The Italian Renaissance When Why Italy Location 1350

The Italian Renaissance

�When? � Why Italy? � Location, � 1350 -1500 Location! �What? � Wealthy Bankers=Medici Family �A time of rebirth in politics, � Patrons of the Arts � Strong Art guilds arts, and the economy � City-states=Never Feudal �Where? � Wealth of the RCC �Starts in Italy, � Scholasticism develops spreads to into humanism Northern Europe � Focus on secular ideas.

HOW? Art and Patronage q Italian banking & international trade interests had the money. q Public art in Florence was organized and supported by guilds. q The Catholic Church was a great patron of Renaissance artists, especially Raphael & Michelangelo. Therefore, the consumption of art was used as a form of competition for social & political status!

Baldassare Castiglione � Castiglione represented the humanist “gentleman” as a man of refinement with a humanist education � In The Book of the Courtier, he defines what it means to be a “Renaissance Man”Broad knowledge about many things in different fields.

Characteristics of Renaissance Art � Realism and Expression � Perspective � Classicism (Greco-Roman themes) � Emphasis on the individual (humanism) � Geometric arrangement of Figures � Shadowing techniques

Giotto- The Legend of St. Francis

Perspective What you are, I once was; what I am, you will become.

Perspective

Classicism �Classic Greco-Roman influence. �Secularism �Humanism. �Individualism free standing figures �Symmetry/Balance

Emphasis on Individualism � Batista Sforza & Federico de Montefeltre: The Duke & Dutchess of Urbino � Piero della Francesca, 1465 -1466.

Geometrical Arrangement of Figures � The Dreyfus Madonna with the Pomegranate � Leonardo da Vinci � 1469 � The figure as architecture!

Light & Shadowing/Softening Edges Sfumato Chiaroscuro

Brunelleschi’s Dome - Florence Other Famous Domes (Rome) (London) (Washington D. C. )

Renaissance Florentine lion: symbol of St. Mark 1252 – first gold florins minted The Wool Factory by Mirabello Cavalori, 1570

Lorenzo the Magnificent 1478 - 1521 Cosimo de Medici 1517 - 1574

Leonardo Da. Vinci. The Last Supper

Geometry

A Da Vinci “Code”: St. John or Mary Magdalene?

Vitruvian man -- da Vinci, 1512 � Artist � Sculptor � Architect � Scientist � Engineer � Inventor 1452 - 1519

Mona Lisa – da Vinci, 1503

Leonardo, the Engineer: Pages from his Notebook A study of siege defenses. Studies of water-lifting devices.

The School of Athens – Raphael, 1510 -11 � Single point perspective. � All of the important Greek philosophers and thinkers are included all of the great personalities of the Seven Liberal Arts! � A great variety of poses. � Located in the papal apartments library. � Raphael worked on this commission simultaneously as Michelangelo was doing the Sistine Chapel. � No Christian themes here! PAGAN!

The School of Athens – Raphael, 1510 -11 Da Vinci Raphael Michelangelo

The School of Athens – Raphael, details Plato : in order to understand the world, you need to understand ideas Aristotle : the only thing that is real is the physical world

Comparison of philosphies

Neoplatonism � Developed concurrently with Renaissance humanism – BUT different… � Emphasized importance of Plato in comparison to scholastic Aristotelian thought � In Oration on the Dignity of Man Pico della Mirandola provides a Platonic view of humanity by highlighting the potential of man � Lorenzo de. Medici created the Neoplatonic Florentine Academy devoted to debate

The Sistine Chapel-Michelangelo Buonarroti 1508 - 1512

The Sistine Chapel Details The Last Judgment

The Sistine Chapel Details The Creation of the Heavens The Creation of Adam

Renaissance Literature � Castiglione- The Book of the Courtier � Petrarch- Sonnets to Laura � Dante Aligheri- The Divine Comedy � Boccacio- The Decameron � Machiavelli- The Prince

