Download WE Renaissance1

Western Europe
The Renaissance
What was the Renaissance?
 A “Rebirth” of interest in learning and art
 Start of the “Humanist” movement


The use of perspective
Leaders called Humanists
Why did the Renaissance need to
take place?

Fall of Rome - 476 AD

Empire covered most of known world.


Developed important city-states
Empire became too big to defend well.
Middle Ages - 500 AD – 1500AD




First 500 years = Dark Ages
The Bubonic Plague “Black Death” (bacterial infection)
that killed 1/3 – 1/2 of Europe (1347)
Lack of education, waited for a better life in death
When did the Renaissance occur?
 Approximately 1300 – 1600 AD
 Peaked in the 1500’s
Where did the Renaissance
begin?
 Italy – Western Europe

Eventually spread north across all
of Europe

Changed the way that people
viewed themselves and the world
Why did it begin in Italy?

 Trade brought
Italians into contact
with other cultures
Ruins of Ancient Rome
were a constant
reminder of past glory
 Motivated people to create new unique
things (poetry, buildings, paintings)

Focused on improving world rather than hoping
for a better life after death

New approach to thinking was called
“Humanism”
What ideas changed society?
 Material things became an important
part of life for aristocratic citizens.
 Proud of their city-states = competitive

Hired architects and designers to improve
local churches, build grand buildings and
create public sculptures and fountains.
 As part of the
competition to improve
the appearance and
status of their citystate, they attracted
the best and brightest
of scholars of the time.
Who were the important
people of the Renaissance?
 Leonardo da Vinci = artist, musician,
architect, engineer, mathematician, scientist


Created the “Mona Lisa” and “The Last Supper”
paintings
Studied the world around him in multiple ways.


Filled notebooks with sketches of inventions
hundreds of years before they were built.
Flying machines, parachutes, submarines
 Michelangelo = artist, architect, sculptor

Frescoes of ceiling of Sistine Chapel in Rome
 Covers approximately 6,300 square feet, over 300 figures
 Painted most laying on his back while on scaffolding
 Completed in 4 years (1512) with no assistants


Sculpted “Moses” and “David”
Helped design St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome
Sistine Chapel
David
From this vantage point,
though, visitors can look
for the chip on Moses'
knee which was,
according to one story, the
result of Michelangelo's
hurling his chisel at the
statue. The artist, in awe
of the life-like qualities that
emerged from the marble
as he worked, is said to
have thrown the chisel
and screamed at the
statue, "Perché non parli?
(Why don't you talk?)"
Moses
Saint Peter’s Basilica
High Altar
 Gutenberg


Invention of the printing press
allowed
Ideas to move freely across Europe

First printed version of the Bible.

Gutenberg could
eventually print 300
pages per day. Within
50 years, there were
more than 1,000
printing shops in
Europe.
What was the clothing and hygiene
like during the Renaissance?
 Wealthy
 Women = loose-fitting, high-wasted brocaded
gowns

Men = tight of various colors, short doublet or
jerkin (long shirt), detachable sleeves, closed
with “points” (tiny hooks and rings)
 Poor = woolen clothes often made of hemp
 Appearance was very important = fashions
changed as quickly as the weather
 No bathing = it was thought to have spread
disease
 The wealthy used powders and scented towels
How did the Renaissance impact
Europe?

Trade increased


Led to the growth of cities in Europe along trade routes
Led to establishment of colonies in Africa, India and the
Americas


In search of wealth = gold, ivory, silver and spices
Monarchs got wealthier and more powerful


Feudalism started to decline
Middle class forms

Merchants, Traders, Skilled craftsmen