The Renaissance

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The Renaissance
Primavera by Botticelli
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The Renaissance Essential Questions

1. What were the chief features of the Renaissance?
2. How would you describe the political world that
   existed in the Italian states and what role did
   women play?
3. What were the chief characteristics of Italian
   Renaissance humanism and how did it differ from
   Northern Italian humanism?
4. What were the chief achievements of Italian and
   Northern Renaissance painters?

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The Italian Renaissance

• Renaissance means rebirth
• Began in Italy
• Lasted from 1350-1550
• The classics from Greece and Rome were revived
• Spread throughout Europe

Palazzo Della Signoria in Florence, Italy
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Characteristics of the Italian Renaissance

• Urban society
• Secular-worldly
• Recovery from the disasters of the 14th century
• Black Death
• Political disorder
• Economic recession
• New view of human beings and individual ability

Siena, Italy Piazza del Campo
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The Italian States

• During the Middle Ages, Italy had failed to
  develop as a monarchy
• Lack of single ruler made it possible for a
  number of city-states in northern and central
  Italy to remain independent
• Prospered from trade
• Exchanged good with the Byzantine and Islamic
  civilizations, England, and the Netherlands
• Obtained silks, sugar, and spices to take back to
  Italy

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The Italian States Milan

• 14th century-Visconti family established
  themselves as dukes of Milan and extend power all
  over Lombardy
• Last Visconti dies in 1447
• Francesco Sforza (condottiere-leader of a band of
  mercenaries) conquers Milan and becomes duke
• Built a strong, centralized state
• Efficient tax system

Duomo in Milan, Italy
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The Italian States Venice

• Grown wealthy from trading
• Small group of merchant-aristocrats ran the
  government on behalf of their own interests
• Trade empire brought enormous revenues
• Became an international power

San Marco in Venice, Italy
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The Italian States Florence

• Dominated the region of Tuscany
• In 1434, Cosimo de Medici took control of the
  city
• The Medici kept the republic form of government,
  but ran it behind the scenes
• Cosimo and Lorenzo put supporters in offices to
  carry out their policies
• Florence was the cultural center of Italy

Duomo in Florence, Italy
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The Italian States

• Rest of monarchial Europe was attracted to the
  riches of Italy
• Italians turn to Spain for help
• Southern Italy (the Kingdom of Naples) became a
  battleground for French and Spanish dominance
• Spanish sack Rome in 1527 because they are not
  being paid
• Ends wars and Renaissance in Italy

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Machiavelli and the New Statecraft

• Wrote The Prince
• Concerned with political power and how to get it
  and keep it
• Rejected the Middle Ages view that rulers ought
  to behave on Christian moral values
• Must be based on an understanding of human nature
• A ruler acts on behalf of the state, therefore,
  he should let his own conscience sleep
• Had a profound influence on political leaders in
  the Western world

Machiavelli
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The Making of Renaissance Society Nobility

• Around 3 of the population
• Held political posts and advised Kings
• Castiglione describe the perfect noble in his
  work The Book of the Courtier
• Born, not made
• Work to be a warrior
• Have a classical education
• Standards of conduct
• Serve his prince in an effective and honest way

Isabella dEste
Pietro Medici
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The Making of Renaissance SocietyPeasants and
Townspeople

• About 90 of the population
• Serfdom declined and more peasants were becoming
  free
• Townspeople were divided also
• Patricians-wealthy traders, industry, and
  banking-dominated communities
• Burghers-shopkeepers, artisans, guild
  members-middle class
• Impoverished-unemployed, pitiful wages, 30-40
  pop.

Moneychanger and his Wife by Quentin Massys
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The Making of Renaissance SocietyFamily and
Marriage

• Parents carefully arranged marriages to
  strengthen business or family ties
• Details were worked out when children were 2 or 3
  years old
• Legally binding
• Dowry-sum of the money given by the wifes family
  to the husband upon marriage
• Father was the center of family
• Children became adults when they were legally
  freed
• Mothers role was to supervise the household

The Marriage of the Virgin by Raphael
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Italian Renaissance Humanism

• Humanism was an intellectual movement based upon
  the study of the classics
• Humanists studied the liberal arts-grammar,
  rhetoric, poetry, philosophy, and history
• Petrarch is considered the father of
  humanism-used pure classical Latin
• Reflected the values of urban society
• Put to the service of the state

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Education in the Renaissance

• Humanists wrote books and opened schools based on
  their ideas
• History
• Philosophy
• Rhetoric
• Poetry
• Astronomy
• Music
• Mathematics
• Some women did attend humanists schools, but were
  not taught rhetoric and mathematics

Johannes Gutenberg
Gutenbergs Printing Press
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Vernacular Language

• Vernacular-language spoken in their own regions
• Geoffrey Chaucers Canterbury Tales
• English
• Dantes Divine Comedy
• Italian
• Began to compete with Latin
• Eventually replaced it

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The Artistic Renaissance in Italy
Branccaci Tributo fresco by Masaccio
Self Portrait by Leonardo da Vinci
Dome of the duomo in Florence by Brunelleschi
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The Artistic Renaissance in Italy

• Fresco-painting done on fresh, wet plaster with
  water based paints
• Figures had the illusion of being three
  dimensional
• Two major achievements
• Perspective
• Moverment and human anatomy
• Architects were inspired by the buildings of
  ancient Rome (San Lorenzo)

School of Athens by Raphael
Interior of San Lorenzo by Brunelleschi
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The Artistic Renaissance in Italy

• Mastery of techniques for a realistic portrayal
  of the world
• Da Vinci dissected human bodies to study anatomy
• Move from painting realistic forms to ideal forms
• Glorified the human body

Pieta By Michelangelo Rome, Italy
Ospedale degli Innocenti Designed by
Brunelleschi Florence, Italy
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The Artistic Renaissance in Italy
The Last Judgement By Michelangelo Sistine
Chapel Rome, Italy
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The Artistic Renaissance in Italy
The Sistine Chapel Ceiling by Micelangelo
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The Northern Artistic Renaissance

• Skilled in painting details
• Did not fully understand perspective
• Jan Van Eyck from Flanders
• Albrecht Durer from Germany

Jan Van Eyck
Albrecht Durer