Early Renaissance period
1300-1400
define renaissance
a cultural movement that represents new ideas, a change from the middle ages
What is considered to be the beginning of the modern period?
Renaissance
define reformation
religious revolution/rebellion against the catholic church, leading to the creation of new christian churches
How did the renaissance view the individual and what impact did this have on Western views of the roles of men ad women?
Beginning with the Renaissance, the world beings to divide with men playing a more public role and women playing a more domestic role
renaissance timeline
1300-1600
Who was the “father of the Renaissance”
Petrarch
What does the word Renaissance mean?
rebirth of culture
What was the renaissance?
rebirth of interest in the world inspired by Greece and Rome
During the renaissance, there was a desire to balance both ________ and _________.
spirituality, worldliness
How did the people of the renaissance view the middle ages?
they saw the medieval period as a destruction/distraction of humanity
The people of the renaissance believed that the middle ages were too focused on ________.
religion
In the middle ages, there was a lack of _______.
education
The middle ages was also known as (2)
The dark ages, the age of faith
Describe why the middle ages can be referred to as the “age of faith”
There was a strong importance of religion. They focused on salvation and they rejected the world.
How did people of the middle ages view the man and human nature?
They believed in the sinfulness of man, and the frailty of human nature.
How did the middle ages view one’s place in the world?
They believed that all of creation was rigidly in one spot and you can never change your spot in the world
What happened to culture in the renaissance?
There was a cultural revival
The Renaissance believed in a balance of what?
reason and faith (living in THIS world)
The “balance of reason and faith” during the renaissance focused on what?
living in this world
During the Renaissance, how did they view human possibilities?
They believed there was a limitless of human possibility (the “wonder” of man)
For people of the Renaissance, life was about …
being all that you can be
Leonardo Bruni can be credited with
Humanitas
Leonardo Bruni used the word Humanitas to…
describe a system of education designed to produce an excellent individual
What is Italy’s political stance during the beginning of the Renaissance?
Italy is divided politically, it doesn’t have one political area
What was italy divided into?
city states and small kingdoms
What we three key city states in Italy?
Florence, Venice, Rome (Papal states)
Rome was also known as what?
the Papal states
Least affluent area in Italy?
Naples
Why Italy first?
problems in northern europe (lingering of the middle ages), geography, trade, merchant patrons, church patronage, spirit of competition, surrounding of classical past
What were some problems in Northern Europe during the beginning of the renaissance?
wars never ended, peasant uprisings, black plague was harder to overcome
Why was the location of Italy significant?
their location in the center of the mediterranean allowed them to explore the seas
Who could Italy trade with because of their location in the Mediterranean?
Byzantine empire and Arabs
The location of Italy created…
a stable class of merchants
Trade links Italy with whom?
Byzantine and Islam (the east)
Who were the wealthy people who supported the renaissance?
merchant patrons
You were considered what by supporting/patronizing art?
Renaissance Gentleman
How was the church significant in Italy?
money would accumulate because the center of the church was in rome, the church could then spend this money on art (the presence of the Church aided Italy)
What was the “spirit of competition” in Italy?
There was a competition between city states in Italy, they each wanted the best art and architecture. This made each city prosper as competition got stronger.
What does it mean when you say Italy was “surrounded by the classical past”?
Roman ruins were located in the artists hometowns, Italy itself provided inspiration for artists
Why did Italy decline?
Atlantic Powers, fall of Constantinople, Invasions, political systems/nationalism
Why were the Atlantic powers a threat?
Italy was unable to compete with the 5 powerful countries, they couldn’t even unify themselves as one country
When was the fall of Constantinople?
1453
What was the fall of Constantinople?
Italy lose trading power
Constantinople was the capital of what?
the byzantine empire
When did Italy loose a lot of trading goods?
when Constantinople fell to the turks
Where is the portrait of Jesus located?
the books of kells (c. 800)
“Jesus” was painted by who?
Michelangelo
When was “Jesus” by Michelangelo painted?
the late renaissance, 1541
t/f: Medieval art is “flat”
true
t/f: Medieval art is very relaxed, renaissance art is more stiff
False (Medieval art is stiff, renaissance art is relaxed)
Characteristics of Medieval Art:
individuals as religious symbols, lack of perspective (flat), no shading (dimension), little interest in showing the natural world
Characteristics of Renaissance Art:
the humanity of religious subjects, accurate perspective, use of dark and light, natural world shown accurately, impacted by Greece and Rome
this technique created an illusion of depth
linear perspective
What experiment proved linear perspective?
Brunelleschi’s experiment
Explain chiaroscuro
use shading and shadows to show depth
Explain sfumato
smokey, distant objects indistinct, close objects distinct
What is a fresco?
a painting over fresh plaster (Italian for “fresh”)
When was the early renaissance?
1300-1400
Who was the earliest renaissance artist?
Giotto
What did Giotto paint?
“Lamentation over the Dead Christ” (c. 1310)
When was the high renaissance?
1490-1530
Who painted the Mona Lisa?
Leonardo da Vinci
What does the Mona Lisa show?
sfumato, chiaroscuro, power of individualism
Who painted the Last Supper?
Leonardo da Vinci
What were Leonard’s greatest works?
Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, (& also, his notebooks)
Pope Julius Caesar told this person to come to Rome
Michelangelo
preferred sculpting to painting
Michelangelo
Painted the sistine chapel ceiling
Michelangelo
Michelangelo combines what two types of art?
classical and traditional christian
Who painted the last judgement?
Michelangelo
Who sculpted “David”?
Michelangelo
Where was “david” sculpted?
Florence
Who sculpted the Pieta?
Michelangelo
What is the only piece Michelangelo has ever signed?
the Pieta
Who designed the Dome of St. peter’s Basilica in Rome?
