Transcript The Renaissance & its spread

The Renaissance & its
spread:
Renaissance means “rebirth” –
From 1350 to 1500, there was a
heightened interest in ideas &
learning.
This movement had its start in
ITALY.
Key philosophical ideals of the
Renaissance:
1) Live & learn for the here & now - NOT
just the afterlife. The broader the base
of learning – the better the life.
2) Individual achievement was okay – NOT
sinful.
2 things help the Renaissance spread:
1) an intellectual movement called:
HUMANISM.
 A focus on worldly issues rather than religious
ones.
 Use the wisdom of the Greeks & Romans to
understand the present.
 The “Humanities” – grammar, rhetoric, poetry &
history.
Humanists were very concerned with:
 living a MEANINGFUL life
 understanding how everything works.
2nd thing that helps it spread:
1450’s – Johann Guttenberg’s invention:
- the MOVEABLE TYPE !!!
Result – MASS PRODUCED BOOKS
- 1ST best seller - _________________
- 1500 – 20 mil. copies
- 1600 – 200 mil.
Why the Italian beginnings?:
1) Roman ruins there:
- architecture
- sculptures
- inscriptions
2) Its cities survive the Middle Ages.
* a rich merchant class supports the arts
** Florence is the center of activity. Many
PATRONS there.
Key people in the arts:
Wealthy patrons:
- the Medici’s
- Popes
- Princes
Leonardo daVinci:
• Brilliant thinker
• Dissected corpses
• Used math to “scale” paintings
• Scetched flying machines & subs
• Famous painting - Mona Lisa
Michelangelo:
 Well rounded thinker like daVinci
 Sculptures – Pieta, Moses
 Painting – Sistine chapel ( 4 years)
Rafael:
 School of Athens
 The Madonna
Biggest changes in ART:
1) Realism
2) Color
3) perspective
Writing – Machiavelli:
*wrote of power & politics
1513 – wrote “The Prince”
- ends justify the means
- instill fear in subjects
The Renaissance moves North:
 Reasons the movement happened 100 yrs. later in
Northern Europe:
1) North had NOT recovered yet from the Plague.
2) Economy grew more slowly – fewer PATRONS.
Northern Art & Artists:
 What was the difference in Italian & Flemish
paintings?
- realism – similar
- perspective – similar
* color – much more vivid
- OIL paint
 Also, in sculptures & paintings, subjects were
depicted in a much more REAL style – not the
perfect bodies of Italian art.
Northern writers:
Erasmus:
1466 – 1536
Studied Christianity as well as Greece & Rome.
 One of 1st to criticize the Church:
- too ceremonial
- too interested in $

Sir Thomas More:
 Wrote “Utopia”:
- gov’t & private property were BAD
* everyone will work
* everyone shares
* get rid of crime NOT the criminal
* there would be NO poor people
 Henry VIII has him executed.
Perspective: