Download The Renaissance - Watertown City School District

Renaissance and
Reformation
Review- Medieval Europe
• After the Roman Empire fell, Europe fell into darkness
• no trade
• no education
• constant wars between lords
• Feudalism emerges
Feudalism- rigid
social system based
on the exchange of
loyalty and service for
land and protection
Review- Medieval Europe
• Most powerful force in Medieval
Europe- The Roman Catholic Church
• Maintained power by threatening
excommunication and interdiction
• In Eastern Europe, the Byzantine
Empire develops, along with a
different form of Christianity- Greek
Orthodox
• Didn’t believe in the authority of
the pope, priests allowed to marry
• Disagreements lead to the Great
Schism in 1054
Review- Medieval Europe
• The Crusades began when Muslim Ottomans
invaded the Byzantine Empire
• Greek Orthodox Christians turned to the
Pope for help, and he sent thousands of
Roman Catholics to dispel the Muslims and
reclaim the Holy Land
• The Crusades occurred over hundreds of
years and through a series of wars. They
were not successful.
• Effects: expanded trade between
Europe and the Middle East, new
technologies and ideas spread from
Islamic Kingdoms to Europe
Review- Medieval Europe
• Resurgence of trade after the Crusadesreturning crusaders wanted many of the goods
they were exposed to (spices, silk, ivory)
• Most of these goods traveled from the
Middle East into Italy and then
throughout Europe
• Allowed for the Commercial Revolution to
occur- new ways of doing business
• Guilds- trade associations of merchants
and artisans
• Banks develop to provide $$
• Credit
• Insurance for businesses
• New middle class develops, living in newly
established towns/cities
The Renaissance: 1300s-1500s
• The Middle Ages gave way to the
Renaissance- a Golden Age of the
arts, literature, and science in
Western Europe
• Renaissance means rebirth  rebirth
of classical learning- Greek and
Roman philosophy, art, and sciences
are revived
• Time of creativity and changing views
of the world
• Focus shifts from religion to
humans- instead of focusing on
the afterlife, Renaissance thinkers
focused on living while on Earth
Italian Beginnings
• The Renaissance began in Italy
• Center of trade after the Crusades
• Large number of trading cities- Venice,
Florence, Genoa
cultural diffusion
• Trade leads to ________________
• Classical focus- Ancient Rome
• Wealthy merchants become patrons of
the arts- commission artwork and
financially support artists
Florence and the Medicis
• Many historians argue that the Renaissance
began specifically in Florence, probably
because of the Medici family
• Florence was an ideal Renaissance city-large
population of poets, artists, scholars and
scientists
• The Medici family became rich through
trade, and used much of this wealth to
supports art and artists
The Medici Family
• 1400s- began a banking business and
became very wealthy
• Soon controlled the economic and political
spheres of Florence
• Members of the family were bankers,
traders, political figures, soldiers, and
clergy- one was even elected Pope
(Leo X)
• Their money bought them political power,
but was also used to fund the arts
• One of the largest patrons of
Renaissance art, second only to the
Roman Catholic Church
• Lorenzo Medici estimated that he
spent ~663,000 florins (~460 M USD)
on the arts, including founding an art
school
Humanism
• The Renaissance saw the development of a new
worldview called Humanism- intellectual
movement focused on worldly issues instead of
religion
Secular- non-religious
• Characterized by
•
•
•
•
Secularism
Individual thought and achievement
Focus on life on earth rather than the afterlife
Using ancient learning to understand their
own world and life
What this really means is that artists, thinkers, and
philosophers will focus on daily life/earthly lifespan
of people rather than the afterlife.
What would this mean for the church??
