Chapter 8: The Renaissance in
Italy
The Renaissance Spirit in Italy
• Renaissance
– It literally means rebirth.
– The term applied to the relearning of the Greek
and Roman humanities.
The Renaissance Spirit in Italy
• Patronage & the Italian
City-States
– Florence
– Milan
– Venice
– The Papal States
– The Kingdom of Naples
The Renaissance Spirit in Italy
• Patronage & the Italian
City-States
– The de Medici of Florence
• The most prolific family in
the contribution to the arts.
• Under Lorenzo de Medici the
Italian Renaissance reached
its high point.
The Renaissance Spirit in Italy
• Patronage & the Italian City-States
– Roman History
• The concept of civic humanism came from the ideals of
the Roman Republic.
• Also Stoicism played a role in the advancement of selfinterest for the benefit of the civic good.
The Early Renaissance
• Art
– Filippo Brunelleschi
• Deemed the greatest
architect of all the
Renaissance.
• His masterpiece was the
dome bearing his name
built on the Pazzi
chapel.
The Early Renaissance
• Art
– Tommaso di Giovanni (aka
Masaccio)
• The first artist to truly perfect
the use of perspective.
The Early Renaissance
• Art
– Tommaso di Giovanni (aka Masaccio)
• Atmospheric Perspective is accomplished by the
blurring of depth.
• Linear Perspective is accomplished by the shrinking of
images to achieve depth.
The Early Renaissance
• Art
– Sandro Botticelli
• He began using classical
mythology with Christian
symbology.
The Early Renaissance
• Art
– Sandro Botticelli
The Birth of Venus
The Early Renaissance
• Music
– It was believed that a closer link between music
and poetry should occur while imitating the
ancients.
The Early Renaissance
• Music
– Madrigal
• It was a song set in four parts with each part performed
by one singer.
• It was a poem with no repeating stanzas or refrains.
The Early Renaissance
• Music
– Word Painting
• The concept represented the
musical depiction of a text’s
meaning.
• It was inspired by Petrarch’s
love of poetry.
Petrarch
The Early Renaissance
• Sculpting
– Donatello
• He is credited with
reinventing the
freestanding nude in
the classical style.
The Early Renaissance
• Sculpting
– Donatello
David
The Early Renaissance
• Sculpting
– Michelangelo Buonarroti
• He is considered
Donatello’s greatest revival.
The Early Renaissance
• Sculpting
– Michelangelo
Buonarroti
• He excelled in nearly
every artistic medium.
David
The Early Renaissance
• The Fall of Florence
– Savonarola
• He was a monk who attacked the pagan pleasure
seekers of Florence, making himself a morality dictator.
• His high point became known as the “Bonfire of the
Vanities” in which all vices, including the arts, were
publically burned.
Renaissance Genius
• Niccolo Machiavelli
– He wrote the work, The
Prince, in honor of
Lorenzo de Medici.
– It was a how to run the
government taking a
secular (non-religious)
viewpoint.
Renaissance Genius
• Leonardo da Vinci
– Commonly regarded as
the “Renaissance Man.”
– He excelled in the arts,
mathematics, and the
sciences.
Renaissance Genius
• Leonardo da Vinci
– His only rival artistically
was Michelangelo.
– His creation of the classical
triangle became a staple of
Renaissance painting.
– His use of sfumato, the
blurring of outlines, also
became a common
practice.
The High Renaissance
• The epicenter of the High Renaissance was
Rome.
The High Renaissance
• Josquin des Prez
– Regarded as the greatest
composer of the age.
– He merged northern
European polyphony with
Italian chordal
harmonies.
– He popularized imitation,
melody that is duplicated
by succeeding voices.
The High Renaissance
• Raphael (Raffaello
Sanzio)
– He became the chief artist
for the papacy.
The High Renaissance
• Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio)
– His most famous work was the School of
Athens.
The High Renaissance
• Michelangelo in Rome
– He was also brought in by the papacy.
The High Renaissance
• Michelangelo in Rome
– The painting of the Sistine Chapel was one of the
hi-lights of his work.
The High Renaissance
• The Reconstruction of St. Peter’s Chapel
– The Players all contributed designs for the chapel.
• Bramante
• Sangallo
• Michelangelo
Bramante
Sangallo
Michelangelo
The High Renaissance
• The Reconstruction of St.
Peter’s Chapel
– Carlo Maderno, in 1606,
combined the plans, keeping
true to the Greek cross design
originally proposed by all of
the original architects.