GUIDE 10 Unit 3 THE RENAISSANCE The Renaissance in Northern Europe · Flanders · Germany · France · Spain · England Annunciation by Jan van Eyck, 15… (Detail) National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. [ www.womeninthebible.net] CHAPTER 5 THE RENAISSANCE The Renaissance spanned roughly 3 centuries : 14 th -16th 1300s – 1500s Petrarch , the great Renaissance humanist – Italian poet and scholar of the fourteenth-century, looked back at the preceding thousand years and saw only “ dark ages” extending from the collapse of the Roman Empire to his own time. In Petrarch’s view history fell into three periods : ANCIENT CLASSICAL WORLD MIDDLE AGES RENAISSANCE Petrarch and other humanists of his time (scholars) admired Classical world as a time of the highest achievements of human spirit. The Italians were very proud of their own time, which they believed was a revival of classical culture of ancient Greece and Rome. As for the thousand years that separated these two distinguished periods, the Italian humanists called them Dark Ages that had been marked by a decline of culture - a mere break in the history of human civilization. Renaissance – *_ [What does this French word mean?] The Renaissance was rebirth/revival of what ? *_ Do you remember why the Middle Ages are called Middle? I want you to remember that the Renaissance first emerged in the south of Europe - in ITALY! This happened in the end of the 13 th century (late1200s). Remember which historical period it was? --- Right, it was the end of the Gothic time. Yet, your textbook begins the Renaissance story in 15 th century Northern Europe –in Germany, Netherlands, France, etc. Why such a chronological leap? --- The logic would be that the Renaissance in Northern Europe was closer connected to the medieval culture and this provides us with a good stylistic transition - you will be able to trace emergence of a new style within the previous Gothic frame. Now let us open a new (and the last!) chapter in our course. Allow yourself enough time to study the splendid art of the Renaissance époque. Historical Background : Give a brief review of the most significant political, economic, and social events that brought about and determined a ‘face’/character of a new era of the Renaissance. Keep it short - “one event - one line” * * * Now, if you want, play a little bit with the timeline - locate the Renaissance period on it. Here is how to do it: Place a cursor before the red tab Renaissance… , and move it to the right until it is placed above the proper period on the timeline. [To move it just keep clicking on space bar ] Renaissance spanned about 300 years 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1650 15 th century Did you succeed? Good! If not, that’s okay. Just mark this period on the time line in your printed guide (circle) . Remember – it lasted about 300 years. What were the two most significant areas in ...