RENAISSANCE PERSONALITY PROJECT
** Choose one Renaissance figure to research – an artist, writer, scientist,
religious leaders, explorer, successful businessman ...
GATHERING INFORMATION – The Research
1. Take notes on the person's accomplishments and impact. Search for all sorts of information,
such as copies of art, diagrams, portraits of your person, summaries of their ideas, etc. Find as
much interesting and unique information about this person as you can! Try to gain a clear
understanding of the conditions of the time and place where your person lived, as well.
2. Record the sources of all your notes – include all relevant bibliographical information for a
Works Consulted page.
WRITING – The Chart
Fill out the chart (see pg. 3-4). Write as small as you can and be concise, but also be sure to include
many details and clear examples.
Also, be sure you…
 use at least 3 sources
 cite your sources (using Parenthetical Notation – right there in your chart) AS NEEDED (when
quoting or paraphrasing someone else’s ideas or arguments; NOT when repeating basic
information that can be found in every encyclopedia entry on your topic)
 create a Works Consulted page
EXPERIENCING – The Renaissance Party
You will become your person for a Renaissance party to be held . It will be a fun and interactive
way to embody what you have learned about the Renaissance by thinking on your feet! You will
need to be creative and find some way to APPEAR like your character. (You don’t need to go to a
costume store – use your imagination!) You also will want to bring props or examples of your
work.
You will be expected to carry on a discussion (in the “voice” of your person) of the relevant and
current issues of the day (in the 1400s, 1500s and 1600s). There will be three “phases” to the party:
1. First we will have everybody introduce themselves (with visuals) – about 1 min. each.
2. Then you will socialize with each other, mingling with and interviewing 5-7 other
dignitaries from the Renaissance Age, asking them a series of questions relevant to the age.
3. Finally, 5-7 special guests will be selected to appear on the panel for all to interview. You
may be among the group selected!
You will get a list of potential questions the day before the Party – use them to prepare yourself and
sharpen your understanding of the Renaissance Age.
THE PERSONALITIES AND THE FOCUS QUESTIONS:
Patron: (Lorenzo de Medici)
What is your advice for philanthropists? What role did you play in the Renaissance and why?
Ideal Man: (Leonardo da Vinci)
What characterizes the ideal man? How is the Renaissance view different from that of earlier
times?
Art and Architecture: (Michelangelo, Donatello, Boticelli, Raphael, Titian, Bellini, della
Francesca, Brueghel, Rembrandt, Van Eyck, Durer, Sofanisba Anguissola, Bernini,
Brunalleschi)
What are the characteristics of your art? How does your art differ from Medieval art? Does your
work reflect or shape society? Explain.
Literature: (Erasmus, Cervantes, William Shakespeare, Dante, Petrarch, Geoffrey Chaucer,
Rabelais, Boccaccio)
What did you write about and why? How does your writing differ from Medieval literature?
Science and Technology: (Galileo Galilei, Nicholas Copernicus, Gutenberg, Isaac Newton,
Johannes Kepler, Rene Descartes, William Harvey)
What was your discovery/invention? How original is your work? Did a previous discovery
contribute to yours? What personal sacrifices did you make to achieve your goals? How has your
scientific discovery changed man’s view of the world?
Political Science: (Niccolo Machiavelli, Thomas More)
How should governments govern? What kinds of rights should the people have?
Religion: (Martin Luther, John Calvin, Henry VIII, Loyola Ignatius)
What did you view to be wrong with the Catholic church? What did you do to change it? What
impact did your ideas and action have on history?
Commercial Revolution and Exploration:
Prince Henry the Navigator, Ferdinand Magellan, Hernan de Soto, Francisco Pizarro,
Hernando Cortes – What was your role in the Age of Exploration? What motivated you to explore
new lands? How should history judge your actions – were you a hero or an exploiter?