Download Book of the Courtier

Renaissance Culture
PowerPoint Presentation
Mr. Furr
World History
Mt. Pleasant High School
March 9, 2004

As we will see, the Renaissance will affect many
things in European culture. These include:





Literature
Art
Education
Music
For the purpose of this PowerPoint, we will focus
on the first two.
Origins

The renaissance began on the Italian
Peninsula around the year 1450. Italy was
not a country yet. Instead, the peninsula
was controlled by a series of city-states.
Each city-state had its own government
and identity. Often these states saw
vicious fighting among the city’s
wealthiest families for control of the city
itself.
The Ruling Cities


Trade built the Renaissance. After the
crusades, trade contacts flourished. The
Crusaders increased the demand for
goods and technologies from Asia.
Three cities would arise through this trade
to dominate the Italian Renaissance =
Venice, Florence, and Rome. Other cities
like Milan played lesser roles too.
Secularism

The Renaissance marked several changes
1. Change from a religious view of
life to a secular one.
2. The Catholic Church declined in
power.
3. Humanism develops= focus on
fulfillment in life now rather than waiting
and revive the study of Roman and Greek
discoveries.
Literature



Renaissance writers expanded the use of
vernacular language.
This increase in vernacular use increased
the popularity of books.
Also influenced change in education.
Examples of Prominent Renaissance
Writers

Castiglione

Gave “instructions” on how the nobility was supposed
to act
 Supposedly, this was one of 3 books by Charles V’s
bedside (this, the Bible, and The Prince)
Petrarch
 Father of humanism—influenced heavily by Roman
works (esp. Cicero).
 Did not use the vernacular, very intellectual.


Book of the Courtier

Examples of Prominent Renaissance
Writers
Dante
Famous work—Divine Comedy—poked fun at
medieval life
Chaucer
 Famous work—Canterbury Tales—author’s way of
representing all classes of English society
Christine de Pizan
 Famous work—The Book of the City of Ladies—
denounced popular fact that women (by their nature
alone) were unable to learn
 Advocated for the right to attend same schools as
men



The Book that Changed it all


The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli,
describes the qualities that can make a
leader great. It is a guide book for rulers
and the behavior that will allow them to
rule and keep their power in times of
crisis.
Machiavelli stresses that Christian
principles have little to do with efficient
rule. This contradicted the old Middle Ages


This increase in the
popularity of books
would never have
been possible without
a key invention in
1455.
Johann Gutenberg
invented the Printing
Press
ART


This area felt the largest
impact during the
Renaissance.
The 4 great masters of the
Renaissance—the Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles?




Leonardo da Vinci
Michelangelo
Raphael
Donatello
The Pope

The Pope would help shape the
Renaissance by hiring new artists to
decorate the Vatican City. Michelangelo,
Raphael, and Leonardo da Vinci were all
hired by the Church to create some of
their best works of art.
Pope Continued

During the Renaissance, the office of the
Pope became more of a secular office than
a Religious one as Popes bought and sold
art. The Pope also became heavily
involved in politics and wars between
ruling families.
New Techniques



Fresco painting, painting on wet plaster,
became the new method of the day.
Artists developed perspective( adding
depth to a painting), and focused on
bright colors and out door scenes.
Artists evoked humanism by portraying
religious scenes done in a modern setting,
or by recreating scenes from mythology
da Vinci




Leonardo da Vinci was the illegitimate son of a
government official and a peasant girl.
He got a decent education and secured a
member of the de Medici family as his patron.
He was a scientist and inventor (among other
things)…not just an artist.
Leonardo the dyslexic with ADD
Examples of da Vinci’s paintings
The Last Supper


Left: Leonardo’s self-portrait
Right: Mona Lisa
Michelangelo




Was both a painter, sculptor, and architect
Mother died young, left in father’s care who was
a petty government official for the di Medici
family
Created well-known sculptures by the age of 16
Was under the de Medici’s patronage, like da
Vinci was 20 years earlier


There was much hostility between Michelangelo and
da Vinci, possibly due to the former’s violent temper
Forced to work for the pope?
Michelangelo below and the
infamous ceiling of the Sistine
Chapel to the left.
Scenes from The
Creation in the Sistine
Chapel.
More Michelangelo




He wasn’t a painter first, or by choice
He felt forced (pressure by pope or need
for money) to do the Sistine Chapel Work
He was also a sculptor and architect
Note he also made the tomb for Pope
Julius II, the man he wasn’t crazy to work
for!
Left: can you identify this famous statue?
Right: the Pieta. Who are those people?
Raphael




Grew up in Urbino, center of high culture in the
Papal States
Father was a minor artist who encouraged his
son’s ambitions
Studied under da Vinci and Michelangelo but
didn’t seem to have the latter two artists’
“issues”
Also heavily engaged by Pope Julius II to do
work in Sistine Chapel and Vatican
Left: The Ascension
Right: Marriage of the Virgin
Raphael was best known for his Madonna paintings.
Raphael—School of Athens
There are many neat things in this painting
Plato and
Aristotle
Diogenes
the Cynic
Socrates
teachingdressed
like a monk
Euclid
demonstrating
Geometry
In your historical opinion, what does this painting say about
Raphael’s attitude towards the Renaissance?
Architectural perspective of this painting.
Donatello




Major sculptor from Florence
Little reliable information from early life
Artistic career widely known, recognized,
and documented
Completed statues as well as reliefs
Left: statue
of Mary
Magdalene
Right: statue
of Madonna
and Child
Donatello’s Reliefs


Do these artists featured in this
PowerPoint exhibit the humanistic trend of
more realistic, human-like forms?
Take a look at the next couple of slides,
write down in your notes whether you
think the work is from the Middle Ages or
the Renaissance.
Picture 1
Picture 2
Picture 3
Picture 4
Picture 6
Picture 5
Picture 8
Picture 7
The Renaissance moves North
By the year 1500, the Renaissance spread
from Italy to all other European nations.
 Spain= Miguel Cervantes wrote Don
Quixote expressing realism and idealism
Lope de Vega wrote 1,500 plays
England= William Shakespeare wrote many
dramas to appeal to human emotion and
psychology

Art Moves North


Artists Northern Europe traveled to Italy to
study the new techniques. They
discovered realism and oil paint.
Durer and van Eyck used human form and
realism to create great portraits for the
rich and famous classes of Northern
Europe.