Michelangelo
Who designed the dome of florence cathedral (duomo)
Brunelleschi
first domed building to be constructed in the modern western world since the roman times
dome of florence cathedral (duomo)
What were some of Michelangelo’s famous works?
The sistine chapel ceiling, the last judgement (also in the sistine chapel), the statue of David, the statue the “pieta”
Who painted Madonna of the chair?
Raphael
Who painted Madonna of the meadow?
Raphael
Who painted the school of Athens?
Raphael
What did the school of Athens celebrate?
The great Greek philosophers, scientists, and mathematicians
Who were the two central figures in “the school of athens”?
Plato and Aristotle
Raphael used _________ features to model plato
Leonardo da Vinci’s
humanism
a cultural and intellectual movement of the Renaissance that emphasized human potential to attain excellence and promoted direct study of literature, art, and civilization of classical Greece and Rome
describe the influence of humanism on Renaissance writers
Authors during the renaissance constantly wrote about the Greeks and how we should strive to be more like them
Embraced the idea known as civic humanism – valued a sense of civic responsibility and active engagement with the world
What role did Florence play in the Italian Renaissance?
Florence –
– Center of trade and production
– Banking – it was the commercial and financial center of Europe
– Earliest center of Renaissance culture
– Great wealth
What role did Venice play in the Italian Renaissance?
Venice –
– Center of Italian maritime and military power
– Venice Arsenal – ship building and weapons factory (“largest industrial complex in Europe)
– Venice controlled over 3,000 merchant ships which let them dominate trade over the Mediterranean Sea
Note the political and economic factors that brought Italy’s dominance to an end.
– City states faced successive waves of invasion by the armies of France and Spain
– The rise of the Atlantic powers led to the closing of economic opportunities
In what historical context did Machiavelli write The Prince and how does this explain his purpose? How does Discourses contrast with The Prince?
– Machiavelli wrote The Prince during the 1500’s when Italy was fighting against armies of the Atlantic Powers. This explains his purpose, he wanted to end the self-destructive feuding among Italian states so that a united Italy could drive out all foreign armies. He advised rulers to be ruthless and all-powerful.
– Discourses contrasts with The Prince because Machiavelli talks about how power should not be in the hands of a single prince, instead, it should be in the hands of the people.
What are some key general characteristics of Renaissance Art?
sfumato, chiaroscuro, human, shows the natural world, life-like (realistic)
What makes Giotto, in the opinion of many art historians the earliest Renaissance painter?
Giotto is considered to be one of the earliest Renaissance by many art historians because he expressed a clear break with the past in his works.
How did Masaccio advance the techniques of modern painting?
Masaccio advanced the techniques of modern painting by bringing a precision to his use of perspective and through the use of light and shadows to give his figures depth and dimension.
Who were the three great masters of the High Renaissance? Note their most iconic works.
1. Leonardo da Vinci
– Mona Lisa
– Last Supper
2. Michelangelo
– Sistine Chapel ceiling
– The last judgment
3. Raphael
– Madonna of the Chair
– Madonna of the Meadow
Why does the Renaissance shift from Rome to Venice in the 1500s? What change in style is noticeable?
– The Renaissance shifts from Rome to Venice in the 1500’s because Rome was being attacked by the Spanish, and it never fully recovered.
– Venice had a artistic golden age in which artists used brighter colors, complex designs, and exotic settings and subjects
4 renaissance writers were…
Francesco Petrarch, Pico della Mirandola, Baldassare Castiglione, Niccolo Machiavelli
challenged the individual to be of use in this world
civic humanism
Father of Italian Humanism
Francesco Petrarch
What did Francesco Petrarch write?
“Sonnets to Laura”, “Letters to the Ancient Dead” , “Praise of Antiquity”
Petrarch was the first modern…
“poet laureate”
What did Pico della Mirandela write?
“Oration on the Dignity of Man”
Praises the unique capacity of humans granted by God
Pico della Mirandola
What did Baldassare Castiglione write?
“The Book of Courtier”
This writer discussed the ideal renaissance gentleman
Baldassare Castiglione
define Renaissance Man
education began with classics, able to speak and write well and to be knowledgeable, understood latin and greek, lucid fullness of knowledge
What was a political connection Italian humanists made with the Greeks?
Italian politics resembled the city states of Greece (the peninsula was divided into small independent states)
What held back larger states of northwestern europe during the 1300 and 1400’s?
a cooling climate (shortened growing seasons) and the hundred years war
Italy was a ______ for new ideas and influences because of it’s geographic location
crossroads
By the 1400’s ____ was the most “dazzling” city state.
Florence
define civic virtue:
the ability to act decisively and heroically for the good of their country
Who wanted to end self-destructing feuding among italian states so that a reunited italy could drive all foreign armies out?
Machiavelli
What did Machiavelli write?
“The Prince” (1513) and “Discourses” (1521)
What was written in the prince?
advice to rulers to discover the advantages of ruthlessness,
Why had Machiavelli been misinterpreted?
His cold practical view of the relationship between morality and politics
define Machiavellian
a synonym for ruthlessness and deceitfulness in the pursuit of power
In this writing, Machiavelli argued that power should not be in the hands of a single prince, but in the hands of the people
Discourses
The second renaissance artist
Masaccio
During the high renaissance, who was the leader?
popes
Two famous works of Sandro Botticelli…
“La primavera” and “Birth of Jesus”
most noted for his harmoniously beautiful paintings, particularly his portraits of the Virgin
Raphael
When was rome invaded?
1527
Who invaded rome?
EMperaor Charles V of Spain
_____ reached it’s artistic golden age as ____ declined
Venice, Rome