2. Renaissance
• Renaissance means rebirth; the Renaissance was a period of
rebirth in Europe, it was a new age of learning and art.
• The Renaissance began with the emergence of a
secular, urban society in the wealthy city-states of Italy.
– Milan, Venice, and Florence were particularly prosperous trading
centers.
– Italy was very wealthy
• Society became more secular, or worldly (not church based).
• Society recovered from the plague, wars, and instability of the
previous hundred years
• A new view of humanity emerged, emphasizing individual
ability; a high regard for the value of human worth and
achievement created a new social ideal
– This new ideal was reflected in art, literature, and architecture of the
time.
4. Italian States
• The Italian States: Instead of having Rome as the center of
civilization in Italy, other cities became important during the
Renaissance. Italy had city-states again. The city-states prospered
because of increased trade and wealth.
– Milan: Northern Italy, in 1447 Francesco Sforza took over (he was a
paid fighter, a mercenary) He had a good tax system that helped the
government generate revenues.
– Venice: Had an elected leader called a Doge, Trade was important and
the government was really run by the merchants; Venice was an
international power because of trade.
– Florence: Merchants ran government, The de ’Medici family took
control (Cosimo & Lorenzo). A preacher named Savonarola came into
power by criticizing wealth. After placing strict rules on the people, he
lost power and was sentenced to death for heresy. The Medici’s
returned to power
• The Italian Wars: 1494-1527, fought between France vs. Italy/Spain.
The soldiers were mercenaries. Spain ended up in Italy as the
dominant political force.
5. Machiavelli
• Machiavelli and the New Statecraft:
• Italian politics were described best in
Niccolo Machiavelli’s book, The Prince
showing how to acquire, & keep political
power.
– “One can make this generalization about
men: they are
ungrateful, fickle, liars, and
deceivers, they shun danger and are
greedy for profit.”
– Let the conscience sleep if you are in
politics (meaning have NO conscience if
you are in politics).
– He abandoned morality in politics.
6. Renaissance Society
• Three Social Classes During Renaissance Period:
– The Nobility: Owned land, Nobles were only 3% of the population;
Castiglione (The Book of the Courtier) described nobles: They were 1.
Born, not made. 2. Military fitness & education. 3. Hide
achievements, but show them with grace. Should serve the prince
nobly.
– Clergy made up second class; more on them later!
– Peasants & Townspeople: 85-90% of the people. Rent paid to
landlords instead of service/food. Townspeople were
merchants/artisans. Patricians Burghers(shopkeepers) workers &
unemployed.
• Family & Marriage: arranged marriages, dowry ($$ for marriage by
the female) Men were the center, women held no wealth. Father’s
authority was absolute until he died or gave freedom before a
judge.
7. Italian Renaissance: Humanism
• Humanism was a key intellectual movement of the
Renaissance, focusing on the study of the ancient Greek and Roman
classics.
• While early humanists emphasized solitary learning, fifteenth
century humanists stressed intellectualism in the service of the
state.
• Humanism encouraged the use of classical Latin.
However, European writers such as Dante and Chaucer wrote in the
vernacular. Humanist schools taught a broad range of liberal
studies.
• Petrarch was called the “father of Italian Renaissance humanism”
because he devoted his life to finding lost manuscripts and emphasized
studying classical Latin.
8. Vernacular Literature
• Vernacular Literature: Language that is
spoken in your region.
• Dante’s Divine Comedy was written in the
vernacular; in it, a soul journeys to salvation
through Hell, purgatory and Heaven) “The
devil is not as black as he is painted.”
― Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy
• Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales were also
written in the vernacular
– 29 pilgrims journeying to the tomb of Saint
Thomas a’ Becket at Canterbury Cathedral in
England
• Christine de Pizan, a French woman and
writer denounced men who said women
can’t learn: “Should I also tell you whether a
woman’s nature is clever and quick enough
to learn speculative sciences as well as to
discover them, and likewise the manual arts.
I assure you that women are equally well-
suited and skilled…”
9. Education in the Renaissance
• Education in the Renaissance:
• Students studied the liberal arts:
– history,
– moral philosophy,
– eloquence,
– grammar & logic,
– poetry,
– mathematics,
– astronomy and
– music.
• Educate to follow virtue and wisdom. Lasted until the 20th century
to make complete citizens (not great scholars)
• Women did not really attend school; they were primarily taught
religion and morals, but some studied art, music, and history
10. Artistic Renaissance
• The Artistic Renaissance in
Italy: Art should imitate
nature, but human beings are
central focus
• New Techniques in Painting
Frescos- painting done on
fresh, wet plaster with water-
based paints. Have depth.
Gave a 3D effect. Painting could
be realistic using geometry &
anatomy.
• Sculpture & Architecture:
realism of taking hard stone
marble and giving it movement
was amazing. Donatello: copied
Greek classics. Brunelleschi
(architect) also was inspired by
classical Roman buildings.
11. Renaissance Art
The arts are a reflection of the new humanist spirit
Medieval artists—had idealized and symbolic representations;
Renaissance artists depicted what they observed in nature, attempted
to achieve realistic art
Patrons of the Arts Competition Among Patrons
• Medieval times, anonymous artists • Wealthy individuals
who worked for church created art competed, displaying
• Renaissance artists worked for wealth, modernity through
whoever offered them highest price purchase of artworks
• Buyers of art, patrons, might be • Florence, Lorenzo de Medici
wealthy individuals, city supported most talented artists
governments, or church • Milan, ruling Sforza family
benefactors of artists, others
Renaissance artists wanted to paint the natural world as realistically as
possible.
12. Masters of the Renaissance: Jan van Eyck
Flanders (not in Italy), first to use oil paint,
13. Masters of the Renaissance: Da Vinci
Self Portrait
The Last Supper
Helicopter
14. Masters of the Renaissance: Michelangelo
Sistine Chapel
David
15. Masters of the Renaissance: Raphael
Painted many versions of the Virgin
Mary, famous for “The School of Athens”
The Coronation of the Virgin
16. Renaissance Summary
• Rise of secular humanism: faith in science, less
faith in the church; questioning of church’s
role in life
• Return to scholarly life of Greeks and Romans;
classical Latin returns, books are written in the
vernacular for the first time
• Artistic expression explodes;
art, literature, sculpture, painting, architecture
, etc.
