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THE RENAISSANCE
A.D. 1350-1550,
 Secularism:
worldly (non-church/nonreligious)
perspectives
 Humanism:
based on the study of classic
Greek and Roman literature, architecture, art,
and culture. Humanists studied grammar,
rhetoric (the art of effective argument and
communication), poetry, moral philosophy
(ethics), and history. In today’s education, we
call these subjects the Humanities.
 Feudalism
- A combined economic and
social system that defined the Middle Ages.
SOME RENAISSANCE VOCABULARY
 Renaissance
 The
means rebirth.
Renaissance can be split into two parts:

Italian

Northern (The rest of Europe/north of the Alps)
 It
comes about after prolonged exposure of the Crusaders to
the Middle East—specifically the variety of trade goods and
the rediscovery of Greek and Roman ideas combined with
Arab technology preserved in places like Baghdad—and
Europe’s recovery from the ravages of the Black Death.
 It
is marked by a rise in secularism, the decline of the power of
the Catholic Church, and the rise of Humanism.
THE RENAISSANCE
Trade:
Created a wealthy class
who became patrons
of the arts.
Individualism:
Emphasis on the importance
of the individual and achievements.
Humanism:
Glorification of people
& human reason.
Secularism:
Other than religion.
Classicism:
Revival of Greek & Roman
achievements & writings.
Questioning
Spirit
Intellectual &
Artistic Creativity
 The
Italian Renaissance came first.
 It
centered around the wealthy class (aristocracy) that
were rising out of the growing trade wealth of powerful
families like the Medici.
 There
was a STRONG focus on religion esp. Catholic
Christianity.
 Add
to this a touch of Roman/cultural revival and we see
a curious blend of Catholicism and Greco-Roman myth in
the artistic work produced.
ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
 Paintings
and art tended to show how wealthy and
powerful the aristocracy (the folks that commissioned or
paid for the art) were.
 Finally,
secularism and the spirit of humanism began to
destabilize the central power of the Catholic authority
throughout Italy and Europe.
 Secularism
and humanism merge and change people’s
focus from an emphasis on faith to an emphasis on
individualism and a more worldly approach to
understanding life and reality.
ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
 By
contrast, the Northern Renaissance came later.
 It
was heavily influenced by the Protestant Reformation (a movement
that desired to reform or fix problems with the Catholic church).
 The
Northern Renaissance tended to emphasize the daily life of
peasants and idealize the simple, pious life.
 The
North held on to Middle Ages art and architecture for much
longer too.
 Finally,
because there weren’t as many trade cities, there was less
concentration of wealth as we see in Italy there just wasn’t as big a
market for art and ideas in the north.
NORTHERN RENAISSANCE
 Italian:
 Subject
Matter: Classical
Myth and Religious Scenes.
 Style:
symmetrical, balanced,
good sense of mass, linear
perspective.
 Known
For: figures with mass
and volume, knowledge of
underlying anatomy.
 Media:
fresco, tempura, oil
 Northern:
 Subject
Matter: Domestic
Interiors, Portraits, Religious
Scenes.
 Style:
attention to surface detail,
naturalism.
 Known
 Media:
For: minute surface detail.
oil on panel.
 Example:
Wedding.
Jan Van Eyck’s Arnolfini
 Example:
Michaelangelo’s
Creation of Adam, from the
Cistine Chapel’s Ceiling.
ITALIAN VS. NORTHERN RENAISSANCE
Michelangelo's Creation of Adam, Sistine Chapel ceiling.
Notice how God is pictured as an old bearded man, reaching out in strength to Adam who is too weak to reach out
to God—Adam’s wrist is limp in comparison to God. The old, bearded God is a classical Greek/Roman image of
Zeus/Jupiter image rather than the traditional image of God understood from the Bible and Christian Tradition.
Notice too how there is bulk and substance to the forms of all the persons depicted. Michelangelo had a deep
grasp of human anatomy and we feel like we can actually touch and feel the weight of Adam, God, (Eve/Mary,
and the other beings depicted.
ITALIAN VS. NORTHERN RENAISSANCE

ITALIAN VS. NORTHERN RENAISSANCE
Notice that God is
surrounded by
figures and bolts
of material that
are in the shape
of a cut-away
human brain—
deep
understanding of
anatomy.
 Michelangelo
Michelangelo’s Statue of David 
This is the
Vatican,
folks! 
ITALIAN VS. NORTHERN
RENAISSANCE
Jan Van Eyck’s Arnolfini Wedding.
This work is a portrait of Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and his wife,
but is not intended as a record of their wedding. His wife is not
pregnant, as is often thought, but holding up her full-skirted dress
in the contemporary fashion. Arnolfini was a member of a
merchant family from Lucca living in Bruges. The couple are
shown in a well-appointed interior.
The ornate Latin signature translates as 'Jan van Eyck was here
1434'. The similarity to modern graffiti is not accidental. Van Eyck
often inscribed his pictures in a witty way. The mirror reflects two
figures in the doorway. One may be the painter himself. Arnolfini
raises his right hand as he faces them, perhaps as a greeting.
