1 Cosimo and Lorenzo de Medici Wealthy banking

• 1. Cosimo and Lorenzo de’ Medici – Wealthy banking men whose families controlled the Italian city of Florence Famous Figures

– They loaned money to popes and kings and commissioned art from some of the Renaissance’s most famed artists • “ordering and purchasing of finished piece of art”

– They are often credited with the promotion of the Renaissance

– The Medici family included four popes and various royal families and only ended when the last Medici ruler died without a male heir in 1737

• 2. Leonardo da Vinci – A painter who worked to master realism in his work, especially through his study of the human body

– Leonardo also drafted ideas for many inventions, some of which where later realized

• 3. Michelangelo – An accomplished painter, sculptor, and architect noted for many works including the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome

– It took Michelangelo 4 years to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling

• 4. Donatello – Sculptor and architect who studied and copied statues of the ancient Greeks and Romans

• He dedicated his life to the Church and Medici family

• 5. Raphael – Artist most noted for his paintings of the Madonna and frescoes in the Vatican • Mural paintings done on fresh, wet plaster

• 6. Filippo Brunelleschi – A major medieval architect who created beautiful and amazing structures and churches that used freestanding domes

• 7. Niccolo Machiavelli – One of the first political writers to stress the importance of abandoning morality when it came to royal power – “Father of Modern Political Theory”

– He authored The Prince , which stated: • “the end justifies the means” when it comes to ruling

– Machiavelli’s writings were done with good intentions as he was a true patriot and political enthusiast • But The Prince ruined his reputation for life

• 8. Johann Gutenberg – In the 1400 s, All English literature was copied by hand, limited public potential

– Illuminated Manuscripts were among the most prized books • “manuscript” means “handwritten” in Latin • “illumination” means “lit up”

• Gutenberg created a printing press, which made the spread of literature more possible throughout Europe for the basic public

• His process was still tedious, but more efficient than ever before – Mass production

• By 1500, half a million books were available to the public, increasing European literacy – And helping to spread the ideas of the Renaissance

• Illuminated manuscripts will still be an artistic element of the time, just mainly for the wealthy