Download The Renaissance (1300-1600)

The Renaissance (1300-1600)
The Renaissance Period
1. A period of approximately 300 years that
marked the rebirth/revival of art, literature,
and learning in western Europe
a. 14th—17th Centuries
2. Served as the transition from medieval to
modern European history
Distinctive Features of the Renaissance
1. Began with the rediscovery of the “Classical
Civilizations” of Greece and Rome which
seemingly had been lost during the Dark
Ages
2. Emphasized reason, a questioning attitude,
experimentation, and free inquiry
a. In contrast to the medieval concern
with faith, authority, obedience, and
tradition
3. Glorified the individual and the unique
qualities that made each person stand out
in his/her own way
4. Viewed life as worthwhile for its own sake—
not just as preparation for the hereafter
5. Focused attention upon worldly matters
arising out of a secular society—as opposed
to matters of religion and the Roman
Catholic Church
6. Produced great achievements in art and
literature
The Renaissance Starts in Italy
1. Begins in the northern Italian cities
a. Florence, Venice, Genoa, Milan,
Naples, Bologna
b. Cities were urban centers….
i. What do we know about urban
centers?
2. The location of various city-states allowed
for them to become dominant in world trade
a. Merchants & bankers prosper
b. Use their disposable wealth to support
the arts
i. Patrons
1. Most famous patrons?
3. Proximity allowed for contact with the more
advanced Muslim world
a. Embraced many of their
ideas/discoveries
4. Throughout Italy there were sculptures,
buildings, roads, manuscripts, etc. that
sparked curiosity of classical Greece and
Rome
The Renaissance Spreads
1. In the 15th Century Renaissance ideas begin
to spread from Italy to France, the German
states, Flanders
(France/Belgium/Netherlands), and
England
2. This cultural diffusion was the result of
commercial trade, military conflict, and
artist migrations
3. Technological advancements also helped
spread Renaissance ideals
a. Printing Press
i. Courtesy of whom?
Humanism Illustrates the Renaissance Spirit
1. Humanism was an educational movement
that began in Italy and in many ways
typified the Renaissance spirit
2. Petrarch was one of the earliest & most
influential humanists
3. Humanists concerned themselves with:
a. Past Greek & Roman
accomplishments
b. Promoting future achievement
i. Encouraged the studies of the
Humanities
1. Language,
literature/composition,
history, philosophy,
rhetoric, mathematics,
astronomy, and music
4. Many came to believe that education &
knowledge of the humanities was the way to
becoming a well-round individual
a. Only with a proper education could a
person enjoy a truly full & rewarding
life
i. Life was meant to be lived to the
fullest
1. And not in solitude
ii. A rewarding life was one that
included service of the state
Handbooks for Proper Behavior
1. Renaissance writers often prepared manuals
that instructed people on how to behave.
2. Ordinary people and prominent rulers
turned to these manual for advice
3. Niccolo Machiavelli—“The Prince”
a. Handbook on how to succeed in
politics as a ruler
i. Abandon morality & principles
1. “For the sake of the
state…must be willing to
let one’s conscience sleep”
ii. Argued that a ruler should do
whatever was necessary to gain
& keep political power
1. “The end justifies the
means”
iii. Once in power a ruler should
use any method to achieve goals
1. Cunning, deceit,
diplomacy, ruthlessness
iv. Believed it was better for a ruler
to be feared than loved
b. Had a profound influence on political
leaders
4. Baldassare Castiglione—“The Book of the
Courtier”
a. Handbook on how gentlemen and
gentlewomen should act in polite
society
i. Be charming, witty, and welleducated
ii. Dance, sing, play music, write
poetry
iii. Be a skilled rider, wrestler, and
swordsman
iv. Maintain self-control
b. Ideas will dominate European social &
political life for hundreds of years
The Vernacular Replaces Latin in Literature
1. During the Middle Ages, Latin was the
language of the Church and of educated
people
2. Over the centuries other tongues had been
evolving through everyday usage
a. French, Italian, Spanish, German,
and English
3. During the Renaissance writers began to
use these vernacular or national languages
in addition to Latin
a. Later writers will discard Latin
entirely
4. Many of the greatest literary masterpieces in
the canon were written during the
Renaissance and in the vernacular
Renaissance Literary Achievements
1. Erasmus—“In Praise of Folly”
a. Dutch scholar and Catholic priest
b. Used satire to ridicule superstition,
prejudice, privilege, and Church
abuses
i. Encouraged people to think
about reform
2. Sir Thomas More—“Utopia”
a. English lawyer, philosopher,
statesman, martyr, and Catholic saint
b. Portrayed an ideal country free from
war, injustice, poverty, and ignorance
i. The irony ?