Van Eyck was intensely interested in the effects of light: oil paint
allowed him to depict it with great subtlety in this picture,
notably on the gleaming brass chandelier.
Cosimo de Medici - In 1434, Cosimo
de Medici consolidated the power of
Florence in his and his family's hands,
beginning the reign of the Medici that
would last in Florence until the end of
the Renaissance. Cosimo built up
strong connections throughout Italy
and Europe in his capacity as a
banker, and applied the wealth of
Florence in patronage of artistic and
intellectual endeavors.
He is the money behind the Italian
Renaissance.
IMPORTANT FIGURES OF THE
RENAISSANCE
IMPORTANT FIGURES OF THE
RENAISSANCE
Lorenzo de Medici - Lorenzo de Medici,
known as 'Il Magnifico,' was Cosimo's grandson.
Lorenzo lived more elegantly than had Cosimo,
and enjoyed the spotlight of power immensely.
Under his control, the Florentine economy
expanded significantly and the lower class
enjoyed a greater level of comfort and
protection than it had before. During the
period of Lorenzo's rule, from 1469 to 1492,
Florence became undeniably the most
important city-state in Italy and the most
beautiful city in all of Europe.
Florence was the
epicenter of the
Italian Renaissance.
Leonardo da Vinci - Perhaps the greatest
single figure of the Renaissance, Leonardo
excelled in painting, sculpting, engineering,
biology, and many other fields. He traveled
around Italy, and eventually France as well,
making observations on nature and seeking
commissions. Many of his contributions were
ideas for inventions which were not built until
long after his death. His most famous
completed work, the Mona Lisa, is the most
famous portrait ever painted.
IMPORTANT FIGURES OF THE
RENAISSANCE
The Mona Lisa
IMPORTANT FIGURES OF THE
RENAISSANCE
Boccaccio - One of the first writers of
the early Renaissance, Giovanni
Boccaccio, a Florentine, is most noted
for writing the Decameron, a series of
100 stories set in Florence during the
Black Death that struck the city in 1348.
Boccaccio explores, in these stories,
the traditions and viewpoints of various
social classes, greatly based on actual
observation and study.
►
Set in Italy during
the Black Death
►
About 7 women and
3 men who hide in a
villa for two weeks
and tell a different
story each night
►
A series of realistic,
sometimes offcolored stories
►
The Decameron
presents both tragic
and comic views of
life
Donatello - The greatest sculptor of the early
Renaissance, Donatello was born Donato di
Niccolo di Betto Bardi. Donatello studied under
both Ghiberti and Brunelleschi, and went on to
create several masterpieces for Cosimo de
Medici in Florence. His most important work is
the David, which depicts the Hebrew king in
the classical style of a Greek god. David was
the first freestanding nude figure sculpted since
the Roman era. Donatello went on to create
the first bronze statue of the Renaissance,
showing an incredibly realistic soldier on
horseback.
IMPORTANT FIGURES OF THE
RENAISSANCE
 Donatello’s Equestrian Statue
of Gattamelatta
Donatello’s David
IMPORTANT FIGURES OF THE
RENAISSANCE
Raphael - Hailed as the greatest
painter of the Renaissance, Raphael,
born Rafaello Sanzi, worked in Rome
under papal commissions from Pope
Julius II and Pope Leo X, decorating
much of the Vatican. The most widely
known of the series of murals and
frescoes he painted is the School of
Athens, which depicts an imaginary
assembly of famous philosophers. He
was considered so important by his
contemporaries that when he died at
the premature age of 37 he was buried
in the Pantheon.
Included in this painting are: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Diogenes of Sinope, Pythagoras, Euclid, Archimedes, Ptolemy,
Alexander the Great, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Donatello, and even the great Arabic scholar Averroes or
Ibn Rushd
Johann Gutenberg - Gutenberg is
credited with inventing the printing
press in Germany in 1454, and printing
the first book, theGutenberg
Bible, ushering in the age of the printed
book, during which books became
cheaper and more accessible to the
general population.
IMPORTANT FIGURES OF THE
RENAISSANCE
►
Gutenberg’s great advance wasn’t
actually in inventing the press itself: this
was old technology. His great advance
was in the concept of movable type.
►
This dramatically reduced printing time and
made for mass production of books
possible—an educational leap forward for
mankind that was as important as the
development of the internet for us today.
IMPORTANT FIGURES OF THE
RENAISSANCE
Niccolo Machiavelli - Niccolo
Machiavelli may be the most famed
writer of the Renaissance. His most well
known work, The Prince is a political
handbook arguing that it is better for a
ruler to be feared than loved.
The Prince - Written by Niccolo
Machiavelli, The Prince was a
guidebook for the ruler Machiavelli
hoped would eventually unite Italy to
drive out foreign threats. The
Prince argues that it is better for a ruler
to be feared than loved, and has
served as a handbook by European
leaders for centuries since its publishing
in 1513.
Dante - Italian poet, writer, theorist,
philosopher, and political thinker born
in Florence, Italy. He is referred to as
the “Father of the Italian language.”
