AP Euro: Ch. 11 The Italian Renaissance

City-States

Self-governing political units centered upon an urban area. During the 15th and 16th centuries, these took on various forms of government, including republics such as Venice and oligarchies such as Milan

Civic Humanism

The use of humanistic training and education in the service of the state. Many humanists became advisors to princes or republican governments, holding high office and helping to establish policy

Condottieri

A mercenary military leader who sold his services and hat of his private army to the highest bidder; used in the wars between the Italian city-states

Doge

Chief magistrate of the Venetian Republic who served for life

Linear Perspective

A technique developed in painting to give a flat surface the appearance of depth and dimensions

Philogy

The study of language and literature; one of the most important aspects of humanist studies, based on models of ancient text

Renaissance

A “rebirth” of classical learning and emphasis on humanity that characterized the period between 1350 and 1550

Rhetoric

The art of expression and persuasion

Brunelleschi

Florentine architect who was the first great architect of the Italian Renaissance; built first dome over Cathedral of Florence (1377-1446)

Donatello

Florentine sculptor famous for his lifelike sculptures (1386-1466)

Masaccio

(1401-1428) Florentine artist, first to start using light and shade to help achieve perspective. Also developed linear persepctive. First shown in The Tribute Money. Influence on other artists of the Ren

Francesca

Pioneered perspective, later used by da Vinci in “The Last Supper”, painter-scientific, intellectual approach, unemotional figures, neglected motion, but had a hushed serenity.

Botticelli

Florentine painter of Birth of Venus. The painting is a good example of humanism as the subject is Venus, the Roman goddess of love

Leonardo da Vinci

Italian painter, engineer, musician, and scientist. The most versatile genius of the Renaissance; filled notebooks with engineering and scientific observations that were in some cases centuries ahead of their time. As a painter Leonardo is best known for The Last Supper (c. 1495) and Mona Lisa (c. 1503).

Michelangelo

A famous painter and sculpter during the reniassance that expressed human emotions such as anger , sorrow, and strength in his paintings and sculptures. His most famous work is a mural on the ceiling of the Cistine Chapel in the vativan Palace in Rome. It cover 6000 sq. ft. and is made up of 145 seperate paintings

Humanism

A renaissance intellectual movement in which thinkers studied classical texts and focused on human potential and achievements

Lorenzo Valla

(1405-1457) Important Ren. scholar. Used methods of linguistic and historical analysis to prove that the Donation of Constantine, a document of 4th century giving pope right to rule over central Italy, was in fact an 8th century forgery. Father of modern historical criticism

Francesco Petrarch

Known as the father of Renaissance Humanism. He lived from 1304-1374 as a cleric and committed his life to humanistic pursuits and careful study of the classics. He resisted writing in the Italian vernacular except for his sonnets, which were composed to his “lady love” who spoke no Latin

Donation of Constantine

This was a fraudulent Roman imperial edict which was supposedly written by Constantine the Great. In this edict, the Pope was given the power of civil authority. Later on during the Renaissance period, this edict was proven to be fabricated

Charles VII

King of France who began his reign with most of northern France under English control. Was asked by Joan of Arc for an army to save the city of Orleans; doubted her, but gave her soldiers

Leonardo Bruni

1. First to use the term “humanism”
2. Among the most important of the civic humanists
3. Served as a chancellor in Florence
4. Wrote a history of Florence, perhaps the first modern
history, and wrote a narrative using primary source
documents and the division of historical periods

Baldassare Castiglione

Wrote The Book of The Courtier. Described the ideal of a Renaissance man who was well versed in the Greek and Roman classics, an accomplished warrior, could play music, dance, and had a modest but confident personal demeanor. It outlined the qualities of a true gentleman.

Machiavelli

(1469-1527) Wrote The Prince which contained a secular method of ruling a country. “End justifies the means.”

Chiaroscuro

The use of shading to enhance naturalness in Renaissance painting

Raphael

Contemporary and rival of Michelangelo whom he respected highly. He is famous for his portraits, religious works (especially of the Virgin Mary), fresco’s in the Vatican Palace.

Sistine Chapel

A chapel adjoining Saint Peter’s Basilica, noted for the frescoes of biblical subjects painted by Michelangelo on its walls and ceilings. The Creation is one of the notable subjects of the ceiling paintings, and the judgment day is depicted on the rear wall of the chapel.

Cosimo de’ Medici

(1389-1464) Allied with other powerful families of Florence and became unofficial ruler of the republic

Lorenzo de’ Medici

(1449-1492) Significant patron of the arts and son of Cosimo. He was the most powerful of the Medici

Peace of Lodi

(1454) Was established in order to balance the alliances between Florence and Milan and the other alliance between Venice and Naples; it only held off the decline of the Italian city-states for 40 years

Gothic

A style of architecture developed in northern France that spread throughout Europe between the 12th and 16th centuries

Ottoman Empire

Centered in Istanbul, the Turkish imperial state that conquered large amounts of land in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Balkans, and fell after World War I.

Fall of Constantinople

Finally overcome by the Ottoman turks in 1453 after constant attack by Germanic/European tribes, Persians and Muslims

Patrons

People who financially supported artists