Transcript 1. new interest in the classics = politics, art

The Dark Ages
Chapter 13
“European Society in the Age of the
Renaissance”
1420-1545
AP EUROPEAN HISTORY
MR. RICK PURRINGTON
MARSHALL HIGH SCHOOL
Europe 1500
I. What was the Renaissance?
A. “Re-birth”
1. new interest in the classics = politics, art,
literature, architecture
2. increased wealth, education, population
II. The Evolution of the Renaissance
A. Italy–Economic, Political, Cultural center of the Ren
1. Ren. Economy in Italy = strong
a) “all roads lead to Rome”
b) Venice = sea commerce = wealth
c) Florence = wool trade, banking,
art, architecture, literature
d) Florentine Banking Families
- Medici = God’s bankers =
wealth and power
Cosimo
de’Medici
Florence, Italy
Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore
III.
The Renaissance “Isms”
A. Humanism
1. a desire for new learning
2. to understand human nature – why
humans act as they do
3. “humans are between “angels and
beasts.”
4. human potential is limitless
5. the human body is divinely inspired
6. Rebirth of classical studies
a) Study of Ancient Greek and
Roman texts, ideas with a Christian
perspective
B. The Printed Word
1. Printing before the Ren.
a) Chinese block printing – expensive, slow
2. 1454 - Johann Gutenberg
a) First Printing Press – moveable type
b) Books now mass-produced
c) 1455 -- Gutenberg Bible
3. Impact of the Printing Press
a) stimulated literacy
b) ideas and information spread
5. Humanists – education helps reach human
potential
a) 1528 -- Castiglione’s The Courtier
1) “The Renaissance Man” – has a
strong background in many
academic, physical, and
spiritual subjects
b) 1513 -- Machiavelli’s The Prince
a) most widely read Ren book
b) subject: how the ruler should
gain, maintain, and increase
political power
c) humans are selfish
d) “the ends justify the means”
e) must be “a fox and lion”
“For a man who, in all respects, will carry out only
his professions of good, will be apt to be ruined
amongst so many who are evil. A prince
therefore who desires to maintain himself must
learn to be not always good, but to be so or not
as necessity may require. It is much more safe
to be feared than loved.”
“View what IS not
what ought to be.”
The Prince, Machiavelli
B. Secularism
1. Increased wealth brought more concern w/
material world than spiritual world
2. Usury – lending money, charging interest
is against scripture but became common
3. Life is to be enjoyed, not a painful
pilgrimage
4. Why? The Church’s lessened prestige:
a) The Black Death
b) The Great Schism
c) in heresy
5. Focus turns to present and less on the
afterlife
C. Individualism
1. Spotlight is shined on the individual
2. Celebration of the genius
a) increase in # of portraits painted
b) art is now signed on the front
c) the artist is as important as the art
IV. Renaissance Art
A. The “isms” captured in Ren. Art
1. Humanism – classical heroes, beautiful
bodies
2. Secularism - nudes ok in religious
works
3. Individualism - were paid $$ for their
work
B. Emphasis on ‘real’ art
1. 3D perspective for depth
2. brighter, bolder colors
3. shading of lights and darks
4. on canvas not wood
Renaissance Artists Hall of Fame:
Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper”
Renaissance Artists Hall of Fame:
Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Mona Lisa”
Renaissance Artists Hall of Fame:
Michelangelo’s “Pieta”
Renaissance Artists Hall of Fame:
Raphael’s “School of Athens”
V. The Renaissance in Northern Eu
A. Differences in the N
1. More religious, less secular
2. A combination of classic and religious virtues
a) classics = calm, patience, open thinking
b) religious = love, faith, hope
4. 1516-Thomas More Utopia
a) describes the ideal society
b) learning, social equality, shared profits,
wars prevented w/gold
c) no greed, no corrupt institutions
5. 1504-ErasmusThe Education of a Christian Prince
a) education (study of Bible and classics)
can bring positive change
b) the goal is to live like Jesus Christ