Download NOTES- Renaissance

NOTES: The Renaissance
Key Terms:
Renaissance: a “rebirth” of Classical learning, art, and literature that spread through Europe between 1300 and 1600 .
Humanism: a popular Renaissance idea that focused on human potential and achievements; based on the study of classical
writings from Greece and Rome.
Secular: concerned with worldly matters.
Patron: a very wealthy person who supported the arts during the Renaissance.
Perspective: an artistic technique that created depth and the appearance of three-dimensions.
Vernacular: the everyday language of people in an area.
Utopia: an ideal place.
Printing Press: a machine that presses paper against letters that are covered in ink.
Key People:
Jan Van Eyck: first great Renaissance artist in Flanders, who introduced realism to art in Flanders.
Desiderius Erasmus: writer from Holland who wrote stories like The Praise of Folly that focused on humanism. Wrote in the
Classical language (Latin).
Thomas More: humanist writer from England who wrote Utopia about the perfect society. Wrote in the Classical language
(Latin).
Francois Rablelais: French humanist who wrote Gargantua and Pantagruel about the good nature of people. Wrote in the
vernacular.
William Shakespeare: English playwright who wrote plays like King Lear and Romeo and Juliet.
Johann Gutenberg: German craftsman who invented the printing press in 1440.
Queen Elizabeth I: Queen of England during the Renaissance who was well educated and a patron of the arts.
Key Ideas:
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The Renaissance began in Florence, Italy and then spread to Northern Europe.
The Renaissance was a transition from the Middle Ages into the Early Modern Times
The Chinese were the first to use movable type, which was the inspiration for the printing press.
Spread of the Renaissance
The Renaissance Moves North
1494: the king of France claimed the throne of Naples and launched a war throughout Italy. Many Italian writers and artists
fled to the North.
German Artists:
 Albrecht Durer: produced woodcuts and engravings that often focused on religion, ordinary people, classical myths,
and realistic landscapes.
 Hans Holbein the Younger: specialized in realistic portraits; he often painted portraits for the English royal family,
including King Henry VIII.
Flemish Artists: Flanders was the artistic center of northern Europe and emphasized realism.
 Jan Van Eyck: one of the first artists to begin using oil paints to create shade variations in colors. He focused on realism
and individual personalities.
 Pieter Bruegel the Elder: painted with realistic details and rich colors. His subjects ranged from everyday scenes
(including peasant weddings, dances, harvests, and the changing of the seasons) to paintings that illustrated proverbs
and taught morals, to scenes that showed the harsh rule of Spain.
The Printing Press Spreads the Ideas of the Renaissance
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1440: Johann Gutenberg began experimenting with movable type to create whole pages of print and to bind books.
Gutenberg Bible (1455): the first full-sized book printed with movable type.
o The printing press increased literacy because books were now more widely available and affordable
o The ideas of the Renaissance could now be spread more quickly.
o The Bible was now printed in the vernacular for the first time and people will begin to look at the Catholic
Church through the eyes of the Renaissance.