The Renaissance

Began in Florence,
Italy
 Approximately 13301550
Renaissance
“Renaissance” literally
means, rebirth
 It was a rebirth of
Classical art,
architecture,
literature, philosophy,
etc.
 Classic = Ancient
Roman, Ancient
Greek

Petrarch

1378: Italian poet,
Petrarch, was the first
to indicate that he
clearly felt he was
living in a new age.
 This new age upheld
the values of Greece
and Rome, the only
values worthy of man
Vasari

1538: Giorgio Vasari
was the first to assign
the term Renaissance
to this time period.
 Wrote, Lives of the
Artists
Plague

1348: Black Death
strikes Florence
 Bubonic Plague:
swollen and inflamed
lymph nodes in the
armpits and groin
 Carried by the fleas on
rats
Plague

Boccaccio lived through
the plague: "The first
signs of the plague were
lumps in the groin or
armpits. After this, livid
black spots appeared on the
arms and thighs and other
parts of the body. Few
recovered. Almost all died
within three days, usually
without any fever."
“Ring around the Rosie,
Pocket full of posies
Ashes, ashes
We all fall down”
- Refers to the plague
and its symptoms
Plague

Europeans trying to
make up for the
losses due to the
plague
 General desire for
happiness,
achievement,
fulfillment, and
replenish population
Passion for Knowledge

1450s: First Printing
Press invented by
Johannes Gutenberg
 Allowed the
passionate search for
knowledge to flourish
Passion for Knowledge

The study of
Humanities was
stressed
 Humanities =
Grammar, rhetoric,
visual arts, music,
poetry, languages,
history, religion,
philosophy

Learning that has to
do with human culture
Passion for Knowledge

Greek language was
reintroduced
 Renaissance thinkers
fell in love with Greek
philosophy all over
again: Socrates,
Aristotle, Plato
Passion for Knowledge

Socrates (469-399
B.C.E.)
 Deeply interested in
the question, “How
should one live?” and
the condition of the
soul
Passion for Knowledge

Plato (428-348
B.C.E.)
 Believed that true
knowledge can never
be achieved through
the senses because
some concepts
cannot be perceived
through senses; truth
is found in the world
of ideas
Passion for Knowledge




Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E.)
Plato’s most famous
pupil.
Disagreed with Plato:
believed that knowledge
came from experience
and experimentation
Very interested in making
potential a reality
Passion for Knowledge

Vesalius:
revolutionized
medical practices
 Relied upon
experimentation
(dissection)
 Replaced
cauterization of
wounds with ligature
(Stitches)
Adventure




Spirit of adventure +
desire for achievement=
conquer lands
Spain wished to retake
lands lost to Muslims
during Crusades Reconquista
Achieved in 1492
Expelled 200,000 Jews
from reunited territories
Adventure

1492: Spirit of
adventure and
achievement led to
the founding of the
Americas
Adventure

Americas were
discovered by
accident
 Trying to find an allwater-route to India
for trade
 Turkey had raised
their taxes
Adventure

Christopher
Columbus (14511506)
 Born in Italy, moved
to Portugal, sailed for
Spain
 King Ferdinand and
Queen Isabella
funded his expedition
Adventure

Columbus, Vasco da
Gama, Amerigo
Vespucci, Ferdinand
Magellan, Cortes,
Pizarro: All
exploring/conquering
for the 3-Gs:
 God, Glory, Gold
Adventure

1519: Hernan Cortes conquers Aztec empire
(Yucatan Peninsula)
Adventure

1529: Francisco Pizarro conquers Inca empire
(Peru, Chile) - Shown: Machu Picchu
Crescent Moon & the Cross




Crescent Moon: symbol
of Islam
Cross: symbol of
Christianity
Common reference to the
Crusades
Over 10 Crusades



1-4 Major
1st: 1095-1099
Last: 1420-1434 (Hussite
Crusade)
Crescent Moon & the Cross

1300s: Presence of
Ottoman Turks in the
Middle East
threatened Venice,
Genoa
Crescent Moon & the Cross


Byzantine Empire was sometimes called “The East
Roman Empire” - inhabited by Greek-speaking Romans
Capital: Constantinople (after Emperor Constantine the
Great - C.E. 330)
Crescent Moon & the Cross

1453: Constantinople
conquered by
Ottoman Turks
 Renamed Istanbul in
1930
Crescent Moon & the Cross

