RENAISSANCE – “REBIRTH”
A period of great intellectual and
artistic creativity
Introduction
 The
Renaissance is often
considered one of the great
“turning points” in the history of
Western Civilization.
 It featured a new interest in
learning about the classical
civilizations of Greece and Rome.
The Big Questions:
 What
was the Renaissance and why
did it happen?
 What were some of the new ways of
thinking during the Renaissance?
 Who were some of the key people
and contributions of the Renaissance?
Background – The Renaissance began
in Italy
 Location
– centrally located in the
Mediterranean Sea region
 As trade increased, Italian cities
became centers of banking, commerce,
and industry
 Merchants and nobles acted as
patrons
◦ Supported artists, writers, and scholars
◦ Powerful leaders (because no single ruler
had united the Italian peninsula)
Characteristics of the Renaissance
Secularism (non-religious) – increased as people
began to show greater interest in this world rather
than the “here after”
 Reason – used observation and experience to
explain the world rather than Christian teachings
 Humanism – emphasized dignity, worth, and
uniqueness of individuals. (man is the focus of all
things)
 Christian Humanism – a movement in northern
Europe that promoted reason through Christian
teachings

Impacts of the Renaissance
Artistic
 Intellectual
 Political
 Economic
 Science and Technology

ARTISTIC:

Art before the Renaissance was greatly
influenced by Byzantine styles
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Highly decorative
Flat and not life-like
Figures floated in space without shadows
Sized of figures were based on importance,
not where it was placed in the picture
Renaissance art featured new depth,
dimension, and perspective
Painting and Sculpture
 Early Renaissance Artists
◦ Giotto (1267-1337) – used scenes with
figures in lifelike space, realistic shading,
showed emotion and gestures, and figures
receding in space grew smaller
◦ Massacio (1401-1428) – used perspective
(guidelines to calculate how things recede
in the distance) and other realistic effects
Masters of the “High Renaissance”
 Leonardo
Da Vinci
 Michaelangelo
 Rafael
 Donatello
AKA: NINJA TURTLES
Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519)
The epitome of the “Renaissance Man”
 Painter, sculptor, inventor, scientist

◦ Dissected human bodies
◦ Kept a notebook of designs (machine gun,
helicopter, etc.)
◦ Last Supper, Mona Lisa
Michaelangelo (1475-1564)
Sculptor and artist
 Paintings and statues were startlingly
realistic
 David, Pieta, ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

Rafael
Donatello
Architecture
Studied ruins of buildings from
ancient Rome
 Abandoned Medieval styles
(pointed arches, ornamentation)
 Used columns and circular
arches of the classical period
 Demonstrated technical
achievements of applying reason
 One of the most famous
architects was Filippo
Brunelleschi

Intellectual Impact

Scholarship and Literature
◦ Petrarch – the “Father of Humanism”: collected and
studied ancient texts
◦ Erasmus – questioned the Church and used satire to
criticise
◦ More authors wrote on secular (non-religious)
subjects
 Boccaccio wrote in the Italian vernacular (local
language, not Latin)
 Rabelais (French), William Shakespeare (England),
and Cervantes (Spain) also wrote in their native
languages
 Writers described the dignity of man, pleasures of
the senses, and instructed nobles in how to behave
at court
Intellectual Impact continued...
 Science and Technology
 Copernicus – a polish scientist, concluded
that the Earth orbited the sun. His work was
banned by the Church (Church taught that Earth
was the center of the universe)
 Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) – Italian scientist,
studied motion and laid the foundation for
modern physics. Observed the heavenly bodies
with one of the first telescopes and wrote about his
belief in Copernicus’ theory. Was charged by the
Catholic Church, ordered to appear before the
Inquisition in Rome, was found guilty and confined
to his home
Gutenberg and the printing
revolution
 Johann
Gutenberg (German printer)
◦ Developed a printing press with moveable
type
◦ Moveable type, a special press, and oilbased inks allowed the mass production of
printed books
◦ Encouraged the spread of new ideas
◦ Increased literacy
Political Impact

Machiavelli – a courtier and politician in
Florence
◦ Wrote “The Prince” – a guidebook in how to
secure and maintain political power
◦ Argued that the most successful rulers were not
those who acted according to laws or conscience,
but those who were willing to do whatever was
necessary to hold power (the end justifies the
means)


Wealthy Italian city-states, weakening of the
Church, and reasoning of writers led to the
concept of “reason of state”
Rulers collected taxes, raised armies, hired
professional soldiers, and exchanged
ambassadors
Economic Impact
People wanted to improve their material
conditions
 Wealthy accumulated luxury goods
 Increased trade in a greater variety of
products (clothes, foods, wines, and
furnishings)
 Continued growth of cities

LEFT SIDE ACTIVITY
Pretend you are an Italian Doge (noble
leader of a city-state).You are wanting to
become a patron.
 Create an advertisement seeking an artist,
architect, etc. to work for your family. Be
specific about what you want this person
(or people) to accomplish.
