Download The Renaissance

The Renaissance
Beginning of the Renaissance
•Italian Cities
•Urban society- easy for people to
congregate
•Major trading centers that attracted
wide variety of people and cultures
•Secular culture
•Moved away from life in the church
•Focused more on the individual and the
tangible
•Renaissance means “Rebirth”
•People lost their faith in the church and
began to look towards the classical
heritage of Rome and Greece
•New ideas on politics, economy, art, and
literature
Literature - Humanism
o 3 Main ideas:
 Self-improvement through reason and
ingenuity
 Study of Classical culture
 Life-long and well-rounded education
o Secular Movement
 Emphasis on history, philosophy and
literature (known as “humanities”)
 Human nature as flawed, imperfect
o
Renaissance Man vs. Renaissance Woman
• Man: skilled rider, wrestler,
swordsman, charismatic
• Both: well versed in singing, dancing,
drawing, play an instrument, read
poetry and novels
• Women: knowledgeable of the above
but meant to be the inspiration not the
creator
Literature
 Petrarch
 Wrote in both Italian (native) and Latin
(traditional)
 Father of Humanist Movement in Italy
 Emphasis on poetry and self-expression in work
 Dante
 Wrote in the vernacular (native language)
 Inferno- Dante’s journey through the 9 circles of
hell, religious undertones emphasizing the
rejection of sin
 Wrote a lot about Virgil- Ancient Roman poet
 Boccaccio
 Emphasis on realism and the individual in the
vernacular
 Decameron- collection of realistic stories that
emphasize human interaction in both comedic
and tragic settings
Political Ideas
Niccolò Machiavelli
 The Prince
 Machiavelli observed city-state
rulers of his day and produced
guidelines for the acquisition and
maintenance of power by
absolute rule.
 “Is it better to be feared or loved?”
He felt that a ruler should be
willing to do anything to maintain
control, he thought its better to be
feared.
Renaissance Art
o Elements of Painting and
Sculpture
Emphasis on individuals &
interaction between people
Classicism: inspiration from
Greece & Rome
Perspective (dimension)
Realism and emotion
Light and shadows
o Famous Artists
 Donatello
 Michelangelo
 Leonardo Da Vinci (bottom)
 Raphael (top)
Art Activity
Directions: In your notes write down whether or not you belief that
the following pieces of art is Renaissance or not.
Northern Renaissance
Printing Press
o Invented by Johann Gutenberg in 1440
Transition from religious texts to popular
books
o Able to rapidly mass produce texts- How do
you think this affected the spread of the
Renaissance?
Erasmus- Holland
o The Praise of Folly- satire of traditional
medieval society
o Criticized the Church and the ceremony,
believed it wasn’t in line with the original
roots of Christianity
Sir Thomas More- England
o Utopia- satire mocking the wealth and
materialism of society
o Utopia means “no place”
o As a member of Henry VIII’s court he
witnessed a lot of corruption and vanity
Elizabethan Age
William Shakespeare
o Most famous playwright of all time
o Macbeth, Hamlet, The Taming of the
Shrew, etc.
o Character studies- exposing flaws
and human nature through drama
Elizabeth I known as the “Virgin Queen”
o Daughter of Henry VIII and Anne
Boleyn (2nd wife of 6)
o Considered Golden Age of England
o Ended religious persecution and
allowed for Anglicanism and
Christianity to co-exist in England
o Defeated the powerful Spanish
Armada securing England’s military
dominance in Europe
o Ruled for 44 years which brought
stability and peace