Transcript Slide 1
• Used for mural paintings
• Painted on wet plaster
Renaissance
Humanism
The Basics
• What is humanism?
– A cultural and intellectual movement of the Renaissance that
emphasized secular concerns as a result of the rediscovery and study of
the literature, art, and civilization of ancient Greece and Rome.
– humans are of primary importance
– significance of human dignity, human concerns and human capabilities
So Renaissance humanism is…
• “Renaissance Humanism is the spirit of learning
that developed at the end of the middle ages
with the revival of classical letters and a renewed
confidence in the ability of human beings to
determine for themselves truth and falsehood. ”
Humanist Scholars
• shaped the intellectual landscape throughout the early modern period
• sought to create a citizenry (including, sometimes, women) able to
speak and write with eloquence and clarity
• they would be capable of better engaging the civic life of their
communities and persuading others to virtuous and prudent actions
• This was to be accomplished through the study of the studia
humanitatis, today known as the humanities: grammar, rhetoric,
history, poetry and moral philosophy
Political philosophers
• Niccolo Machiavelli
• He was a diplomat, political philosopher, playwright, and a
civil servant of the Florentine Republic
• He also wrote comedies, carnival songs, poetry, and some
of the most well-known personal correspondence in the
Italian language
• Thomas More
• revived the ideas of Greek and Roman thinkers, and
applied them in critiques of contemporary government
Political Philosophers
• Matteo Palmieri
• known for his work Della vita civile ("On Civic Life";
printed 1528) which advocated civic humanism
• Pico della Mirandola
• wrote what is often considered the manifesto of the
Renaissance, a vibrant defence of thinking, the Oration on
the Dignity of Man
Renaissance Humanism and
Shakespeare
• Shakespeare was a humanist
• He shared the Renaissance desire to seek the truth about human
nature
• believed firmly in his ideas about human nature and our place among
the order of the universe
• He was a believer, a liberal Christian, but had the characteristics of a
Renaissance humanist
Humanism in Shakespeare
• Much Ado About Nothing
– Renaissance ideals are explored and integrated into the fabric of the
story and the personalities of the central characters
– Women are not confined to the more traditional role of objects and
their position is more elevated than what one might see in earlier
literature
– An increased emphasis on human potential and beauty—both physical
and verbal
Humanism in Shakespeare
• Hamlet
– His mind and view point was influenced by the atmosphere of the current
notion
– Hamlet has a thirst for knowledge and learning, being reported as an avid
reader, and he is free and independent enough to apply his own judgment to
what he reads
– Hamlet’s speech in Act II, “What a piece of work is a man! How noble in
reason, how infinite in faculty, in form and moving how express and
admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god—the
beauty of the world, the paragon of animals!” (II.ii.293–297) is directly based
upon one of the major texts of the Italian humanists, Pico della Mirandola’s
Oration on the Dignity of Man
Humanism in Shakespeare
• The Tempest
– Prospero is a metaphor for the civilizing power of the artist and
educator whose 'liberal arts' tame the tempests in the human spirit
– He exhibits the ennobling qualities of compassion, generosity,
friendship and wisdom.
Questions?
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What is fresco?
What are the two main types of sculpture?
What are the characteristics of humanism?
How were Shaspeare’s plays humanist plays?
Works Cites
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http://schoolworkhelper.net/2010/11/exploring-the-renaissance/
http://www.articlemyriad.com/177.htm
http://madsciencepro.com/wordpress/
http://www.answers.com/topic/humanism
http://newhumanist.org.uk/1262/thinker-william-shakespeare
http://shallon.glogster.com/renaissance/
http://faculty.umf.maine.edu/walter.sargent/public.www/web%202
30/unit%201%20old%20worlds.html
• http://madsciencepro.com/wordpress/
• http://www.saylor.org/site/wpcontent/uploads/2011/08/ENGL401-1.2.2-RenaissanceHumanismand-Shakespeare.pdf
• http://greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetchmsg.tcl?msg_id=00C9O6