Hagia Sofia (Church of Holy Wisdom): Started as
Eastern Orthodox Church, became Mosque at the fall of
Constantinople, now museum - Istanbul
The Medici



The Medici family was the
most important family in
Renaissance Florence
Family of Bankers, mafialike (not overtly violent,
but protective)
Funded many famous
Renaissance artists
The Medici



Most powerful bank in all
of Europe
Influential from 1200’s to
1600’s
Many assassination
attempts on family
members
The Medici

Most famous murder plot
was the “Pazzi
Conspiracy”


Pazzi family attacked
Lorenzo & Giuliano in
church on Easter Day,
1478
Giuliano was killed,
Lorenzo escaped
Notable Medici Members





•Salvestro de' Medici (1331–
1388) dictator of Florence
Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici
(1360–1429) restored the
family fortune and made the
Medici family the wealthiest
in Europe
Cosimo the Elder (1389–
1464) founder of the Medici
political dynasty
Lorenzo the Magnificent
(1449–1492) leader of
Florence during the Golden
Age of the Renaissance
Giovanni de' Medici (1475–
1523) also known as Pope
Leo X






Giulio de' Medici (1478–
1534) also known as Pope
Clement VII
Cosimo I the Great (1519–
1574) First Grand Duke of
Tuscany who restored the
Medici luster
Catherine de' Medici (1519–
1589) Queen of France
Alessandro Ottaviano de'
Medici (1535–1605) also
known as Pope Leo XI
Marie de' Medici (1573–
1642) Queen and Regent of
France
Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici
(1667–1743) the last of the
Medici line
Artists
Brunelleschi

Il Duomo (1418-1434)

(the dome of Basilica
di Santa Maria del
Fiore)
Brunelleschi
Brunelleschi
Brunelleschi

Looked to the Roman Pantheon for inspiration
Ghiberti

Brunelleschi lost to
Ghiberti for
commission to
complete the doors of
Florentine Bapistry
 Ghiberti’s Doors of
Paradise
Ghiberti
Albrecht Durer

(German)
 Self Portrait at 22
Albrecht Durer

Self Portrait at 26
Albrecht Durer

Self Portrait at 28
Albrecht Durer

Praying Hands
Albrecht Durer

Young Hare (1502)

Water color
Albrecht Durer

Knight, Death, and
the Devil (1513)

Engraving on copper
Boticelli

Primavera (1482)
Boticelli

Birth of Venus (1483)
Donatello

David (1433)
Donatello

Gattamelata (1445)
Donatello

Mary Magdalene
(1455)
Raphael

School of Athens (1509-1511)
Raphael

Socrates

Famous Greek
philosopher
Raphael

Euclid


Greek mathematician
“Father of Geometry”
Raphael

Pythagoras



Greek mathematician
Pythagorean theorem
“Father of Numbers”
Raphael

Ptolemy

Roman
mathematician,
astronomer,
geographer
Raphael

Strabo?


Galileo?


Greek historian and
geographer
Renaissance
astronomer
Castiglione?

Renaissance author
Raphael

Alexander the Great
Raphael

Diogenes of Sinope

Famous philosophical
beggar in Ancient
Greece
Raphael

Heraclitus


Greek philosopher
even before Socrates
Image of
Michelangelo
Raphael





Plato (left)
Aristotle (right)
Both holding their
own books
Both gesturing their
own beliefs
(Plato looks like Da
Vinci)
Raphael

Raphael himself


Looking at “camera”
Seems to know a
secret
Raphael

School of Athens is
actually 1 wall of a
room of Raphael’s
frescoes
 In the Apostolic
Palace in Vatican City
Raphael

Triumph of Galatea
(1513)
Raphael
Raphael

Sistine Madonna
(1512-1514)
Michelangelo

David (1501-1504)
Michelangelo

Sistine ChapelExterior
Michelangelo

Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (1508-1512)
Michelangelo

The Last Judgment
(1534-1541)
Leonardo da Vinci

Vinci is a town in Italy
 No one knows his last
name
 Name literally means,
Leonardo from Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo was old enough to be Michelangelo’s
father
 They hated each other

Leonardo

Mona Lisa (15031506)
Leonardo

Assumed that this is a
self portrait (1513)
Leonardo

The Last Supper (1495-1497)
Leonardo
Leonardo
Leonardo
Leonardo
Leonardo
Leonardo
Leonardo
Leonardo
Leonardo
Vetruvian Man