The Renaissance
1300-1500
Terms, People, and
Places to Know
• Humanism
Patron
• Humanities
Perspective
• Petrarch
Leonardo da Vinci
• Florence
Michelangelo
• Raphael
Baladassare Castiglione
• Niccolo Machiavelli
A New Age
• Expression in thought
• Remarkable artist and thinkers
• Renaissance means “rebirth”
• 1300’s-1500s
Renaissance
• Time of creativity and great change
• Change in politics, social, economics and culture
• Agricultural society to urban society
• Trade is more important now
• Reawakened interest in the classical learning of Greece and Rome.
• Latin was the language of the church
• Renaissance thinkers explored the richness and variety of human experience
in the here and now.
• Individual achievement
• Renaissance Man: someone who was talented in many fields.
Expressing Humanism
• Intellectual movement known as humanism.
• Studied classical culture of Greece and Rome.
• Focus more on worldly objects and not religious issues.
• Education should stimulate the individuals creative powers.
• Humanities: grammar, rhetoric, poetry and history.
• Francesco Petrarch (PEE trahrk), Florentine who lived in
the 1300’s, was a humanist, poet, and scholar. He is known
as the father of Humanism.
CheckPoint
• What were the main characteristics of the
Renaissance?
Italy
• Renaissance began in Italy.
• Italy was the center for the
Roman Empire so the
reawakening took place here.
• Architectural remains, statues,
and coins were all available
for people to study.
• Rome was also the seat of the
Roman Catholic Churchpatron of the arts-and as the
center of Catholicism Rome
also served as an inspiration
for religious themes used by
artist and writers.
Location of Italy
• Encouraged Trade
• Extensive banking,
manufacturing, and
merchant workers developed
to support trade.
City States
• Italy was divided into many
small city states.
• Each city state was
controlled by a powerful
family and was dominated
by wealthy and powerful
merchant class.
Medici Family
• Medici family of Florence was
the richest merchants and bankers
in Europe.
• Cosimo de’ Medici gained
control of the Floretine
government in 1434. Lorenzo,
grandson of Cosimo, is known as
“the Magnificent” was a clever
politician. He was also a
generous patron of the arts.
• Patron of the arts: financial
supporter.
• Florence came to symbolize the
energy and brilliance of the
Italian Renaissance.
CheckPoint
• Why was Italy a favorable setting for the Renaissance?
Renaissance Art
• Renaissance art reflected the ideas of humanism.
• Portrayed religious themes-however they often set
religious figures such as Jesus and Mary against
classical Greek or Roman backgrounds.
• Portraits: individual achievement
• Sculptor Donatello created a life size statue of a soldier
on horse back. First time any figure like this was done.
Techniques
• Realism
• Perspective: allowed artist to create realistic art
• 3 Dimensional
• Shading
• New oil paints to reflect light
• Studied human anatomy
• Drew while observing live models
Social Art
• Architecture
• Meant to blend beauty with utility and improvement
of society.
• Columns, arches, domes
Leonardo Da Vinci
• Curious
• Sketches of nature and models
• Dissected corpses to learn how
bones and muscles work.
• Mona Lisa
• The Last Supper (experimented
with new paint)
• Artist
• Botany, anatomy, optics, music,
architecture, and engineering
• Flying machines, undersea boats
Michelangelo
• Sculptor, engineer, painter,
architect, and poet
• Melancholy Genius: b/c of
his work reflecting his many
life long spiritual and artistic
struggle.
• David, Pieta (captures the
sorrow of the Biblical Mary
as she cradles her dead son
Jesus on her knees).
• Sistine Chapel
Sistine Chapel
• 4 years to complete
• Partially crippled
• Depicted the biblical history
of the world from the
creation to the flood.
• Dome of St. Peters
Cathedral in Rome.
Raphael
• Had his own style that
blended Christian and
classical styles.
