Download Chapter 16: A New Way of Looking at the World

The Renaissance NOTES
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Chapter 16: A New Way of Looking at the World
 The Renaissance (1350-1600), a remarkable period of intellectual energy and
artistic creativity, ushered out the Middle Ages and set the stage for the
emergence of the modern world.
 The Renaissance is a rebirth of classical civilization, of human creativity.
 The medieval emphasis on eternal salvation in another world as the sole purpose
of human existence gave way to a new idea that life on earth had value and that
each life is valuable.
 The people of the Renaissance are devout Christians, interested in the Greek and
Roman culture, loved the ancient languages
 An intellectual movement called humanism took hold during the Renaissance.
Humanists believed in the worth of each human. They wanted to find the wisdom
needed for proper conduct of one’s life, rational governance of the state, the
enjoyment of beauty, and the quest for truth. Humanism stressed earthly
fulfillment rather than medieval preparation for paradise.
 Pico della Mirandola, a humanist, reflects on man in Oration on the Dignity of
Man, 1486 saying, “For why should we not admire more the angels themselves
and the blessed choirs of heaven? At last it seems to me I have come to
understand why man is the most fortunate of creatures and consequently worthy
of all admiration and what precisely if that Rank which is his lot in the universal
chain of Being- a rank to be envied not only by brutes but even by the stars and by
minds beyond this world. It is a matter past faith and a wondrous one. Why
should it not be? For it is on this very account that man is rightly called and
judged a great miracle and a wonderful creature indeed.
 Copernicus- believed mathematical calculations would be simpler if one accepted
the sun as a stationary point. He opened the door to modern astronomy.
 Printing was invented in China in 756, gunpowder in 100, and the magnetic
compass a decade or two later- however, all were rigidly controlled by the
imperial government. The invention of moveable type/ printing press by Johann
Gutenberg caused education to increase among the middle class, because books
spread everywhere.
 The Renaissance is a period of exploration and adventure.
 Martin Luther- Reformation- protested against the secularization of Christianity
and the abuses of power and privilege by the church hierarchy, from parish priests
to popes. Luther said faith alone was sufficient for salvation. He did not believe
that good works and the intercession of priests were necessary.
 The Catholic Reformation, or Counter reformation, was the papal response to
Luther’s revolt. Convened by Pope Paul III, the Council of Trent reaffirmed
every element of Roman doctrine attacked by the reformers and revived the
Inquisition.
Additional Notes: A major cause of the Renaissance was the Crusades 1095-1295.
Because of the Crusades people came in contact Greece and Rome, new products, new
ideas, etc.
Chapter 17: Renaissance Art: A New Golden Age
Art of The Renaissance- sculptors again depicted the human body (nudes), the Virgin
Mary is depicted as beautiful instead of childlike
Some important definitions:
Linear perspective- based on the principle of all lines converging on a single vanishing
point.
Visual perspective- suggests depth of space by overlapping shapes and by smaller size
and distant objects
Atmospheric perspective- based on the optical fact that colors become dimmer and
outlines become hazier as they recede into the distance
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Florence- As early as 1199 it was a city of bankers and wealthy craft guilds,
destined to become a leading financial power and the city most closely identified
with the Renaissance.
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Brunelleschi-greatest architect of the Renaissance- selected to design the dome for
the great cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore. P. 278
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Ghiberti- doors of Baptistery of S. Giovanni, Florence Cathedral p. 281
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Donatello- David p. 281
First nude sculpture completed since Greek and Roman times. It has the
Renaissance characteristics of nudity, idealized human figure, laurel wreath from
ancient Greece, body is of adolescent boy, not Greek warrior, shepherd’s cap and
warrior boots
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Masaccio- Tribute Money p. 283
What visual clues show that this painting is religious? What aspects of the
painting seem realistic? Unrealistic? What items in the painting seem to be
influences by classical Greece and Rome?
