Understanding the Italian Renaissance: Forces and Impact

Chapter 12Renaissance and the Reformation1350 - 1600

Why did the Renaissance occur?What forces drove the new way of thinking in Italy, and eventually the rest of Europe?

Middle Ages - Before the Renaissance • Before the Renaissance Europe lived in an era known as the Middle Ages • Concerned with Church and Religion • Activities centered around getting to heaven, rather than life here on earth • Black Death killed 1/3rd of the European population. • In order to escape the danger, in their minds, people turned to God and the church

Italian Renaissance • Renaissance literally means “rebirth” • Describes a period of Western European history between 1350 and 1600 (14th – 17th centuries)

Start of the Italian Renaissance • Europe emerges from the Middle Ages and experiences financial, artistic, social, scientific and political growth • Changes associated with the Renaissance first occurred in the northern Italian Cities of Florence, Venice and Genoa • People become more interested in thinking about themselves, their surroundings and their everyday lives. • Some of this change was due to the study of Greek and Roman writings on scientific matters, government philosophy and art

Start of Italian Renaissance Cont. • They turned away from traditional study of religion, medicine and law • People became more interested in other areas of science, the natural world, biology and astronomy. • They now studied mathematics, engineering and architecture • Artists, writers, musicians and composers started creating work outside of the church • Artists signed their work • Writers wrote autobiographies and memoirs

Characteristics of the Italian Renaissance • Renaissance Italy was a largely urban society. • Powerful city-states became the centers of Italian political, economic and social life. • Within this growing urban society, their values and ideals can be described as secular humanism. • Secular = not religious • Humanism = placing the study and progress of human nature at the center of interests • Example – Paintings • Halo’s and Hieratic Scales • Increasing wealth created new possibilities for the enjoyment of material things

Characteristics of the Italian Renaissance 2. The Italian Renaissance was an age of recovery from the disasters of the 14th century (plague, political instability, and a decline of Church power) • Italian thinkers became aware of their own Roman past • Became intensely interested in the culture that had dominated the ancient Mediterranean world. • Affected both politics and art

Characteristics of the Italian Renaissance 3. A new view of human beings emerged • People started to emphasize individual ability • A high regard for human worth and a realization of what individuals could achieve created a new social ideal • These individuals were well-rounded, universal people, capable of achievements in many areas of life • Leonardo da Vinci, for example, was a painter, sculptor, architect, inventor, and mathematician

Characteristics of the Italian Renaissance 4. Increased trade with Asia and other regions 5. Rise of rich and powerful merchants, who became patrons of the arts 6. Desire to beautify the city

Machiavelli and the New Statecraft • Niccolo Machiavelli – wrote “The Prince” • Most influential works on political power in the Western world • Central idea – how to acquire – and keep – political power • Point of view – Prince’s attitude toward power must be based on the understanding of human nature, which is all humans are self-centered • He wrote “One can make this generalization about men: they are ungrateful, fickle, liars, and deceivers, they shun danger and are greedy for profit.” • First to abandon morality as the basis for analyzing political activity

Renaissance Society • 3 classes were established during the Middle Ages • Clergy • Nobility • Peasants and Townspeople

Nobility • Dominated Society • Made up 2-3% of the population • Baldassare Castiglione • Italian Aristocrat • Wrote “The Book of the Courtier” in 1528 • The book describes the characteristics of a perfect Renaissance noble

Characteristics of a Perfect Renaissance noble • Born, not made • Expected to have character, grace and talent • Had to develop 2 basic skills • Perform military and physical exercises • Gain a classical education and enrich his life with the arts • Needed to follow a certain standard of conduct • Do not hide your achievements, but show them with grace

Peasants and Townspeople • Made up 85 – 90% of the total European population • Serfdom decreased with the decline of the manorial system • By 1500, especially in Western Europe, more and more peasants became legally free • Townspeople made up the rest of the 3rd estate • Middle Ages - Merchants and Artisans • Renaissance – more diverse

Renaissance Townspeople • Top of the urban society – Patricians • Wealth from trade, industry and banking helped them to dominate their communities economically, socially and politically • Burghers (shopkeepers, artisans, guild masters, and guild members) • Provided the goods and services for their fellow townspeople • Workers • Earned pitiful wages • Lived miserable lives • Unemployed 30-40% of Urban Population

Family and Marriage • Family bond was a source of great security in the dangerous urban world of Renaissance Italy • To maintain the family, parents carefully arranged marriages • Strengthen business or family ties • Details were worked out well in advance, sometimes when the children were only 2 or 3 years old • Most important aspect of the contract was the dowry • Dowry = sum of money given by the wife’s family to the husband upon marriage

Family Roles • Children • A father’s authority over his children was absolute until he died or formally freed his children • Did not become adults upon reaching a certain age • Adulthood came to children when their father’s went before a judge and formally freed them • Age of adulthood varied from the early teens to the late twenties • Father/Husband • Center of the Italian family • Gave his name, managed all finances • Wife had no share in his wealth • Made all the decisions that determined the children’s lives • Mother/Wife • Supervise the household

Group Work Create a modern day family structure • What are their roles within the family? • What are their roles within today’s society? • How are single parents able to perform all responsibilities necessary? • How does this differ Renaissance Italy?

