Renaissance
1300-nearly 1600
What does “Renaissance” mean?
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Time of creativity and great change
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Shift from agricultural to urban society
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Political
Social
Economic
Cultural
Trade became more important
Creative thinking and new technology allowed people
to comprehend and describe their world more
accurately
Major Themes of the Renaissance
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Importance of classical learning
Emphasis on the individual
Adventurous spirit and willingness to experiment
Focus on realism in art and literature
Questioning of traditional religious ideas
A. Began in the cities of Northern Italy
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Florence,Venice, Genoa, Rome (Italian Renaissance/High
Renaissance in Rome) - - why does the Renaissance begin
here?
1. Wealthy families supported the arts (Medici of
Florence)
2. Location for trade (florin)
B. It spread to France, England, the
Netherlands, Low Countries (Benelux)
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Northern Renaissance
1. wars increased contact
2. Italian traders
3. travel to Italy to study
4. printing press (Johann Gutenberg/Johann Fust/Peter
Schoffer) (Bible)
C. Many types of art, architecture, literature
and thinking (less romantic, more realistic)
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1. painting (Giotto, Leonardo, Masaccio, Raphael) –
frescoes
2. sculpture (Michelangelo, Donatello, Ghiberti)
3. architecture (Brunelleschi)
4. literature and thinking…
Agree/Disagree Exercise
The ideal man in American society today is close to that of
Castiglione’s description during the Renaissance:
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A young man should be well educated (in the Greek and
Latin classics).
He should be charming, polite and witty.
He should be able to dance, write poetry, sing and play
music.
In addition, he should be physically graceful and strong, (a
skilled rider, wrestler, and swordsman).
The ideal woman in American society today is close to that of
Castiglione’s description during the Renaissance:
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A young woman should be well educated (in the Greek
and Latin classics).
She should write well, paint, make music, dance and be
charming.
She should not expect to seek fame.
She should inspire poetry and art but not create it.
From Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince, these political statements
are made:
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“The end justifies the means.”
“a prince (king, president…) … must if necessary be
prepared to do evil.”
“From this arises the question whether it is better to be
loved rather than feared, or feared rather than loved. It
might perhaps be answered that we should wish to be
both: but since love and fear can hardly exist together, if
we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared
than loved.”
Agree/Disagree: Dictatorships are always a bad form of
government.
a. Baldassare Castiglione
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1. ideal man: well-educated in the Greek and Latin classics,
charming, dance, write poetry, physically strong…
2. ideal woman: well-educated too, write well, but not
seek fame, inspire but not create poetry…
b. Niccolo Machiavelli
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1. The Prince: addressed how a ruler could stay in power
in a “monarchy” where people are not active in political
life
2. Discourses of ....: how to preserve the liberty and
independence of self-governing citizenry [in a
democracy/republic]
3. today to be Machiavellian implies a person manipulates
others in an opportunistic or deceptive way
c. Thomas More
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Utopia
d. William Shakespeare
e. Christian Humanists
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1. Girolamo Savanarola: criticized the worldly ways of the
Ren. and wanted people to turn back to the church, a
strict church
2. Desiderius Erasmus: The Praise of Folly , attacked the
Cath. Church and Popes who were too
worldly/corrupt/advocated study of Christ’s life and ideas
Art and Artists
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Most glorious expression in paintings, sculpture and architecture
Portrayed religious themes
 Set religious figures such as Jesus with classical Greek and
Roman backgrounds
Realism
 Rules of perspective allowed artists to create realistic art
 Scenes could appear three-dimensional
A “Social Art”
 Rejected gothic architecture of the Middle Ages
 Adopted columns, arches and domes from Greece and Rome
Leonardo Da Vinci
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1452-1519
Thought of himself as an artist
Botany, anatomy, optics, music, architecture, engineering
Made sketches of flying machines and undersea boats
centuries before actually built
The Mona Lisa and The Last Supper
Michelangelo Buonarroti
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1475-1564
Sculptor, engineer, painter, architect, and poet
Work reflects life-long spiritual and artistic struggles
David and the Pieta
Sistine Chapel in Rome
Dome of St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome
Raphael Sanzio
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1483-1520
Artistic talent and “sweet and gracious nature”
Blended Christian and classical styles
Tender portrayals of the Madonna (mother of Jesus)
The School of Athens
Exploration emerges during the Renaissance as an adventurous
spirit and willingness to experiment continues…
From Heath book.
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Page 330 – perspective
Page 336 – exploration
Page 345 - Utopia