Transcript The Renaissance

Renaissance
Means “rebirth,” specifically the
revival of art and learning where
educated men and women in Italy
hoped to bring back the culture and
life of classical Greece and Rome.
Renaissance
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1300s-1600s
“rebirth” of art and learning
“rebirth” of Greek/Roman ideas
Impact of the Renaissance still seen today
Life Before the Renaissance
 Uncertain life: war, plague, economic
insecurity
 Christian Church dominant force
 Most life centered on rural areas
 Art had mainly religious themes, very flat
and dull
 After the plague/wars people wanted more
free life guided by Carpe Diem
Birth of the Renaissance
 Started in Italy: Why?
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Trade increased after the crusades.
Italians dominated trade.
Thriving city-states
Wealthy merchant class emerged.
 Many became patrons: supporters of the arts
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Medici family
 Powerful merchant family in Florence (controlled
politics)
 Strong supporters of the arts.
 Collected art, ancient manuscripts, opened libraries
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Inspired by Roman ruins, art, literature.
Greek ideas reintroduced through trade routes
Why did the Renaissance
Begin in Italy?
Thriving Cities (City-States)
 Overseas trade had led to the growth of large city-states in
northern Italy
 Cities are often places where people exchange ideas – ideal
breeding ground for an intellectual revolution
 1300’s – bubonic plague hit these cities hard, bringing
economic changes (with fewer available laborers, the
survivors could demand higher wages)
 Merchants do not have as much opportunities to expand
business, so they pursue other interests (i.e. art)
Why did the Renaissance
Begin in Italy?
A Wealthy Merchant Class
 Wealthy merchant class in each city-state controlled politics
 Merchants did NOT inherit their social rank
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they worked toward their status by succeeding in business by
using their wits
/
many believed the deserved the power and wealth because they
had worked for it
Belief in individual achievement became
important during the Renaissance!!
Why did the Renaissance
Begin in Italy?
The Classical Heritage of Greece and Rome
 Scholars shunned art and literature from the Middle Ages,
and wanted to return to the learning of the Greeks and
Romans
Niccolò Machiavelli
 The Prince (1513) – examines the
imperfect conduct of human beings
(a political guidebook)
(1)How could the changes
led
to can
thegain
Examinesthat
how a
ruler
power and keep it in spite of his
rise of Florence help
influence
enemies
Machiavelli’s ideas?
/
People are selfish, fickle, and
corrupt
(2)Who are examples/ of“The
“Machiavellian”
end justifies the means.”
(not concerned with what is
politicians that you know
morallyof?
right, but what is
politically effective)
(3)How “Machiavellian”
are you?
/
Leaders
had to trick and mislead
people and lie to opponents
sometimes – must be crafty
enough to overcome the suspicions
and to gain the trust of others
Rise of Humanism
IMPORTANT VOCABULARY ALERT!!
Humanism: intellectual movement that focused on
human potential and achievements
 The Classics Lead to Humanism
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Inspired by the study of classical texts in order to
understand ancient Greek values
Popularized the study of subjects common to classical
education
(i.e. history, literature, and philosophy –
the “HUMANITIES”)
Renaissance Ideas
 Humanism:
Focus on Human potential
 Worldliness (secular)- people focused on the
materialism of the time, instead of a primarily
religious life.
 Learning: development of universities
 Antiquity (Classicism): authority of ancient world
respected: Greece/Rome
 Reform: Humans can change for the better.
Petrarch
 An Italian scholar, poet, and
one of the earliest Renaissance
humanists ("father of
humanism")
 Believed one must turn from the
outer world of nature to the
inner world of 'soul'
 Famous Lines – “nothing is
wonderful but the soul”; “we
look about us for what is to be
found only within”
Dante
 Italian poet from Florence
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Central Work – Divina Commedia
"Father of the Italian language"
 Embraced individuality and happiness
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Man's duty is to attempt to achieve
earthly happiness and everlasting life
 Worked in the vernacular instead of
the formal Latin language
 Mark a transition to a new way of
thinking about humanity
Desiderius Erasmus
“The Prince of the Humanists”
 Christian Humanist (Holland)
 Advocated reform within the
Church through his satirical
works
 Believed in…
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Christianity of the heart
All human evils were rooted in
ignorance and infatuation and
therefore education of
humanity was the essential
task of his life
Christianity was not only as a
religion and doctrine of
salvation, but also as a guide to
moral life
The Move to Worldly Values
Worldly Pleasures
/ While most people remained devout Catholics,
the basic spirit of the Renaissance society was
SECULAR (concerned with the HERE and NOW!!)
