ITALY BIRTHPLACE OF THE RENAISSANCE Chapter 1 Section

ITALY: BIRTHPLACE OF THE RENAISSANCE Chapter 1, Section 1 Pages 37 -42

SETTING THE STAGE • Black Plague and Hundred Years War • People want to enjoy life • Structures of society change • Question Church • Reject Medieval thoughts • Plague kills 60% of population • Fewer laborers = demand for higher wages • Shrank business expansion opportunities • Wealthy merchants can pursue art

THREE ADVANTAGES • Thriving cities • Urban Centers • Overseas trade • Crusades • Urban while rest of Europe is rural • Wealthy merchant class • Wealthiest, most powerful class • Earned social rank • Individual achievement important (See Medici Family) • Medici family • Ruled Florence • Cosimo de’ Medici- wealthiest European of his time • Influenced members of ruling council by giving loans • Virtual dictator of Florence for 30 years. • He and son greatly supported the arts • Classical heritage • Studied Latin manuscripts • Byzantine scholars brought Greek manuscripts to Rome

CLASSICAL & WORLDLY VALUES • Humanism- focus on human potential and achievements. • Influenced artists and architects • Popularized the study of history, literature, and philosophy“Humanities” • Secular- worldly and concerned with the here and now • One can enjoy life without offending God • Church leaders began to live worldly lives • Large mansions, lavish parties, expensive clothes • Patron- financially supporting artists • Popes- spend large amounts of money to beautify Rome • Show importance by having portraits painted or donating art • Renaissance man- a master of all areas of study. • Should dance, sing, play music, write poetry • Should be a skilled rider, wrestler, and swordsman • Renaissance women- inspire art, not make it • Know the classics, be charming, be educated but not a leader

REVOLUTION OF ART Perspective- An artistic technique that creates the appearance of three dimensions on a flat surface. Ø An optical illusion Horizon Vanishing point

MICHELANGELO • True Renaissance man • Painter, sculptor, architect and poet • Famous for way he portrayed the human body • Forceful and showed heroic grandeur and power • Sponsored by Medici • Famous for: • Dome of St. Peter’s Basilica • David • Sistine Chapel

LEONARDO • True Renaissance man • Painter, sculptor, inventor, scientist • Interested in how things worked • Notebooks full of sketches and inventions • Known for: • Mona Lisa • The Last Supper

RAPHAEL • Studied Michelangelo and Leonardo • Madonna and child was his favorite subject • Known for • School of Athens

LITERATURE • Vernacular- Use of native language rather than classic • Self-expression or portraying individualism • Famous Renaissance writers: • Francesco Petrarch- humanist; poet; wrote sonnets about women named “Laura”; wrote in Latin to many influential friends. • Boccaccio- Wrote Decameron; realistic and off-color; supposedly told by a group of worldly young people stuck in a villa waiting for the plague to leave. • Niccolo Machiavelli- The Prince; a political playbook; • Examines how rulers can gain power and keep it in spite of his enemies • Idea of most people being fickle, selfish, and corrupt • Must be strong as a lion, shrewd as a fox • Women writers • Wrote about personal subjects, not politics