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The Renaissance
Why was Italy the birthplace
of the Renaissance?
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It was the crossroads of trade in the
Mediterranean
Rome was the center of the classical world
Recovered from the plague with more
opportunities for economic advancement
Wealthy and powerful merchant class
The Growth of
Italian City-States
Why were Italian citystates so rich and
powerful?
• Overseas trade, spurred by the
Crusades, led to their growth
• Northern Italy had a wealthy
merchant class
• It’s classical heritage of Greece and
Rome
• City-states governed themselves
How did Florence
become the most
influential city-state?
• Florence was mostly urban
while the rest of Europe was
rural
• Because of the plague, many of
the city’s survivors could
demand higher wages
• Because Florence was small,
many of its citizens could be
involved in politics
What was the
Renaissance and why
did it begin in Italy?
• Renaissance means “re-birth” which
refers to revival in arts and learning
• Italian merchants displayed their wealth
by giving financial support to artists
• Lorenzo de Medici (Lorenzo the
Magnificent) was a generous patron of
the arts
The Spirit of the
Renaissance
• The Crusades made Europeans
eager to learn about the world
around them
• Church leaders became patrons
of the arts by financially
supporting artists
A Fascination with
Classical Cultures
• Scholars became interested in ancient
Greek and Roman culture
• Artists used ancient art as models
• Brunelleschi designed buildings
after studying Roman ruins
• Filippo Brunelleschi
• Commissioned to build the
cathedral dome in Florence
(Il Duomo)
– Used unique architectural
concepts.
• He studied the ancient
Pantheon in Rome
Brunelleschi’s Dome
Dome Comparisons
Il Duomo
St. Peter’s
(Florence)
(Rome)
St. Paul’s
(London)
US capital
(Washington)
A New Type of Scholar
Called a Humanist
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Humanists adopted many Roman and
Greek beliefs
1. seeking fulfillment in daily life
2. all people have dignity and worth
3. the ideal person—one who can do
almost anything (the Renaissance
Man)
• Humanists learned many subjects, such
as Latin, Greek history, mathematics,
and rhetoric (the study of language)
• In the Middle Ages, religious people
proved their piety(religious devotion) by
living a plain life
• Humanists enjoyed life without
offending God
Petrarch
• Father of Renaissance
humanism
• Poet
• sonnets
A Belief in Human
Potential
• Emphasized human achievement on
earth, rather than the afterlife
• Renaissance thinkers strove to master
almost every art
• Later ages called such people
“Renaissance men”
• Individuals became the center
of attention during the
Renaissance as the belief in
human potential & ability began
to emerge from Medieval ways
of thinking
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Machiavelli—wrote The Prince
The Prince was a book about Italian
government
Machiavelli supported the idea of
absolute power
He believed you should “do whatever
it takes” to be a great ruler, even if it
means you have to hurt someone
Baldassare Castiglione
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Wrote the Book of the Courtier
Ideal courtier
Manners, skills, learning, and virtues
• Ideal Man—was well educated in
the Classics; should be charming,
witty, & smart; can dance, write
poetry, & play music; should be
physically fit
• (called a “Renaissance Man”)
• Ideal Woman—study Classics; write,
dance, paint, make music well; but
should not seek fame or political power
(Renaissance women were far better
educated but had fewer rights than
Medieval women)
Renaissance
Artists
Donato
Donatello
• Donatello is considered by many to be
the greatest sculptor of the Renaissance
• Medieval sculptors only carved the front
of a statue, but Donatello wanted
sculptures to be viewed from all sides
like Greek & Roman statues
Donatello’s “David” became the first
large, free-standing human sculpture
David stands at the Museo
Nazionale del Bargello, or
Palazzo del Popolo (Palace
of the People)
It is a former barracks and
prison, now an art
museum, in Florence,
Italy.
Michelangelo
• Michelangelo was a great painter &
sculptor; his “Pieta” & “David”
sculptures are perceived as masterpieces
• His greatest work is the 130 ft x 44 ft
ceiling of the Sistine Chapel; which
shows biblical images of amazing detail,
power, & beauty
Michelangelo’s
“Pieta” depicts the
Virgin Mary
cradling the limp
body of the
crucified Jesus.
It is displayed in St.
