I.

CHARACTERISTICS OF RENAISSANCE

REDISCOVERY of CLASSICAL LITERATURE and ART

A.

The School of Athens (1510-1511)

is one of several frescoes that Italian Renaissance artist Raphael painted in the Vatican Palaces Stanza della Segnatura. The fresco, which depicts ancient Greek philosophers and scholars, such as Plato and Aristotle (center), is considered a masterpiece in the portrayal of the artistic ideals of the Renaissance. It also illustrates the importance of classical studies to literary and cultural achievements of the era..

Classical Studies
Renaissance humanists studied the literature of ancient Greece and Rome, believing that these classical works represented the height of human knowledge and were important models for a new age. St. Jerome in His Study by the Italian painter Antonello da Messina (1430-1479) depicts the 4th-century scholar Jerome. He was known for his important literary accomplishments, including a translation of the Bible into Latin. Antonello's work illustrates a careful attention to detail and an understanding of perspective that became important new characteristics of Renaissance painting.

B.
INDIVIDUALISM

Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci was known not only as a masterful painter but as an architect, sculptor, engineer, and scientist. His pursuit of knowledge was relentless and his discoveries left lasting changes in the fields of art and science. With his sophisticated skills and love for learning, Leonardo embodied the curiosity and individualism of the era and was the quintessential Renaissance man.

II. INTERPRETATION OF RENAISSANCE

A.

RENAISSANCE as REBIRTH

Portrait of Michelangelo
Italian artist Michelangelo's extraordinary accomplishments in painting, sculpture, and architecture made him one of the outstanding figures in Renaissance art. During his lifetime (1475-1564) he influenced many young artists, including the Florentine writer and painter Giorgio Vasari, who included this likeness of Michelangelo in one of his own works.

Giotto
Italian painter Giotto is held in high regard as the artist who moved away from the traditional medieval technique of portraying the human figure as a stiff, flat, two-dimensional character. An artist far ahead of his time, Giotto began to protray humans as rounded, proportioned, and naturalistic. His work influenced the development of Renaissance art more than a century after his death in Florence in 1337.

Tomb of Leonardo Bruni

Italian artist Bernardo Rossellino combined elements of architecture and sculpture when he created the tomb of Leonardo Bruni, a prominent Florentine humanist. Rossellino also evoked the grandeur of classical antiquity by borrowing elements such as the imperial Roman eagles seen directly below Bruni, as well as his crown of laurel. Bruni and his followers admired the republican government of ancient Rome and encouraged the citizens of Florence and other Italian city-states to adopt a new patriotism based on the Roman model. The tomb, begun in 1444, is in the Church of Santa Croce, Florence, Italy.

Voltaire
The French writer and philosopher Voltaire is considered one of the central figures of the Age of Enlightenment, a period following the Renaissance which emphasized the power of human reason, science, and respect for humanity. Voltaire believed that literature should serve as a vehicle for social change. His biting satires and philosophical writings demonstrated his aversion to Christianity, intolerance, and tyranny. The expression captured in this portrait of Voltaire in 1718 hints at the sharp sense of humor with which he won the favor of 18th-century French society.

B.

RENAISSANCE as GRADUAL CHANGE

Medieval Schools
During the Middle Ages, advocates of Scholasticism sought to forge a connection between classical Greek philosophy and Christian theology through the use of logic. Teachers and instructors employed the concepts of reason and revelation to teach their students how to think. In this 15th-century Italian painting, parents take their children to see a teacher of grammar.

II. ECONOMIC and SOCIAL BASIC of the RENAISSANCE

A. CHANGING ECONOMY

Italian Banking in the 14th Century

Banks first emerged in the Middle Ages, but grew in importance as commerce developed during the early years of the Renaissance. The Medici family, one of the most prominent merchant and banking families in Europe, used their wealth from moneylending to become patrons of the arts and gain political power. This 14thcentury painting depicts people depositing and withdrawing money in an Italian bank.