Petrarch- Sonnets � Italian scholar and poet in Renaissance Italy and often considered the founder of Humanism � His rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited with initiating the Renaissance � Petrarch's sonnets were admired and imitated and became a model for lyrical poetry. � A rhyme scheme of abba in the quatrains, and cdc dcd with some variations in the sestet. � He is also known for being the first to develop the concept of the "Dark Ages. " � This standing back from his time was possible because he straddled two worlds—the classical and his own modern day

Dante Aligheri- The Divine Comedy � An important Florentine poet of the Late Middle Ages � His Divine Comedy is widely considered the greatest literary work composed in the vernacular Italian language � Combines Christian allegory, classical themes, and contemporary political commentary

Boccacio- The Decameron � A collection of 100 tales told by a group of seven women and three men sheltering in a secluded villa just outside Florence to escape the Black Death � The various tales of love in The Decameron range from the erotic to the tragic and include tales of wit � In addition to its literary value and widespread influence (P. O. S. Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales), it provides a document of life at the time. � Both are written in the vernacular, and are considered masterpieces of Renaissance prose Giovanni Boccaccio and Florentines who have fled from the plague

� an Italian diplomat, politician, has often been called the father of modern political science. � He was for many years a senior official in the Florentine Republic, with responsibilities in diplomatic affairs. � He wrote his most renowned work The Prince in 1513, to help the Medici family maintain control of Florence � "Machiavellian" is a mistakenly negatively used term to characterize unscrupulous leaders or politicians Machiavelli

The Northern Renaissance 1430 s-1620 s

Origin � Ideas of humanism and artistic techniques spread across the Alps to the rest of Western Europe � Humanism impacted the Northern Renaissance, however more emphasis was placed the teachings of Christianity, values, and attitudes � Christian Humanism emerged � More writers and intellectuals due to the printing press � Relied more on Kings and merchants as patrons rather than the Church

Erasumus- In Praise of Folly � Book was a satirical attack on superstitions and other traditions of European society as well as on the Catholic Church. � Epitome of Northern Christian Humanist � Aspired to unite classic ideals of humanity and civic virtue with Christian ideals of love and piety � Made ancient Christian literature available to people by translating them in their original version � “Erasmus laid the egg and Luther hatched it…” � Illustrates the impact of the printing press

Art � Oil paints � Deep colors � Sharp images � Attention to detail � More modest � Subjects reflected values of � “Modern Christian humanism” � Technology evident

Detail

Pieter Brueghel the Elder. The Wedding

Pieter Brueghel the Younger. The Procession to Calvary

Renaissance Art Auction Activity � A series of six pieces of Renaissance art (which you may or may not be familiar with) with be analyzed one at time. The auctioneer may offer additional information to assist. � For each, work with your group to identify specific characteristics of Renaissance style that are evident in that piece of art. . Be prepared to “bid” on a painting by presenting a specific fact, along with the amount of florins to “win” this painting or sculpture. � The group that states the last accurate fact about the artwork will be the highest bidder and win that artwork. The group winning the most pieces of art at the end of the auction is winning one.

Pope Leo X with Cardinal Giulio de. Medici and Luigi De Rossi by Raphael, 1518 -1519 � A Medici Pope. � He went through the Vatican treasury in a year! � His extravagances offended even some cardinals [as well as Martin Luther !]. � Started selling indulgences.

Sandro Boticelli- Saint Augustine

Birth of Venus– Botticelli, 1482

The Money Lender and his Wife. Flemish renaissance artist Quentin Matsys

Pieta

End of the Renaissance. French invasions, 1494 � Treaty of Lodi- alliance between rival citystates had been successful for 40 yrs. � Balance of power politics fails when despot of Milan seeks FRENCH support against Naples � French King Charles VIII claims Naples and attacks Florence � The Medici are driven into exile… � MEANWHILE….

A portrait of Savanarola � A Dominican priest who decried money and power � Drove out the Medicis and created a theocracy in Florence � Anti-humanist he saw humanism as too secular, hedonistic, and corrupting. � The “Bonfire of the Vanities” / Elite burned their books, artwork, jewelry, and other luxury goods in public. / Even Botticelli put some of his paintings on the fire!!

The Execution of Savonarola, 1452