Characteristics of Italian City States

1
Characteristics of Italian City States

• Urban Centers
• City state prospered while Europe remained rural
• Late 1300s Florence , Venice and Milan had pop.
  Of 100,000

• Wealthy merchants
• No kings wealthy merchants formed oligarchies
  to rule city-states
• Wealthy families controlled political, economical
  and artistic life

2
Florence and the Medici

• Florence
• During 15th cent. Florence was the epic center of
  the Renaissance
• Success was based on wealth earne in textile,
  merchants and banking

• Medici
• Dominated 15th cent. Florence
• Earned as bankers Cosimo, Piero and Lorenzo
  the Magnificent.
• Florence Ren. Peaked during Lorenzo.

3
Renaissance Spirit

• Medieval mindset
• God created world to prepare people for salvation
  individual was insignificant
• Art and architecture was to glorify God not self

• New celebration of individual
• Wealth was worked for not inherited
• Artist and writers wanted to be known Fame
• Portrait panting and autobiographies promote
  individual patrons
• Stressed virtu using your talents and
  personality to potential

4
Cont.

• Giovanni pico della Miranda celebrated human
  greatness in Oration on the Dignity of Man

• Scholarship and the love for Classical learning
• Humanist, Petrarch called Medieval pd. The Dark
  Ages.
• Humanists studied Greek and Roman lit. Studying
  the Classics would lead to a more practical
  understanding of the human
• Liberal arts, the vernacular and preserving Greek
  and Roman manuscripts
• Lorenzo Valla discovered that the Donation of
  Constantine was a forgery

5
Cont.

• New Secular spirit
• Medieval spiritual values and salvation
• Ren. Culture was interested in material
  possessions, music, food, art

6
Education and the ideal Courtier

• Humanist Education
• Medieval to understand God, Humanist to
  understand human nature
• Opened schools that taught Rom. Hist., Greek
  Phil. And Latin
• Would benefit future business, political and
  military leaders

• Baldassare Castiglone 1478-1529
• The individual strove to be come the universal
  man excelled in many areas
• The Courtier he explained how men and women could
  become accomplished courtiers
• Polite, charming, witty, able to dance, write
  poetry, sing, play music. Be graceful and strong

7
Castiglione cont.

• Perfect court lady
• Well educated
• Charming
• Should not seek fame
• Expected to inspire poetry and art but rarely
  create it.

8
Machiavelli and the Prince

• Turmoil in Italy
• Golden age ended with death of Lorenzo TM 1492
  leaving no strong leader
• 1494 King Charles VIII of France invaded
  Italy-challenge by Ferdinand of Spain
• Resulted in the Habsburg-Valois Wars.
• Involving all Italian city states
• Diplomacy and war become keys to survival

• Niccolo Machiavelli
• Was a Florentine diplomat, politician and
  philosopher. The founder of modern political
  science
• Is appalled by the devastation of the war- Italy
  is without a head, without order, torn in pieces,
  overrun, and abandoned to destruction. She prays
  God to send someone to rescue her from the
  barbarous cruelties
• Wrote The Prince to advise Italian leaders on the
  ruthless statecraft needed to unite Italy

9

• Qualities of a successful Prince
• Pessimistic view of human nature.
• Read selections of The Prince and The Courtier.
  Follow directions.

• Test Tip.
• The Prince is an often asked topic on the APEruo
  exam. You will want to be familiar with his
  cynical view of human nature and ruthless
  approach to leadership.

10
Italian Renaissance Art

• Patrons
• Artists were commissioned by the church, guilds
  and wealthy families
• Art became a symbol of power patrons used art
  to display their wealth and fame.

• Characteristics of Ren. Art
• Perspective
• depth
• Chairoscuro
• Light and shade illusion
• Pyramid style
• Symmetry and balance-3D
• Classical forms and Christian subjects
• Tried to revive classical art, mixed classical
  with Christian subjects

11
Test Tip

• You do not need to memorize a long list of
  Renaissance artists and works. Instead, focus on
  key masterpieces that illustrate Renaissance
  ideals and the impact of humanism.

12
Key examples

• Leon Battista Alberti, The West Façade of Sant
  Andrea
• Broke with medieval traditions, no statues
• Roman triumphal arch/Corinthian pillars
• a break with Christian churches, combining
  ancient forms with Christian uses.

13
Michelangelo, David

• The pose resembles statues from Greece and Rome.
• Like many classical statues, David is a nude. Not
  a serene statue, David is ready to face Goliath,
  note muscles are tense ready for battle.

14
Raphel, The School of Athens

• Three dimensional space
• Plato and Aristotle dominate the center
• Used contemporaries
• Leonardo da Vinci
• himself

15
Women and the Renaissance

• The debate about women
• The Renaissance coincided with a debate about
  women (querelle des femmes)
• Humanist scholars and others debated womens
  character, nature and role in society

• Christine De Pizan
• 1364-1430
• The first femenist
• Prolific writer-first woman in European history
  to earn a living as a writer
• Wrote a history of famous women to refute the
  masculine myth

16
Women cont.

• Castiglione and the perfect women
• Should be attractive
• Well educated
• Able to paint, dance and play a musical
  instrument
• Was not to participate in political, artistic or
  literary affairs
• Should be an attractive ornament for her husband

• Isabella DEste
• 1475-1539
• Most famous Renaissance women
• From the ruling family Ferrara married the ruler
  of Mantua
• An art patron, collected from the great artists
• Becoming an art patron was most socially
  acceptable for a well educated Renaissance women