Humanities
• Believed education should stimulate the
individual’s creativity
• Humanist scholars studied classical Greek
and Roman cultures- wanted to use
ancient wisdom to increase their
understanding of their own times
• Emphasized the humanities- grammar,
rhetoric, poetry, and history
• Francesco Petrarch- early Renaissance
humanist
• Hunted down ancient Greek and
Roman texts and created a library
• Helped preserve classical works
Artistic Golden Age
• More realistic painting and sculpture
• Glorify the human body and form- studied
live models and classical art
• New techniques:
• New paints and oil-based paintings
• Shading
• Perspective- drew closer objects larger
and farther objects smaller
Perspective
Renaissance Artists
• The greatest of the
Renaissance artists are
still well known today:
• Leonardo da Vinci
• Michelangelo
• Raphael
• Donatello
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Yes, the teenage mutant ninja
turtles were named after the
Renaissance painters. As the
creator recalls:
“One ninja turtle became four,
each named after a
Renaissance master, each with
a different weapon. "It was,
like, 'Here's the next big thing,
ninja turtles. Ha-ha-ha,' "
Eastman recalls. “
Leonardo da Vinci
• Painter, sculptor, engineer, writer and
musician
• Seen as a true Renaissance man because
of his many skills
• Leonardo dissected corpses to be
accurate in anatomy when depicting
human forms
• Sketched submarines, helicopters and
planes hundreds of years before they
existed
• Wrote in mirrored writing, making it
difficult to decipher
• Most famous for the Mona Lisa
The Mona Lisa, 1503-1506
The Last Supper, 1498
Michelangelo
• Michelangelo was a sculptor, engineer, painter, architect and poet
• His most famous works are David, Pieta and the Sistine Chapel
• Also designed the dome of St. Peter’s Cathedral,
although he did not live to see its completion
Sistine Chapel
 Notice the curved ceiling?
It’s just a trick of perspective…
the ceiling is completely flat.
Raphael
• Came after Leonardo and Michelangelo- studied their works
• Raphael drew the School of Athens, an imaginary gathering of great
thinkers: Plato, Aristotle, Michelangelo, Leonardo and himself.
• He also created the Madonna, a statue of Mary, Mother of God
Donatello
• Lesser known Renaissance artist- sculptor
• Best known for his bronze David and the Penitent Magdalene
Boticelli
• Italian painter- studied at the art school established by Lorenzo Medici
• Most famous for The Birth of Venus- represents the rebirth of secular,
Greek stories, myths, and admiration of human form
Renaissance Authors
• Latin was the language of educated
people, but Renaissance authors
also began to write in the
vernacular of ordinary people
• Authors wrote about religious
subjects but wrote about secular
concepts as well
• Literature of “how-to” books
sprang up to teach people to
have the manners, skills, learning
and virtues of true Renaissance
men and women
Vernaculareveryday language
Niccolo Machiavelli
• Studied ancient Roman history, and served
as a diplomat in Florence
• Wrote The Prince, a guide to gain and
maintain power
• According to Machiavelli, the ends justify
the means- rulers should use whatever
means necessary to achieve their goals
• Critics attacked him for being cynical, but
others argue that he provided a realistic
look at politics
Northern Renaissance
• The Northern Renaissance was delayed
because Northern Europe was
devastated by the Black Death
• Flemish painters focused on depicting
everyday life instead of religious themes
• Believed the revival of ancient learning
should be used to bring about religious
and moral reform
• Produced men like Shakespeare and
Gutenberg
Shakespeare
• One of the best known Northern
Renaissance men
• Author of 37 plays, including Hamlet,
Macbeth, Julius Caesar, and your
favorite…Romeo and Juliet
• His genius was in expressing universal
themes in everyday realistic settings
• Created many new words- bedroom,
lonely, generous, heartsick, hurry
• Shakespeare is a very controversial
figure- some claim he was really a
woman, he was homosexual or possibly
even plagiarized all his plays
Gutenberg’s Printing Press
• How were books produced prior to the printing
press?
• 1st European movable-type printing press
invented by Johannes Gutenberg in 1450
• First printed the Gutenberg Bible in 1455 (only
21 left in the world today worth $25-35 million)
Effects of the Printing Press
• Books became easier and faster to makecheaper to produce, cheaper to buy
• Encouraged people to read, literacy
increased throughout Europe
• New ideas able to spread quickly
• Medical and scientific texts, mathematics,
95 Theses, Enlightenment Texts
• Bible printed in the vernacular which made
it more accessible
• More people began to read the Bible
and have their own ideas on how to
interpret it
• Will help bring on the Protestant
Reformation