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Italian renaissance
- 3. Humanism Seek Fulfillment in daily life Individual has dignity and worth Challenge long-accepted traditions and institutions Students should study History Moral Philosophy Mathematics Literary Works Music Astronomy How Humanist Are You: https://humanism.org.uk/humanism/how-humanist-are-you/Humanism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tvz0mmF6NW4
- 4. Combining worlds Justice Courtesy Magnanimity Integrity Loyalty Courage Duty to self and others (Includes developing one’s potential to the fullest)
- 15. perspective
- 18. “(It) changed the face and condition of things all over the world, so that no empire or sect or star seems to have exercised a greater power and influence on human affairs.” -Sir Francis Bacon Novum Organum 1620
- 19. Gutenberg
- 20. Renaissance Theater Comedy Tragedy Pastoral Drama
- 21. Teatro Farnese
- 23. Teatro Olimpico
- 25. Neoclassic Ideal 2 Primary sources Horace Ars Poetica Aristotle Poetics Purity of dramatic form is demanded Primary Rule: Verisimilitude Reality 3 unities Time Place Action Morality Universality All humanity categorized An attempt to define the world
- 26. Tragedy
- 27. Comedy
- 28. Pastoral
- 29. Intermezzi
- 30. Opera The Pearl Fishers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7GxQTgxoKM Carmen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2snTkaD64U
- 31. Commedia Dell’Arte Helping Hands (ice cream): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YE8qZJoUTpc Helping Hands (pirates): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGMPhicC7Bk Helping Hands (deli): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZOf6zPLzRo
Editor's Notes
- Ruins of the old Roman Empire Major terminus of trade routes to africa and asia – better positioned to absorb ideas from byzantium, islam, and other cultures Trade = $ Seat of the roman catholic church
- Take the humanist test – go with the majority answer or select one person in the class
- individual
- Vermeer Van Eyck
- Da Vinci Head of a Woman One of my favorites
- Humanism tells us to live to the best of our individual potential These paintings were not only remarkable in their time but they have stood out for the past 5-7 hundred years and are known to us today
- Micheloangelo inserted: a human brain dissimulated in the figure of God. Although the Creation of Adam was painted around 1511, it is not until 1990 that Frank Lynn Meshberger, a physician in Anderson, Indiana, publicly noted in the Journal of the American Medical Association that the figures and shapes that make up the figure of God also make up an anatomically accurate figure of the human brain. Take a close look at the picture above and you will see the Sylvian fissure that divides the frontal lobe from the parietal and temporal lobes: it is represented by a bunching up of the cape by one of the angels and by a fold in God's tunic. The bottom-most angel that appears to support the weight of God is the brainstem, and his trailing scarf the vertebral artery. The foot of another angel is the pituitary gland, and his bent knee the optic chiasm where the optic nerves from the eyes partially cross over. The ingenuity and level of detail is simply staggering, and a lasting testament to Michelangelo's extraordinary—and, for the time, very unusual—knowledge of human anatomy. Some have gone so far as to argue that the point at which the finger of God and the finger of Adam touch represents the synaptic cleft across which neurons communicate by means of chemical messengers called neurotransmitters. However, the concept of bioelectricity only dates from the 18th century, when Luigi Galvani demonstrated that electrical stimulation of the frog sciatic nerve leads to twitching of the leg muscles. And it is not until 1921 that Otto Loewi discovered the first neurotransmitter (acetylcholine, which he called 'Vagusstoff'), and thereby earned himself a Nobel Prize. So Michelangelo's 'synaptic cleft' is either an uncanny coincidence or a remarkable prophecy. In Michelangelo's picture, God has been superimposed on the phylogenetically ancient limbic system which is the emotional centre of the brain and arguably the anatomical counterpart of the human soul. God's right arm extends through the prefrontal cortex, which is the seat of human reason and deliberation and so of the imagination andcreativity that marks us out from all other animals. Another very human emotion that is linked to creativity is melancholy (see my recent TED talk, Can Depression be Good for You?(link is external)). Remarkably, Michelangelo has painted a forlorn looking angel in an area of the brain that is sometimes activated when a sad thought is experienced. The Creation of Adam is traditionally thought of as illustrating the Biblical creation narrative from the Book of Genesis in which God breathes life into Adam ('Earth'), the first man. However, the hidden brain in the picture could radically change this interpretation of the painting. Michelangelo might simply be suggesting that our brain is a piece or extension of God. Or, more provocatively, he might be suggesting that God is the creation and projection of the human brain. If so, the picture should be called not 'The Creation of Adam' but 'The Creation of God'!
