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A Rebirth of Ideas
A stone flew through the air, hitting the face of the sculpture.
Michelangelo cried out as if he had been struck himself. He rushed to
see if the marble had been damaged. The exhausted workers
stopped in their tracks. Suddenly, several men burst out of a nearby
alley shouting, “Medici! Medici!” before disappearing down a side
street.
The new political leaders of Florence had hired Michelangelo, the
most skilled sculptor of his time, to create a work that would
symbolize the city. He decided on the young biblical hero, David, who
defeated the giant Goliath with a simple slingshot and stone.
Michelangelo wanted his work to encourage the people of Florence
in their struggle to be free of their enemies and the powerful Medici
family who had controlled the city for so long. He had created a
magnificent figure in the spirit of the ancient Greeks and Romans
who he admired. David represented human beings in all their beauty
and glory.
“They are gone. Let us go on,” Michelangelo said to the workers. He
could hardly wait to see his work standing in front of the Palazzo
Vecchio.
Q: Why did Michelangelo choose David as his symbol?
Q: What does Michelangelo's choice suggest for how he viewed
Florence and its future?
Humanists
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A new way of thinking
was taking place across
the whole continent
This new thinking started
in the Northern city-states
of Italy
Scholars called
humanists looked back
to ancient civilizations
and studied their art and
writing

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Rome and Greece
Applied these ideas to
their lives and work
Classical Writings

Greek and Roman civilizations had not been forgotten in the Middle Ages
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Writers such as Aristotle and Plato were studied from the Christian
perspective
During the Renaissance, scholars looked at these works in a different light
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Latin remained the language of scholars and the church
Admired the writing styles
Became interested in their ideas concerning society, politics, history and
the arts
Renaissance worldview seemed to be a result of intercultural contact with
past civilizations

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Greek and Roman which formed “Classical civilization”
Islamic civilization that preserved and further developed the knowledge
of Classical civilization and those in India and the Far East
•
Sciences, math and medicine
Spread of Ideas

These humanist ideas spread mainly among the
wealthy in society

Reading and discussing ancient writers became a
kind of fad among the new class
Humanism
On Mind and Body:
“You should pray
for
A sound mind in a
sound body”
- Juvenal
On History:
“To be ignorant of the lives of the
most
Celebrated men of antiquity
Is to continue in a state of
Childhood all our days.”
- Plutarch
On Education:
“The educated differ
From the uneducated
As much as the living
From the dead.”
- Aristotle
Humanism and the Individual

The most important aspect
of classical thinking to
Renaissance thinkers and
artists was the belief in the
dignity and potential of the
individual

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People could shape
their lives through their
own talents and efforts
This fit into the Christian
worldview as
developing your talents
was serving God,
because he gave you
those talents
Humanist Beliefs
VERY IMPORTANT
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Human beings can use the power of reason;
thinking to find truth for themselves
It is important for a person to have an open,
curious and questioning mind
People can achieve great things through
learning
Individuals should be skilled in many different
areas; they should not just develop their minds
but also their bodies and spirits
Humanist Scholars

Francesco Petrarch was a humanist
thinker from the early Renaissance

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Saw the Classical past as a
glorious time
Thought it was far superior to
the Medieval world and his
current time
“Among the many subjects that
interested me, I dwelt especially
upon antiquity, for our own age has
always repelled me . . . In order to
forget my own time, I have
constantly striven to place myself in
spirit in other ages, and
consequently I delighted in history.”
Q: What does this quote tell us about
scholars of this time?
Manuscripts
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Later humanists began to see the
Renaissance as a time when the ideas and
values of ancient times were “reborn”
Greek and Roman manuscripts had been
preserved in libraries in the Muslim world
and throughout Europe in cathedral libraries
These manuscripts were collected by
Petrarch and other humanists
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They made translations and copies of
them
Giovanni Aurispa brought 240 Greek
manuscripts to Europe in one year alone
They wanted these ideas to be available to
the larger public
In order to be truly cultured, one needed to
read good books and examine great works
of art
The Ambassadors, 1553
By Hans Holbein the Younger
Q: What objects do you see in
the painting?
Q: How does this double
portrait illustrate the humanist
idea about the individual?
Q: In the top left corner is a
small crucifix. What might the
size of the object suggest?
Homework
/6

Choose one of the four humanist beliefs
depicted on slide seven and answer the
following questions:
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Do you think this belief is still followed today? Why
or why not?
Do you think this belief is important to follow? Why
or why not?
Do you follow this belief in your daily life? If so,
how? If not, how would you change this?