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The Renaissance
What is a “Renaissance?”
• Renaissance – French word that means
“rebirth”.
• The Renaissance was a time of change
throughout Europe, but especially in
Italy
What caused the
Renaissance?
• 1) The Black Death
• 2) Fewer people alive meant fewer
people to feed, so Europe needed fewer
farmers. This allowed for parts of
Europe to begin specializing their
economies
What Caused the
Renaissance?
• 3) Increased trade with Asia as a result
of the Crusades
• 4) Growth of city-states in Italy: cities
like Florence, Venice, and Milan
became cultural and economic centers
• 5) Interest in the classical learning of
ancient Greece and Rome
What Caused the
Renaissance?
• 6) People began to obtain great wealth
which allowed them to spend money or
things like art
• 7) Increased desire for scientific
knowledge
• 8) Desire to beautify cities
POP QUIZ
• What does Renaissance mean?
• How did the Black Plague help cause
the Renaissance?
• What 2 ancient civilizations influenced
the Renaissance?
Renaissance Ideas
• Humanism – an emphasis on individuals and a belief
that the potential of the human mind was limitless
• Authors like Giovanni Boccaccio, Francesco Petrarch
and Dante Alighieri began to write in the vernacular –
the everyday language of the people (instead of
formal Latin)
• Humanists made advances in the fields of anatomy,
geography, astronomy, and medicine
Renaissance Ideas
• During the 1500’s many authors began writing
secular works – a worldly view rather than a spiritual
focus
• Niccolo Machiavelli – author of The Prince where he
gave his opinions on how governments should be
run.
• “A prudent ruler cannot, and must not, honor his word
when it places him at a disadvantage and when the
reasons for which he made his promise no longer
exist.
“If an injury has to be done to a man it
should be so severe that his vengeance
need not be feared.”
“Men ought either
to be well treated or
crushed, because
they can avenge
themselves of
“The first method for
lighter injuries, of
estimating the
more serious ones
intelligence of a ruler is they cannot;
to look at the men he
therefore the injury
“It is best to be both
has around him.”
that is to be done to
feared and loved;
a man ought to be
however, if one cannot be
of such a kind that
both it is better to be
one does not stand
feared than loved.”
in fear of revenge.”
Science
• Curiosity about the world encouraged great thinkers
to challenge the traditional ideas of science
• Nicholas Copernicus – suggested that the sun is the
center of the universe and not the earth
• Galileo Galilei – wrote that the earth revolved around
the sun which caused church officials to arrest him.
POP QUIZ
• Define these terms in your own words
– Humanism
– Vernacular
– Secular
• What part of culture was Machiavelli most interested
in?
• Why are Galileo and Copernicus good examples of
humanism?
Renaissance Art
• Even more than politics and writing, the
arts reflected the humanist spirit of the
Renaissance
• Renaissance artists focused on the
things they saw in nature, rather than
symbolism and religious themes
Patrons of the Arts
• During medieval times artists worked for the
church. In the Renaissance artists worked for
whoever was willing to pay them.
• These buyers were called patrons
• In Florence the Medici family gave huge
amounts of money to artists and musicians
Renaissance Art
• Renaissance artists wanted to paint the
natural world as realistically as possible.
• Artists used perspective – allows artists
to paint 3D objects on flat surfaces
• Painters also experimented with new
ways of using color to portray shapes
and textures
Medieval
Renaissance
Ideal City by Piero della Francesca
Architecture
• Even the design of buildings reflected
the humanist movement. Churches,
palaces, and public buildings began
using classical Greek and Roman style
and moved away from the Gothic
architecture of the medieval era.
Not Renaissance
POP QUIZ
• What are some of the characteristics of
Renaissance art?
• What allowed for more artists to
become successful during the
Renaissance?
Michelangelo
• Michelangelo Buonarroti was an Italian
artist known for his Pieta and David
sculptures, and his painting of the
ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
Raphael
• A renowned painter and architect best
known for his The School of Athens
fresco
• Fresco – a painting made on fresh,
moist plaster
Donato Bramante
• One of the main architects of the
Renaissance movement in Rome.
• His design of the St. Peter’s Basilica
influenced the appearance of many
other churches in Italy.
The Renaissance Goes
North
• By the 1500’s the ideas of the Renaissance
had spread out of Italy and into cities like
Paris, London, and Amsterdam
• Factors including trade, the movement of
artists and scholars due to fighting in Italy,
and the movement of northern scholars to
Italy led to the Renaissance effecting areas in
Northern Europe
A Book Revolution
• In the mid 1400’s a German named Johannes
Gutenberg created the moveable type printing
press.
• The printing press allowed for texts to be
reproduced quickly and less expensively than
by hand
• Gutenberg’s first publication was the Bible
• Printed books allowed for easier access to
written materials and helped to spread the
ideas of the Renaissance
Philosophy and Writers
• Philosophy – the study of general
problems in the world
• Desiderius Erasmus – a priest in
what is now the Netherlands who
wrote about the need for a simple
Christian life and that the church
should avoid useless rituals and
politics. He was later condemned
by the Catholic church for his
writings.
Philosophy and Writers
• Sir Thomas More – English, a
friend of Erasmus, wrote the
novel Utopia. More criticized
the English government and
gave his vision of the perfect
society. His novel was so
popular that people still use the
word utopia today to describe
an ideal society
Philosophy and Writers
• William Shakespeare – English playwright who drew inspiration
from ancient and contemporary literature. He was able to
describe human nature and natural science in his plays.
• Shakespeare helped to spread Renaissance ideas, like
humanism, to the masses.
• Shakespeare’s plays focused on the lives of its realistic
characters, instead of morality plays that were popular during
the Middle Ages
• Thanks to Shakespeare London became a thriving theater town
and helped launch the first public theaters.
Artists of the North
• While Italian Renaissance artists typically portrayed
Greek and Roman gods, Northern artists often
depicted people as they really were
• Albrecht Durer – German who visited Italy and used
the techniques of realism and perspective in his own
works
• Jan van Eyck – part of the Flemish school
(Netherlands), often focused on landscapes and
domestic life