- Can’t unsee it now, can you?
- What is perspective (textbook)
- What do you think this shift to realistic painting/sculpture would have meant to the theater of the time?
- Have photos of disneyworld
- What is he talking about? Bacon felt that the only other inventions to have as deep an impact on human history were gunpowder and the compass
- “Sometime around 1445, a German goldsmith named Johannes Gutenberg left Strasbourg, where he had been living for several years, and followed the Rhine River back to the city of his birth, Mainz. He was carrying a secret – a big one. For at least ten years, he had been working covertly on several inventions that he believed would, in combination, form the basis of an altogether new sort of publishing business. He saw an opportunity to automate the production of books and other written works, replacing the venerable scribe with a newfangled printing machine. After securing two sizable loans from Johann Fust, a prosperous neighbor, Gutenberg set up a shop in Mainz, bought some tools and materials, and set to work. Putting his metalworking skills to use, he created small, adjustable molds for casting alphabetical letters of uniform height but varying width out of a molten metal alloy. The cast letters, or movable type, could be arranged quickly into a page of text for printing and then, when the job was done, disassembled and reset for a new page. Gutenberg also developed a refined version of a wooden-screw press, used at the time to crush grapes for wine, that was able to transfer the image of the type onto a sheet of parchment or paper without smudging the letters. And he invented a third critical element of his printing system: an oil-based ink that would adhere to the metal type. “Having built the letterpress, Gutenberg quickly put it to use printing indulgences for the Catholic Church. The job paid well, but it wasn’t the work Gutenberg had in mind for his new machine. He had much greater ambitions. Drawing on Fust’s funds, he began to prepare his first major work: the magnificent, two-volume edition of the Bible that would come to bear his name. Spanning 1200 pages, each composed of two forty-two-line columns, the Gutenberg Bible was printed in a heavy Gothic typeface painstakingly designed to imitate the handwriting of the best German scribes. The Bible, which took at least three years to produce, was Gutenberg’s triumph. It was also his undoing. In 1455, having printed just two hundred copies, he ran out of money. Unable to pay the interest on his loans, he was forced to hand his press, type, and ink over to Fust and abandon the printing trade. Fust, who had made his fortune through a successful career as a merchant, proved to be as adept at the business of printing as Gutenberg had been at its mechanics. Together with Peter Schoeffer, one of Gutenberg’s more talented employees (and a former scribe himself), Fust set the operation on a profitable course, organizing a sales force and publishing a variety of books that sold widely throughout Germany and France. “Although Gutenberg would not share in its rewards, his letterpress would become one of the most important inventions in history. With remarkable speed, at least by medieval standards, moveable-type printing ‘changed the face and condition of things all over the world,” Francis Bacon wrote in his 1620 book Novum Organum, “so that no empire or sect or star seems to have exercised a greater power and influence on human affairs.” (The only other inventions that Bacon felt had as great an impact as the letterpress were gunpowder and the compass.) By turning a manual craft into a mechanical industry, Gutenberg had changed the economics of printing and publishing. Large editions of perfect copies could be mass-produced quickly by a few workers. Books went from being expensive, scarce commodities to being affordable, plentiful ones. “… The steep reduction in the cost of manufacturing books was amplified by the growing use of paper, an invention imported from China, in place of more costly parchment. As book prices fell, demand surged, spurring, in turn, a rapid expansion in supply. New editions flooded the markets of Europe. According to one estimate, the number of books produced in the 50 years following Gutenberg’s invention equaled the number produced by European scribes during the preceding thousand years. The sudden proliferation of once-rare books struck people of the time “as sufficiently remarkable to suggest supernatural intervention,” ... When Johann Fust carried a large supply of