Transcript document
Renaissance
Rebirth of arts and learning
(1300 – 1600)
Italy: Birthplace of
the Renaissance
Why northern Italy
a. central location in the
Mediterranean
b. wealth came from trade
c. powerful city-states
d. Roman heritage
What brought this “rebirth”
– Plague killed 60% of population
– Survivors demanded higher wages
– Economy rose, merchants thrived
– Legacy of Greece and Rome
MIDDLE CLASS
• Most powerful and wealthiest
• Earned their power, not inherited
– Gained status because of talent/wit
• Focus on individual achievement
– New idea of individualism
• Common people experienced the
greatest change during the Renaissance
NEW VIEWS AND VALUES
• Humanism – Human potential and
achievements
• Desiderius Erasmus and Francois Rabelais
considered Christian humanist
– Studied classical Greek and Roman
culture
• Secular – basic spirit of movement
– Here and now attitude (worldly)
MEDICIS
• Family in Florence 1400s
(great rulers and supporters of the arts)
– bankers, wool manufacturers, mining
• Cosmo de Medici 1434
– Bribed his way into power
• Lorenzo “the Magnificent”
– Grandson of Cosmo
– Kept town together during hard times
Literature
Niccolo Machiavelli – The Prince,
a. one of most influential works on
political power in the Western world
b. felt rulers had ultimate authority
Dante – Divine Comedy –
a. story of the soul’s journey
to salvation
b. written in Italian
vernacular (language spoken
in one’s own regions)
Geoffrey Chaucer –
The Canterbury Tales –
a. told of 29 pilgrims journeying
to the tomb of Saint Thomas
b. written in English vernacular
William Shakespeare
a. regarded as greatest playwright
of all time
b. wrote over 1,500 plays
c. actor
d. shareholder in the Lord
Chamberlains Company
e. master of the English language
Reformation
• Martin Luther – protested
against the church for selling
indulgences (pardoning of a sin
and/or any penalty)
• 95 Theses – formal statements
• Believed in spiritual
justification by faith alone
English Become Protestant
• Henry VIII – wants a divorce,
Pope refuses.
• He bribes Parliament into
passing the Act of Supremacy –
made king head of the church
John Calvin
• Taught that men and women
were sinful by nature
• Used predestination as main
doctrine
• Everyone attended religion
classes
John Knox
• Followers were known as
Presbyterians
• Founded the church in
Scotland
Society of Jesus
• Founded by Ignatius of
Loyola
• Commonly called Jesuits
• Principal goal – education of
children and missionaries
Anabaptists
• Greek for “baptize again”
• Refused to fight in wars
• Only adults baptism was
valid
Council of Trent
• Church’s interpretation of the
Bible is final
• Banned selling of indulgences
• Made list known as Index of
Forbidden Books
• Books including Protestant Bibles
were burned
Renaissance Art
3 greatest - all started an
apprenticeship under other masters
a. Michelangelo, Raphael,
Leonardo Da Vinci
b. all were a “Renaissance Man,”
capable of many different works
in life
Michelangelo Di Lodorico
Buonarroti Simoni
1475-1564
a.sculptor, painter,architect, mathematician
and poet
b. Studied human anatomy
c. Battle of the Centaurs and Madonna of
the Stairs – he was only 16 years old
d. Bacchus – 1496-98; pagan rather
than Christian subject
e. Pieta – 1498 – 1500; only 25
years old, showed Virgin Mary
holding body of dead Christ
f. David – 1501 – 1504; one of the
most perfect of all statues by
proportion
i. St. Peter’s Basilica –
1. largest church in all of
Rome
2. church of the Vatican
3. used three rings inside the
dome to hold its shape
g. Sistine Chapel – 1508 – 1512;
1. Pope Julius II – wanted 12
figures of the apostles,
2.painted over 300 life size
figures
3. 9 scenes from the Book of
Genesis – surrounded by images
of the prophets and other Old
Testament subjects
h. Last Judgement – 1535 – 1541;
1. largest fresco of the
Renaissance
2. never completed
3. several faces of individuals
who were speaking out against
him
j. Florentine Pieta – 1550
1. last statue was for his own tomb
2. dissatisfied with his work
3. broke off a leg and damaged
arm of Christ and a hand of the
Virgin Mary in anger
4. never finished the piece
5. Face of Joseph is in his own
image
2. Raphael Sanzio
1483-1520
a.
b.
c.
d.
poet, painter, Sculptor,and architect
painted over 30 different “Madonnas”
designed several churches
known as greatest decorator who ever
lived
e. completed 4 rooms for the
Popes living quarters in the
Vatican referred to as the
Raphael Stanze
f. most famous paintings were
The School of Athens (1511)
and Sistine Madonna (1513)
3. Leonardo Da Vinci
1452-1519
a. painter, sculptor, engineer,
scientist, inventor, musician,
goldsmith and botanist
b. Baptism of Christ (1476) shared
work with his master
c. Mona Lisa (1503) – sold to
Francis I
d. Last Supper – (1498), 15 X 29 ft;
tempera on plaster
e. drawings for inventions include –
glider, alarm clock, diving bell,
helicopter, submarine, bicycle,
parachute, mechanical limb movement
(robot), automobile, repeating rifle
(most were never built because of no
suitable parts)
Reformation
Causes
1. Roman Catholic Church
becomes more worldly
2. Humanists urge for a return
to simple religion
3. Strong monarchs emerge
4. Selling of indulgences
5. Luther’s 95 Theses
6. Printing press
7. Calvin and others preach
against Roman Catholic
traditions
Effects
1. Peasant revolts
2. Weakening of Holy Roman
Empire
3. Luther calls for Jews to be
expelled from Christians
lands
4.Religious wars
5.New found religions
6.Jewish migration to
Eastern Europe
Reasons for Success
1.Bibles in the
vernacular
2.Religious rebirth
(more on faith)