THE RENAISSANCE

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THE RENAISSANCE
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Introduction to Art

• Medieval Period

• Renaissance

• 500-1500 AD
• Feudalism
• Catholic Church
• Purposes of Art
• To teach religion to illiterate people
• Forms of Art
• Stained glass windows, sculptures, manuscripts,
  paintings, tapestries

• 1400-1650
• Rediscovery of works of Greeks and Romans
• Purposes of Art
• To show the importance of people and nature, not
  just religion
• Forms of Art
• Sculptures, murals, drawings, paintings

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Characteristics of Art

• Medieval

• Renaissance

• Both religious and non-religious scenes
• Figures look perfect, idealized
• Bodies may be nude or clothed
• Real people doing real tasks
• Expressive faces, emotion
• Lots of interest in nature, detail
• Use of perspective in backgrounds and symmetry
  (balance)

• Religious
• Figures look flat and stiff
• Fully clothed
• Solemn faces, no emotion
• Vibrant colors
• 2 dimensional
• Backgrounds often a single color--gold

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Classical, Medieval and Renaissance Art

• http//www.slideshare.net/MrsHeller/classical-medi
  eval-and-renaissance-art

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• Get out your notebook
• P. 17 Middle East Conflict 9/3
• P. 18 World Religions Chart
• P. 19 World Religions Map
• P. 20 Dark Ages Video Summary 9/5,6
• P. 21 1000 years of history 9/9
• P. 22 Timeline 9/10
• P. 23 Renaissance WebQuest 9/11
• P. 24 Renaissance notes
• P. 25 Artists of the Renaissance

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Themes of the Renaissance

• Individualism
• In contrast to Christian humility of the Middle
  Ages.
• Uniqueness, Personality
• Confidence in ability to achieve greatness
• Genius, development of full potential
• Quest for glory

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Humanism

• 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

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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

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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.

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• 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.

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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)

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• Why did the Renaissance begin in Italy?
• 1.) History ruins from ancient
• Rome provided inspiration Italians
  wanted to revive greatness.
• 2.) Thriving City-States key location
  crossroads for trade great wealth.
• 3.) Wealthy merchant class dominated politics
  in Italian city-states were patrons of the arts

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Important Writers/Literature

• Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374)
• Father of Humanism
• Poet
• Famous for writing sonnets 14 line poems to
  Laura

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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

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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

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Writing in the Vernacular

• Dante (1265-1321)
• From a noble family in Florence
• Wrote the Divine Comedy between 1313-1321.
• Journey of the soul through afterlife Inferno,
  Purgatory, Paradise
• Written in the Italian vernacular helped develop
  the language.

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Writing in the Vernacular

• Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1340-1400)
• Wrote The Canterbury Tales in the English
  vernacular language.
• Shakespeare

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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Examples of Perspective
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Techniques

• Shading
• Illumination

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The Geniuses of Renaissance Art

• Leonardo da Vinci
• Michelangelo
• Raphael
• Donatello

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Leonardo da Vinci

• Painter, sculptor, inventor, scientist
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vlFN5hRukDlo
• Mona Lisa
• The Last Supper

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The Last Supper
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Why so famous??

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vIitbJszd1kM
• http//www.monalisamania.com/faqmain.htm
• http//www.npr.org/2011/07/30/138800110/the-theft-
  that-made-the-mona-lisa-a-masterpiece

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Michelangelo

• Famous works include
• Pieta
• statue of David
• ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome

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Pieta
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Statue of David
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Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
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• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v_u8LDXhFzPo

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Raphael

• A student of Leonardo and Michelangelo
• Famous painting
• The School of Athens

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The School of Athens
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• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vu-9G0Ndxopg

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Donatello

• Most famous for his sculptures
• Most famous is his bronze statue of David

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