printed books into Paris on an early sales trip, he was reportedly run out of town by the gendarms on suspicion of being in league with the devil. “Fears of satanic influence quickly dissapated as people rushed to buy and read the inexpensive products of the letterpress... Just as the miniaturization of the clock made everyone a timekeeper, so the miniaturization of the book helped weave book-reading into the fabric of everyday life. It was no longer just scholars and monks who sat reading words in quiet rooms. Even a person of fairly modest means could begin to assemble a library of several volumes, making it possible not only to read braodly but to draw comparisons between different works. “All the world is full of knowing men, of most learned schoolmasters, and vast libraries,” exclaimed the title character of Rabelais’ 1534 best seller Gargantua, “and it appears to me as a truth that neither in Plato’s time, nor Cicero’s, nor Papinian’s, there was ever such conveniency for studying, as we see at this day there is.” “A virtuous cycle had been set in motion. The growing availability of books fired the public’s desire for literacy, and the expansion of literacy further stimulated the demand for books. The printing industry booked. By the end of the 15th century, nearly 250 towns in Europe had print shops, and some 12 million volumes had already come off their presses. The 16th century saw Gutenberg’s technology leap from Europe to Asia, the Middle East, and when the Spanish set up a press in Mexico City in 1539, the Americas. “... It wasn’t just contemporary works that were coming off the presses. Printers, striving to fill the public’s demand for inexpensive reading material, produced large editions of the classics, both in the original Greek and Latin and in translation.
- Event accelerate classical influence 1429 12 of Plautus’ plays are rediscovered 1453 fall of Constantinople leads to an influx of scholars and manuscripts 1465 printing press in Italy; wide dissemination of texts Between 1472-1518 all known Greek and Roman plays are published Starting at the beginning of the 16th century plays are written in Italian and blend Roman and contemporary elements (and scholars start warring over which is better) After 1550 Italian plays start to be translated into French, Spanish, and English Renaissance theater not usually produced today but it fell into these three categories Comedy Based largely on Plautus & Terence Combination of tradition and contemporary materials Happy endings are preferable to Italian audiences Tragedy Controversy: Greek v. Roman Eventually Roman won and the Senecan model thrived (which as we saw shaped much of the Early Modern English playwrights like Shakespeare and Marlowe etc) Pastoral Drama Probably evolved from Satyr plays Boisterous and licentious idyllic society of shepherds and nymphs Principle subject: LOVE <3 (which triumphed over many obstacles in its path Teatro Farnese (what do we know about the Teatro Farnese?)
- Teatro Farnese Is the prototype of the modern stage Oldest surviving structure with a proscenium arch Built in 1618 Auditorium still that of a conventional court theater It was opera houses that gave us the conventional seating arrangement Purpose of the proscenium arch? Conceal special effects! Special effects Made gods, monsters, and mythological creatures appear on the sea, in the air, in heaven/hades Flying machines Ingenious rigging trapdoors Fire and smoke common Fortified walls collapse Sound effects Popularity of sea scenes Wave simulations Changes from calm seas to storms Ships, whales, dolphins, moved through the waves Add the scene from Don Giovani (in AMADEUS) to this slide when you have more time
- For scale Significantly damaged in World War II bombings; much had to be rebuilt
- Teatro Olimpico Oldest surviving Renaissance theater Built between 1580-1584 Olympic Academy of Vicenza (1555) Was the final design of the Italian architect Andrea Palladio but was not completed until after his death An attempt to recreate indoors all aspects of Roman architecture based on the illustrations in a translation of Vitruvius’ De Architectura. Note the similarities with the theater of Pompeii
- Even the sense of sky is recreated The theater was inaugurated on March 3, 1585 with a production of Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex however performances were abandoned after only a few showings and the street scene behind the scaena frons was left in place. Installed in 1585 it is the oldest surviving stage set still in existence.
