Download the renaissance - Rowan County Schools

THE
RENAISSANCE
RENAISSANCE:

Historical period in Europe
from about 1300-1600 where
a renewed interest in the
classical culture of Greece
and Rome led to changes in
art, learning, and worldviews.

Renaissance (French for rebirth)
This time period is seen as a distinct
passing from medieval to modern
society.
 A rebirth from the “Dark Ages” aka
the Middle Ages


approximately 1,000 years between the fall of
the Roman Empire and the Renaissance.
Some Ways to Describe It…
A time of creativity and great
change
 A rebirth from the disorder of the
Middle Ages (Black Death, wars,
etc…)

Why did the Renaissance occur?
And why did it start in Italy?

Increased trade with Asia and other
regions


Growth of large, wealthy city-states in
Italy


Italy – crossroads in Mediterranean Sea
Rest of Europe – still rural
Renewed interest in the classical
learning of ancient Greece and Rome
Why the Renaissance began in
Italy (cont)…

Rise of rich and powerful merchants,
who became patrons of the arts



Ex: Medici family in Florence
Increased desire for scientific and
technical knowledge
Desire to beautify cities

Ancient ruins from the Roman Empire
Themes of the Renaissance

Individualism:





Went against Christian humility of the
Middle Ages.
Uniqueness, Personality
Confidence in ability to achieve greatness
Genius, development of full potential
Quest for glory
Humanism/Classicism



Education centered around the study of
the Latin classics.
Studied these classics to understand
human nature rather than only to
understand God.
Focus on the humanities – grammar,
rhetoric, poetry, history, etc…
Secularism




A basic concern with the material world
instead of the spiritual world. “Worldly”
Attention on improving life in the here
and now, but did not abandon religion.
More focus on education, business,
wealth
More leisure time, art patronage, etc…
Important Writers/Literature

Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374)



“Father of Humanism”
Poet
Famous for writing sonnets – 14 line
poems to Laura
Other Humanists…

Desiderius Erasmus (1469-1536)



Orphan; joined a monastery
Most famous work: The Praise of Folly
(1509) – used humor to expose immoral
behavior of clergy
Key Beliefs:


Education is key to moral/intellectual
improvement
Christian attitude/study of the Bible
Other Humanists…

Thomas More (1478-1535)





Lawyer, writer, counselor to Henry VIII
Most famous work: Utopia (1516)
“nowhere”
Ideal, nearly perfect society
Very radical for its time
Beheaded in 1535
Writing in the Vernacular

Dante (1265-1321)




From a noble family in Florence
Wrote the Divine Comedy between 13131321.
Journey of the soul through afterlife;
Inferno, Purgatory, Paradise
Written in the Italian vernacular; helped
develop the language.
Writing in the Vernacular


Geoffrey Chaucer (c.
1340-1400)
 Wrote The
Canterbury Tales
in the English
vernacular
language.
Shakespeare
Renaissance Guidebooks

The Book of the Courtier (1528)


Guide to becoming a Renaissance
gentleman
The ideal Renaissance man should be:



Educated in many subjects
Know how to sing, dance, play an instrument
Able to compose a sonnet, wrestle, ride
expertly, and speak and write eloquently.
Renaissance Guidebooks





The Prince (1513) by Niccolo
Machiavelli
About political power
How the ruler should gain, maintain,
and increase it
“Machiavellian” – use of deceit in
politics
“the end justifies the means”
Renaissance
Architecture
Return from the Gothic style of
the Middle Ages to the Classical
styles of Early Greece and
Rome.
 Architecture became simpler,
more symmetrical: columns,
arches, domes

New Techniques
Perspective: The linear
representation of distance and
space on a flat surface.
 How? By making distant objects
smaller than those close to the
viewer. Gives the illusion of
depth.

Examples of Perspective
Techniques


Shading
Illumination
The Geniuses of
Renaissance Art
1.
2.
3.
4.
Leonardo da Vinci
Michelangelo
Raphael
Donatello
Leonardo da Vinci

Painter, sculptor,
inventor, scientist
Mona Lisa
 The Last
Supper

The Last Supper
http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/leonardo-last-supper.html
The Mona Lisa
http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/leonardo-mona-lisa.html
Michelangelo

Famous works
include:



Pieta
statue of David
ceiling of the
Sistine Chapel in
Rome
Pieta
http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/michelangelo-pieta.html
Statue of David
http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/Michelangelo-David.html
Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/sistine-chapel-ceiling.html
Raphael


A student of
Leonardo and
Michelangelo
Famous painting:

The School of
Athens
The School of Athens
http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/school-of-athens.html
Donatello


Most famous for his
sculptures
Most famous is his
bronze statue of
David