Ch.1/L1 - Italy: the Birthplace of the Renaissance

1. +
Renaissance
Lesson 1
Italy: Birthplace of Rebirth

2. +
Bell Work
■ #3 – Ch. 1/L1 Vocabulary
■ #4 – Duplicate the map on pg.
35 using the blank map and
colors.
■ #5 – Analyzing Primary
Sources, #1-2 (pg. 39)
Write the questions.

3. +
Objectives
■ We want to explain the
conditions in Italy that gave rise
to the Renaissance.
■ We will identify the values and
ideas prized during the
Renaissance.
■ We will describe the artistic
breakthrough and achievements
of Renaissance artists.
■ We will summarize influential
literary works and techniques of
key Renaissance writers.

4. +
Renaissance
Setting the stage:
■ In the late Middle Ages (approx. 1300-1500 AD),
Europe suffered from plagues, wars, and famine.
■ This caused people to begin questioning the
institutions that had been unable to prevent the wars
or relieve the suffering.
■ The Church had told people to endure because their
reward was in heaven.
■ Renaissance = “rebirth”
■ SMART HISTORY!

5. +
Renaissance
Italy’s Advantages:
■ The Renaissance spread from
northern Italy to the rest of
Europe for 3 reasons:
1. Italian city-states
2. Merchants and the Medici
3. Classical and Worldly
Values

6. +
Renaissance
■ Reason 1:
■ Italian city-states
■ Overseas trade spurred by the
Crusades allowed Italian cities
to grow.
■ Northern Italy was mostly
urban while the rest of Europe
was mostly rural.
■ 250 self-ruling small city-states
existed in Italy at this time.

7. +
Renaissance
■ In the 1300s, a
plague swept
through Italy and
killed 60% of the
population.
■ This created
economic
changes that
eventually lead
to the merchant
class gaining
political power.

8. +
Renaissance
■ Reason 2:
■ Merchants and the Medici
■ Small city-states = politically
active populace.
■ Merchants, because of their
wealth, were able to
dominate these politics.
■ Since they didn’t have
social status, they had to
work for their wealth. This
meant they came to
believe that if you work
hard, you should get some
political benefits.

9. +
Renaissance
■ The Medici family, led by
Cosimo de Medici, came
to power in Florence in
1434 AD.
■ He used bribes to gain
the favor of public
officials.

10. +
Renaissance
■ Cosimo’s grandson, Lorenzo
(a.k.a Lorenzo the
Magnificent), took over in
1469, and changed the
government of Florence from a
republic to a dictatorship.

11. +
Renaissance
■ Reason 3:
■ Classical and Worldly Values
■ Art/literature of the Middle Ages
was looked down upon.
■ Instead of their
contemporaries, Renaissance
scholars drew inspiration from
the ruins of ancient Rome that
were all around them.

12. +
Renaissance
■ Scholars began studying
ancient Greek and Roman
texts for religious reasons.
■ The Latin texts preserved
in monasteries, and
Greek texts taken from
Constantinople when the
Turks invaded in the city
in 1453.

13. +
Renaissance
■ Humanism = the intellectual
movement that focused on
human potential and
achievements.
■ Scholars began studying the
classics, which lead to the
study of subjects like literature,
philosophy, and history.
■ They weren’t trying to make
these ancient texts agree with
Christian teachings. Rather,
they wanted to understand
ancient values.

14. +
Renaissance
■ Middle Ages piety =
rough clothing and
eating plain food.
■ Renaissance = we can
live luxuriously without
sinning, or offending
God.

15. +
Renaissance
■ While most people remained
devout Catholics, this humanistic
spirit lead to the secularization of
life.
■ Secular = worldly rather than
spiritual.
■ Secularism and the rebirth of art
meant vast amounts of money were
spent beautifying cities.
■ People who paid artists for their
work were called patrons.
■ The wealthy would have portraits
of themselves painted or would
donate a sculpture to the city
square in order to show their
importance.

16. +
Renaissance
Renaissance Man and Woman
■ The Book of the Courtier –
Castiglione (1528)
■ laid out the strict code of
morals and conduct that
Renaissance men should
follow.
■ Nobles were to have
character, grace, talent,
and were to perform
military service and
physical exercise.

17. +
Renaissance
Renaissance Men and Women
■ Women were not expected to
seek fame like men were.
Instead, they should be the
inspiration of art.
■ Isabella d’Este was one
woman who was able to gain
political power. She ruled
over the city-state of Mantua
while her husband was away
(pg. 39).

18. +
Renaissance
■ The Renaissance
Revolutionizes Art
■ Realistic Painting and
Sculpture
■ Renaissance art was based
on realism.
■ Perspective – technique
used to display 3D objects
on a flat surface.

