Baldassare Castiglione
social writer; The Courtier, a book describing the ideal “Renaissance Man”
Michelangelo
sculptor; poet; architect; painter; David sculpture; painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling
Donatello
classical sculptor; free-standing sculpture of DAVID
Leonardo da Vinci
painter; inventor; scientist; MONA LISA; THE LAST SUPPER; known as “The Renaissance Man”
Raphael Sanzio
classical painter; SCHOOL OF ATHENS (S.P.A. were hidden in the painting, as well as himself and Michelangelo)
Sofonisba Anguissola
woman; painted portraits of her sisters; one painting had women playing chess; 1st woman to gain international reputation
Artemisia Gentileschi
woman; trained with and helped painter father; painted strong women; humanist painter
Giovanni Boccaccio
Italian writer; individualist; humanist; he wrote everything we know about Dante; DECAMERON (10 people hiding from the plague and each night a different person has to tell a story. Comparable to 1,001 Arabian Nights)
Niccolo Machiavelli
political writer and diplomat; THE PRINCE (examines imperfect conduct of humans and how rulers gain power and keep it); “the end always justifies the means” “lie, cheat, & kill” “it’s better to be feared than loved”
Vittoria Colonna
woman; poet; exchanged sonnets with Michelangelo; helped publish THE COURTIER
Albert Dürer
German painter; main person to bring Renaissance ideas from Italy to North Europe; produced woodcuts and engravings; religious subjects and realistic landscapes
Hans Holbein
German painter of portraits; moved to England and painted King Henry VIII; paintings are almost photographic in detail; inspired by Dürer
Jan van Eyck
Flemish painter; developed oil-based paintings which is still used today; unusually realistic painter
Pieter Bruegel
humanist, realistic painter; painted peasant/everyday life, big groups, weddings, dances, harvests; rich, vivid colors
Desiderius Erasmus
Christian humanist of Holland; THE PRAISE OF FOLLY; believed that Christianity was something of the heart, that people should not trust what the Church told them and everyone should study the Bible for themselves
Sir Thomas More
Christian humanist of England; King Henry VIII’s BFFL; UTOPIA (“no place”) – the ideal world; wrote in Latin
Christine de Pizan
woman; 1st woman to make a living out of writing; spoke out against only sons going to school; THE BOOK OF THE CITY OF LADIES; she asked why men and women are treated differently
William Shakespeare
English playwright/writer/poet; showed human flaws in his plays (tradgedies and comedies)
Johann Gutenberg
developed a printing press; first book printed was the Bible (THE GUTENBERG BIBLE); books were then cheaper so a lot more people could buy them and so, the literacy rate went up