3. Dante—“Divine Comedy”
a. Italian poet
b. Described Dante’s imaginary trip
through the 9 circles of Hell/Inferno,
Purgatory, and Heaven/Paradise as
guided by Roman poet Virgil
4. Boccaccio—“The Decameron”
a. Italian writer and friend/student of
Petrarch
b. Collection of sophisticated short
stories told over a period of 2 weeks
by a group of young men & women
who had fled to a villa outside
Florence to escape the Black Death
i. Serves as an important
historical document of 14th
century life
ii. Profoundly influential upon
later writers…most notably
Chaucer
5. Chaucer—“The Canterbury Tales”
a. English author, philosopher,
alchemist, astronomer, bureaucrat,
and diplomat
b. Collection of tales (mostly in verse,
although some are in prose) told as
part of a story-telling contest by a
group of pilgrims as they travel
together on a journey to the shrine of
Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury
Cathedral.
6. Rabelais—“Gargantua and Pantagruel”
a. French monk and scholar
b. Used tongue-in-cheek humor to
portray a comic world of giants and
their adventure
i. Mocked those who did not take
the humanist point of view
c. Are several serious passages
throughout which reaffirm the
importance of letting nothing in the
world be unknown to you
7. Montaigne—“Essays”
a. French author, statesman, and
skeptic
b. Merged serious intellectual
speculation with casual anecdotes
and autobiography
i. to this day, some of the most
widely influential essays ever
written.
ii. had a direct influence on writers
the world over, including
Shakespeare, René Descartes,
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Ralph
Waldo Emerson, Friedrich
Nietzsche, Isaac Asimov, etc.
8. Cervantes—“Don Quixote”
a. Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright
b. Novel depicting an older gentlemen
who is obsessed with stories of
knights & chivalry
i. Considered the first modern
novel
ii. The best literary work ever
written?
9. Shakespeare—“____________________”
a. English poet and playwright
i. The greatest of all time
b. Sonnets were filled with exquisite
lines and evoked striking images
i. Demonstrated masterful
command of English language
c. Plays employed superb dramatic
technique to probe historical events &
human character
Characteristics of Renaissance Art
1. Heavily influenced by the artistic
achievements of classical Greece & Rome
a. Particularly in sculpture &
architecture
2. Emphasized realism, attention to detail, and
a desire for perfection
3. Portrayed religious themes & recreated
biblical events with lifelike realism
4. Expanded focus to worldly subjects—
landscapes, portraits, and scenes of
everyday life
5. Evokes great admiration
Renaissance Artistic Achievements
1. Brunelleschi—“The Dome of Florence”
a. Italian architect & engineer
b. Foremost architect of the Renaissance
2. Donatello—“David”
a. Early Renaissance Italian artist &
sculptor
b. Fame & talents will be superseded
by…
3. Michelangelo—“David”, “Pieta”, “Sistine
Chapel”
a. Multi-talented Renaissance
genius…sculptor, poet, painter,
architect
b. Volume of his work is prodigious
c. Egoist, perfectionist who did
everything on a grand scale
4. Raphael— “School of Athens” and various
Madonnas
a. Italian artist and architect
b. Bitter rivalry with Michelangelo
5. Leonardo da Vinci—“Mona Lisa”,
“Last Super”, “Vitruvian Man”
a. Italian painter, sculptor, architect,
engineer, musician, scientist,
inventor, etc.
b. The Ideal Renaissance Man
6. Durer—“Praying Hands”
a. German painter & graphic artist
b. Regarded as the greatest German
Renaissance artist
7. Holbein—Various Tudor portraits
a. German painter who served as the
official painter at the court Henry VIII
b. Famous for his lifelike portraits of
famous persons
8. Van Eyck—“The Arnolfini Marriage”
a. Flemish/Dutch painter who
specialized in detailed oil paintings
1. “Father of Oil Painting”
b. Made extensive use of disguised
religious symbols