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Italy: Birthplace of the Renaissance. 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.
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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.
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
I. Origins of Italian Ren. • 1300-1600: Renaissance Prd. • “Rebirth” • Art & learning • Goal: revive the culture of classical Greece & Rome
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
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)
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 $$$$ • 1464: died • 1469: Lorenzo de Medici (“Lorenzo the Magnificent”) came to power
C. Looking to Greece & Rome • Ren. scholars wanted to return to learning of Greeks & Romans • Inspired by Roman ruins • Studied ancient Latin manuscripts (monasteries) • 1453: Fall of Const.
II. Classical & Worldly Views • Manuscripts influenced scholars w/classical ideas • New outlook on life & art
A. The Humanities • 1300s: interest in classical Greek & Roman literature • Medieval scholars = tried to bring everything into harmony w/Christian doctrine • Italian scholars = studied the ancient world to explore its great achievements • Stressed the study of grammar, rhetoric, history, & poetry (“humanities”) --- “Humanists”
Humanists – sought to discover how things worked (logic) • Emphasized education • Viewed existence not only as prep. for life after death, but also as a joy in itself • Individual achievement (poet & scientist)
B. Worldly Pleasures • Humanists – you can enjoy life w/out offending God • Material luxuries, good music, & fine foods • Ren. Society was secular (most were devout Catholics)
C. Patrons of the Arts • Clergy spent a lot of $$$$ on art (patrons) • Other patrons = merchants & wealthy families • Demonstrated their importance
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
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
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
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
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)
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
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
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
3. Raphael Sanzio (1483-1520) • Influenced by Leo. & Mich. • Commissioned to beautify Vatican (painted frescoes in papal chambers) • The Madonna
Marriage of the Virgin by Raphael • Notice the linear perspective used here ========