He wrote “The Divine Comedy,” an
epic poem about Dante’s vision of his
travels through hell, purgatory, &
heaven. His vision is broken up into 3
parts: the Inferno, Purgatorio, and
Paradisio.
IMPORTANT FIGURES OF THE
RENAISSANCE
IMPORTANT FIGURES OF THE
RENAISSANCE
William Shakespeare - Of,
course, while the Italians had
Dante, the English had this
guy. Shakespeare’s ability to
illuminate the depth and
range of the human
experience is one reason for
his enduring popularity. He
told compelling stories with
great characters; and he did
this so well, that we read and
reread him even today in the
21st century: 400 years later.
IMPORTANT FIGURES OF THE
RENAISSANCE
Francesco Petrarch - Francesco
Petrarch is often referred to as the
founder of humanism. As one of the first
humanist writers he explored modern
life through the lens of the ancient
Romans and Greeks, influencing with
his works the later renaissance writers
and the spirit of the times.
THE REFORMATION
A.D. 1500-1600
 Remember
that the Catholic Church divorced itself from
the body of Christianity in 1056 over a question of Papal
authority.
 The
Pope of Rome excommunicated ALL of the Eastern
Christian world because they refused to break with the
traditional structure of the faith and acknowledge his
leadership over the whole church.
 He
takes with him the majority of the churches of Western
and Northern Europe (i.e. Spain, France, Germany, and
England).
AFTER THE GREAT SCHISM OF 1056
 Abuses
of church authority begin to create
serious problems in the West.
 Popes
failed to meet spiritual needs as they
focused on political and worldly desires.
 One
Pope, Julius II the “Warrior Pope,” actually led
armies as a military leader!
 Church
officials used their offices to advance their
careers and personal wealth.
 Ordinary
parish priests did not understand their
spiritual duties or genuinely know how to instruct on
salvation and the spiritual life.
AFTER THE GREAT SCHISM OF 1056
 Abuses
of church authority begin to create serious problems in
the West.
 In
the spiritual gulf that opened in the absence of real spiritual guidance,
collections of relics and indulgences began to rise.
A
relic is a holy object: it could be a possession that once belonged
to a saint such as a cross, a piece of clothing, a holy book, or—as we
saw in the Crusades—something like the holy lance (the spear that
was used to pierce Christ at the crucifixion or martyr a saint). Often
relics were actually bones and body parts of the saints.
 An
indulgence was a release from part or all of the punishment for sin.
 Some
people would, for a price, buy and sell relics and indulgences
both real and false.
AFTER THE GREAT SCHISM OF 1056
ALONG COMES LUTHER
Martin Luther - A monk and Professor at
the University of Wittenberg, Germany.
Luther comes to believe that humans
are not saved through good works, but
by faith alone. He comes to this
conclusion based on a method called
Sola Scriptura or scripture alone. This is
the primary reason he will be
excommunicated from the Catholic
Church.
Luther
was really upset by the abuses he saw in the
church.
Since
he was not a very subtle man, he decided to
make a list of his grievances with the church there
were ninety-five of them and he nailed them to
the door of the Church in Wittenberg!
This
is a powerful attack on the church, but the Pope
fails to take Luther’s grievances seriously, calling
Luther “some drunken German who will amend his
ways when he sobers up.”
THE NINETY-FIVE THESES
 To
many others, this attack is a radical call for change, this
idea will fan the flames of revolution across the Catholic
world.
 Things
are said, feelings are hurt, and more importantly—
power is threatened in January of 1521Martin Luther is
excommunicated and declared to be an outlaw within the
Holy Roman Empire through the Edict of Worms.
 By
June of 1524 the Peasants War raged in Germany and
Lutheranism, the first protestant church burst into being.
REVOLUTION! WAR!
After
Lutherans successfully separate themselves from
Catholic authority many others jump out too.
 John
Calvin and Calvinists idea of predestination.
 King
Henry VIII dude was firing too many X chromosomes
and was a serial misogynist.
 He
kept marrying women and trying to father a son. When the girls
didn’t produce boys, he had his wives killed and tried with a new
one.
 The
Catholic Church says this is pretty wrong, so he formed the
Church of England (Episcopal Church).
ONCE THE SPLINTERING BEGINS, IT IS
HARD TO STOP
John Calvin
Henry VIII
I want sons or
I’m giving you
a really short
haircut!
Let’s call it the
Henry Bobblehead!
God has already predestined you to heaven or hell
and there’s nothing you can do about it! Oh, and you
can’t know where you are going until judgement!
Through
it all, people had to choose sides:
 Spain,
France, Italy, Ireland, and Poland generally went
Catholic.
 Germany,
England, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, and
Hungary generally went Protestant.
 The
big losers in all of this will, again, be the Jews.
 In
Lutheran territories, Jews that refused to convert were
persecuted viciously.
 In
Catholic territories, Jews that refused to convert were
segregated into ghettos.
CHOOSING SIDES
The
Reformation events will lead to about 150
years of religious warfare in Europe.
In
the Eastern Orthodox world no reformation
ever occurred or was necessary.
The
Reformation will drive much of the
competition between nations during the age of
exploration and will not really settle down until
the Industrial Revolution.
CHOOSING SIDES