Transcript The Renaissance

The Renaissance
The formation of new
ideas and new art.
What was the Renaissance?
• Renaissance French for rebirth; Rebirth of
interest in art and learning
• Renewed interest in ancient Greece and
Rome
• Why? Horrible years of the Black Death,
people saw ancient Rome and Greece as
better times
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Why Italy?
• Why did the Renaissance start in Italy?
– Center of the Roman Empire (rebirth of
Roman ideas/art), and Roman ruins and art
located here
– Italian cities very wealthy, able to pay artists
– Italy made up of city-states, competition
among these motivated creation of art
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Why did Florence become the
most influential?
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Maintained large trade economy
Provided insurance to sea travelers
Banks grew here
Medici family rose to power here (more on
this later)
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Rise of City-States
• During Middle Ages, no ruler able to unite Italy into one
kingdom
• Roman Catholic Church fought to prevent central leader,
due to fears of losing power
• Each city-state equal to others; each with own army/ships
• Very wealthy; loaned money to kings of Europe, so kings
left Italian city-states alone
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Rise of the Renaissance
• Crusaders came into contact with Asia and
Africa. They returned with luxury items
(silk, spices, ivory)
• Italy, due to central location and past glory,
center of trade in Europe. Italian citystates grow wealthy and powerful
• Demand for luxury items creates need for
coined money.
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Rise of the Renaissance
• Banks develop, bankers exchange coins from one region
to another. Called “banchi,” Italian for “money
changers.”
• Nobles, spent a lot of money on wars, banks provided
loans. As nobles got into debt, city merchants (bankers)
became rich and powerful
• Money over church began to shape politics. Status
related to wealth, not birthright
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Rise of the Renaissance
• The Medici family became the most important,
influential, and wealthy family of Florence, Italy.
• Florence was one of the most influential cities of the
Renaissance.
• Medici family encouraged the development of the arts in
Florence.
• Rise of Patronage: The act of providing money and
support to artists, by wealthy merchants
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The House of Medici
• Giovanni de Medici (1360-1429): Rose from poverty to
become wealthy from banking and commerce. The first
great Medici.
• Cosimo de Medici (1389-1464): Son of Giovanni,
became first Medici to win wide fame. Gave large
amounts of money to promote the arts.
• Lorenzo de Medici (1449-1492): Grandson of Cosimo.
Made Florence the most powerful and beautiful city in
Italy. Supported artists like Leonardo da Vinci and
Michelangelo.
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Secular ideas/Humanism
• Society still very religious, but people began to celebrate
human achievement
• Secular: Interest in the world, things of earth, over
religion and heaven
• Humanism: System of thought that focuses on human
values, abilities, and worth, over the soul and religion; a
person’s place in the world
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Renaissance Humanism
• Humanism – based on Greek & Roman
teachings.
– Humanists believed that individual and human
society were important.
– Religion was still important, but so was the
ability to ask questions.
• Ancient texts were studied again.
– In the Middle Ages Greek & Roman literature
were forgotten, but the Arabs continued to
study. The Crusaders met the Arabs and
exchanged knowledge.
Humanism
• Francesco Petrarch (1300’s) – Poet
who studied Roman writers.
– Encouraged people to search for old
Latin texts.
• Humanists also studied architecture &
art.
– Duh, they were in Italy, there were
leftovers from the Romans.
Literature
• Vernacular
• Dante Alighieri (1300’s) – wrote The Divine
Comedy in vernacular.
– Grew up in Florence and was active in politics.
– Wrote about a man’s journey from inferno through
purgatory and into heaven.
• Geoffrey Chaucer – wrote The Canterbury Tales
in English.
– About a group of travelers and the stories they tell to
entertain themselves.
– Helps explain English society levels.
The Spread of Ideas
• In the Middle Ages, everything had to
be written by hand.
• Johannes Gutenberg – invented the
printing press in 1450.
– Chinese had movable type, but was not
as easy to use.
– Allowed mass publication of works,
which allowed ideas to be spread farther
& quicker.
Italian Renaissance Artists
• Medieval art was flat, 2D, and had no
emotion.
• Renaissance artists used new
techniques and ideas.
– Emotion
– Perspective – depth
– Chiaroscuro – light & shadow
– Fresco – paint on wet plaster
– Sculpture – show the true form of people
Leonardo da Vinci
• Born in Venice (1452-1519)
• Artist: Mona Lisa, Last Supper
• Scientist: dissected corpses to learn
anatomy.
• Inventor: Had notebooks full of ideas,
including artillery, subway, and a plan for
what looks like a helicopter.
• Renaissance Man
Michelangelo Buonarroti
• Painter & sculptor
• Wanted to show the perfect image of
people
• Sculpture: David
• Painting: The Sistine Chapel Ceiling at the
Vatican.
Raphael Sanzio
• Painted images of grace and beauty.
• School of Athens
The Renaissance Spreads
• Northern Renaissance – Belgium,
Luxembourg, Germany, Netherlands.
• Flanders, Belgium – oil paintings
• Jan van Eyck: The Arnolfini Marriage
• Albrecht Durer – known for engravings
like Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
William Shakespeare
• English Renaissance was later and focused
on literature rather than art.
• Shakespeare wrote plays for the popular
theater.
• Wrote for Queen Elizabeth I
• Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, A Midsummer
Night’s Dream, Julius Caesar, Henry V,
etc.