Download The Renaissance

The Renaissance
“From about 1330 to 1530, the city-states of the Italian peninsula
emerged as the intellectual and artistic centers of Europe.”
-classical texts rediscovered
-the beauty of nature and dignity of mankind both celebrated
-wealthy (banking) families and (sometimes) the Church act as
patrons
-guilt/fear over wealth/sin
-free time to enjoy the finer things
-competition for status etc...
Florence
-hugely profitable textile industry, productive farmlands, proximity of
Mediterranean trade, effective leadership, stable Roman legal
system... all lead to wealth in late Medieval times
-banking begins to thrive; Church eases up on usury rules
-by 1400s the Florentine gold Florin became standard
Europe-wide currency in trading centers
-bills of exchange etc...
-Merchant Capitalism erodes Noble power
-good education system develops
-probably highest literacy in Europe in Renaissance
-Venice/Genoa also rise to notable power/wealth
-prosperity/success increases intense municipal identity/pride
-“I love my native city more than my own soul” – Machiavelli
-1434 = Cosimo de’ Medici rise to power
-several generations of stable leadership follow
Social Structure
-Popolo Grasso (Fat Schmucks) were the elite
-nobles, wealthy merchants, manufacturers
-owned much of the surrounding farmland, too
-generally worked by free, but poor peasantry
-usually dominated politics through power/patronage
-Mediocri (the “meh” sort) were a couple steps below
-smaller merchants, successful artisans
-Popolo Minuto (“Get a JOB, BUM!”)
-everyone else – most of the population
-Some degree of mobility possible, particularly in wealthier city-states
Political Structure
-Republican city-states were dominated by a handful of families
-only 2% of men in 15th Cen. Venice could vote; 12% in
Bologna
-Despotic city-states usually hereditarily run, too
-Milan run by the Sforza family
-Elites in powerful city-states formed alliances, engaged in “strategic
marriages” (Medici-Sforza) and dominated weaker ones
-Papal authority in Italian city-states on the wane ever since 14th
century “Babylonian Captivity” in Avignon, France
-French monarchs clearly dominant over popes at that point
Italian Renaissance Culture
-concepts like beauty and virtue “gradually released from theological
constraints”
-Scholasticism gradually supplanted as dominant philosophy, though
Christianity still ubiquitous and embraced
-Humanism, Secularism, Individualism... (handout)
Renaissance and the Church
-focus on Classical World aligns nicely with “searching for
Christianity’s origins”
-attempts at aligning pagan stories with Christianity
-Virgil’s Aeneid (1st Cen. BC) transformed into allegory for the
“itinerary of the Christian Soul”
-Despite diminution of temporal power, Church still dominates
spiritual life of Renaissance Italians
-Florence has 1400 clerics in 1427; religious festivals dot the
calendar throughout the period; much art still religious etc...
Renaissance Men
-emphasis on mankind’s heroic, divine potential, instead of his
sinfulness
-Pico della Mirandola: “Man is the molder and sculptor of
himself!”
th
-15 cen. introduces autobiographies & self-portraits
-emphasis on the desire to act “civilized”
-conduct, manners, fashion etc... (Castiglione’s The Courtier)
-Da Vinci (1452-1519) epitomizes “Renaissance Man”
-excels in many fields (painter, sculptor, scientist, architect,
inventor, military engineer, philosopher...)
-Women see far less change in ideal
-Church still emphasizes Eve’s sinfulness
-Civil law still subordinates women to husbands
-Isotta Nogarola “apologizes for the weakness of women’s
nature” even as she breaks ground by writing, philosophizing...
Renaissance Art
-In Venice, “I am a gentleman,” while at home in Nuremberg, “I am a
sponger.” (freeloader) – Albrecht Durer (1471-1528)
-Antiquity often used for inspiration (i.e. Pantheon in Rome)
-Florence’s Duomo rejects Medieval Gothic style
-Secular patrons, like Medici, play huge role
-Michaelangelo (1475-1564) on Medici payroll
-Art “serves the glory of God, the honor of the city, and
commemorates myself” – unknown Florentine
-Art occasionally used to ridicule/humiliate enemies, too
-Women prohibited from apprenticeships/universities, so no famous
female artists through 16th century
-Renaissance artists often neo-Platonists
-mind capable of transcending temporal realm to realm of
eternal ideas/forms
-Art is “the grandchild of God” –Dante
-Beauty “lifts to heaven hearts that truly know” – Michaelangelo
-Nature ceases to be mere background; rather emphasized for its
own beauty
-Human bodies/facial expressions emphasized and realistic
-(nude!) body conveyed both for realism & aesthetic beauty
-belief that the face was the gateway to the soul
-Everyday life increasingly appears in art
-Art still conveys lots of symbolic meaning, understandable to
contemporary viewers
-Science of depicting perspective, depth greatly improved
-Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus (1482) oft-cited as the quintessential
Renaissance painting (this, David, Entrega de las llaves a San Pedro
& ppt)
-still Christian themes very pervasive
-sculpted tombs both glorify individual & emphasize Salvation
-“High Renaissance” (c. 1490-1530) art especially Churchdependent as city-states lose vitality to French/Spanish
meddling
-Leonardo’s Last Supper, Michaelangelo’s Last Judgment
(images)
-Popes often claim Caesar-esque titles/legacies
-Pope Julius II now “Julius Caesar Pontifex II”
End of Italian Renaissance
-Only Venice maintains eastern trade contacts after 1453 Ottoman
conquest of Constantinople (Istanbul)
-Portuguese monopolize Indian spice trade around southern tip of
Africa (Dias etc... in a couple chapters)
-Florentine woolens/silks face increasing competition from
French/Dutch
-New world colonies bringing great wealth to much of rest of W
Europe
-Columbus tried, but failed to find Italian support for his “trip”
-France/Italy/Ottomans all threaten and/or attach Italian peninsula in
15th/16th centuries
-Medici driven out of Florence by French in 1494
-Machiavelli’s The Prince (1513), inspired by Cicero, written in
this climate in hopes of restoring Florentine/Italian sovereignty
-considered first work of political science
-advocates strong, ruthless leadership
-By 1530s all Italian city-states, except Venice, dependent on Holy
Roman Emperor Charles V (King Charles I of Spain), with France
continually attacking, to boot
Northern Renaissance
-across the Alps, religious Reformation and Ren. culture begin to
merge in early 1500s.