• Madonna, Mother of Jesus
• The School of Athens (
Raphael pictured an
imaginary gathering of great
thinkers and scientist,
including Plato, Aristotle,
Socrates, and the Arab
philosopher Averroes. Also
included are the greatest
artist of the time:
Michelangelo, Leonardo, and
Raphael.)
Checkpoint
• How were Renaissance ideals reflected in the arts?
Writing
• Castiglione
• Most widely read handbook
was The Book of the
Courtier.
• Baldassare Castiglione:
describes the manners, skills,
learning, and virtues that a
member of the court should
have.
• Was educated, well mannered
and a master in many fields
from poetry to music to
sports.
Castiglione
Men
Women
• Athletic but not overactive
• Offers a balance to men
• Good at games but not a
gambler
• She is graceful and kind
• Plays a musical instrument
• Knows literature and history
but is not arrogant.
• Lively but reserved
• She is beautiful, “for outer
beauty is the true sign of
inner goodness.”
Machiavelli’s Prince
• Niccolo Machiavelli wrote a
guide for rulers on how to gain
and maintain power. He did not
discuss leadership in terms of
high ideals like those before him.
• The Prince looked real rulers in
an age of ruthless power politics.
The end justifies the means.
• Use whatever methods were
necessary to achieve their goals.
• Deceit in politics is now referred
to as “Machiavellian tactics.”
Checkpoint
• How did Renaissance writings express realism?
The Renaissance in
the North
• Terms, People, and Places:
• Johann Gutenberg
Erasmus
• Flanders
Thomas More
• Albrecht Durer
Utopian
• Engraving
Shakespeare
• Vernacular
Printing Revolution
• 1455 Johann Gutenberg of Germany printed the 1st
complete edition of the Bible using the printing press.
• Before the PP only a few 1,000 books
• By 1500 15-20 million volumes procedure
• Cheaper and easier
• More people learned to read.
• Knowledge about medicine, law, and mining
• Books exposed educated Europeans to new ideas and new
places.
Checkpoint
• What was the impact of the printing press?
Northern
Renaissance artists
• Began in the prosperous cities of Flanders, a region
that included parts of present day northern France,
Belgium, and the Netherlands.
• From here the Renaissance spread to Spain, France,
Germany, and England.
Flemish Painters
• Jan Van Eyck in the 1400’s was one of the most important
Flemish painters.
• Portrayed townspeople as well as religious scenes around rich,
realistic detail.
• 1500’s Pieter Brugel used vibrant colors to portray lively scenes of
peasant life. Nickname: Peasant Bruegel.
• Drew religious and classical themes but set them against common
people back ground.
• 1600s Peter Paul Rubens blended realistic traditions with classical
themes and artistic freedom of the Italian Renaissance.
• Knowledge of mythology, the bible, and classical history.
Leonardo of the
North
• German painter Albrecht Durer
• Interested in many things like Leonardo which earned
him the nickname Leonardo of the North.
• Engraving
• Portray religious upheaval
Checkpoint
• What themes did Northern Renaissance artist explore?
Northern Humanists
and Writers
• Stressed education and classical learning to bring about
religious and moral reform.
• Many wrote in Latin
• Many began writing in vernacular-everyday language
of ordinary people.
Erasmus
• Dutch Priest
• Born 1466
• Important scholar of his day
• Greek addition to the bible.
• Translation of the bible.
• Open minded, show good
will toward others.
• Disturbed by the corruption
of the church.
Sir Thomas More
• Wanted social reform
• Utopia: ideal society in
which men and women live
in peace and harmony.
• All are educated
• Justice is used to end crime
not to get rid of the
criminal.
Shakespeare Writes
for All Time
• 1590-1613: he wrote 37
plays
• Complexity of the
individual and the
importance of the classics.
• Common language
• 1,700 words appeared for
the 1st time
CheckPoint
• What Renaissance ideas did Shakespeare’s work
address?