Continuous narration – catch the fish, find money in the fish, pay the man
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Sandro Botticelli- The Birth of Venusp. 286
Venus was Roman god of love. Painting contains nude bodies, something one
would not see in medieval paintings, lots of background, used elongation to make
body more sensual
The Early Renaissance in the North

Jan van Eyck p. 289 Flemish painter, enhanced the brilliance of color in oil
painting
-Ghent Altarpiece
-The Arnolfini Wedding
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Hieronymus Bosch p. 293
-Garden of Delights
The High Renaissance in Italy
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Leonardo da Vinci p. 294- “Renaissance man,” uses symmetrical balance, linear
perspective, atmospheric perspective (blurry background), stamato (thick layers of
paint)
- The Last Supper
- The Mona Lisa- most famous, popular because of its mystery; he carried it
with him everywhere he went; it was a really small painting; first
psychological portrait; painted strand of hair separately, she has no
eyebrows, he never completed it
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Michelangelo
o David- religious subject, made out of marble, ”chirroscuro”- s-curve for
proper stance and support
o The Sistine Chapel- painted the ceiling and the back wall, painted on wet
plaster (frescoe), 33 separate panels, 3 main stories told- creation, creation
of man, story of Noah)
o Creation of Adam
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Raphael
o Madonna
o School of Athens- summary of Renaissance humanism- grouped on the
left side of the painting are the Greek philosophers who are mainly
concerned with ultimate mysteries, Plato points to the heavens, Aristotle
points outward to Earth as the source of concern, arches, mosaic floors,
vaulted ceiling, columns, statue of gods,
Chapter 18: Renaissance Music: Court and Church
My notes:
New instruments: organ, recorder, flute, lute, guitar, violin
Instruments only for the rich.
Polyphony- many notes sung at the same time
Music notation- allows them to be more complex.
Castiglione wrote in The Book of the Courtier, “I am not pleased with the courtier if he
not be also a musician.”
Shakespeare’s stage directions call for music over 300 times.
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Music was optimistic, lively, and worldly.
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Subject matter rather than style determined if a composition was sacred or
secular.
Artists were individualists, materialistic, and experimental
o Dufay- most famous of Franco-Flemish composers
 Before he was 26, Dufay had traveled to Italy, studied in Paris,
held a post in northern France, served the court in Bologna, and
sung in the papal choir in Rome.
 He broke down the “Kyrie Elesion” into three separate movements.
o Des Pres
 Prince of Music- “Ave Maria”
 He was to music what da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael were
to the arts.
Motets are four different vocal parts of equal importance. They are still sacred
music, similar to polyphonic masses, but the text is non-scriptural.
Singing is a capella- no music, just voice.
Texture-continuous with new phrases overlapping preceding phrases to produce
an unbroken stream of simultaneous melodies.
Madrigal- a playful love song spiced with cheery nonsense syllables.
Counterpart-Row Row Row Your Boat
Printed Music- In 1500, no one had printed music, but by the end of the century
music publishers were in business everywhere.
Instrumental music was primarily associated with dances, plays, masquerades,
and the courts, not as a performance art.
Instruments- lute is preferred instrument
Word painting= enhances the meaning and emotion of a text. When one of the
words expresses weeping, pain, heartbreak, etc., the harmony would be full of
sadness. Word painting is the musical representation of poetic images. For
example, descending from heaven might be a descending melodic line, and
running might be a series of rapid notes.
Opera was invented during the Renaissance in Florence. Henry Purcell was a
great English operatic composer.
Church choirs grew in size. Music went from court to church.
Kings, royalty competed for the finest composers, singers, and instrumentalists
Composers now wanted credit for their work.
Palestrina- Roman Catholic polyphonic music, Pope Marcellus Mass is most
famous
Characteristics of Renaissance Music: Vocal music is more important than
instrumental music, humanism influenced music
Chapter 19: Literary Renaissance
 Cervantes- Don Quixote- pokes fun at medieval chivalry. P. 323
 Petrarch- inventor of the Italian sonnet
 Erasmus- great humanist- preferred a purified church to a divided one.
 Machiavelli- The Prince-a manual for leaders on how to obtain and maintain
power- any means are acceptable, he believed people are beasts
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Montaigne- “The frailest and most vulnerable of all creatures is man, and at the
same time the most arrogant.”
Rabelais- wrote about a utopia in a monastery where the “rougher element” was
excluded, and where everyone behaved with perfect manners.
Castiglione- advocated urbane lives of mannered civility. The Book of the
Courtier is a code of behavior and conduct for Renaissance patricians.
Sir Thomas More- His greatest work is Utopia. More uses the idea of a new land
called Utopia to criticize his own government
Shakespeare-the greatest, most brilliant genius writer of all time!
Francis Bacon-The New Atlantis- a book about a utopia inhabited by scientists.