Download Classwork 9 1 Renaissance review - Ms. Cannistraci presents the

Classwork Standard 9.9 1
Ms. Cannistraci
Name:___________________________________ Date:______
THE RENAISANCE
After feudalism declined, a period of history known as the Renaissance began. The emphasis
changed from a religious to a more secular (non-religious) view towards life as exemplified by
humanism in music, art, literature and science. People began to take action and interact and
change the world rather than wait for God to intervene.
Humanism is all human can achieve, do, create, love, build, solve. Human glorifies the
individual and sees the body as beautiful. Humanists believe to err (make a mistake) is human
and to forgive is divine (Godly). One cannot achieve and grow if they live in fear of making a
mistake.
The Renaissance themes where revived from classical Greece and Rome. The word Renaissance
means rebirth, it truly was a rebirth of the culture of ancient Greece and Rome. It truly was a
blessing that the culture of Greece and Rome was preserved by the Muslim Empire and the
Byzantine Empire and then the Ottoman Empire. The Renaissance was a period of trade and
intellectual curiosity unparalleled in Europe, especially for those who lived in larger cities and
towns. Many signs appeared, and feeling was expressed that indicated a growing worldly
viewpoint (one focused on the now rather than the afterlife in heaven). Values were shifting
away from tradition, isolation, and religion to secular (non-religious) ideas, humanism, and
international trade and adventure. Educated upper-class citizens of the great cities and towns
of northern Italy were in the forefront of diffusing ideas which stressed openness to change and
the absorption of knowledge of other cultures. This was a period when values shifted away
from the church and towards individual achievement.
An important theme of the Renaissance was humanism, an emphasis on the study of man and
earthly concerns, as opposed to the medieval concern with the heavenly world.
Ms. Cannistraci
Name:_______________________________ Date:_____
Refer to the map and the reading on the Renaissance and answer the following
questions.
How does this map show some reasons why the Renaissance began in Italy?
How would you define humanism?
How would you define the Renaissance?
Ms. Cannistraci
Name:___________________________________ Date:______
. . . In the Middle Ages to praise man was to praise God, for man was a creation of God. But
Renaissance writers praised man himself as a creator. They played down the sinfulness he
was born with and emphasized his ability to think and act for himself, to produce works of
art, to guide the destiny of others. They freed man from his pegged place in the medieval
hierarchy, halfway between matter and spirit, and allowed him to roam at will, through all the
levels of being, sometimes identifying himself with the brutes, sometimes with the angels.
He was seen as the ruler of nature—the lord, although not the Lord, of creation.
This new vision of man sprang from a heightened awareness of self. Medieval men had
been preoccupied with searching their souls, but Renaissance men were much more
intrigued with exploring, and indeed parading, their own personalities. Petrarch is a perfect
example. Although his serious interests centered on his work in discovering and editing
ancient texts, Petrarch was also interested in himself. In his letters, designed for posterity
[future generations] as well as his friends, he left a record of his reactions to love affairs and
friendship, to mountains and the flowers in his garden. They are an intellectual and
emotional self-portrait, the first since antiquity [ancient times]. . . .
Source: John R. Hale, Great Ages of Man: A History of the World’s Cultures: Renaissance, Time-Life, 1965
In what way did man’s view of the world change between the European medieval period
and the Renaissance according to John R. Hale?
Ms. Cannistraci
Name:___________________________________ Date:______
How does Medieval art compare with Renaissance art?