Renaissance Arts and Paintings The Intellectual and Artistic Renaissance

The Birth of Venus The Vitruvian Man

Italian Renaissance Humanism • Key intellectual movement of the Renaissance was Humanism • Humanism was based on the study of the classics, the literary works of ancient Greece and Rome • Studied grammar, rhetoric, poetry, moral philosophy, and history • All of these were based on the works of ancient Greek and Roman authors • Today these subjects are called humanities

Vernacular Literature • Humanist emphasis on classical Latin led to its widespread use in the writings of scholars, lawyers, and theologians • Some writers wrote in the vernacular (the language spoken in their own regions) • 14th century, literary works of the Italian author Dante and the English author Geoffrey Chaucer helped make vernacular literature more popular

Dante’s Masterpiece • Divine Comedy – Italian Vernacular • Story of the soul’s journey to salvation • Poem is divided into three major sections • Hell • Purgatory • Heaven or Paradise

Geoffrey Chaucer • The Canterbury Tales – English vernacular • Beauty of expression and clear, forceful language were important in making his dialect the chief ancestor of the modern English language • Consists of a collection of stories told by a group of 29 pilgrims journeying to the tomb of Saint Thomas a Becket at Canterbury, England • The format gave him the chance to portray an entire range of English society, from the high to the low born

Education in the Renaissance • Renaissance humanists believed that education could dramatically change human beings • At the core of humanists schools were the liberal studies. • Believed that the liberal studies enabled individuals to reach their full potential • Liberal studies are: • History • Moral Philosophy • Eloquence (or rhetoric) • Letters (grammar and logic) • Poetry • Astronomy • Mathematics • Music The purpose of a liberal education was to produce individuals who follow a path of virtue and wisdom. These individuals should also possess rhetorical skills so they can persuade others to take the same path

The Artistic Renaissance in Italy • Sought to imitate nature in their works • Artists wanted to see the reality of the objects they were portraying • Artists were developing a new world perspective • In this new view, human beings became the focus of attention “Center and Measure of all things”

New Techniques in Paintings • Frescoes painted by Masaccio (muh ZAH chee oh) in Florence at the beginning of the 15th century are regarded as the 1st masterpieces of early renaissance art • A Fresco is a painting done on fresh, wet plaster with water-based paints. • The realism of perspective became a signature of Renaissance painting • Using geometry to understand the laws of perspective and the organization of space and light, and studying human movement and anatomy perfected this realistic style of painting • The realistic portrayal of individual persons, especially the human nude, became one of the chief aims of Italian Renaissance art.

Masters of the High Renaissance • Final stage of Italian Renaissance – flourished between 1490 and 1520 • High Renaissance is associated with three artistic giants • Leonardo da Vinci • Raphael • Michelangelo

Leonardo da Vinci • Mastered the art of realistic painting • Dissected human bodies to better see how nature worked • Stressed the need to advance beyond such realism • It was his goal to create idealized forms that would capture the perfection of nature and the individual – perfection that could not be expressed fully by a realistic style

Raphael • At age 25, Raphael was already regarded as one of Italy’s greatest painters • Especially admired for his numerous Madonna’s (paintings of the Virgin Mary) • In these, he tried to achieve an ideal of beauty far surpassing, human standards • Also well known for his frescoes in the Vatican Palace • His School of Athens reveals a world of balance, harmony and order • These were the underlying principles of the art of the classical world of Greece and Rome

Michelangelo • Painter, sculptor, and architect • Fiercely driven by his desire to create, he worked with great passion and energy on a remarkable number of projects • Sistine Chapel in Rome, reveal an ideal type of human being with perfect proportions • The beauty of these idealized human beings is meant to be a reflection of divine beauty • The more beautiful the body, the more godlike the figure

The Northern Artistic Renaissance • Artists in northern Europe became interested in portraying their world realistically • Their approach was slightly different from the Italians. • Particularly true for artists of the low counties (present-day Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands • Circumstances played a role in the differences • Italian churches had large wall spaces that allowed for paintings in realistic settings • In the North, Gothic Cathedrals did not allow for frescoes • Thus, northern artists painted illustrations for books and wooden panels for altarpieces

The Northern Artistic Renaissance Cont. • The most important artistic center in the north was Flanders. • The Flemish painter Jan van Eyck was among the first to use oil paint, which allowed the artist to use a wide variety of colors and create fine details. • Each detail was painted as it was seen • At first, northern Renaissance painters did not study the laws of perspective, but achieved realism through observing reality.

Albrecht Durer • German Artist, Albrecht Durer incorporated the laws of perspective • His famous Adoration of the Magi keeps the northern emphasis on details but fits them together harmoniously according to the laws of perspective • Like the Italian artists of the High Renaissance, Durer tried to achieve a standard of ideal beauty based on a careful examination of the human form.

Understanding the Italian Renaissance: Forces and Impact