/ Even church leaders became worldly, living in
elaborate houses and mansions, throwing lavish
banquets, and wearing expensive clothes
The Move to Worldly Values
Patron of the Arts
/ PATRONS – financial supporters
/ Church leaders – Funded the
beautification of Rome by spending a lot
of money for art
/ Wealthy merchants – paid to have their
portraits made or donated art to the city
to place in public squares (demonstrating
their own importance)
The Move to Worldly Values
 The Renaissance Man
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A man who excelled in many fields praised as a
universal man” – later to be called “Renaissance
man”
Characteristics According to Castiglione (The
Courtier)
 Witty, charming, and well educated in the classics
 Should dance, sing, play music, and write poetry
 Skilled rider, wrestler, and swordsman
T he Renaissance “Man”
 Broad knowledge about many things in
different fields.
 Deep knowledge/skill in one area.
 Able to link information from different
areas/disciplines and create new
knowledge.
 The Greek ideal of the “well-rounded
man” was at the heart of Renaissance
education.
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Leonardo da Vinci
Michelangelo
Donatello
Raphael
1. Realism &
Expression
 Expulsion from
the Garden
 Masaccio
 1427
 First nudes since
classical times.
2. Perspective
 The Trinity
Perspective!
Perspective!
Perspective!
Perspective!
Perspective!
Perspective!
 Masaccio
 1427
Perspective!
First use
of linear
perspective!
What you are,
I once was;
what I am,
you will
become.
3. Classicism
 Greco-Roman
influence.
 Secularism.
 Humanism.
 Individualism
free
standing figures.
 Symmetry/Balance
The “Classical Pose”
Medici “Venus” (1c)
4. Empasis on Individualism
 Batista Sforza & Federico de Montefeltre: The
Duke & Dutchess of Urbino
 Piero della Francesca, 1465-1466.
Isabella d’Este – da Vinci, 1499
 1474-1539
 “First Lady of
the Italian
Renaissance.”
 Great patroness
of the arts in
Mantua.
 Known during her
time as “First
Lady of the
World!”
5. Geometrical Arrangement of
Figures
 The Dreyfus
Madonna
with the
Pomegranate
 Leonardo da
Vinci
 1469
 The figure as
architecture!
6. Light & Shadowing/Softening Edges
Sfumato
Chiaroscuro
7. Artists as Personalities/Celebrities
 Lives of the Most
Excellent
Painters,
Sculptors, and
Architects
 Giorgio Vasari
 1550
T he Liberation of
Sculpture
 David by Donatello
 1430
 First free-form bronze
since Roman times!
David
Verrocchio
1473 - 1475
Leonardo da Vinci
“Renaissance Man”
His work was so realistic, that people have tried to explain thoughts and
personalities through the facial expressions
Leonardo da Vinci
“Renaissance Man”
He was also known for his work in anatomy, engineering, and
mathematics.
Anatomical study
of the arm, (c. 1510)
A design for a flying machine, (c. 1488)
 Vitruvian Man
 Leonardo da
Vinci
 1492
T he
L’uomo
universale
1. Self-Portrait -- da Vinci,
1512
 Artist
 Sculptor
 Architect
 Scientist
 Engineer
 Inventor
1452 - 1519
Leonardo, the
Artist
 The Virgin of
the Rocks
 Leonardo da
Vinci
 1483-1486
Leonardo, the Artist:
From hisNotebooks of over 5000 pages (1508-1519)
Mona Lisa – da Vinci, 1503-4
A Macaroni Mona
A Picasso Mona
An Andy Warhol Mona
A “Mona”ca Lewinsky
Mona Lisa OR da Vinci??
T he Last Supper - da Vinci, 1498
& Geometry
Refractory
Convent of
Santa Maria
delle Grazie
Milan
vertical
T he Last Supper - da Vinci, 1498
horizontal
Perspective!