- This renewed interest in re-creating the theater of the classical age went beyond architecture and into the structure of drama itself. (what do we know about the neoclassical ideal from your notes?) Council of Trent (1545-1563) 25 sessions over an 18 year period One of the Roman Catholic Church’s most important ecumenical councils Prompted in response to the Protestant Reformation Some major things decided on Bad: Reinstitution of the Inquisition (more on that next week) Good: Adopted the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas Who drew heavily on the writings of Aristotle Aristotle was little known Also bad: freedom of thought and conscience curtailed, thus drawing to a close the awesomeness that was the Renaissance and drawing us more towards a lull period (though we did get some groovy art techniques out of the Mannerism and Baroque periods that follow) Council of Trent puts a new focus on the Poetics (little known until 1498) Then a war of sorts starts between those that think the style of dramatic writing endorsed by Aristotle is best and those that think the style of dramatic writing endorsed by Horace is best (star bellied sneeches) Rules Verisimilitude: drama could only represent what could be realistically expected in life Purity of genres: comedy and tragedy not to be mixed Time: actual time (or no more than 24 hours) Place: no more than one location (or one you could reasonably walk to during the time the play is occurring) Action: no sub plots 5 act form Morality: (Purpose) to teach and to please Universality: it should be applicable to all people in all times Decorum rules Very popular with critics and scholars. Less so with the artists Costume and scenic design are ruled by neoclassical norms
- Costume and scenic design are ruled by neoclassical norms 1486 first ancient play is performed in Italy The same year Vitruvius’ De Architectura was finally published. It served as the primary source of information on Greek and Roman theater buildings and staging practices. In 1521 it is translated into Italian In 1545 Sebastiano Serlio published his own text: Architettura This is the first Renaissance work on architecture to devote a section to the theater Included illustrations of tragic, comic, and satyric scenes based on the descriptions in Vitruvius’ work Thought to be representative of Italian theater design – became the model for Europe Drawings started being printed with editions of Vitruvius’ work as visual examples Used as backdrops for productions
- Serlio considered his three perspective renderings adequate to meet the needs of all plays Each required four sets of wings By 1560 a temporary proscenium arch provided the framing device for holding the wings The arrangement of wings and backdrops would be followed for the next 300 years with only minor modifications Chariot and pole system Three other types of theatrical performances in this era: intermezzi, opera, & commedia dell’arte
- A masque-like dramatic piece with music, which was performed between the acts of a play at Italian court festivities on special occasions, especially weddings. By the late 16th century, the intermezzo had become the most spectacular form of dramatic performance, and an important precursor to opera. Principal appeal lay in the scenery, costume, lights, special effects, music and dance Presented in groups of 6 Prologue 4 between acts Epilogue Soon became more popular than the plays they accompanied Depended on spectacle Gradually absorbed into Opera
- The Camerata (academy) of Florence Concerned with Greek music and its relation to drama Sought to recreate plays similar to ancient Greek tragedy First full length work Dafne (1594) Dialogue and choral passages recited and chanted to musical accompaniment From this opera grew into one of the major art forms of the baroque era Displaced interest in spoken drama Initially entertainment for the wealthy In 1637 the first public opera house was built in Venice Between 1640-1700 4 opera houses operated regularly in Venice Spread from Venice Italy rest of the world
- Possibly evolved from Atellan Farce Two fundamental characteristics of Commedia Dell’Arte Improvisation (based on a previously decided on scenario) Stock Characters Each performer always played the same role Built over time Lazzi Character types can be divided into two general categories Masked Masters Zanni (servants) Unmasked Innamorati (the lovers) What similarities do you see after watching the three WHO’S LINE IS IT ANYWAY clips?