Italy: Birthplace of the Renaissance

1. Italy: Birthplace of the Renaissance

2. Section 1 Italy Birthplace of the Renaissance • Goals and Objectives: Upon completion students should be able to: • List the Advantages Italy had with being the Birthplace of the Renaissance. • Describe the changes in Europe as a result of the early Renaissance.

3. What happened in Europe to Lead to the Renaissance? • Middle Ages (500-1500 CE): war & plague • People questioned institutions unable to relieve suffering. • Church • Northern Italy

4. I. Origins of Italian Ren. • 1300-1600: Renaissance Prd. • “Rebirth” • Art & learning • Goal: revive the culture of classical Greece & Rome

5. Why Italy? • 1. Ruins of Roman Emp. served as reminders • 2. Roman tradition lived on in popes • 3. Crusades & trade w/Africa. & S.W. Asia • New ideas • Byzantine Civ. (preserved Greek & Roman learning) • 4. Arab & African developments in medicine & science

6. A. City-States • Trade & industry led to growth of large city-states in N. Italy • N. Italy = urban…rest of Euro. = rural • Intellectual rev. • Florence, Rome, Venice, Milan, Naples • Educated, wealthy merchants • 1300s: plague killed 60% of pop. (economic changes) • merchants pursued other interests (art)

8. B. Merchants & the Medici • Wealthy merchant class developed • Dominated politics • Since 1200s, Florence had republican govt. • During Ren. = the Medici family rose to rule • Banks throughout Italy • Cosimo de Medici (wealthiest Euro. of time) • 1434: won control of Florence thru $$$$ • 1464: died • 1469: Lorenzo de Medici (“Lorenzo the Magnificent”) came to power

9. C. Looking to Greece & Rome • Ren. scholars wanted to return to learning of Greeks & Romans • Inspired by Roman ruins • Studied ancient Latin manuscripts (monasteries) • 1453: Fall of Const.

10. II. Classical & Worldly Views • Manuscripts influenced scholars w/classical ideas • New outlook on life & art

11. A. The Humanities • 1300s: interest in classical Greek & Roman literature • Medieval scholars = tried to bring everything into harmony w/Christian doctrine • Italian scholars = studied the ancient world to explore its great achievements • Stressed the study of grammar, rhetoric, history, & poetry (“humanities”) --- “Humanists”

12. Humanists – sought to discover how things worked (logic) • Emphasized education • Viewed existence not only as prep. for life after death, but also as a joy in itself • Individual achievement (poet & scientist)

13. B. Worldly Pleasures • Humanists – you can enjoy life w/out offending God • Material luxuries, good music, & fine foods • Ren. Society was secular (most were devout Catholics)

14. C. Patrons of the Arts • Clergy spent a lot of $$$$ on art (patrons) • Other patrons = merchants & wealthy families • Demonstrated their importance

15. D. The Renaissance Man • All educated people were to create art • The ideal individual strove to master many areas of study (“universal man”) • “Renaissance Man” • Baldassare Castiglione (1478-1529) • 1528: wrote “The Book of the Courtier” • Explained how gentlemen/women ought to act in polite society

17. E. The Renaissance Woman • Upper-class women also knew the classics & were charming • Expected to inspire art…NOT CREATE IT • Better educated than M.A. women

18. III. Italian Renaissance Artists • Artists (supported by patrons) –N. Italy • Artistic styles changed during Ren. • Medieval paintings: stressed the world beyond everyday life---religious subjects • Did not look realistic (subjects differed in size) • Artists not interested in drawing attention to human nature • Ren. paintings: stressed realism • Realistic & lifelike human figures

19. Renaissance Art • Artists accurately depicted beauty of human form & natural world • Created illusion of distance & depth on flat canvas • Perspective: distant objects smaller than those in foreground to create depth

20. Medieval vs. Renaissance Art

21. Medieval Renaissance

22. Medieval Renaissance

23. Medieval Renaissance

24. Medieval Renaissance

25. Medieval Renaissance

26. The School of Athens by Raphael Sanzio

28. Giotto (1276-1337) • Began realistic art in Florence • Used shades of light & dark to give depth • Mesaccio (1401-1428) • Made biblical figures’ faces look more solid & real (human emotions)

29. Late 1400s – early 1500s (High Ren)1. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) • “I wish to work miracles” • Painter, sculptor, engineer, architect, scientist • Notebook possessed detailed sketches of inventions and of the human anatomy helped

31. The Last Supper by da Vinci

32. Mona Lisa by da Vinci

33. 2. Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) • Painter & sculptor • 1501: sculpted David and Moses • 1508-1512: commissioned by Pope Julius II to paint ceiling of Sistine Chapel • 9 expressive scenes inspired by Old Testament

34. David by Michelangelo

35. Moses by Michelangelo

36. The Creation of Man by Michelangelo

37. Creation of Man = Humanism • Subject: God’s creation of Adam, but focus is on humanity of Adam • Adam is portrayed as being weak, while God is supremely powerful • Shows concerns w/religious themes (MA art), but depicts figures human & realistic • People were religious but also believed in the dignity of man

38. Sistine Chapel - Michaelangelo

39. 3. Raphael Sanzio (1483-1520) • Influenced by Leo. & Mich. • Commissioned to beautify Vatican (painted frescoes in papal chambers) • The Madonna

40. Marriage of the Virgin by Raphael • Notice the linear perspective used here ========