Cosimo de Medici
Cosimo de Medici headed the family banking enterprises, including offices throughout Europe, and helped to make Florence a leading international financial center. He also profited by skillfully manipulating the chief offices of the city. Cosimo ruined his enemies with excessive taxation and consolidated his own power, but was a generous patron of the arts and was responsible for extensive public building programs.

Columbus Setting Sail in 1492

In 1492 explorer Christopher Columbus departed on his first journey in search of a quicker route to Asia. On this voyage Columbus encountered the islands which became known as the West Indies, in the Caribbean Sea. Here, Columbus takes leave of Ferdinand V and Isabella, the Spanish rulers who sponsored his first expedition. Exploration became an important element in international rivalries for economic and political power.

B. URBAN SOCIETY

Effects of the Black Death

The Black Death, an epidemic of plague in Europe that lasted from 1347 to 1351, resulted in the deaths of almost one-quarter of Europes population. The Black Death was the first in a cycle of plagues in Europe that continued into the 18th century. Shown here, the French city of Marseille is devastated by a later outbreak of plague. Renaissance achievements happened despite the severe loss of life and the economic and political effects of the plague.

Rise of the City

The growth of trade and the rise of wealthy cities in Italy helped to encourage the political and cultural achievements of the Renaissance. Within the walls of these thriving urban centers lived an increasingly diverse mix of social and economic groups. This portion of a fresco by 14th-century painter Ambrogio Lorenzetti of Siena illustrates the energy and bustle of city life.

C.

RURAL SOCIETY

Rural Life
Italian artist Ambrogio Lorenzetti provided a view of life in the countryside in this fresco called Allegory of Good Government, painted from 1338-1339 in Siena. The peasants living in rural areas of Europe received little benefit from the literary and artistic developments of the Renaissance but were deeply affected by economic changes. As urban markets for agricultural products grew, a money-based economy began to replace the selfsufficient rural system of payment in service or kind.

III. THE CHURCH and the RELIGION in the RENAISSANCE

A.
DECLINE of the ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

Pope Leo X
Pope Leo X, who was a member of the Medici family, was a strong supporter of the arts. The pope commissioned this portrait from the noted Renaissance painter Raphael, whom he also named as the chief architect for renovations of Saint Peters Basilica in Rome. During the Renaissance, the Roman Catholic Church experienced a decline in power and prestige, although popular religious fervor remained high.

B. DESSENT, REFORM , and POPULAR REGION

Savonarola
Italian friar Girolamo Savonarola was a religious reformer who claimed a supernatural gift of prophecy. He criticized the corruptness of Pope Alexander VI and was eventually excommunicated. In 1498 Savonarola was declared guilty of heresy and hanged. This portrait of him, by Renaissance painter Fra Bartolommeo, is in the convent of San Marco in Florence, Italy. .

Savonarola Put to Death in Florence

Girolamo Savonarola was a popular preacher of repentance in Florence during the Renaissance, but he denounced important political and religious figures, including the pope, for moral corruption. Eventually the church charged him with heresy. In 1498 Savonarola was hanged and then burned at the stake in Florences Piazza della Signoria.

John Wycliffe
Trained in the scholasticism of the medieval Roman Catholic church, 14th-century theologian John Wycliffe became disillusioned with ecclesiastical abuses. He challenged the churchs spiritual authority and sponsored the translation of the Christian Scriptures into English. Here, Wycliffe is pictured reading his translation of the Bible to English nobleman John of Gaunt, far right. Wycliffes writings later inspired leaders of the Protestant Reformation such as John Hus and Martin Luther.

IV.

HUMANISM

A. PETRARCH

Petrarch
Petrarch, who perfected the sonnet form and is often regarded as the first modern poet, was also one of the first humanists. Petrarchs love of the classics and his belief in the value of human experience influenced his own writing and inspired other humanists.

