sts-renaissance

• Renaissance

  A period of European cultural, artistic, political and economic "rebirth" following the Middle Ages, generally described as taking place from the 14th century to the 17th century
• The Renaissance promoted the rediscovery of classical philosophy, literature and art
• The Renaissance is credited with bridging the gap between the Middle Ages and modern-day civilization
• Renaissance

  • A time of creativity and change in Europe from the 1300s to the 1600s, with changes in political, social, economic, and cultural areas
  • The most important change was that of the people and how they saw themselves and their world
  • Many people showed interest in classical learning, especially the culture of the ancient Romans
• Florence, Italy

  The birthplace of the Renaissance, as it was the center of ancient Roman history and produced great numbers of talented poets, artists, architects, scholars and scientists in a short period of time
• Humanism

  A philosophy that emphasised the value of education, particularly in the Humanities, and the belief that one could realize their full humanity through classical education
• Renaissance Humanism

  • An interest in studying literature and art from antiquity
  • An interest in the eloquent use of Latin and philology
  • A belief in the importance and power of education to create useful citizens
  • The promotion of private and civic virtue
  • A rejection of scholasticism
  • The encouragement of non-religious studies
  • An emphasis on the individual and their moral autonomy
  • A belief in the importance of observation, critical analysis, and creativity
  • A belief that poets, writers, and artists can lead humanity to a better way of living
  • An interest in the question 'what does it mean to be human'?
• Francesco Petrarch

  An Italian scholar and poet during the Renaissance period, and one of the earliest Humanists, who helped inspire some of the core tenets of the Renaissance through his deep appreciation of Classical knowledge, emphasis on human rationalism and critical thinking, and tendency to challenge the medieval traditions of the Catholic Church
• Petrarch traveled widely in Europe, served as an ambassador, and collected crumbling Latin manuscripts, helping in the recovery of knowledge from writers of Rome and Greece
• Reasons why Florence was a major center of the Renaissance

  • Extraordinary wealth accumulated in Florence among a growing middle and upper class of merchants and bankers
  • Florence saw itself as an ideal city state where the freedom of the individual was guaranteed and many citizens had the right to participate in the government
  • Florence successfully defended itself against threats from the Duke of Milan and the King of Naples, which the Florentine people interpreted as signs of God's favor and protection
  • The Florentine people were very proud of their form of government, a republic that respected the opinions of individuals, which aligned with the individualism of Renaissance Humanism
• Medici Family

  An Italian bourgeois family that ruled Florence and Tuscany for most of the period from 1434 to 1737, whose support of the arts and humanities made Florence into the cradle of the Renaissance
• The Medici family brought stability and peace to Florence, which was crucial for the cultural flourishing in the city in the fifteenth century
• The Medici family was instrumental in the growing interest in Greek culture and history during the Renaissance
• Petrarch

  Italian scholar and poet who lived from 1320-1323 and helped inspire the Renaissance
• Petrarch's life

  1. Studied law at University of Bologna as his father insisted

  2. But was primarily interested in writing and Latin literature

  3. Traveled widely in Europe and collected Latin manuscripts

  4. Helped recover knowledge from ancient Greek and Roman writers

  5. His works helped inspire core tenets of the Renaissance
• Humanism

  A philosophy that dominated Renaissance thinking, based on Petrarch's appreciation of classical knowledge, emphasis on human rationalism and critical thinking, and tendency to challenge medieval Catholic traditions
• In 1341, Petrarch was crowned as the poet laureate, or official state poet, of Rome - the first person to receive this title since the Roman Empire
• Giovanni Boccaccio

  Italian poet, writer, and scholar who was a correspondent of Petrarch and an important Renaissance humanist
• Decameron

  Boccaccio's most famous and influential work, a collection of 100 tales of everyday life compiled between 1348-1353 CE
• The Decameron provides a vivid description of the Black Death plague that had just hit Boccaccio's home region of Tuscany
• Boccaccio's description of the plague's symptoms and social consequences: '"[The plague] showed its first signs in men and women alike by means of swellings either in the groin or under the armpits...and just as the gavoccioli were originally, and still are, a very definite indication of impending death, in like manner these spots came to mean the same thing for whoever contracted them. Neither a doctor's advice nor the strength of medicine could do anything to cure this illness...So many corpses would arrive in front of a church every day and at every hour that the amount of holy ground for burials was certainly insufficient for the ancient custom of giving each body its individual place."'
• Structure of the Decameron

  Ten young upper-class people escape the Black Death plague in Florence and take refuge in a villa, where each member becomes king/queen for a day and tells 10 stories, for a total of 100 tales over 10 days
• The Decameron became the standard against which all subsequent prose literature in Italy and abroad was judged, though it was criticized by some as too vulgar and was put on the Catholic Church's list of forbidden books in the 16th century
• Boccaccio's later life was marked by disappointing love affairs and deteriorating health, leading to bitterness and attempts to burn his writings, which were ultimately preserved by Petrarch and donated to a monastery after Boccaccio's death in 1375
• Renaissance art

  • Many works depicted religious images and were encountered by audiences in the context of religious rituals, though they are now viewed as great works of art
  • Renaissance artists came from all strata of society, studied as apprentices, and worked on commission for patrons rather than being starving bohemians
• Leonardo da Vinci

  Italian painter, draftsman, sculptor, architect, and engineer whose genius epitomized the Renaissance humanist ideal
• The Last Supper

  Leonardo's visual interpretation of the biblical event where Christ gathered his disciples the evening before his betrayal and gave instructions on how to remember him

  
• Mona Lisa

  Leonardo's half-length portrait of a woman, painted sometime between 1503-1519, whose mysterious identity and smile have made it a source of ongoing fascination

  
• The Mona Lisa was painted on a poplar wood panel using the sfumato technique, which blends colors and tones in a subtle, seamless manner
• Donatello

  Italian Renaissance sculptor, the son of a Florentine craftsman, who was educated by the wealthy Martelli family and apprenticed with sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti
• Donatello's works

  • His bronze statue of David was the first freestanding bronze cast statue of the Renaissance and the first nude male sculpture since ancient Greece
  • His wooden sculpture of the Penitent Magdalene was received with astonishment for its unprecedented realism

  
• Michelangelo

  Italian Renaissance sculptor, painter, architect, and poet who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art and was considered the greatest living artist in his lifetime
• David

  Masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture created between 1501 and 1504 by the Italian artist Michelangelo, when he was just 26 years old
• David

  • 5.17-meters (almost 17 feet, a shy short at 16 feet and 11.15 inches) statue of the Biblical figure
  • Made of one single block of marble from the quarries in Carrara in Tuscany, one of the whitest in the world and weighs 5,660 kg or 12,478.12 lbs
  • He is made out of solid marble
  • The sling on his left shoulder and tree trunk behind his right leg were covered with gold leaf
• Many statues before Michelangelo's that portray the story of David and Goliath always show David AFTER he has defeated the giant, with the head by his feet
• Michelangelo decided to go against the current and portray his David BEFORE the battle
• Michelangelo's David

  You can see in his face the concentration of him thinking how he's going to do it, the rock hidden inside his right palm, the slingshot seemingly at rest on his shoulder and him waiting for the right moment pretending to be at ease
• Pieta

  Depiction of the Virgin Mary supporting the body of the dead Christ

  
• Since its creation in 1499, Michelangelo's Pieta has inspired emotion, faith, and imitation through its elegant depiction of the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ

  
• Raphael

  • Master painter and architect of the Italian High Renaissance
  • Best known for his Madonnas and for his large figure compositions in the Vatican
  • His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur