The Early Modern Period

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The Early Modern Period

• Early Modern? (ca. 1500-1800)
• Followed Middle Ages
• Traits in Europe
• Movement toward secular state
• Divided Western Christianity
• Growing emphasis on science
• World becoming more global, more dominated by
  Europe

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The Renaissance
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The Renaissance

• When you hear The Renaissance
• What do you think of?
• What do you understand it to be?
• Does it pop up in culture at all?

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Origins and Humanism

• The Renaissance
• Rebirth of culture and heritage of Greco-Roman
  antiquity
• Italian Origins
• Wealth
• Remnants and ruins of ancient world
• Flourished throughout peninsula

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Origins and Humanism

• Humanism
• Emphasized study of form and content of classical
  learning
• Goal recapture culture of ancient world ?
  improvement of individuals and society
• Interests of Humanists
• Liberal arts
• Latin and Greek
• Classical documents
• Ad fontes!

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Origins and Humanism

• Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374)
• Renowned humanist
• Hated Middle Ages!
• Encouraged revival of classical studies
• Wrote in classical Latin
• Africa
• Searched for ancient manuscripts

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Origins and Humanism

• Lorenzo Valla (1407-1457)
• Major humanist, linguist
• On the False Donation of Constantine (1444)
• Response to Donation of Constantine
• Vallas Observations
• Latin here not used until after Constantine
• Exposed Donation as early medieval fraud

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Origins and Humanism

• Civic Humanism
• Some humanists became involved in public affairs
• Literary talents ? promote city
• Focused on morality and ethics as applied in
  civic sphere
• Goal inspire virtuous men to take leading
  roles in communities
• Follow examples of antiquity and Christianity

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Origins and Humanism

• Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527)
• Florentine chancellor
• Met important international leaders ?
  experience
• The Prince (1513)
• Manual for despots on gaining and holding power
• Prince might have to be immoral
• Lion and the fox
• Virtue in politics is ambiguous!
• Political realism

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Origins and Humanism

• Questions?

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Italian Art and Architecture

• Medieval Traditions
• Mostly spiritual iconography
• Paintings influenced by Byzantine style
• Stiff, solemn figures
• Shallow, flat space
• Golden skies!
• Gothic architecture

Madonna and Child (early 13th cent.)
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Italian Art and Architecture

• Renaissance Art
• Artists goals
• Imitate nature
• Revive classical idealism
• Capture sense of individual
• Iconography can now be secular ? portraiture
  rediscovered
• GIOTTO (ca. 1266-1337)
• Traits of his work naturalism, individuality,
  corporeality, emotion
• Greatest paintings in Arena Chapel, Padua
  (1304-06)

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Italian Art and Architecture
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Italian Art and Architecture
The Lamentation, Arena Chapel
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Italian Art and Architecture

• Linear Perspective
• Goal create illusion of 3D
• Observations of Artists
• Parallel lines converge as they recede into the
  distance
• Objects sizes vary depending on distance from
  viewer

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Italian Art and Architecture
Masaccio, Holy Trinity (1427)
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Italian Art and Architecture

• Donatello (1386-1466)
• Studied classical statues in Rome
• David (1428-1432)
• Bronze
• First freestanding, life-sized nude since
  antiquity
• Renaissance Traits
• Classical nude male
• Movement
• Calm, ideal beauty

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Italian Art and Architecture
Donatello, Il Gattamelata (1453) Padua, Italy
Marcus Aurelius (ca. 175)
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Italian Art and Architecture

• Leonardo (1452-1519)
• Student of nature
• Quintessential Renaissance Man
• Artist
• Art theorist
• Architect
• Musician
• Scientist
• Engineer
• So many projects ? few ever got done!

Self-portrait (ca. 1512)
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Italian Art and Architecture

• The Last Supper (ca. 1495-98)
• Mural
• Subject announcement of coming betrayal of
  Christ, Last Supper
• Renaissance traits
• Perspective
• Individuality

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Italian Art and Architecture

• The Mona Lisa (1503-05)
• Portrait of Florentine merchants wife Donna Lisa
• Individualized, yet idealized!
• Ambiguous smile!

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Italian Art and Architecture
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Italian Art and Architecture
Embryo in the Womb (ca. 1510)
The Virtruvian Man (1490)
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Italian Art and Architecture

• Michelangelo (1475-1564)
• Trained in Florence
• Renaissance Man
• Sculptor
• Painter
• Architect
• Poet
• Engineer
• Studied classical models

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Italian Art and Architecture

• The Pietà (ca. 1500)
• Subject Virgin Mary cradling dead Christ after
  crucifixion
• Renaissance traits
• Appreciation for human body
• Drapery of clothing
• Virgin Mary is idealized, youthful

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Italian Art and Architecture

• David (1501-04)
• Huge!
• Important traits
• Pent-up energy
• Visage is tense, psychological insight
• Demonstrates knowledge of human body

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Italian Art and Architecture
Vaulted Ceiling, Sistine Chapel (1508-12)
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Italian Art and Architecture
The Creation of Adam (1508-12)
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Italian Art and Architecture
Detail Christ as Judge, the Virgin
The Last Judgment (1534-41)
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Italian Art and Architecture

• Raphael, The School of Athens (1510-11)

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Italian Art and Architecture
Guess who?
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Italian Art and Architecture

• Renaissance Architecture
• Architects also fond of classical forms
• A famous project
• Albertis S. Andrea, Mantua (ca. 1470)
• Temple front
• Triumphal arch

Façade, S. Andrea
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Italian Art and Architecture
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Italian Art and Architecture

• Dome, Florence Cathedral (1420-1436)
• Construction of cathedral began ca. 1296 (Gothic)
• Building was incomplete
• Engineering problems ? no dome
• Brunelleschi (1377-1446) commissioned
• Studied classical monuments and architecture of
  Rome
• Resolved engineering problems ? created most
  celebrated dome since antiquity

Dome, S. Maria del Fiore, Florence
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Italian Art and Architecture
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Italian Art and Architecture

• Questions?

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The Northern Renaissance

• The Renaissance Traveled North
• Renaissance spread more slowly to countries north
  of the Alps
• Northern achievements
• The printing press
• Humanism
• Art
• English language

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The Northern Renaissance
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The Northern Renaissance

• The Printing Press
• Moveable lead type developed ca. 1450
• Attributed to Johann Gutenberg
• Can now print many copies of a book
• Huge impact on Europe
• Ideas spread rapidly
• Increased literacy
• Books now cheaper

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The Northern Renaissance

• Northern Humanism
• Classics
• Christian Humanism
• Religious reform

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The Northern Renaissance

• Erasmus of Rotterdam(1466-1536)
• Dutch
• International celebrity
• Prince of Humanists
• Projects
• Praise of Folly (1511)
• Critical edition of Greek New Testament (1516)

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The Northern Renaissance

• Sir Thomas More (1478-1535)
• English lawyer, lord chancellor
• Very spiritual
• English Humanist
• Wrote history
• UTOPIA (1516)
• First part criticism of political-social abuses
• Second part description of social arrangements
  at ideal island of Utopia

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The Northern Renaissance

• Northern Art
• Interest in oil painting
• Vibrant color
• Minute detail
• Jan van Eyck (ca. 1390-1441)
• Flemish
• The Arnolfini Portrait (1434)
• Portrait of Italian banker and his betrothed
• Detail and depth
• Spiritual symbolism

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The Northern Renaissance

• The English Language
• Major changes throughout its history
• WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (d. 1616)
• Playwright, London
• Greatest English writer
• Many plays set in Roman and English past

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The Northern Renaissance
1990
1996
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The Northern Renaissance

• Questions?