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Wealth and the Arts
European Renaissance: Causes
• Italy’s strategic location on the Mediterranean and increased trade between
Asia and Europe creates wealthy Italian city-states .
• Wealthy merchants and nobles act as patrons supporting artists, writers, and
scholars.
• Rediscovery of classical texts and art.
European Renaissance: Effects
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Increasing emphasis on secular, rather then religious themes.
Increased use of the vernacular.
Science based on careful observation.
Architecture based on classical styles
Arts become more realistic.
Secular rulers gain strength.
Increasing availability of trade goods and luxury items.
Gutenberg’s revolution in printing – spread of ideas and increased literacy.
Secularism and Humanism
• Renaissance writers describe the dignity of man and celebrated sensual
pleasures.
• Increasing use of vernacular languages.
• Niccolo Machiavelli argued in The Prince that rulers must do whatever is
necessary to hold power “the end justifies the means”, rather than act
according to laws or conscience.
Impact of The Renaissance:
Painting and Sculpture
• Giotto - as an Italian painter and architect
from Florence.
• Generally considered the first in a line
of great artists who contributed to
the Renaissance.
• Used depth, realism, and emotion
• in his paintings
Giotto’s Arena chapel north wall
Impact of The Renaissance:
Painting and Sculpture
• Masaccio –the first great Italian painter of
the Italian Renaissance.
• He was the best painter of his generation
because of his skill at recreating lifelike
figures and movements as well as a convincing
sense of three-dimensionality
Masaccio’s The Tribute Money
Impact of The Renaissance:
Painting and Sculpture
• Leonardo Da Vinci –was a painter, sculptor, architect, scientist,
musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist,
astronomer, cartographer, botanist, historian and writer.
• He is widely considered to be one of the greatest painters of all
time and perhaps the most diversely talented person ever to have
lived in the Western world.
• His genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure,
epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal. Leonardo has often
been described as the archetype of the Renaissance Man, a man of
"unquenchable curiosity" and "feverishly inventive imagination".
Da Vinci’s Last Supper
Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa
Impact of The Renaissance:
Painting and Sculpture
• Michelangelo - was an Italian sculptor,
painter, architect, poet, and engineer of
the Renaissance.
• A number of his works in painting, sculpture,
and architecture rank among the most famous
in existence.
• He is the best-documented artist of the
16th century.
Michelangelo’s Moses
Michelangelo’s David
Michelangelo’s
Sistine Chapel
Impact of the Renaissance:
Architecture
• Brunelleschi – was one of the foremost architects
and engineers of the Italian Renaissance.
• He is perhaps most famous for his development of
linear perspective and for engineering the dome of
the Florence Cathedral, but his accomplishments also
include other architectural works, sculpture,
mathematics, engineering and even ship design.
Brunelleschi’s dome of the Florence Cathedral
Impact of the Renaissance:
Scholarship and Literature
• Most wrote in the vernacular (local) language
Impact of the Renaissance:
Scholarship and Literature
• Petrarch –rediscovery of Cicero's letters is
credited for initiating the Renaissance.
• Also called the Father of Humanism.
• Petrarch's sonnets were admired and
became a model for lyrical poetry.
• The first to develop the concept of
the "Dark Ages."
Impact of the Renaissance:
Scholarship and Literature
• Erasmus – Catholic priest, social critic,
teacher, and theologian who questioned
the Church
Impact of the Renaissance:
Scholarship and Literature
• William Shakespeare - English poet,
playwright, and actor, widely regarded as
the greatest writer in the English language
and the world's pre-eminent dramatist
Impact of the Renaissance:
Scholarship and Literature
• Cervantes - Spanish novelist,
poet, and playwright
Impact of the Renaissance:
Political
• Niccolo Machiavelli –was an Italian
historian, politician, diplomat, philosopher,
humanist, and writer, who is recognized as
the founder of modern political science and
political ethics.
• Author of The Prince – a guide to secure
and maintain power
Impact of the Renaissance:
Political
• Lorenzo Medici was a magnate, diplomat,
politician and patron of scholars, artists,
and poets.
• Best known for his contribution to the
art world, sponsoring artists such as
Botticelli and Michelangelo.
Impact of The Renaissance:
Intellectual
• Galileo Galilei was an Italian astronomer,
physicist, engineer, philosopher, and
mathematician.
• Played a major role in the scientific
revolution during the Renaissance.
• He is widely regarded as one of the
greatest scientists of all time.
Impact of The Renaissance:
Intellectual
• Johann Gutenberg was a German
blacksmith, goldsmith, printer, and publisher
who introduced printing to Europe.
• His invention of mechanical movable type
printing started the Printing Revolution and
is widely regarded as the most important
event of the modern period.