissance – P2
• This was an age when the world seemed to come alive with invention,
creativity, imagination and curiosity.
• It was an age of exploration marked by the voyages of Christopher
Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci and Marco Polo.
• Florence was the heart of great art.
• At the beginning of The Renaissance, Italy, just as in the golden age of
Ancient Rome, was again the centre of world culture.
• Genoa, Milan, Venice, Rome, Verona and Florence were economic, trade and
financial leaders for Europe. The Renaissance movement quickly spread all
over the continent.
• The invention of the Gutenberg printing press in 1450 is a milestone which
marks the beginning of The Renaissance.
• It allowed the spread of ideas possible at a faster rate and in a broader
geographical sense.
• It made The Renaissance possible as a European-wide phenomenon.
Follow-On Questions –P1
1. In what Italian city was the Renaissance said to have started?
2. What two civilizations were the Humanists said to have
imitated?
3. What were the two periods of Renaissance Art called and
name 2 artists of each.
4. Name 2 famous pieces each by Michelangelo and Leonardo da
Vinci.
5. Name 3 inventions of the Renaissance Age.
6. What discovery did Galileo make about the Earth?
7. Who invented the Printing Press?
8. How many plays did Shakespeare write and name 3 of them.
Follow-On Questions –P1
• A. Why, do you think the Renaissance
took off in Florence and across Europe?
• B. What links can be made between the
Roman Empire and the Renaissance?
• C. Why, do you think was the Printing
Press referred to as the most significant
invention ever?
LD MMXII