What was the Renaissance?
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Period after the Middle Ages
Start of the “modern world”
New interest in old ideas (Greek and Roman)
Changes in thought about art, literature, religion, and education
Where did it begin?
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Florence, Italy
Later spread to Germany and England
Important People of the Renaissance
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci was an Italian artist and scholar who had many talents in addition to his painting. He
worked on mechanics, though geometry was his main love. He was involved in hydrodynamics,
anatomy, mechanics, mathematics and optics. Da Vinci created masterpieces such as the Mona Lisa, The
Vitruvian Man and The Last Supper.
Sandro Botticelli
Botticelli was a famous Renaissance artist, whose most famous work was La Prima Vera, which was a
wedding gift for Lorenzo de Medici.
Raphael
Raphael was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. Together with Michelangelo and
Leonardo da Vinci, he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period. Many of his works are
found in the Apostolic Palace of The Vatican, where the frescoed Raphael Rooms were the central,
largest, work of his career. The best known work is The School of Athens (1511).
Michelangelo
Michelangelo was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer. Two of his
best-known works, the Pietà and David, were sculpted before he turned thirty. Michelangelo also took
the commission to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel which took about four years to complete.
Donatello
Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, also known as Donatello, was an early Renaissance Italian artist and
sculptor from Florence. Important works of his include; the bronze David, St. George, and the Equestrian
Monument of Gattamelata.
Dante Alighieri
Alighieri was a major Italian poet, whose “Divine Comedy” is considered the greatest literary work
composed in the Italian language.
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare became the most popular dramatist, but he looked mainly to poetry not
playwriting. He wrote The Sonnets of Shakespeare , which consisted of 154 sonnets. He also wrote 30
plays mainly in the four categories: histories, comedies, tragedies, and romances. Shakespeare wrote
Romeo and Juliet in 1596 and many other plays such as: Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Othello,
King Lear, Macbeth, and Anthony and Cleopatra.
Match the work with the artist/writer (some individuals may be used twice):
Michaelangelo
La Prima Vera
Botticelli
Othello
Da Vinci
School of Athens
Shakespeare
David
Alighieri
The Vitruvian Man
Raphael
The Inferno
Donatello
Hamlet
The Mona Lisa
the Pieta
St. George
Answers
Michelangelo – David, the Pieta
Da Vinci- The Vitruvian Man, the Mona Lisa
Botticelli – La Prima Vera
Alighieri – The Inferno
Shakespeare – Hamlet, Othello
Raphael – School of Athens
Donatello – St. George
Compare and Contrast Renaissance and Medieval Characteristics
Answers
Medieval
2 – Dimensional
Flat
Story-telling (Religion or Warfare)
Renaissance
Resurgence of classical values
Linear perspective
use of light & shadow
All faces the same, not realistic
three dimensional, realistic
Hieratic Scales – most important
use of human anatomy
aspect of painting is the biggest
depict beauty of nature
size of objects accurate
Multiple choice questions
1. What was a characteristic of Renaissance Art?
a. 2- dimensional
c. use optical color blending to trick the eye
b. use of light and shading
d. Focus on fundamental materials in artwork
2. Who was NOT a Renaissance artist?
a. Giovanni Bellini
c. Filippo Brunelleschi
b. Da Vinci
d. Donatello
3. Who was the artist behind the painting of the Sistine Chapel?
a. Da Vinci
c. Botticelli
b. Raphael
d. Michelangelo
4. What artist was the court painter for the de Medici family?
a. Sandro Botticelli
c. Michelangelo
b. Leonardo da Vinci
d. Lorenzo Monaco
5. Who was the artist behind The Vitruvian Man?
a. Peter Paul Rubens
c. Michelangelo
b. Da Vinci
d. Giovanni Bellini
Answers
1. b
2. c
3. d
4. a
5. b