European Renaissance

European Renaissance Renaissance Man ("Blister in the Sun" by the Violent Femmes) – YouTube Violent Femmes - Blister in the Sun - YouTube

Objectives • Explain the social, economic, and political changes that contributed to the rise of Florence and the ideas of Machiavelli. • Identify artistic and scientific achievements of Leonardo da Vinci, the “Renaissance man,” and Michelangelo.

Italy: Birthplace of the Renaissance • Italy’s advantages • Educated people of Italy hoped to bring back to life the culture of Greece and Rome. • This led to new values • Example – importance of the individual. • Three advantages: • Thriving city-states • Wealthy merchant class • Classical heritage of Greece and Rome.

Classical and Worldly Values • Humanism. • Emphasizes the dignity and worth of the individual. The potential and achievements. Art so Important- • Church leaders beautified Rome and other cities. • Merchants and wealthy families would have their portraits painted or donate art to the city to place in public squares.

Values • Renaissance Man – charming, witty, and well educated in the classics. • He should dance, sing, play music, and write poetry. • Renaissance Woman – know the classics and be charming. • Expected to inspire art but not create art. • Little influence in politics.

1. Realism & Expression • Expulsion fromthe Garden • Masaccio • 1427 • First nudes sinceclassical times.

2. Perspective • The Trinity • Masaccio • 1427 Perspective! Perspective! Perspective! Perspective! Perspective! Perspective! Perspective! First use of linear perspective! What you are, I once was; what I am, you will become.

3. Classicism • Greco-Roman influence. • Secularism. • Humanism. • Individualism  free standing figures. • Symmetry/Balance The “Classical Pose”Medici “Venus” (1c)

4. Empasis on Individualism • Batista Sforza & Federico de Montefeltre: The Duke & Dutchess of Urbino • Piero della Francesca, 1465-1466.

Important Renaissance People: Wealthy Merchants • The Medici Family • Prominent banking family • Cosimo • Merchant and political ruler over Florence • Humanist • Lasting impacts are his large library and his patronage of the artists • Lorenzo • Ruler over Florence • Tyrant in which he ruled by influencing govt • Also a patron of the arts • Botticelli • Michelangelo

How did writers reflect Renaissance values in their work? They wrote in the vernacular; wrote about non-religious (secular) topics – simply for leisure, fun, self-expression; and pursued independent thought and investigation rather than simply accepting what the church taught. B. Determining Word Meaning vernacular – the language of the local people. (not Latin!) Petrarch, often called the “father of humanism” authored beautiful sonnets in the vernacular Italian and they were about a love of his life named Laura.

Important Renaissance People: Writers • Francesco Petrarch – father of Renaissance humanism. • Great poet. • Wrote in Italian and Latin.

Important Renaissance People: Writers • Dante • Spiritual vision and many intellectual accomplishments. • Divine Comedy • Allegorical narrative. • Poet’s imaginary journey through hell, purgatory, and heaven.

Important Renaissance People: Writers • Machiavelli • The Prince (1513) • Political guidebook for rulers • Also, examined the imperfect conduct of people • Most people are selfish, fickle, and corrupt

Niccolò Machiavelli was an Italian statesman and writer and is considered one of the most significant political thinkers of the Renaissance. His best-known work, The Prince, describes cunning and unscrupulous methods for rulers to gain and keep power. A.) The Prince (1532; trans. 1640) - describes the method by which a prince can acquire and maintain political power. B.) It is believed he was defending the tyranny of such cruel rulers of his day as Cesare Borgia. C.) He believed that a ruler is not bound by traditional ethical norms like the people the ruler’s rules should be. D.) a prince should be concerned only with power and be bound only by rules that would lead to success in political actions. “The End justifies the Means.”“Better to be feared than loved.” E.) believed that these rules could be discovered by deduction from the political practices of the time, as well as from those of earlier periods. PP Design of T. Loessin; Akins High School

DO YOU AGREE or DISAGREE? “Being a good ruler means sometimes doing the unpopular in order to achieve what is best for one’s people in the long run.” “A shrewd politician knows he may have to sometimes employ devious methods if he is to stay in power.” “The End justifies the Means.” “At any given time a ruler may be faced with sending men to their deaths in battle. He must be willing to sacrifice those few in order to save the many.” “Rulers can not be expected to live under the same “morality” as the masses they rule. They must at times choose corrupt, distasteful, even evil means in order to achieve a final good for their people.” “It is better that a Ruler should be feared by his people than loved by them.” ~ Machiavelli

Today we still use the phrase machiavellian to refer to someone who pursues an action that, though may not be viewed as morally right, he believes will be politically effective. Can you think of examples in American or World History / Politics of leaders whose decisions might be considered machiavellian ?

How Machiavellian Are You?

Your Machiavellian Score • 10-23 Type A: You are not all Machiavellian. Some would say you are an idealist and an optimist about human nature. You have strong ideas about right and wrong. • 24-36 Type B: Your are more cautious about trusting human nature and less idealistic than those above. You know that selfishness can sometimes get in the way of lofty ideals.

Your Machiavellian Score • 37-50 Type C: You are extremely Machiavellian. Practical to the point of being a hard-headed cynic, not very trusting about human nature, and ready to deal with what is, rather than what ought to be.

Important Renaissance People: Writers • Erasmus • Dutch humanist • The Praise of Folly • Published his annotated New Testament • Represented common sense applied to human affairs • Exposed the abuses of the Church • Helped advance the Revival of Learning

Important Renaissance People: Writers • Thomas More • English Christian humanist • Wrote Utopia(1516) • Imaginary land where there is NOT greed, corruption, or war • Utopia today continues to mean “an ideal place”

Important Renaissance People: Writers • William Shakespeare • English writer during the Elizabethan age • Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and The Taming of the Shrew. • Wrote plays where were performed at the famous Globe Theatre • Used the classics to draw inspiration for his plots • Demonstrated a deep understanding of people and their flaws

Important Renaissance People: Artists • Giotto diBondone • Florentine painter and architect • Known for this depiction of the human form and solidity of 3-dimensional forms • Most famous works are his frescoes in the Arena Chapel • Depict the Life and Passion of Christ • Taught Raphael and Michelangelo

The Arena Chapel Frescoes

Masaccio Italian artist Humanist Father of “perspective” which is?? Use of vanishing point Depth/3D Important Renaissance People: Artists

Adoration of the Magi

Masaccio’s Tribute Money

Important Renaissance People: Artists • Raphael • Studied the works of Michelangelo and Leonardo. • One of his favorite subjects was the Madonna and child. • School of Athens • Painted famous figures such as Michelangelo, Leonardo, and himself as classical philosophers and their students. • Famous for his use of perspective.

School of Athens

Donatello Italian artist Famous for sculpture of David in Florence Known for his working with perspective and his method of scuplture Important Renaissance People: Artists

Leonardo da Vinci Painter, sculptor, inventor, and scientist. Mona Lisa The Last Supper Important Renaissance People: Artists

The Last Supper

Renaissance Art • Lifelike- Looks realistic, artists studied the body. • Perspective- Had depth, 3D • Emotion- Revealed artists’ feelings • Sometimes Secular- (Sometimes non-religious)

European Renaissance