B. DEVELOPMENT OF HUMANISM

Plato and the Humanists

Plato, one of the most famous philosophers of ancient Greece, was the first to use the term philosophy, which means love of knowledge. Born around 428 BC, Plato investigated a wide range of topics. Renaissance humanists like Marcilio Ficino at the Florentine Academy hoped to revive interest in Platos work as a model for Western thought.

Renaissance Nobility
This depiction of the nobility holding court is part of a fresco painted by Italian artist Ambrogio Lorenzetti in the 14th century. .

C.
HUMANISM in NORTHERN EUROPE

Money Changer and His Wife

During the Renaissance townspeople challenged the dominance of the church in everyday life. Humanism reflected some of the changes in values of the new urban society, but also focused on ways of improving humanity. Flemish artist Quentin Massys painted Money Changer and His Wife (1514, Louvre, Paris) as a witty commentary on greed. The bankers wife pretends piety by leafing through a religious book, while stealing a glance at her husbands gold

Desiderius Erasmus
Dutch scholar and theologian Desiderius Erasmus wrote the religious satire The Praise of Folie, (1509, translated in 1549). Erasmus believed that the Bible and other Christian works should be read in the original Hebrew or Greek text and belonged to a group of scholars who became known as Christian humanists.

V.
THE ARTS in the RENAISSANCE

Birth of Venus

Creation of Adam, Creation of Eve

Baptism of Christ

Venus of Urbino

The Origin of the Milky Way

A.

LITERATURE

Dante Alighieri
One of the greatest poets in the history of world literature, Italian writer Dante Alighieri composed poetry influenced by classical and Christian tradition. Dantes greatest work was the epic poem La divina commedia (1321?; The Divine Comedy, 1802). It includes three sections: the Inferno (Hell), in which the great classical poet Virgil leads Dante on a trip through hell; the Purgatorio (Purgatory), in which Virgil leads Dante up the mountain of purification; and the Paradiso (Paradise), in which Dante travels through heaven. This passage from the Inferno (recited by an actor) comes at the beginning of the epic, when Dante loses his way in the woods. The illustration shows Dante standing in front of the mountain of Purgatory, with hell on his right and heaven on his left.

Elizabethan Writers
The Elizabethan era in 16thcentury England was a prolific period for English literature. Edmund Spenser (lower right), Christopher Marlowe (upper right), Sir Walter Raleigh (center), and William Shakespeare (left) were only a few of the many writers who created their great works during the reign of Elizabeth

B.

PAINTING

Masaccios Expulsion from

Paradise

Expulsion from Paradise (about 1427)

is one of six frescoes painted by Masaccio for the Brancacci Chapel in Santa Maria del Carmine, Florence, Italy. The fresco was influential for its realism, especially the simplicity and three-dimensionality of the figures, and for the dramatic depiction of the plight of Adam and Eve.

C. SCULPTURE

David, by Donatello
Italian sculptor Donatello executed his David, the first nude statue of the Renaissance, about 1430-1435. This nearly life-size bronze image of the biblical hero was also the first statue since classical antiquity to be cast in the round. Its realism marked a departure from the conventions of Gothic sculpture, which mostly produced rigid, columnar figures.

Michelangelo's David
David, a marble sculpture by the Italian
artist Michelangelo, was carved between 1501 and 1504. Unlike earlier versions of David, in which the hero is depicted as triumphant over Goliath, this David waits for his enemy, body centered but tense. This piece is influenced by the classical nudes of the Greeks but is more emotionally powerful.

D.
ARCHITECTURE

Duomo, Florence, Italy

Florence, located in north central Italy, was the site for many architectural innovations of the Renaissance. The eight-sided dome of the cathedral known as the Duomo was designed by Filippo Brunelleschi and completed in 1436.

Villa Barbaro by Paladio

The Villa Barbaro in Maser, Italy, was designed about 1560 by Italian painter and architect Andrea Palladio. The style is clearly influenced by classical Roman architecture, as can be seen in the use of statuary and the pediment with a frieze above the facade.

END.