Deterioration
 Detail of
Jesus
 The Last
Supper
 Leonardo da
Vinci
 1498
A Da Vinci “Code”:
St. John or Mary Magdalene?
Leonardo, the Sculptor
 An
Equestrian
Statue
 1516-1518
Leonardo, the Architect:
Pages from his Notebook
 Study of a
central church.
 1488
Leonardo, the Architect:
Pages from his Notebook
 Plan of the city of Imola, 1502.
Leonardo, the Scientist (Biology):
Pages from his Notebook
 An example of
the humanist
desire to unlock
the secrets of
nature.
Leonardo, the Scientist (Anatomy):
Pages from his Notebook
Leonardo, the Inventor:
Pages from his Notebook
Man Can Fly?
Leonardo, the Engineer:
Pages from his Notebook
A study of siege defenses.
Studies of water-lifting
devices.
Leonardo da Vinci….
O investigator, do not flatter
yourself that you know the
things nature performs for
herself, but rejoice in knowing
that purpose of those things
designed by your own mind.
Michelangelo Buonarroti
used realistic style when depicting the human form
2. Michelangelo Buonorrati
 1475 – 1564
 He represented
the body in
three
dimensions of
sculpture.
 David
 Michelangelo
Buonarotti
 1504
 Marble
15c
What
a
difference
a
century
makes!
16c
T he Popes as Patrons of the Arts
 The Pieta
 Michelangelo
Buonarroti
 1499
 marble
T he Sistine
Chapel
Michelangelo
Buonarroti
1508 - 1512
T he Sistine Chapel’s Ceiling
Michelangelo Buonarroti
1508 - 1512
T he Sistine Chapel Details
The
Creation
of the
Heavens
T he Sistine Chapel Details
Creation of Man
A Modern “Adaptation”
Joe Gallo in the New York Daily News, 2004
T he Sistine Chapel Details
The Fall
from
Grace
T he Sistine Chapel Details
The Last Judgment
Architecture
 Before
AFTER
 Filippo Brunelleschi
1377 - 1436
 Architect
 Cuppolo of St. Maria
del Fiore
Filippo Brunelleschi
 Commissioned to
build the
cathedral dome.
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Used unique
architectural
concepts.
 He studied the
ancient
Pantheon in
Rome.
 Used ribs for
support.
Brunelleschi’s Dome
Dome Comparisons
Il Duomo
(Florence)
St. Peter’s
(Rome)
St. Paul’s
(London)
US capital
(Washington)
Comparing Domes
T he Baptism of Christ
Verrocchio, 1472 - 1475
Leonardo
da Vinci
3. Raffaello Sanzio (1483-1520)
Self-Portrait, 1506
Portrait of the Artist with
a Friend, 1518
Perspective!
Betrothal
of the
Virgin
Raphael
1504
Raphael’s Canagiani Madonna, 1507
Raphael’s Madonnas (1)
Sistine Madonna
Cowpepper Madonna
Raphael’s Madonnas (2)
Madonna della Sedia
Alba Madonna
T he School of Athens – Raphael, 1510 -11
 One point perspective.
 All of the important Greek philosophers
and thinkers are included
all of the
great personalities of the Seven Liberal
Arts!
 A great variety of poses.
 Located in the papal apartments library.
 Raphael worked on this commission
simultaneously as Michelangelo was doing
the Sistine Chapel.
 No Christian themes here.
T he School of Athens – Raphael, 1510 -11
Da Vinci
Raphael
Michelangelo
T he School of Athens – Raphael, details
Plato:
looks to the
heavens [or
the IDEAL
realm].
Aristotle:
looks to this
earth [the
here and
now].
Hypatia
Pythagoras
Zoroaster
Ptolemy
Euclid
T he Liberation of St. Peter by
Raphael, 1514
Portrait of Pope Julius II
by Raphael, 1511-1512
 More concerned with
politics than with
theology.
 The “Warrior Pope.”
 Great patron of
Renaissance artists,
especially Raphael &
Michelangelo.
 Died in 1513
4. Donatello
Primavera – Botticelli, 1482
Depicted classical gods as almost
naked and life-size.