Patrick’s Cathedral,
in the Vatican
Michelangelo’s
statue of “David”
expresses the
Renaissance belief
in human dignity
and greatness
David at the Accademia Gallery
in Florence
Created between
1501-1504
He stands 17 ft. tall
He represents the
Biblical hero David.
David’s Hand
Michelangelo’s Greatest
Masterpiece
the Sistine Chapel was
commissioned under the
patronage of Pope Julius II.
He painted the ceiling between
1508-1512
The
Creation
of the
Heavens
The Sistine Chapel Details
Creation of Man
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Michelangelo returned to the chapel to
begin painting the altarpiece “The
Last Judgment”
This painting features Christ judging
souls as the rise and fall from each
side of the painting
He painted The Last Judgement
between 1535-1541.
Bartholomew's
flayed skin
Raphael
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Raphael “Perfected” Renaissance
painting
He became the favorite painter of the
Pope because of his amazing detailed
paintings showing Greeks & Romans
along with Renaissance people
“School of Athens” is his greatest
work
• Many of the important Greek
philosophers and thinkers are
included in this painting  and
many of the great personalities
from the classical period
• Subjects are in a great variety of
poses
• Raphael worked on this
commission simultaneously as
Michelangelo was painting the
Sistine Chapel
Plato and Aristotle
Socrates
Raphael
Alexander the Great
Michelangelo
Pythagoras
Zoroaster
Ptolemy
Euclid
Perspective!
Betrothal
of the Virgin
Raphael
Leonardo da Vinci
• A true
“Renaissance
Man” Leonardo was
an inventor, painter,
sculptor,
mathematician &
scientist
Using Geometry
Leonardo,
the Artist
From his Notebooks of over 5000
pages)
His “Last Supper” shows Jesus’
last meeting with the 12 apostles
before the crucifixion
The facial expressions, detail,
and emotion had made it a
masterpiece
The Last Supper – da Vinci, &
Geometry
vertical
The Last Supper and Perspective
horizontal
A Da Vinci “Code”
Theory, St. John or Mary Magdalene?
Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie
Milan, Italy
da Vinci’s
Mona Lisa
is great for its
emotion and
depth
Mona Lisa has no visible facial
hair at all - including eyebrows
and eyelashes
A Picasso Mona
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On August 12, 1911, a Louvre
employee stole it by entering the
building during regular hours, hiding in
a broom closet and walking out with it
hidden under his coat after the
museum had closed
After keeping the painting in his
apartment for two years, the man grew
impatient and was caught when he
attempted to sell it to an art dealer; it
was exhibited all over Italy and
returned to the Louvre in 1913
• In 1956, the lower part of the
painting was severely damaged
when someone doused it with
acid
• On December 30 of that same
year, another person damaged the
painting by throwing a rock at it
• The result was a speck of
pigment near Mona Lisa's left
elbow
• The painting is now covered with
bulletproof security glass
Leonardo, the
Scientist
(Biology):
Pages from his
Notebook
da Vinci often wrote in
mirrored handwriting
Leonardo, the Engineer:
• Leonardo sketched several
designs for flying machines
including this one with a
rotating screw
• He intended to power it with a
wound-up spring
• Leonardo’s many military inventions
included this design for an armored
tank
• Four soldiers sitting inside could turn
cranks to move the wheels on this
tank”
• da Vinci also invented a gigantic
crossbow
• It's difficult to know whether it would
have worked, or whether it would
have been superior to cannons of the
same period
Vitruvian
Man
• The length of a man's
outspread arms is equal to
his height
• The maximum width of the
shoulders is a quarter of a
man's height
• The distance from the elbow
to the tip of the hand is onefifth of a man's height
• The Renaissance spread from
Italy as scholars from other areas
visited Italian city-states & took
the new ideas they saw back
• Kings bought Renaissance art,
helping to spread new ideas
• Renaissance ideas spread to the
Holy Roman Empire
(Germany), England, France,
Belgium, Netherlands
• Renaissance in Germany was very
religious—Christian humanists
criticized the church & society (will
lead to Protestant Reformation)
• The Renaissance encouraged
a new spirit of adventure and
discovery
• The Renaissance spirit played
an important role in helping to
launch the Age of Exploration