The Renaissance and
Exploration
1300 - 1600 C.E.
The Renaissance
Began in Northern Italy around 1300 while
England and France were in the Hundred Years
War
 Why Italy?
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Urban region, trading cities such as Genoa, Venice
and Florence
Lots of powerful merchants who focused on trade –
took pride in their achievements
Focus on merit of the individual
Patrons sponsored art
Famous men who led the way
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Giotto – developed fresco painting, painting on
wet plaster
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Dante – wrote the Divine Comedy, poem in which
real people and dead friends guide him through
hell and heaven
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Human figures looked lifelike and 3 dimensional,
interacting with one another and showing emotion
Combined religious ideas of Middle Ages with
secular concerns of Renaissance – dealt with
individuals and personalities
Petrarch – poetry and letters
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Inspired by a female muse, Laura (who died of the
plague)
Strove to revive classical ideas of beauty
New Values Shape the Renaissance
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Celebration of the individual – people wanted
recognition and credit for their work, not doing it
all for the glory of God
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Love of classical learning
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Portraits and autobiographies are written
Looked down on Medieval times as the “Dark Ages”
Humanists – studied classical texts, history and
language arts – thought all people should study this
Enjoyment of worldly pleasures is ok-Humanists
say no more poverty vows!
The Renaissance Man
Strove to master almost every
art
 The Courtier – told people how
to become worthy of
admiration
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Well educated in the classics
Charming, polite, witty
Dance, sing, play music and
write poetry
Physically graceful and strong,
skilled rider, wrestler, and
swordsman
The Renaissance Woman
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Upper class women are as well
educated as men
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Charming, know the classics,
write well, make music, paint, and
dance (but don’t seek attention
for it!)
Expected to inspire poetry
rather than create it
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Women are better educated than
in the Middle Ages, but are
actually less influential in politics,
economics and social affairs
Florence Led the Way
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In the 1400’s the Medici were a wealthy
banking and trading family who dominated
politics
 Cosimo
de Medici made sure all city counsel
members were loyal to him
 Spent money on beautifying the city with art
– created first free public library, his son and
grandson continued this tradition while
maintaining political control of Florence
Artists Beautify Florence
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Lorenzo Ghiberti took 50 years to create door
for the Baptistry of the local cathedral –
likened to the gates of paradise
Ninja Turtle or Artist?
Donatello – sculptor,
wanted to show the
human form in
perfection, like the
Greeks
 On Right, The David
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Masaccio
Developed perspective in painting to give
objects the appearance of distance from
the frame
 “Father of modern painting”
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Machiavelli wrote about politics
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When Piero Medici surrendered
without a fight to invading French
armies, Florentines were outraged
and drove the Medici into exile
Florence’s golden age ended
During political upheaval, Machiavelli
wrote “The Prince”
Why does one ruler succeed while
another fails?
 Not concerned with what is morally
right, but what is politically effective –
the end justifies the means
 Rulers may have to deceive
enemies and their own people to
be good leaders in a wicked world
 Today Machiavelli’s name is
associated with trickery
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The High Renaissance
While Florence’s golden age had ended,
Rome was bringing the Renaissance to a
new height
 The Popes became Patrons – Renaissance
Popes
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Michelangelo
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Lived with the Medici during
his apprenticeship
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Peita and the Sistine Chapel
are two of his most famous
works, and were both
commissioned by the Papacy
in Rome
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Also made many other
famous sculptures, paintings
and architectural works, such
as “The Last Judgment” and
the dome of St. Peter’s
Church
Raphael
Artist, learned some things from
Michelangelo
 “The School of Athens” – Plato and
Aristotle in discussion with other famous
figures from both classical Greece and
from the Renaissance, (including himself
and Michelangelo)
 Did a lot of work for the Church
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Leonardo
Both a scientist and
artist – a genius
 Invented many
machines for many
purposes, from
making metal screws
to making man fly
 Painted “The Last
Supper” and “The
Mona Lisa”
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Northern Europe’s Renaissance
Michelangelo, Raphael, and Leonardo all showed
interest in classics, curiosity about the world and
an interest in human potential – Renaissance
spirit
 Germans such as Durer created woodcuts and
engravings, and Holbein who painted with
extreme realism sold their work all over England
and Germany
 French kings recruited Italian artists
 Flanders became the Renaissance capital of
Europe
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The end of the Renaissance
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New styles became popular in the 1600’s
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Ideals of Renaissance thought continue to
influence Western ideas today about the
importance of the individual
 Gives
rise to more democratic ideas
Age of Exploration
Explorers Discover New Lands
New Spirit of the Renaissance
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How did the new ideas and values of the
Renaissance lead to the Age of
Exploration?
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During Leonardo’s time, Portuguese sailors
charted the coast of Africa and others
discovered new continents
The Individual
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Explorers wanted to obtain individual
glory, they were curious, ambitious, and
confident just like Renaissance artists
Factors that encouraged
exploration
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Search for spices and profits
 Crusades
Asia
led to demand for more goods from
 Italian
merchants controlled Eastern
Mediterranean, had a monopoly on the spice
trade, could make them $$
 Wanted
a route free of Turks – religious
hostilities were high
More Factors in Exploring
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Wanted to spread Christianity
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New Technology helps!
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Caravel – ship with triangular sails for tacking into the
wind, square ones for running before the wind
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Astrolabe – used stars to decipher where on the earth
one was in relation to the equator
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Compass – indicates your direction
Portuguese exploration
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1420 – Prince Henry create a school for
navigation – He was a patron of exploration
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First successful expeditions brought gold and
slaves from Africa, later ivory as well
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Gold Coast at Ghana
This encouraged further exploration – want to
reach the Indies
Explorations around Africa
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Bartholomeu Dias – reached Cape of Good
Hope, southern most tip of Africa
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Vasco da Gama – 1497, he took 4 ships to
India, first to round the Cape of Good
Hope
 Led
to Portuguese domination of trade on
Indian Ocean, gave them a direct sea route to
India, China and Spice Islands
“In 1492 Columbus sailed the
ocean blue.”
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Columbus convinced Queen Isabella and
King Ferdinand of Spain to sponsor his
quest across the Atlantic to reach India
he estimated this would only be 2,000 miles
 Thought the world was round, wanted to
reach Japan too
 Nina, Pinta and Sana Maria
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Landed in the Bahamas, didn’t find the spices,
but found natives and exotic birds and fruit
So why do we give him
such credit?
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Viking voyages had landed in the Americas
first!
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Columbus’s exploration led to lasting and
permanent settlements…
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What else did it lead to?
Amerigo Vespucci
Proclaimed this a new continent after exploring
coastline of Brazil, its not Asia!
 Leads to more explorations in a frenzy
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Vasco Nunez de Balboa – slashed through
Panama and discovered the Pacific Ocean
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Pope divides new lands between Spain and
Portugal, (because they didn’t already belong to
someone else?), at the Line of Demarcation
Ferdinand Magellan
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Portuguese sailor sailed round the world, funded
by Spain with 5 ships and crews
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The trip took 3 years and cost most their lives,
not an easy trip!
Proved the Americas were separate continents.
 Proved the world was much larger than anyone
had thought.
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