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Overheads Ch. 12: Renaissance Ideals & Realities, c. 1350-1550
1. “Be diligent…you young people, in your studies. Do all
you can to learn about the events of the past that are
worthy of memory.” Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472)
The Renaissance was a new movement parallel with the
Middle Ages that valued classical antiquity over
contemporary culture. Renaissance ideas transformed
Italian culture from the late 14th century to the 16th
century, and later European culture too.
Features that distinguished Renaissance thinkers from
Medieval Scholars:
 Renaissance: more knowledge of the classics
 Renaissance thinkers used classical texts in new ways
 Renaissance Italy: more materialist/commercialized
Renaissance Humanism: a program of study that stressed
the study of language, literature, rhetoric, history and
ethics.
Reasons the Renaissance originated in Italy:
 Urban society of Northern Italy facilitated innovation
 Italy was divided, and Italians rallied around the
classical past
 Italians invested commercial wealth in culture
Petrarch (1304-1374 is called the “Father of Humanism.
Civic Humanists like Florentines Bruni and Alberti
stressed the importance of eloquence, the classics and
service to family and society. Civic Humanists praised
ambition and the desire for material goods.
 Alberti, On the Family, 1443 & the denigration of
women
Lorenzo Valla pioneered textual criticism. He proved the
Donation of Constantine was forged, & published Notes on
the New Testament.
Neo-Platonism: 3rd century philosophy formulated by
Plotinus that argued that everything that exists proceeds
from the divine in emanations. Matter was viewed inferior
to spirit.
 Giovanni Pico della Mirandolla, “Oration on the
Dignity of Man
Controversial Machiavelli:
 Discourses on Livy & The Prince
Castiglione on Aristocratic Manners & Skill: Book of the
Courtier
Overheads Ch. 12: Renaissance Ideals & Realities, c. 1350-1550
2. “… Sofonisba of Cremona…has worked with deeper study and
greater grace than any woman of our times at problems of design,
for not only has she learned to draw, paint, and copy from nature,
and reproduce most skillfully works by other artists, but she has
on her own painted some most rare and beautiful paintings.”
Giorgio Vassari, 1568
Trends & Context of Renaissance Art:
 Opportunities created by moveable paintings
 Mastery of 3-D illusion
 Advances in light and shading techniques
 Excellence in portraying anatomical& natural detail
 Support of arty by wealthy & influential patrons
 Popularity of oil and portrait painting
Artists:
 Masaccio, The Trinity with the Virgin
 Botticelli, Birth of Venus & The Madonna of the Magnificat
 Leonardo, Virgin of the Rocks, Mona Lisa, & The Last Supper
 Titian, Doge Francesco Venier
 Raphael, School of Athens & Disputà
 Michelangelo, Creation of Adam, The Last Judgment, Pietà,
David
 Donatello, David
 Bramante & Michelangelo (among the architects), St. Peter’s
Basilica
 Palladio, Vila Rotunda country house
 Palestrina (musician)
Reasons for the Waning of the Renaissance in Italy:
 War & foreign domination
 Declining wealth & prosperity
 Post-Reformation Church control & censorship
Overheads Ch. 12: Renaissance Ideals & Realities, c. 1350-1550
3. “ ‘Thou [Adam], constrained by no limits, in accordance with
thine own free will…shall ordain for thyself the limits of thy
nature.” Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, “Oration on the Dignity of
Man” 1486
Pico’s Sources in Brophy’s selection from the “Oration:”
 Abdala the Saracen (Arabic)
 Hermes Trismegistus (Egyptian)
 Persian thought
 David & Moses (Hebrew)
 Timaeus, Asclepius & Pythagoreans (Greek)
“…princes control their own destiny when they command enough
money or men….” Machiavelli, The Prince 1513
“As for intelligent training, a prince must read history….” Machiavelli
The English word “Machiavellian:” OED (short version)
 Noun: a person who adopts the principles of Machiavelli-one
who tends to prefer expediency (usefulness) to morality
 Adjective: one who adopts unscrupulous methods; one who is
duplicitous, deceitful, cunning or scheming
Machiavelli’s Sources in Brophy’s selection of The Prince:
 Pope Julius II (1503-1513)
 Cesare Borgia (c. 1476-1507)
 Ferdinand of Aragon (King of Castille) (1452-1516)
 Louis XII (1498-1515): invaded Italy 1499
 Virgil
 Ancient Greek mythology
Points To Compare For Discussion of Brophy’s selections:
 Sources & use of evidence
 View of free will
 View of proper behavior
 View of humanity
Overheads Ch. 12: Renaissance Ideals & Realities, c. 1350-1550
4. “The Utopians deal with their own people more harshly
than with others, feeling that crimes are worse and
deserve stricter punishment because…they [Utopian
criminals] had an excellent education and the best moral
training, yet still couldn’t be restrained from wrongdoing.”
–More, Utopia
The Northern Renaissance: c. 1500-1525
 Continuous contact between Italy & northern Europe
in the 14th & 15th centuries
 Reasons for the delay of the Renaissance movement:
scholastic influence in northern universities, and
tendency for art to be less politically advantageous.
 The Renaissance in the north was more Christianoriented and less secular than its counterpart in Italy.
Christian Humanism in the north:
 Stressed practical guidance from religion
 Sought wisdom from Christian antiquity
Important Names:
 Erasmus, “Prince of Christian Humanists,” The Praise
of Folly and Colloquies
 Thomas More, Utopia
 Spencer, The Faerie Queen
 Rabelais, Gargantua & Pantagruel
 Dürer, St. Jerome in His Study and sketch of Erasmus
 Holbein the Younger, oils of More and Erasmus
 Muscians: Roland de Lassus, Giovanni da Palestrina
and William Byrd
Architecture: Chambord & Royal Palace of the Louvre