Download 1 The Renaissance 1350-1600 People of the Renaissance

The Renaissance
1350-1600
Renaissance is a French word that means rebirth. The Renaissance was a time of creativity. It was a
time when people changed the way they viewed themselves and their world. During the Middle Ages people
were concerned about the church and their after-life. During the Renaissance people focused on the richness
and variety of human experience in the here and now. The Renaissance was a time when people looked back at
the classical learning of Greece and Rome. At the heart of the Renaissance was the intellectual movement
called Humanism. This was based on the classical cultures and focused on worldly subjects rather than
religious issues. Scholars studied the subjects taught in Ancient Greece and Rome such as grammar, rhetoric,
poetry, and history.
The Renaissance began in Italy for three reasons:
1. Rome sits at the heart of Italy and the Renaissance was largely based on Roman culture. Roman
architecture, ruins, statues and coins surrounded the people of Italy.
2. Italy's cities such as Florence, Milan, Venice, and Genoa in the north, Rome in the center, and Naples in the
south prospered and survived the Middle Ages. Italy has a great coastline (because it’s a peninsula) and was
a center for trade and manufacturing.
3. Italy had a large wealthy merchant class. These people were interested in the arts, education, and politics,
and stressed individual achievement. Many Italians were patrons (financial supporter of the arts) to artists
such as da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo. The Roman Catholic Church and the Medici family were
most important to funding the movement.
People of the Renaissance
Artists
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Giotto: an early Renaissance Italian painter whose frescos were masterpieces. A fresco is a
painting done on wet plaster. His works were painted with very little perspective.
Botticelli: a Humanist painter who painted scenes from Greek and Roman mythology instead
of strictly religious subjects.
Michelangelo: a Renaissance sculptor, architect, painter, and poet. He created two iconic
pieces of sculpture, the David, and the Pieta. Also painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
He designed the dome for Saint Peter’s Basilica and the uniform’s for the Pope’s guards.
Raphael: a master painter and architect of the High Renaissance. He painted the Sistine
Madonna and the School of Athens. His use of color and light was astounding.
Leonardo da Vinci: an architect, musician, inventor, engineer, sculptor, and painter, was one
of the greatest minds in history. He painted the iconic Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. His
notebooks have inspired inventors and engineers for over 500 years.
Authors
• William Shakespeare: English poet and playwright who is considered the greatest writer of
the English language. Some of his best known plays are Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado about
Nothing and Hamlet.
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