“The world is coming to its senses as if awakening out of a
deep sleep” – Erasmus of Rotterdam
Renaissance and the Church
-focus on Classical World aligns nicely with “searching for Christianity’s origins”
-attempts at aligning pagan stories with Christianity
-Virgil’s Aeneid (1st Cen. BC) transformed into allegory for the “itinerary of
the Christian Soul”
-Despite diminution of temporal power, Church still dominates spiritual life of
Renaissance Italians
-Florence has 1400 clerics in 1427; religious festivals dot the calendar
throughout the period; much art still religious etc...
Renaissance Men
-emphasis on mankind’s heroic, divine potential, instead of his sinfulness
-Pico della Mirandola: “Man is the molder and sculptor of himself!”
-15th cen. introduces autobiographies & self-portraits
-emphasis on the desire to act “civilized”
-conduct, manners, fashion etc... (Castiglione’s The Courtier)
-Da Vinci (1452-1519) epitomizes “Renaissance Man”
-excels in many fields (painter, sculptor, scientist, architect, inventor,
military engineer, philosopher...)
-Women see far less change in ideal
-Church still emphasizes Eve’s sinfulness
-Civil law still subordinates women to husbands
-Isotta Nogarola “apologizes for the weakness of women’s nature” even as
she breaks ground by writing, philosophizing...
Renaissance Art
-In Venice, “I am a gentleman,” while at home in Nuremberg, “I am a sponger.”
(freeloader) – Albrecht Durer (1471-1528)
-Antiquity often used for inspiration (i.e. Pantheon in Rome)
-Florence’s Duomo rejects Medieval Gothic style
-Secular patrons, like Medici, play huge role
-Michaelangelo (1475-1564) on Medici payroll
-Art “serves the glory of God, the honor of the city, and commemorates
myself” – unknown Florentine
-Art occasionally used to ridicule/humiliate enemies, too
-Women prohibited from apprenticeships/universities, so no famous female
artists through 16th century
-Renaissance artists often neo-Platonists
-mind capable of transcending temporal realm to realm of eternal
ideas/forms
-Art is “the grandchild of God” –Dante
-Beauty “lifts to heaven hearts that truly know” – Michaelangelo
-Nature ceases to be mere background; rather emphasized for its own beauty
-Human bodies/facial expressions emphasized and realistic
-(nude!) body conveyed both for realism & aesthetic beauty
-belief that the face was the gateway to the soul
-Everyday life increasingly appears in art
-Art still conveys lots of symbolic meaning, understandable to contemporary
viewers
-Science of depicting perspective, depth greatly improved
-Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus (1482) oft-cited as the quintessential Renaissance
painting (this, David, Entrega de las llaves a San Pedro & ppt)
-still Christian themes very pervasive
-sculpted tombs both glorify individual & emphasize Salvation
-“High Renaissance” (c. 1490-1530) art especially Church-dependent as
city-states lose vitality to French/Spanish meddling
-Leonardo’s Last Supper, Michaelangelo’s Last Judgment (images)
-Popes often claim Caesar-esque titles/legacies
-Pope Julius II now “Julius Caesar Pontifex II”
End of Italian Renaissance
-Only Venice maintains eastern trade contacts after 1453 Ottoman conquest of
Constantinople (Istanbul)
-Portuguese monopolize Indian spice trade around southern tip of Africa (Dias
etc... in a couple chapters)
-Florentine woolens/silks face increasing competition from French/Dutch
-New world colonies bringing great wealth to much of rest of W Europe
-Columbus tried, but failed to find Italian support for his “trip”
-France/Italy/Ottomans all threaten and/or attach Italian peninsula in 15th/16th
centuries
-Medici driven out of Florence by French in 1494
-Machiavelli’s The Prince (1513), inspired by Cicero, written in this climate
in hopes of restoring Florentine/Italian sovereignty
-considered first work of political science
-advocates strong, ruthless leadership
-By 1530s all Italian city-states, except Venice, dependent on Holy Roman
Emperor Charles V (King Charles I of Spain), with France continually attacking,
to boot
Northern Renaissance
-across the Alps, religious Reformation and Ren. culture begin to merge in early
1500s.
“The world is coming to its senses as if awakening out of a deep sleep” –
Erasmus of Rotterdam