Transcript the renaissance

Social Studies 10
 A great revival of classical (Roman
and Greek) art, literature and
learning in Europe.
 Renaissance means rebirth or
revival.
 Began in the Italian cities-states
 The city of Florence would be the heart of the
Renaissance.
 Florence was under the rule of the powerful Medici
banking family.
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 The Renaissance spread to the rest of Europe
via the printing press.
 Before books copied hand on expensive
parchment made from the skin of sheep or
goats. A simple book could take 6
months to complete.
 Paper came from the Chinese to Arabs and reached Europe
in the 1300’s.
 Printing began in Europe in Germany and other northern
countries.
 They carved the letters and words in wooden blocks then
inked and pressed them.
 15th century: movable type was introduced (small wooden
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blocked engraved with individual letters that could be
rearranged)
The printing press was a new invention perfected by
Johann Gutenberg of Mainz, Germany in 1453.
Printed first addition of the Bible
He used metallic movable type to print written works.
The printing press allowed books and writing to reach a
mass audience because they could now be mass produced.
Knowledge and learning exploded
 Artists, writers and scholars (beginning in Italy) who
admired classical works
 Wanted to recreate the work of their ancestors.
 well-known (celebrities)
 Great patrons of the arts (individuals, governments,
the Roman Catholic Church) sponsored these artists,
writers and scholars or commissioned their works.
 The concept of HUMANISM: focus on human
concern and classics
 Emphasis on human ability
 Studied humanities (grammar, rhetoric or public
speaking, poetry, history)
 Embraced life in all forms unlike their medieval
counterparts who saw it as heresy to study pagan
(non-Christian) ideas and achievements
 Sought to improve humanity and society through
enlightened education and action
 An optimistic, self-confident and creative
 Most art was in manuscripts and tapestries
 Stressed divine
 Symbolic qualities
 2 dimensional
 Plain, flat background
 No real large scale painting
 Development of 3 dimensional perspective
 Use of mythological symbols and nudes again in art
 Focus on human qualities instead of divine
 Giotti de Bondore – 1st the paint life-life, 3D figure
 Painted one of the first female nudes
 “The Birth of Venus”
 Revived classical ideals of beauty and proportions of
the human form
 Sculptors carefully studied human anatomy and made
life like statues that accurately showed muscles and
joints.
 Sculptures of nudes (not seen since ancient times)
 One of the greatest Renaissance sculptors
 “Each act, each limb, each bone [is] given life, and lo,
man’s body is raised breathing, alive, in wax or clay or
stone.”
 Most famous sculpture is the statue of David in
Florence.
 Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi
 Considered one of the greatest sculptors of all time
and founder of modern sculpture
 Born in Florence
 His “David” was the first nude statue of the
Renaissance
 Gattamelata was considered one of the best
proportioned statues
 Constructing symmetrical buildings, domes, columns,
friezes, etc… in the style of ancient architecture
 Third largest domed cathedral in the world
 Located in Florence
 Designed by Brunelleschi
 Octagonal dome
 Largest domed cathedral in the world
 Completed by Michelangelo when he was 70 years old
 Borrowed ideas from Brunelleschi to complete it
 Located in the Vatican
 Heart of Catholicism
 Contest to see who would sculpt the doors
 Ghiberti beat Brunelleschi and Donatello
 Took him 48 years to sculpt the bronze doors
 Individuals who excelled in a variety of fields
 Two standout artists considered to be Renaissance
Men
 Leonardo da Vinci
 Michelangelo
 Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci
 Architect, anatomist, sculptor, engineer, inventor,
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mathematician, musician, scientist, and painter
Famous for his realistic paintings, such as the Mona Lisa
and The Last Supper
Sketched plans for a helicopter, a tank, the use of
concentrated solar power, a calculator, a rudimentary
theory of plate tectonics, the double hull
He studied anatomy (he even dug up corpses to learn how
the body worked)
Vitruvian Man is also one of his most famous works
Wrote journals in mirror image (backwards)
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni
Painter, sculptor, architect, poet and engineer
best-documented artist of the 16th century.
Two of his best-known works, the Pieta and the David,
were sculpted in his late twenties to early thirties.
 Despite his low opinion of painting, Michelangelo also
created two of the most influential fresco paintings in the
history of Western art: the scenes from Genesis on the
ceiling and The Last Judgment on the altar wall of the
Sistine Chapel in Rome.
 designed the dome of St Peter's Basilica.
 Revolutionized classical architecture with his invention of
the giant order of pilasters.
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 Copernicus (Polish astronomer) stated that the sun
not the Earth was the centre of the universe
 Copernicus and Kepler are considered among the
founders of modern astronomy
 New form economic force
 Wealth created by charging interest and by using
profits from business to finance more commercial
activities
 Huge banking families like the Medici's flourished
 Venetians were the best at exploiting this new means
of gaining wealth
 The Renaissance represented a shift towards a more
optimistic view on human life and abilities.
 Art returned the Classics and the beauty of the human
form.
 Learning and education became much more popular.
 Humanism became a popular philosophy.