Transcript The Renaissance

The Early Modern Period

“Early Modern”? (ca. 1500-1800)
 Followed
Middle Ages
 Traits in Europe
 Movement
toward secular state
 Divided Western Christianity
 Growing emphasis on science
 World
becoming more global, more dominated
by Europe
The Renaissance
The Renaissance
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When you hear “The Renaissance”…
 What
do you think of?
 What do you understand it to be?
 Does it pop up in culture at all?
Origins and Humanism
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The Renaissance
 “Rebirth”
of culture
and heritage of GrecoRoman antiquity
 Italian Origins
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Wealth
Remnants and ruins of
ancient world
Flourished throughout
peninsula
Origins and Humanism
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Humanism
 Emphasized
study of form and content of classical
learning
 Goal: recapture culture of ancient world 
improvement of individuals and society
 Interests of Humanists
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Liberal arts
Latin and Greek
Classical documents
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“Ad fontes!”
Origins and Humanism
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Francesco Petrarch
(1304-1374)
 Renowned
humanist
 Hated Middle Ages!
 Encouraged revival of
classical studies
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Wrote in classical Latin
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Africa
Searched for ancient
manuscripts
Origins and Humanism
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Lorenzo Valla
(1407-1457)
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Major humanist, linguist
On the False Donation of
Constantine (1444)
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Response to Donation of
Constantine
Valla’s Observations
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Latin here not used until
after Constantine
Exposed Donation as
early medieval fraud
Origins and Humanism
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“Civic Humanism”
 Some
humanists became involved in public
affairs
 Literary talents  promote city
 Focused on morality and ethics as applied in
civic sphere
Goal: inspire “virtuous men” to take leading roles in
communities
 Follow examples of antiquity and Christianity
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Origins and Humanism
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Niccolò Machiavelli
(1469-1527)
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Florentine chancellor
Met important international
leaders  “experience”
The Prince (1513)
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Manual for despots on
gaining and holding power
Prince might have to be
immoral
Lion and the fox
“Virtue” in politics is
ambiguous!
“Political realism”
Origins and Humanism
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Questions?
Italian Art and Architecture
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Medieval Traditions
 Mostly
spiritual
iconography
 Paintings influenced
by Byzantine style
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Stiff, solemn figures
Shallow, flat space
Golden skies!
 Gothic
architecture
Madonna and Child (early 13th cent.)
Italian Art and Architecture
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Renaissance Art
 Artists’ goals
 Imitate nature
 Revive classical idealism
 Capture sense of “individual”
 Iconography can now be “secular”  portraiture rediscovered
 GIOTTO (ca. 1266-1337)
 Traits of his work: naturalism, individuality, corporeality,
emotion
 Greatest paintings in Arena Chapel, Padua (1304-06)
Italian Art and Architecture
Italian Art and Architecture
The Lamentation, Arena Chapel
Italian Art and Architecture
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Linear Perspective
 Goal:
create illusion of
3D
 Observations of Artists
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Parallel lines
“converge” as they
recede into the distance
Objects’ sizes vary
depending on distance
from viewer
Italian Art and Architecture
Masaccio, Holy Trinity (1427)
Italian Art and Architecture
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Donatello (1386-1466)
 Studied
classical
statues in Rome
 David (1428-1432)
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Bronze
First freestanding, lifesized nude since
antiquity
Renaissance Traits
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Classical nude male
Movement
Calm, ideal beauty
Italian Art and Architecture
Marcus Aurelius (ca. 175)
Donatello, Il Gattamelata (1453)
Padua, Italy
Italian Art and Architecture
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Leonardo (1452-1519)
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Student of nature
Quintessential
“Renaissance Man”
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Self-portrait (ca. 1512)
Artist
Art theorist
Architect
Musician
Scientist
Engineer
So many projects  few
ever got done!
