Transcript Ch. 16: The Scientific Revolution

Ch. 16: The Scientific Revolution
16th-17th century Society and Culture
Mannerism and Baroque Art, Music,
Literature
Origins of the Scientific Revolution
Medieval view:
• Religious
• Divine right of kings
• Society governed by Church practices and
superstition
• World views influenced by Aristotle
• Geocentric theory
Causes:
• Medieval universities
• Renaissance and Humanist movement
• Age of exploration created need for scientific
advances
• Scientific method
• Scientific Method becomes major cause of
new world view of 17th-18th centuries
– secularism
Astronomy: 16th century
Copernicus (1473-1543)
• On the Revolution of the
Heavenly Spheres (1543)
• Heliocentric view:
• Condemned by Luther,
Calvin, and the Catholic
Church
• In 1616 Church declared his
theory heretical
Tycho Brahe (1546-1601)
• Built the best observatory in
Europe and collected
massive data on his
observations of the cosmos
– Data later proved Copernicus’
theory
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)
• First great Protestant scientist,
worked as assistant to Brahe
• Mathematically proved
Copernican theory
• Developed three laws of
planetary motion:
1.
2.
3.
Orbits are elliptical
Planets do not move at
uniform speed
Time it takes to orbit directly
based on its distance from
the sun
Ptolemaic View
Copernican view
Astronomy: 17th century
Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
•
Developed the laws of motion
– Used controlled experiments
– Acceleration experiment:
– Law of inertia:
• Validated Copernicus’ heliocentric
view with a telescope
– First to use one as scientific
instrument
– Discovered the 4 moons of
Jupiter
Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief
World Systems, 1632
•
Condemned by Church and forced to
recant in 1633
Galileo
shows the
Doge of
Venice how
to use the
telescope
(fresco)
Galileo facing
the Roman
Inquisition, 1857
Principia (1687)
Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
• Incorporated astronomy of
Copernicus and Kepler with physics
of Galileo to overarching theory
explaining order and design to the
universe
• Principle of universal gravitation
– Natural laws of motion are
evident in the movement of
heavenly bodies and earthly
objects
– Mathematics to explain motion
(invented calculus)
• Every body in the universe
attracts every other body in a
precise mathematical relationship
• Natural laws are unchangeable
and predictable, thus God is not
needed to explain forces of
nature
– Foundation of deism
The Scientific Method
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
• Formalized empiricism
• Inductive method for
scientific experimentation
Rene Descartes (1596-1650)
• Deductive reasoning
• “I think; therefore, I am.”
Anatomy, physiology, and biology
• Scientists began challenging traditional GrecoRoman medical theories of health and disease
– Galen: believed proper balance of the four
humors (blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow
bile) were basis for human health
– Blood-letting common to balance humors
Anatomy, physiology, and biology
Paracelsus (1493-1541)
• Believed medical issues
were chemical imbalances
rather than humoral
imbalances
Vesalius (1516-1564)
• The Structure of the Human
Body (1543)
• renewed and modernized
study of human anatomy
Royal scientific societies
• Governments/monarchs encouraged scientific
inquiry as a means to further the prestige of
the state and remain at the cutting edge of
technology
• Scientific societies created a means by which
scientists could communicate internationally
• The Royal Society in England was the most
prestigious (1660)
• Others in Naples, France (Louis XIV), Prussia
(Frederick I), and Russia (Peter the Great)
Impact on Society
•
•
•
•
•
Led to the Enlightenment
Improved exploration
Accelerated the agricultural revolution
Improved quality of life
Discredited superstition and witchcraft as
fallacies
• Science and religion not in direct conflict until
19th-20th centuries
– Few attempts to secularize science
Witch Hunts
70,000-100,000 people killed between 1400-1700
Causes
• Popular belief in magic
• Catholic Church used witch
hunts to gain control over
village life in rural areas
• Women seen as “weaker
vessels” and prone to
temptation (80% of victims)
• Religious wars and divisions
created panic and
scapegoat environment
End of Witch Hunts
• The Scientific Revolution
discredited superstition and
witch hunts
• Advances in medicine
• Protestant Reformation
emphasized God as only
spiritual force in the
universe
• literature
Mannerism
Characteristics:
• Reaction against
Renaissance ideals of
balance, symmetry,
simplicity, and realistic use
of color
– Rebellion against “perfection”
of High Renaissance
• Used unnatural color,
shapes irregular
• Bridge between High
Renaissance & Baroque
El Greco (1541-1614)
Burial of Count Orgaz, 1586-88
Tintoretto
Arcimboldo
Last Supper, 1594
"Vertemnus” ca 1590
Mannerist Literature
Michel de Montaigne (15331592)
• French humanist
philosopher; developed
modern skepticism
– Question, don’t accept
– “what do I know?” (nothing)
Miguel de Cervantes (15471616)
• Spanish writer during Age of
Decline
• Don Quixote (1605)
– Nobility’s ill attempts at
chivalry, similar to fall of
Spain
Shakespeare (1564-1616)
• Greatest writer in
English history
• Theater, comedies,
tragedies, histories
• Average people could
understand
– Wrote in vernacular
Baroque Art
• Began in Catholic
Reformation countries
to teach in a concrete
and emotional way and
demonstrate the glory
and power of the
Catholic Church
• Spread to Protestant
countries
Baroque Art, 17th Century
1.
