Transcript Renaissance

Chapter 13
European Society in the Age of the Renaissance
1300-1600
European Renaissance
1300-1600
• The period known as the
Renaissance affected the politics,
economy, and society of Western
Europe.
• This period also saw the evolution of
medieval kingdoms into early
modern nation-states.
Defining “Renaissance”
• The term “renaissance” comes from the
French word meaning “rebirth.”
• “The Renaissance” refers to the
rediscovery and repopularization of Greek
and Roman classical ideas and culture.
– Was this period truly a “rebirth”?
• The Renaissance period, roughly 1300 to
1600, signals the start of modern times.
Renaissance: Causes and
Effects
• Trigger = the disrepute
to which the medieval
Church had fallen.
• Prime quality =
“independence of mind.”
• Ideal = “complete man.”
• Principal product =
man as capable of
mastering the world he
lived in.
• His fate could be
controlled and improved.
Birthplace of the Renaissance
• Where did it start?
• Italian city-states: Venice, Genoa, and Milan.
• Why?
• Thriving Mediterranean trade centers.
• Byzantine contact = access to preserved learning of ancient
Greece.
• Presence of wealthy merchant class.
• Patrons of the arts.
• Attachment to Roman classical traditions.
• Why not elsewhere in W. Europe?
• 100 Years’ War!
Italy: Birthplace of the
Renaissance
• Leading Italian city-states.
• Florence: ruled by the Medici family who had extensive
interests in industry, trade, and especially banking.
• Milan: ruled by the Visconti family and the Sforza family.
• Venice: an oligarchy in which wealthy merchants held
political power.
• Rome: “Renaissance” popes increasingly involved in
secular affairs and culture.
• The families, the oligarchy, and the popes
were all patrons of learning and the arts.
Italy: Birthplace of the Renaissance-Classical and Worldly Values
• Renewed interest
in the classics was
called
“humanism.”
– the shift from
theocratic, or “Godcentered” world view to
anthropocentric, or
“man-centered” world
view.
Italy: Birthplace of the Renaissance-Classical and Worldly Values
• Humanism is credited with:
• Concept of human personality.
• Birth of history as the study of the process of
change.
• The stirrings of science.
• An emphasis on secularism.
Italy: Birthplace of the Renaissance-Classical and Worldly Values
• Humanism impacted
• Art: renewed interest in the human body
and the uniqueness of human faces.
• Politics: emphasized the idea of the
sovereign state over the community of
Christendom.
– The forerunner of modern nationality.
• Religion: the precondition for Protestant
emphasis on individual conscience.
Art and Patronage
• Italians were willing to spend a lot of money on art.
– Art communicated social, political, and spiritual
values.
– Italian banking & international trade interests had
the money.
• Public art in Florence was organized and supported
by guilds.
Therefore, the consumption of art was used as a
form of competition for social & political status!
1. Realism &
Expression
 Expulsion from
the Garden
 Masaccio
 1427
 First nudes since
classical times.
2. Perspective
First use
of linear
perspective!
The Trinity
Masaccio
1427
3. Classicism
Greco-Roman
influence.
Secularism.
Humanism.
Individualism  free
standing figures.
Symmetry/Balance
The “Classical Pose”
Medici “Venus” (1c)
4. Emphasis on Individualism
 Batista Sforza & Federico de Montefeltre: The
Duke & Dutchess of Urbino
 Piero della Francesca, 1465-1466.
Isabella d’Este – da Vinci, 1499
1474-1539
“First Lady of
the Italian
Renaissance.”
Great patroness
of the arts in
Mantua.
Known during her
time as “First
Lady of the
World!”
5. Geometrical Arrangement of
Figures
 The Dreyfus
Madonna
with the
Pomegranate
 Leonardo da
Vinci
 1469
 The figure as
architecture!
6. Light & Shadowing/Softening Edges
Sfumato
Chiaroscuro
Strong
Contrasts of
Light and
Dark.
To tone
down or
evaporate
in smoke.
Renaissance Florence
Florentine lion:
symbol of St.
Mark
1252 – first gold
florins minted
The Wool Factory
by Mirabello Cavalori, 1570
Lorenzo
the Magnificent
Cosimo de Medici
1478 - 1521
1517 - 1574
Florence Under the Medici
Medici Chapel
The Medici Palace
 Filippo Brunelleschi
1377 - 1436
 Architect
 Cuppolo of St. Maria
del Fiore
Filippo Brunelleschi
• Commissioned to
build the
cathedral dome.
– Used unique
architectural
concepts.
• He studied the
ancient
Pantheon in Rome.
• Used ribs for
support.
Brunelleschi’s “Secret”
Brunelleschi’s Dome
Dome Comparisons
Il Duomo
(Florence)
St. Peter’s
(Rome)
St. Paul’s
(London)
US capital
(Washington)
The Liberation of Sculpture
 David by Donatello
 1430
 First free-form bronze
since Roman times!
David
Verrocchio
1473 - 1475
The Baptism of Christ
Verrocchio, 1472 - 1475
Leonardo
da Vinci
 Vitruvian Man
 Leonardo da
Vinci
 1492
The
L’uomo
universale
The Renaissance “Man”
 Broad knowledge about many things in
different fields.
 Deep knowledge/skill in one area.
 Able to link information from different
areas/disciplines and create new
knowledge.
 The Greek ideal of the “well-rounded
man” was at the heart of Renaissance
education.
1. Self-Portrait -- da Vinci, 1512
 Artist
 Sculptor
 Architect
 Scientist
 Engineer
 Inventor
1452 - 1519
Leonardo,
the Artist
 The Virgin of
the Rocks
 Leonardo da
Vinci
 1483-1486