The Renaissance was a time of renewal
Renaissance means rebirth and Europe
was recovering from the Dark ages and
the plague.
People had lost their faith in the church
and began to put more focus on human
beings.
What was the Renaissance?
What was the Renaissance, and where did it begin?
•Italy
•Italian Cities
•Urban Societies
•Major Trading Centers
•Secular
•Moved away from life in the church
•Focuses more on material objects and enjoying life
I. Why in Italy at this Time?
• Revival of Commerce and
Town Building was more
intense in Italy
• Feudalism had less of a grip
on Italy
• Two competing lords for
control of Italy were losing
influence
• Presence of antiquity was
stronger in Italy than
elsewhere in Europe
How did the Crusades contribute
to the Renaissance?
• Increased demand for Middle Eastern products
• Stimulated production of goods to trade in Middle Eastern markets
• Encouraged the use of credit and banking
• Church rule against usury and the banks’ practice of charging interest
helped to secularize northern Italy.
• Letters of credit served to expand the supply of money and expedite
trade.
• New accounting and bookkeeping practices (use of Arabic numerals) were
introduced.
Italy failed to become united during the Ages.
Many independent city-states emerged in northern
and central Italy that played an important role in
Italian politics and art.
Major Italian Cities
Milan
One of the richest cities, it controls trade
through the Alps.
Venice
Sitting on the Adriatic, it attracts trade
from all over the world.
Florence
Controlled by the De Medici Family, who
became great patrons of the arts.
Genoa
Had Access to Trade Routes
All of these cities:
Had access to trade routes connecting Europe with
Middle Eastern markets
• Served as trading centers for the distribution of
goods to northern Europe
• Were initially independent city-states governed
as republics
Milan
Venice
Genoa
Florence
II. European Economic Recovery
• Dramatic recovery of
European commerce
• Important industries flourish
in Northern Italy
• The significance of printing
and mining as new
industries
• The fifteenth-century
banking empire of the
Medici family in Florence
III. Renaissance Economics (cont)
• “Cottage Industry”
• Intensified commercial
competition created the
need to be efficient
• Art became the way to
advertise economic
success
IV. Renaissance Society
• Renaissance is an elitist
historical phenomenon
• Northern Italy was urban
and commercial while
Southern Italy mostly was
not
• Very family-oriented
society
• Marriages were frequently
arranged to strengthen
business ties
IV. Renaissance Society (cont)
• Extreme social stratification
divided into factions around
the wealthiest families
• Poor increasingly
attempting to improve their
social status
--The Ciompi Revolt (1378)
-- “populo minuto”
• “The Cult of the Individual”
IV. Renaissance Society (cont)
• Number of portraits painted
during this era illustrates focus on
the individual
• A true nobleman
• Growing humanism and
secularism in a Christian context
– Humanism -Study of classical
culture through worldly subjects
rather than religious issues.
• Focus on man’s free will
• Rewards for living excellently
came in this life
V. Renaissance Politics
• Same pattern and problems
as those of the Greek citystates
• Inter-city warfare led to new
advances in diplomacy
-- “balance of power”
• Northern Italian
“communes”
• The Peace of Lodi (1454)
V. Renaissance Politics (cont)
• Niccolo Machiavelli (14691527)
-- “The Prince”
• The goal of the prince must
be power
• Cynical view of human
nature
• Fear is a better motivator
than affection
• Politics as the art of
deception
The Renaissance produced new ideas that were reflected in
the arts, philosophy, and literature. By looking at art one can
usually make some assumptions as to what the people of time
were thinking, what they valued as important. What were the
important beliefs of those who produced art during the
Renaissance time period?
* Renaissance Artists embraced some of the ideals of Greece &
Rome in their art (realism, focus on humanity and emotion).
* New Techniques emerged:
-Frescos: Painting done on wet plaster became popular because
it gave depth to the paintings
-Sculpture emphasized realism and the human form
-Architecture reached new heights of design
1452-1519
Painter, Sculptor,
Architect, Engineer,
Botanist, Costume
Designer, Musician,
Author, Inventor
(grave robber) =
Renaissance Man!