2.
3.
Italian Baroque artists
embraced a more dynamic and
complex aesthetic.
…dramatic theatricality,
grandiose scale, and elaborate
ornateness…characterized… the
art and architecture.
Baroque art production further
suggests the role art played in
supporting the aims of the
[Catholic] Church.
Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith
Slaying Holofernes, 1614-20,
Uffizi, Florence, Italy.
-Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, 11th Ed.
Bernini, David, 1623, Galleria
Borghese, Rome.
Bernini, Trevi Fountain, 1629-1762, Rome.
Bernini, baldacchino, 1623-24, St. Peter’s, Vatican City.
Baroque Sculpture and Architecture
Italy:
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (15981680)
• A Counter Reformation
Catholic
• Inspired by Caravaggio
• Sculptor
• Greatest imprint on city of
Rome than any other artist
Piazza Navona: Fountain of the
Four Rivers
Bernini
Saint Peter’s Square
Baldacchino
Bernini
Trevi Fountain
David
Saint Teresa in Ecstasy, 1647-52
Italian Baroque Painting
1.
2.
3.
Baroque art reaches out to
people and provokes action;
designed to give
spontaneous personal
experience.
Baroque paintings are filled
with dramatic movement,
striking contrasts of light
and dark, vivid colors, and
earthly realism.
Baroque artists depicted the
heroic acts of martyrs and
saints to inspire the lower
classes to accept their own
suffering and not lose faith.
Caravaggio (1571-1610)
• First important painter of
Baroque period
• Highly emotional scenes
• Use of tenebrism
• Considered a realist in an
age of idealists
• Criticized for use of
ordinary, gritty people as
models even for religious
paintings
Caravaggio
Bacchus
David with the Head of Goliath
Caravaggio
Basket of Fruit
Crucifixion of Saint Peter
Northern European Baroque Art
Peter Paul Rubens (15771640)
•
•
•
•
northern Europe, the Netherlands was
divided into two parts: the Northern
Netherlands (present day Netherlands) and
Southern Netherlands (present day Belgium
and part of France), each usually referred to
as Holland (North) and Flanders (South).
Rubens and his workshop dominated the art
of Flanders with the creation of dramatic and
powerful religious altarpieces and portraits
of the ruling families of Italy and France.
Emphasized color and sensuality (nudes as
Roman goddesses, nymphs, saints, and
angels); melodramatic contrasts;
monumental size
Mainly Christian subjects
Rubenshuis, Antwerp
Rubens
The Fall of Man, 1628-29
The Three Graces, 1635
Rembrandt (1606-1669)
Dutch artist during Dutch
Golden Age: Dutch Classicism
• Painted in Amsterdam – tolerant
city, valued personal privacy, thus
unknown if he was Catholic or
Protestant
• Personal tragedies: wife died, 3 of
4 children died, bankrupt
• Known for self-portraits (more
than 90), very prolific
• Narrow color range: browns, reds,
beige. Pinpoint style with light to
illuminate a point
• Painterly style: layers of paint
Self Portrait, 1658
Rembrandt: The Night Watch 1642
Rembrandt
Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp 1632
Return of the Prodigal Son, 1669
Baroque Art: Spain
Diego Velasquez, 1599-1660
• Court painter for King Philip
IV
– Favorite
– Moved into palace
• Spanish Golden Age
• Important portrait artist
• Loose brush technique
Las Meninas, 1656
Velasquez
Philip IV 1632
Los Borrachos 1628
General Background on the Baroque Era: The Baroque Era (c1600-1750) was the last
great age of European aristocratic monarchies. During this period, much of the world
was colonized on behalf of Europe's crowned heads, and Protestantism successfully
rivaled Catholicism. Notable scientists were Newton, Bacon and Kepler. Important
writers and artists were Descartes, Van Dyck, Rembrandt, El Greco, Milton, Pope,
Racine and Moliere.
Characteristics
Emphasis on text in the music; the lyrics
and libretto were most important
Baroque composers developed the
modern system of major-minor
tonalities.
Dissonance was used much more freely
than during the Renaissance
George Frederic Handel
(1685-1759)
Like Bach, he wrote in a variety of genres.
His masterpiece is the oratorio The
Messiah.
Claudio Monteverdi (15471643)
• developed the opera and
the modern orchestra
• L’Orfeo (1607) is his
masterpiece
J. S. Bach (1685-1750)
Greatest of the Baroque
composers
wrote dense and polyphonic
structures
hired by several princes and
churches throughout his
career to compose religious
music
Essay Questions
• How did the Scientific Revolution impact
European society intellectually, politically,
religiously, and economically?