The Renaissance Why was Italy the birthplace of

The Renaissance

Why was Italy the birthplace of the Renaissance? • • It was the crossroads of trade in the Mediterranean Rome was the center of the classical world Recovered from the plague with more opportunities for economic advancement Wealthy and powerful merchant class

The Growth of Italian City-States

Why were Italian citystates so rich and powerful?

• Overseas trade, spurred by the Crusades, led to their growth • Northern Italy had a wealthy merchant class • It’s classical heritage of Greece and Rome • City-states governed themselves

How did Florence become the most influential city-state?

• Florence was mostly urban while the rest of Europe was rural • Because of the plague, many of the city’s survivors could demand higher wages • Because Florence was small, many of its citizens could be involved in politics

What was the Renaissance and why did it begin in Italy?

• Renaissance means “re-birth” which refers to revival in arts and learning • Italian merchants displayed their wealth by giving financial support to artists • Lorenzo de Medici (Lorenzo the Magnificent) was a generous patron of the arts

The Spirit of the Renaissance

• The Crusades made Europeans eager to learn about the world around them • Church leaders became patrons of the arts by financially supporting artists

A Fascination with Classical Cultures

• Scholars became interested in ancient Greek and Roman culture • Artists used ancient art as models • Brunelleschi designed buildings after studying Roman ruins

• Filippo Brunelleschi • Commissioned to build the cathedral dome in Florence (Il Duomo) – Used unique architectural concepts. • He studied the ancient Pantheon in Rome

Brunelleschi’s Dome

Dome Comparisons Il Duomo St. Peter’s (Florence) (Rome) St. Paul’s (London) US capital (Washington)

A New Type of Scholar Called a Humanist

• • Humanists adopted many Roman and Greek beliefs 1. seeking fulfillment in daily life 2. all people have dignity and worth 3. the ideal person—one who can do almost anything (the Renaissance Man)

• Humanists learned many subjects, such as Latin, Greek history, mathematics, and rhetoric (the study of language) • In the Middle Ages, religious people proved their piety(religious devotion) by living a plain life • Humanists enjoyed life without offending God

Petrarch • Father of Renaissance humanism • Poet • sonnets

A Belief in Human Potential

• Emphasized human achievement on earth, rather than the afterlife • Renaissance thinkers strove to master almost every art • Later ages called such people “Renaissance men”

• Individuals became the center of attention during the Renaissance as the belief in human potential & ability began to emerge from Medieval ways of thinking

• • Machiavelli—wrote The Prince was a book about Italian government Machiavelli supported the idea of absolute power He believed you should “do whatever it takes” to be a great ruler, even if it means you have to hurt someone

Baldassare Castiglione • • • Wrote the Book of the Courtier Ideal courtier Manners, skills, learning, and virtues

• Ideal Man—was well educated in the Classics; should be charming, witty, & smart; can dance, write poetry, & play music; should be physically fit • (called a “Renaissance Man”)

• Ideal Woman—study Classics; write, dance, paint, make music well; but should not seek fame or political power (Renaissance women were far better educated but had fewer rights than Medieval women)

Renaissance Artists

Donato Donatello

• Donatello is considered by many to be the greatest sculptor of the Renaissance • Medieval sculptors only carved the front of a statue, but Donatello wanted sculptures to be viewed from all sides like Greek & Roman statues

Donatello’s “David” became the first large, free-standing human sculpture

David stands at the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, or Palazzo del Popolo (Palace of the People) It is a former barracks and prison, now an art museum, in Florence, Italy.

Michelangelo

• Michelangelo was a great painter & sculptor; his “Pieta” & “David” sculptures are perceived as masterpieces • His greatest work is the 130 ft x 44 ft ceiling of the Sistine Chapel; which shows biblical images of amazing detail, power, & beauty

Michelangelo’s “Pieta” depicts the Virgin Mary cradling the limp body of the crucified Jesus. It is displayed in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, in the Vatican

Michelangelo’s statue of “David” expresses the Renaissance belief in human dignity and greatness

David at the Accademia Gallery in Florence Created between 1501 -1504 He stands 17 ft. tall He represents the Biblical hero David.

David’s Hand

Michelangelo’s Greatest Masterpiece the Sistine Chapel was commissioned under the patronage of Pope Julius II. He painted the ceiling between 1508 -1512

The Creation of the Heavens

The Sistine Chapel Details Creation of Man

• • • Michelangelo returned to the chapel to begin painting the altarpiece “The Last Judgment” This painting features Christ judging souls as the rise and fall from each side of the painting He painted The Last Judgement between 1535 -1541.

Raphael

• • • Raphael “Perfected” Renaissance painting He became the favorite painter of the Pope because of his amazing detailed paintings showing Greeks & Romans along with Renaissance people “School of Athens” is his greatest work

• Many of the important Greek philosophers and thinkers are included in this painting and many of the great personalities from the classical period • Subjects are in a great variety of poses • Raphael worked on this commission simultaneously as Michelangelo was painting the Sistine Chapel

Plato and Aristotle Socrates Raphael

Alexander the Great Michelangelo

Pythagoras

Zoroaster Ptolemy Euclid

Perspective! Betrothal of the Virgin Raphael

Leonardo da Vinci

• A true “Renaissance Man” Leonardo was an inventor, painter, sculptor, mathematician & scientist

Using Geometry Leonardo, the Artist

From his Notebooks of over 5000 pages)

His “Last Supper” shows Jesus’ last meeting with the 12 apostles before the crucifixion The facial expressions, detail, and emotion had made it a masterpiece

The Last Supper – da Vinci, & Geometry

vertical The Last Supper and Perspective horizontal

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

Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie Milan, Italy

da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is great for its emotion and depth

Mona Lisa has no visible facial hair at all - including eyebrows and eyelashes

A Picasso Mona

• • On August 12, 1911, a Louvre employee stole it by entering the building during regular hours, hiding in a broom closet and walking out with it hidden under his coat after the museum had closed After keeping the painting in his apartment for two years, the man grew impatient and was caught when he attempted to sell it to an art dealer; it was exhibited all over Italy and returned to the Louvre in 1913

• In 1956, the lower part of the painting was severely damaged when someone doused it with acid • On December 30 of that same year, another person damaged the painting by throwing a rock at it • The result was a speck of pigment near Mona Lisa's left elbow • The painting is now covered with bulletproof security glass

Leonardo, the Scientist (Biology): Pages from his Notebook

da Vinci often wrote in mirrored handwriting

Leonardo, the Engineer:

• Leonardo sketched several designs for flying machines including this one with a rotating screw • He intended to power it with a wound-up spring

• Leonardo’s many military inventions included this design for an armored tank • Four soldiers sitting inside could turn cranks to move the wheels on this tank”

• da Vinci also invented a gigantic crossbow • It's difficult to know whether it would have worked, or whether it would have been superior to cannons of the same period

Vitruvian Man

• The length of a man's outspread arms is equal to his height • The maximum width of the shoulders is a quarter of a man's height • The distance from the elbow to the tip of the hand is onefifth of a man's height

• The Renaissance spread from Italy as scholars from other areas visited Italian city-states & took the new ideas they saw back

• Kings bought Renaissance art, helping to spread new ideas • Renaissance ideas spread to the Holy Roman Empire (Germany), England, France, Belgium, Netherlands

• Renaissance in Germany was very religious—Christian humanists criticized the church & society (will lead to Protestant Reformation)

• The Renaissance encouraged a new spirit of adventure and discovery • The Renaissance spirit played an important role in helping to launch the Age of Exploration