Mona Lisa
What is she thinking?
-4 yrs. To complete
-Aristocratic woman
-Use of luminosity,
perspective, shading &
sfumato
-Understood the human
body/ anatomy/ human
dissection/ sketches
look like X-rays
-Hangs in the Louvre in
Paris, France
- Once owned by
Napoleon
-1 million people saw her
in NYC in 1963
The Last Supper- “One of you shall
betray me.”
Took 3 yrs to complete, wall of monastery, techniques used
sfumato- hazy edges & perspective
Virgin of the Rocks- 1483-1486
-Notice pyramid shape/ sfumato
-Mary in middle w/ rt. arm around
John the Baptist with her left
hand above Jesus (blessing John)
Angel Gabriel watching on.
Notebooks
1475-1564
Born in Florence, Italy- died in Rome
Passionate about art, worked long hours, never
married, lived a lonely life, disliked Leonardo Di
Vinci
La Pieta - 1498-1500- St.
Peter’s Basilica- Vatican
What is the Virgin Mary
thinking?
David
Michelangelo
created his
masterpiece
David in
1504. Notice
the accuracy
to detail.
Sistine ChapelVatican
About a year after creating
David, Pope Julius II
summoned Michelangelo to
Rome to work on his most
famous project, the ceiling of
the Sistine Chapel.
Michelangelo did not think he
was worthy of such a project!
Creation of Eve
Separation of Light and Darkness
Creation of Adam
The Last Judgment
Moses
Raphael
Painter
1483-1520
The School of Athens
Pythagoras
Plato and Aristotle
Socrates
Raphael 
Euclid
Zoroaster & Ptolemy
VI. Renaissance Art and Architecture
(cont)
• Differences between Italian
and Northern European
painting
--Italian frescoes vs.
Northern European altar
pieces
• Van Eyck’s oil paintings
• Rome became the center of
the High Renaissance
(1480-1520)
Jan Van Eyck
Portrait of
Giovanni Arnolfini
and his Wife
(1434)
Northern
Renaissance
Van Eyck
Portrait of
Giovanni
Arnolfini and
his Wife
(detail)
Pieter Bruegel -1529-1569- Flanders
VII. Renaissance Education and
Philosophy
• Humanistic age
• Various types of humanism
• Great fervor displayed in
finding and collecting old
documents
• Leads to critical
examination of documents
--Lorenzo Valla
• Education produces moral
uplift
VII. Renaissance Education and
Philosophy (cont)
• A true liberal education
• Humanist education for
women
• Love for the study of history
most of all
• A Greek language fad after
1454
• Petrarch (1304-1374): the
Father of Italian
Renaissance humanism
• Focus on the individual and
his dignity
VIII. The Renaissance Papacy
• Loss of influence over
European nation-states
• Decline in moral prestige
and leadership
• Pope Julius II (1503-1513)
• Popes as patrons of
Renaissance art
--Leo X (1513-1521)
• Nepotism used to promote
family interest
IX. Spread of Humanism to the Rest
of Europe
• The significance of
Gutenberg’s printing press
• Explosion of printed
materials
--By 1500, 40,000 titles
printed and between 8-10
million copies
• The impact of movable-type
printing presses: research
and literacy
IX. Spread of Humanism to the Rest
of Europe (cont)
• Popular publications in
the early days of the
printing press
• Thomas More
--Utopia
--Executed by Henry
VIII in 1535
• Erasmus—Dutch
Christian Humanist
IX. Spread of Humanism to the Rest
of Europe (cont)
• William Shakespeare (15641616)
--Globe Theater
• Shakespeare returns to
classical subjects and genres
• His history plays were the
most popular at the time
• Macbeth: ambition
• Hamlet: individualism
• Keen sensitivity to sounds
and meanings of words