European Renaissance
The Renaissance
The rebirth of learning
in Europe
 Began in Italy around
1300 CE. Why?
 Italy was the center of
trade & economic
growth (spread North)
 Roman and Greek
influences were
abundant
Factors that helped start the Renaissance
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Patronage: rich merchants, bankers had money
to spend on artists
Towns: drew people with artistic talents
together
Crusades helped increase knowledge of the
world outside Europe.
Factors that helped start the
Renaissance
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Economic
independence: people
with money had time
to read, learn,
experiment, create
1440 - Moveable print:
printing press created
by Johann Gutenberg
helped spread
knowledge; most
important invention of
Renaissance
Factors that helped start the
Renaissance

As a result, the attitude of
common people towards life
changed

Humanism developed
– dignity and worth of all
people

People concerned
themselves with enjoying life,
solving problem, questioning
everything
Medieval Man vs Renaissance Man
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Religious-minded
(concerned with
afterlife)
Men felt like a
member of a group
People accepted
authority (king &
pope)
God & the Bible hold
all answers
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Concerned with life on
Earth
Man as an individual
was important
Man begins to question
and investigate
Creativity & Artistic
beauty are encouraged

Art
–
–
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–
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Renaissance art is
more life-like
use of perspective
(depth)
use of light and
shadows
more secular (nonreligious) topics
Education: still mainly
for the sons of the rich;
new philosophy:
respect for individual
differences in students
Society
Renaissance or Medieval? Why?
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4
3
1
Renaissance or Medieval? Why?
What influences do you see?
Society
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Women: peasant &
middle class women
still lived harsh life
with little or no
education
Upper class women
had private tutors;
fathers arranged
marriages for
daughters; men
received a dowry
(land or cash) from
family of the bride
Spread of Renaissance
The Renaissance spread to the rest of Europe
by students who studied in Italy.
 France
 Spain
 Netherlands
 England
Spread of Renaissance
France: King Francis I brought the Renaissance
to France:
– brought artists to France (da Vinci)
– Built the College of France
– Built the palace of the Louvre
Spread of Renaissance
Spain:
 Painters: El Greco: View of Toledo;
Velazquez: Four Maidens
 Miguel de Cervantes: wrote Don Quixote
de La Mancha
Spread of Renaissance
Netherlands:
 Rembrandt: painted Man with Golden Helmet,
Night Watch
 Erasmus: wrote In Praise of Folly which
criticized the Catholic Church for its greed,
corruption, & superstitions
Spread of Renaissance
England: supported by Queen Elizabeth
 Thomas More: wrote Utopia which criticized
society by creating a utopia, perfect society
 Shakespeare: humanist playwright who dealt
with love, tragedy, hate, desire; greatest writer of
the English language of all time
Scholars
Petrarch: the “Father of Humanism”
 wrote sonnets about love, nature, enjoyment of
life
 writing caused a change in the direction of
education; teachers started to teach students to
seek answers not just to memorize the classical
works of the past
 stressed history, grammar, philosophy
To be able to say how much you
love is to love but little.
Rarely do great beauty and great
virtue dwell together
Scholars
Machiavelli: humanist writer who served as a
diplomat for Florence; wanted to unify Italy
 wrote The Prince: a lesson on how to gain &
hold power without moral concern for justice
or honesty
 “Ends Justify the Means.”
Artists
Leonardo da Vinci: painter, sculptor, architect,
scientist, inventor
 Painted Mona Lisa, The Last Supper
 Inventor: parachute, aqualung, canons,
pumps
 Drawings of human anatomy still used today
Artists
Michelangelo: painted ceiling of Sistine Chapel
(Vatican); sculpted 9 foot statue David & La
Pieta
Questions
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What is the Renaissance? Name two famous
Renaissance artists
Where did it begin? What are two reasons it started
there?
What is Humanism?
How did Humanism conflict with religious beliefs?
How does this era represent a change from the
previous period of Europe?
How does art change during this period?
Define the following terms: Renaissance,
Patronage, Dark Ages, Feudalism, Printing Press