19. +
Renaissance
Madonna and Child on a Curved Throne, unknown (1200’s) Madonna del Cardellino, Raphael
(1506)

20. +
Renaissance
Pietro Perugino’s fresco at the Sistine Chapel
(1481-82)

21. +
Renaissance
■ Art Revolution (cont’d)…
■ Donatello – sculptor who
copied many statues done by
the Greeks and Romans;
■ He used natural postures
and expressions to reveal
personality.

22. +
Renaissance
■ Art Revolution (cont’d)…
■ Michaelangelo –
sculptor/painter, who is
most famous for his
painting on the ceiling of
the Sistine Chapel,
which displays the
human body as a
reflection of divine
beauty.
■ He is also famous for
his sculpture of David
(pg. 44)

23. +
Renaissance
The Creation of Adam, Michaelangelo (1512)

24. +
Renaissance
Michaelangelo’s Pieta
was completed when
he was only 24 years
old.

25. +
Renaissance
■ Art Revolution (cont’d)…
■ Leonard da Vinci was a
painter, sculptor, thinker,
scientist, etc.
■ He is famous for the Mona
Lisa, but he also developed
ideas for futuristic items such
as helicopters, tanks, planes,
flamethrowers.

26. +
Renaissance
■ Art Revolution
■ He would spend countless
hours in the morgue dissecting
human bodies.
■ Why?

27. +
Renaissance
■ Art Revolution (cont’d)…
■ Raphael was a painter of
many Madonnas
■ He also painted several
frescoes in the Vatican, and
one of his most famous
works is the School of
Athens (pg. 45)

28. +
Renaissance
Rapheal’s Madonna del
Granduca, which he
painted for Ferdinand III, the
Grand Duke of
Tuscany (1505).

29. +
Renaissance
■ Art Revolution (cont’d)…
■ Anguissola was a female
artist who was famous for her
portraits of her sisters and
King Phillip II of Spain.
■ Gentileschi painted portraits
of strong, noble women.

30. +
Renaissance
Anguissola’s
The Chess
Game.

31. +
Renaissance
Gentileschi’s
Judith Slaying
Holofernes
Judith and Her
Maidservant

32. +
Renaissance
■ Renaissance Writers Change
Literature
■ used vernacular = native
language.
■ wrote for self-expression or
to show the individuality of
their subjects.

33. +
Renaissance
■ Writers (cont’d)…
■ Petrarch – the “father of
humanism”.
■ found, copied, and
circulated old Latin
manuscripts.
■ wrote sonnets about Laura.
■ Boccaccio – wrote
Decameron, On Famous
Women

34. +
Renaissance
■ Writers (cont’d)…
■ Machiavelli – political writer
from Florence.
■ wrote The Prince to
demonstrate how a leader
should govern.
■ The #1 job of gov’t is to
grow and expand the state.
■ “The ends justify the
means.”
■ To be loved or feared?

35. +
Renaissance
■ Writers (cont’d)…
■ Machiavelli – leaders
shouldn’t worry about the
morality of their decisions.
■ morality vs efficacy

36. +
Renaissance
■ Writers (cont’d)…
■ Vittoria Colonna
■ female writer from Colonna.
■ helped publish The Courtier
(Castiglione, 1528)
■ exchanged sonnets with
Michaelangelo.
■ wrote poems for her
husband (pg. 43)

37. +
Renaissance
By the end of the 15th century
(1400’s), these ideas and values
began to spread north from Italy
into England, France, Germany,
and Flanders (part of present
day France and the
Netherlands)….
the Medici

38. +
Ch. 1/L1 Quiz
Primary Source:
“A prince must also show himself a lover of merit [excellence], give
preferment [promotion] to the able, and honour those who excel in every art.
Moreover he must encourage his citizens to follow their callings
[professions] quietly, whether in commerce, or agriculture, or any other
trade that men follow…[The prince] should offer rewards to whoever does
these things, and to whoever seeks in any way to improve his city or state.”
1. What phrase best describes the advice given by Macchiavelli?
a. Rule with an iron hand in a velvet glove.
b. Do not give your subjects any freedoms.
c. Reward hard work and patriotism.
d. To retain your rule, you must interfere in the lives of your subjects.

39. +
Ch. 1/L1 Quiz
2. Where did the
Renaissance begin?
a. France
b. the Holy Roman
Empire
c. the Italian states
d. England

40. +
Ch. 1/L1 Quiz
3. The basic spirit of the Renaissance was __________,
meaning people were more concerned with worldly,
rather than spiritual, matters.
a. humanism
b. secular
c. catholic
d. artistic

41. +
Ch. 1/L1 Quiz
4. Which of the following was not an important
Renaissance artists?
a. Anguissola
b. Gentileschi
c. Michelangelo
d. D’Angelo

42. +
Ch. 1/L1 Quiz
5. Brunelleschi was a famous architect and
artist who is responsible for discovering
a method of painting three dimensional
images on two dimensional surfaces.
This method is called…
a. perception
b. perspective
c. persecution
d. persimmons