Renaissance Art

Patron: wealthy person or family who financially supported the arts and/or an artist

Renaissance Art: more realistic through use of perspective (3 dimensions, objects appear nearer
or farther), shading attention to human detail.

Perspective

In your notes draw a quick example of perspective. (Example: A road that is narrow in the
background and gets wider as it gets closer)

Great Minds
of the Renaissance
Renaissance Writer

Dante Alighieri

1265–1321

wrote about life after death
“Divine Comedy”- considered greatest literary work in the Italian language
The MAIN way Dante Alighieri contributed to the advancement of literature was by
writing in Italian

Divine Comedy

Inferno The first part of The Divine Comedy is called Inferno. Virgil, a poet of ancient Rome, acts
as Dante’s guide during this journey through the afterlife. Dante sees many lonely souls; among
them are a number of important Florentines. He gives a description of their sins and the
punishments they have received.

Purgatorio The second part of The Divine Comedy is called Purgatorio. Virgil continues to lead
Dante through the afterlife. In Purgatorio, Dante describes how people pay for their sins.

Paradiso The third part of The Divine Comedy is called Paradiso. Dante’s guide is now Beatrice, a
woman Dante loved deeply in real life, but who died at an early age. InParadiso, Dante describes
a vision of heaven, which inseveral religions is a place of happy eternal life with God.
Renaissance Philosopher

Francesco Petrarch
1304-1374
Scholar, Poet, leader of Humanist movement
very inspired by ancient Rome and Greece and helped bring back the ideas from the
Greek and Roman times
explored libraries and monasteries all over Italy and in much of France in search of
ancient texts.

Technological Advances

Johannes Gutenberg (1395 –1468)

Invented the Printing Press in the 1400s

Printed the first mass-distributed book: Gutenberg Bible

Allowed for spread of books and ideas

Renaissance Artist

Leonardo da Vinci (1452 –1519)

Famous for Mona Lisa and Last Supper

made plans for the

created the first calculator

outlined a theory of plate tectonics

Renaissance Artist

Michelangelo (1475 –1564)

Sculptor, painter, architect, poet, and engineer

Painted the Sistine

Took him 4 years to complete

Sistine Chapel Cont.

Renaissance Artist

Michelangelo is the Renaissance artist known for his many great sculptures including David,
Moses, and the Pieta.

Think Pair Share

How did Leonardo da Vinci contribute to the Renaissance?
first tank and
helicopter
Chapel

How did paintings change in style during the Renaissance?

Renaissance Writer

William Shakespeare

1564-1616

English writer, strong understanding of human nature

“To be or not to be, that is the question”

Born in Stratford, England,

William Shakespeare was one of its most popular playwrights and helped shape the Northern
Renaissance.

Think-Pair-Share

What do the great minds of the Renaissance have in common?

Who is missing?

Did Women have a Renaissance?

Christine de Pizan

1364 – c.1430

First Professional Female Writer and Poet in Europe

Challenged sterotypes and sexism

The Book of the City of Ladies – Book about the accomplishments of women throughout history,
written in French

Education

People educated themselves by reading the past works of the Greeks and the Romans

Scholars concerned with the Classics believed in Humanism

Improvements in printing in Europe during the Renaissance led to an increase in learning and
literacy

Vernacular = native language

Makes things easier for people to read

Draw own conclusions

Spread of the Renaissance

Growth of cities – Expansion of trade creates wealthy merchant class

Monarchs supported the arts

Cultural Interaction – People shared ideas


Wars in Italian cities in 1400s, people fled to Northern Europe for safety
Northern Renaissance Artists

Not as much focus on classics

More detail of everyday life