Italian Art and Architecture
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The Last Supper (ca. 1495-98)
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Mural
Subject: announcement of coming betrayal of Christ, Last Supper
Renaissance traits
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Perspective
Individuality
Italian Art and Architecture
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The Mona Lisa
(1503-05)
 Portrait
of Florentine
merchant’s wife Donna
Lisa
 Individualized, yet
idealized!
 Ambiguous smile!
Italian Art and Architecture
Italian Art and Architecture
Embryo in the Womb (ca. 1510)
The Virtruvian Man (1490)
Italian Art and Architecture
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Michelangelo
(1475-1564)
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Trained in Florence
“Renaissance Man”
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Sculptor
Painter
Architect
Poet
Engineer
Studied classical models
Italian Art and Architecture
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The Pietà (ca. 1500)
 Subject:
Virgin Mary
cradling dead Christ
after crucifixion
 Renaissance traits
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Appreciation for human
body
Drapery of clothing
Virgin Mary is idealized,
youthful
Italian Art and Architecture
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David (1501-04)
 Huge!
 Important
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traits
Pent-up energy
Visage is tense,
psychological insight
Demonstrates
knowledge of human
body
Italian Art and Architecture
Vaulted Ceiling, Sistine Chapel (1508-12)
Italian Art and Architecture
The Creation of Adam (1508-12)
Italian Art and Architecture
Detail: Christ as Judge, the Virgin
The Last Judgment (1534-41)
Italian Art and Architecture
Raphael, The School of Athens (1510-11)
Italian Art and Architecture
Guess who?
Italian Art and Architecture
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Renaissance
Architecture
 Architects
also fond of
classical forms
 A famous project
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Alberti’s S. Andrea,
Mantua (ca. 1470)
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Temple front
Triumphal arch
Façade, S. Andrea
Italian Art and Architecture
Italian Art and Architecture
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Dome, Florence Cathedral
(1420-1436)
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Construction of cathedral
began ca. 1296 (Gothic)
Building was incomplete
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Engineering problems  no
dome
Brunelleschi (1377-1446)
commissioned
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Dome, S. Maria del Fiore,
Florence
Studied classical
monuments and
architecture of Rome
Resolved engineering
problems  created most
celebrated dome since
antiquity
Italian Art and Architecture
Italian Art and Architecture
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Questions?
The Northern Renaissance
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The Renaissance Traveled North
 Renaissance
spread more slowly to countries
north of the Alps
 Northern achievements
The printing press
 Humanism
 Art
 English language
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The Northern Renaissance
The Northern Renaissance
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The Printing Press
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Moveable lead type
developed ca. 1450
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Attributed to Johann
Gutenberg
Can now print many
copies of a book
Huge impact on Europe
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Ideas spread rapidly
Increased literacy
Books now cheaper
The Northern Renaissance
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Northern Humanism
 Classics
 “Christian
Humanism”
 Religious reform
The Northern Renaissance
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Erasmus of
Rotterdam
(1466-1536)
 Dutch
 International
celebrity
 “Prince of Humanists”
 Projects
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Praise of Folly (1511)
Critical edition of Greek
New Testament (1516)
The Northern Renaissance
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Sir Thomas More
(1478-1535)
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English lawyer, lord
chancellor
Very spiritual
English Humanist
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Wrote history
UTOPIA (1516)
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First part: criticism of
political-social abuses
Second part: description
of social arrangements
at ideal island of Utopia
The Northern Renaissance
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Northern Art
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Interest in oil painting
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Vibrant color
Minute detail
Jan van Eyck (ca. 1390-1441)
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Flemish
The Arnolfini Portrait (1434)
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Portrait of Italian banker and
his betrothed
Detail and depth
Spiritual symbolism
The Northern Renaissance
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The English Language
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Major changes throughout
its history
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
(d. 1616)
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Playwright, London
Greatest English writer
Many plays set in Roman
and English past
The Northern Renaissance
1990
1996
The Northern Renaissance
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Questions?