Transcript The Renaissance in Italy

The Renaissance in Italy
1300-1500
What Was the Renaissance?
•
French for "rebirth"
• The intellectual and economic changes that occurred in
Europe from the fourteenth through the sixteenth
centuries.
• An age in which artistic, social, scientific, cultural and
political thought turned in new directions.
• Concerned with civic and moral questions, not science or
theology.
• Emphasis on individualism / individual achievement
Italian Renaissance and Christianity
• Renaissance – a cultural reaction to Christian teachings
that dominated Europe during the Dark Ages.
• Renaissance thinkers tried to reconcile the pagan
philosophy of the Greco-Roman world with Christian
beliefs: (Erasmus, Petrarch)
• Temporal world emphasized over the afterlife.
• Questioned the sanctity of the Church and clergy.
• Faith in human power over God’s grace and salvation.
• Wealth celebrated. Early Christians idealized poverty.
Why Italy?
1.
Italian intellectuals became aware of their own historical past.
Interest in the Greco-Roman achievements came alive.
2.
Roman Catholic Church – important patron of the arts / Rome was
an inspiration for the religious themes used by artists and writers.
3.
Economic – Most European trade passed through Mediterranean
Sea. Italian merchants made a fortune from growing trade of the
high Middle Ages.
* Florence became the most important center
of the Italian Renaissance. The Medici family became
the most important patrons of Florentine art. Sponsored:
- Brunelleschi, Donatello, Botticelli
Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510)
“The Adoration of the Magi “(1470-75)
Florence(Firenze), Italy
Florence
Florence
Italian Humanism
• Term used to describe Renaissance-era writers who rejected parts of
the immediate past (Dark Ages) in favor of the culture of ancient
Rome.
• Fond of Latin style of writing.
• Humanism was a concern for a civilized past. The lessons learned
from this past would lead to a more secular world.
• Humans were at the center of creativity and intellect.
• Reason and human will can be used to improve worldly conditions.
This leads to increased Utopian visions of perfection on earth.
Utopian Works of the Renaissance
•
Utopian – ideal society. The emphasis on
individual achievement and improvement of the
human condition gave rise to three important
utopian works:
1. Thomas More (1478-1535) – “Utopia” (1515)
2. Tomasso Campanella (1568-1639) – “The City of
the Sun” (1623)
3. Francis Bacon (1561-1626) – “The New Atlantis”
(1624)
Famous Humanists – Francesco
Petrarch (1304-1374)
• Born in village outside of
Florence.
• Formal education in law and
religion / real interest was in
writing & Latin Literature.
• He is famous for his sonnets to
“Laura”, a woman he never met.
• He collected manuscripts on his
travels and was a prime mover in
the recovery of knowledge from
writers of Rome and Greece.
• He worked as an ambassador
but loved literary work much
more.
Francesco Petrarch
• "Each famous author of
antiquity whom I recover places
a new offence and another cause
of dishonor to the charge of
earlier generations, who, not
satisfied with their own
disgraceful barrenness,
permitted the fruit of other
minds, and the writings that
their ancestors had produced by
toil and application, to perish
through insufferable neglect.
Although they had nothing of
their own to hand down to those
who were to come after, they
robbed posterity of its ancestral
heritage."
Famous Humanists: Giovanni
Boccaccio (1313-1375)
• Born in Paris / father from
Florence
• Was sent to Naples to study law
but preferred literature.
• Personal friend of Petrarch from
1350 until his death.
• Boccaccio shares with Petrarch
the honor of being the earliest
humanist. In their time there
were not a dozen men in Italy
who could read the works of the
Greek authors in the original.
• Most famous work: The
Decameron (1358)
Dante Aligheri (1265-1321)
• Born in Florence - composed
poetry influenced by classical and
Christian tradition.
• Greatest work was the epic poem
The Divine Comedy, 1321):
• It includes three sections: the
Inferno (Hell), in which the great
classical poet Virgil leads Dante on
a trip through hell; the Purgatorio
(Purgatory), in which Virgil leads
Dante up the mountain of
purification; and the Paradiso
(Paradise), in which Dante travels
through heaven.
Famous Humanists: Baldassare
Castiglione (1478-1529)
• Born near Mantua, Italy.
• Italian diplomat and writer.
• Most famous work: The
Courtier (1528):
• Written in the form of a
philosophical dialogue, it
describes the conduct of the
perfect courtier, the qualities of
a noble lady, and the ideal
relationships between the
courtier and his prince.
Immediately successful in Italy
and beyond, it became a manual
for those aspiring to aristocratic
manners during the
Renaissance.
Famous Humanists: Niccolo
Machiavelli (1469-1527)
• Born in Florence.
• From 1498-1513 worked for
Florentian Republican
Gov. as a diplomat.
• His political experience
led him to write “The
Prince.”
• Machiavelli wrote about
what makes a leader
successful and called for
Italian unification.
Machiavelli: Famous Quotes
• A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break
his promise.
• He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to
command.
It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot
be both.
• Politics have no relation to morals.
Opposition to the Italian
Renaissance: Girolamo Savonarola
(1452-1498)
• Most Italians WERE NOT immediately affected
by the Renaissance.
• Those who opposed the Renaissance opposed it
on religious and moral grounds. They were led
by SAVONAROLA.
Girolamo Savonarola (1452-1498)
End of the Renaissance in Italy
• Italy remained politically divided:
1. Rivalry between Italian city-states
2. Italian Wars (1494-1527) between Spain &
France kept Italy divided between major
powers.
• 1527 – Rome was sacked by Spanish troops. Spain
briefly controlled Italy.
Savonarola: Views
• He railed at the people, exhorting them to return
to the ways of the Church.
• He painted horrific pictures of Hell and
damnation which easily rivaled those poor souls
who gnashed their teeth, pulled their hair and
defiled their bodies in Dante's Inferno.