Italy: Birthplace of the Renaissance

Standard(s) and EQsSSWH9 The student will analyze change and continuity in the Renaissance and Reformation.

EQ: What factors led to Italy being the birthplace of the Renaissance?

Italy: Birthplace of the Renaissance

• The word Renaissance means “rebirth.”

• Occurred between 1300 and 1600.

• Began in Northern Italy (a natural gateway between east and west) and spread to the rest of Europe.

• Revival of the classical traditions of the Greeks and Romans.

Why did the Renaissance begin in Italy?

• Italy had a tremendous amount of overseas trade.

• Thriving cities (urban areas where ideas can be freely shared).

• There was a wealthy merchant class as a result of new banking and manufacturing.

• Access to the classical heritage of Greece and Rome

Characteristics of the Renaissance

• The Renaissance was an age of recovery from disasters of the 14th century. (Black Death)

• Challenged medieval intellectual values and styles.

• As a result of this new view of human beings, people began to place an emphasis on individual ability.

• Cultural reawakening.

• Society focused on the secular or worldly rather than the spiritual

The Italian States• The major Italian city-states were

Milan, Venice, and Florence.

• Italian traders conducted business with merchants from the Islamic world to as far away as England and the Netherlands.

• Milan was the richest of the trading cities.

• All three major city-states were run by powerful merchant/aristocrat families.

The Medici Family• Banking family who

ruled the city-state of Florence.

• Cosimo de Medici won control of the government by giving large loans to the ruling council.

• Lorenzo the Magnificent ruled following his father’s death as a dictator but kept up the appearance of an elected government.

Humanism• An intellectual movement based upon

the study of the classics of Greece and Rome.

• Focused on humankind as the center of intellectual and artistic endeavor. Emphasized human potential and achievements

• Humanists studied the liberal arts -- grammar, rhetoric, poetry and philosophy.

• Encouraged citizens to take an active role in their government.

• Had a profound effect on education.

Renaissance writers introduced the idea that educated people were expected strive to master almost every area of study.

A man who excelled in many fields was praised as a “universal man.” Later ages called such people “Renaissance men.”

Standard(s)SSWH9 The student will analyze change and continuity in the Renaissance and Reformation.

Why Florence?Who were Machiavelli, Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo?What is humanism?

EQ: In what ways did art change during the Renaissance?

Vocabulary: perspective, vernacular, secular, patron, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael Sanzio, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Machiavelli, utopia

Warm Up: Interact with History p. 470

Literature• Many authors choose to

abandon the use of Latin in literature and focused on the local vernacular to write their works.

• In the 14th century Dante Alighieri and Geoffrey Chaucer helped make vernacular language more popular.

• The Divine Comedy

• Guide was Roman classical poet Virgil

• Greco-Roman themes & writing in the vernacular

Francesco Petrarch• “Father of Humanism”• Explored the glories and

personal achievements of man• Emphasized secular not

religious subjects

• Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales

Education in the Renaissance

• The Renaissance saw the development of printing in Europe.

• Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press played a major role in the advancement of education during the Era.

• The printing of books encouraged scholarly research and the desire to gain knowledge.

Art and Architecture• Stressed more secular subjects

in literature & art

• More realistic portrayals of people & nature

• Painting turned to realism from medieval formalism and stiffness

• Led by painter Giotto• New Techniques• Perspective• New colors• Oil paints (more luster to paintings)• Return to Greco-Roman styles

• Leonardo da Vinci• Personified the ideal “Renaissance Man”• Not only a jack-of-all-trades, but also a master of many• Military engineer, anatomist, botanist• Self-taught

•Raphael• Famous for his many paintings of the Madonna • Fresco The School of Athens • Depicts Plato and Aristotle surrounded by philosophy and science

•Michelangelo• 4 different popes

commissioned works by him• Sistine Chapel commissioned

by Pope Julius II• 10,000 square feet, 343

figures (1/2 of which are 10 feet in height)

• Took 4 years to complete

• David• 18 feet tall• Perfect example of the Renaissance

artists devotion to harmony, symmetry, and proportion

Architecture

• Gothic Style gave way to Greco-Roman style incorporating domes & columns

• Brunelleschi

• Florence Cathedral considered pinnacle of Renaissance architecture

• Modified a design to support the expansive weight of the dome

Patronage• Patrons• Wealthy and educated merchants• Commissioned art & sponsored

cultural activities• Cosimo de Medici and his son

Lorenzo• Greatest of all patrons

• Church also source of commissions• Papacy launched a building program

culminating in St. Peter’s Basilica

Renaissance and Politics• Niccolo Machiavelli • Served as a diplomat for Florence.• Wrote The Prince on political power.• Emphasized realistic discussions of how to

seize and maintain power• The end justifies the means• Being feared is more important than being

loved if a leader has to choose between the two.

• Many writers of the time stressed ethics and Christian moral principles.

• Machiavelli was the first to abandon morality as the basis of political activity.Concerned with being politically effective rather than morally right.

• Being feared is more important than being loved if a leader has to choose between the two.

• Many writers of the time stressed ethics and Christian moral principles.

• Machiavelli was the first to abandon morality as the basis of political activity.

• Concerned with being politically effective rather than morally right.