Society and the Arts

1. Society and the Arts

2. Patrons • Patrons are people who paid artists to produce works • They played an important role in promoting the arts during the Renaissance • Patrons included members of the new wealthy merchant class • They also included members of the government and the Church • Artists made works to decorate private homes or to display in public places Q: What do the arts tell about a society?

3. Painting Pt. 1 • Many artists found inspiration in the art of the ancient Greeks and Romans • During the Middle Ages, most art had religious themes • This continued through the Renaissance • Because they were influenced by humanist thinkers, however, these religious subjects began to be interpreted in different and new ways • The Renaissance also saw a growing interest in portraits and landscapes

4. Painting Pt. 2 The Annunciation with Saint Emidius by Carlo Crivelli, 1486 • Renaissance painters aimed to have naturalism and beauty in their works • Natural World: symbolized by the peacock • Light and shadow: on the faces of the angel and the saint, on the ground • Texture and pattern: on the carpet, on Mary and the angel's clothing, the flooring, decorative surface • Realistic details: child in left side of painting peeking around the corner • Elegance: Mary's hands; the angel's hands

5. Madonna & Child Paintings Which is Medieval & which is Renaissance?

6. Group Assignment /12 • Examine the two paintings on page 72 of your textbook • Fill in the following chart AND add one category of your own making and complete • Answer the two follow up questions 1) How is Renaissance painting different from medieval painting? 2) How does the change in painting styles show a change in worldview? Explain the change in worldview these paintings exemplify.

7. Architecture • “An architect should be a good writer, a skillful craftsmen, versed in geometry and optics, expert at figure, acquainted with history, informed on the principles of natural and moral philosophy, somewhat of a musician, not ignorant of the law and of physics, nor of the motions, laws and relations to each other of the heavenly bodies.” • - The Architecture of Marcus Vitruvius Pollio in Ten Books • This comes from the writings of a Roman engineer and architect • His book De Architectura was rediscovered during the Renaissance • It influenced Renaissance architects to include features of classical buildings in their work • They raised the status of their profession from skilled labourer to artist

8. Sculpture • Sculptors in the Middle Ages were seen as craftspeople rather than artists • They were part of the construction team for cathedrals • They carved figures and other decorations that told biblical stories • They did not generally sign their work • The role of the artist changed dramatically during the Renaissance • We know that wealth raised the status of merchants and business people; the artistic genius raised the status of artists • Sculptors like Michelangelo become celebrities known internationally for their talent

9. Michelangelo's Pieta depicts Mary holding the body of Jesus. “One morning he [Michelangelo] had gone to the place to where it stands and observed a number of Lombards [people from Lombardy, Italy] who were praising it loudly. One of them asked another the name of the sculptor, and he replied, “Our Gobbo of Milan.” Michelangelo said nothing, but he resented the injustice of having his work attributed to another, and that night he shut himself in the chapel with a light and his chisels and carved his name on it.” - Giorgio Vasari Q: How does the above story highlight the Renaissance view of the individual? Q: What does the sculpture suggest about the Renaissance worldview?

10. Literature • In the early Renaissance, writers focused on translating the works of Roman and Greek writers or copying their styles • Books that were written in the language people spoke, such as French, Italian and English, became more accessible • The vernacular • Humanism influenced writers to focus on expressing their thoughts and emotions • Petrarch was the leading poet • He is most famous for hundreds of love poems to a woman named Laura Oh blessed by the day, the month, the year The season and the time, the hour, the instant The gracious countryside, the place where I was Struck by thoes two lovely eyes that bound me; And blessed be the first sweet agony I felt when I found myself bound to Love, The bow and all the arrows that have pierced me, The wounds that reach the bottom of my heart.

11. Christine de Pisan • Christine de Pisan was a humanist writer • She was one of very few women to receive a humanist education • She was educated at the court of King Charles V of France • She was left a widow at the age of 25 with three children to support – she decided to be a writer • She became Europe's first professional female writer • She wrote poetry, history, essays and biographies • She often protested the way women were portrayed in medieval literature • In The City of Women she argued that men and women should be judged not on their gender, but on their abilities and virtues

12. Homework Assignment • Q: Create a web to show how humanist ideas were expressed during the Renaissance in each of the four arts discussed /8 • Have at least two points per art form. Architecture Painting Humanist Ideas Reflected in Art Literature Sculpture