Chap. 12 Sec. 1 – The Renaissance!

The Italian Renaissance! I.Italian Renaissance: Word means “Rebirth” – number of people living in Italy between 1350 and 1550 believed they had witnessed a “rebirth” of the ancient Roman and Greek worlds! - A period of history that began in Italy and spread to the rest of the world – we are going to learn about the most important characteristics of this Renaissance!

1.Italy was largely an Urban society – many city states – within this urban society, a secular – or worldly viewpoint emerged as increasing wealth created new possibilities. 2.Also an age of recovery from the disasters WHAT disastershad occurred before?

3. A new view of human beings emerged - “Men can do all things” – people began to focus on INDIVIDUAL achievement rather than God. Leonardo da Vinci was a pointer, sculpture, architect, inventor and mathematician. II. Italian City States 1.No single strong ruler – 3 powerful city states – Milan, Venice and Florence expanded and played a huge role in culture. 2.Prospered from trade – were exposed to many new and ancient ideas from the Byzantine Empire, for ex.

A.Milan: Located in northern Italy - richest city state because of its location – B. Venice: Another northern city in Italy - link between Asia and western Europe C.Florence: - Republic of Florence was in the central party – the wealthy Medici Family took control of the city and controlled the government.

Machiavelli!! 1 – No one seemed to love political power in Italy more than Niccolo Machiavelli – wrote one of the most influential works on political power in history.. (What is political power?) 2. Wrote “The Prince” – explaining how to get and KEEP political power. Before, most who had power tried to express to be “Christian” – to think about others….NOT Machiavelli..

3. Believed that if a Prince, should keep power, must realize that most people are selfish – Political activities should NOT be restricted by moral or good principles – DO WHAT IS NECESSARY. III. Renaissance Society! Divided into 3 classes: A. Nobility – Dominated society – only made up about 3% of the population though.. – Believed though that if you were born a Noble – there were natural expectations of how you should act:

-1 st, A Noble was Expected to have grace and talent. 2 nd, had to develop to basic skills – perform well militarily and have an education and appreciative of the arts. 3 rd – Nobles were always suppose to show their achievements. B. Peasants and Townspeople: Made up about 85% of the population – mostly in cities

Townspeople made up the third class – Mostly merchants and artisans - - at the top were the patricians – the wealthiest of the townspeople - below them were burghers Below them were workers – who earned pitiful wages 

Family and Marriage! 1.Family bonds were the best emotional security during these times. 2.To maintain the family – mom and dad carefully arranged marriages – sometimes planning when the child is only 2 or 3 years old! 3.Most important aspect was the dowry – a sum of money given by the wife’s family to the husband when they were married.

Humanism!! SEC. 2 Main Idea: Most important part of the intellectual movement was Humanism. - Renaissance produced many great artists and cultures such as Michelangelo, Raphael and Leo da Vinci!! Terms and Names: Humanismfresco Michelangelo Dante

1.Secularism was an emphasis of ______________. 2.Humanism was based on the study of the classics and literary works of Ancient Greece and Rome. Petrarch – did more than any other person in the 1300s to develop humanism. 3.HOWEVER – it wasn’t always exciting.. Petrarch described the intellectual life as one of solitude – rejected family and a life of action in the community.

4. In contrast (what does that mean), most humanists embraced community service! I.Vernacular Literature.. 1.Two authors made reading much more popular – Dante and Geoffrey Chaucer. a. Dante wrote The Divine Comedy – story about a soul’s journey to salvation. Its divided into 3 sections – Hell, Purgatory and then Heaven. 2. Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales – a group of stories told by pilgrims on a journey (pilgrimage)

II. Education during the Renaissance.. 1.Believed education could change humans dramatically. Crated the liberal studies – studies to help the human attain wisdom and philosophy – can you give examples of liberal studies and NON liberal studies? 2.Humanist educators believed a good liberal studies education prepared them for life –

III. Art 1.Renaissance artists wanted to imitate nature in their works – wanted people to see the reality of objects. – this would lead to … 2.New techniques in painting: a. a Fresco is a painting done on fresh wet plaster with water based paints – before paintings looked flat and dull – FRESCOS make the painting come alive!!

IV. Sculpture and Architecture 1. The beautiful and revolutionary paintings weren't outmatched by the stunning advances of sculpture and architecture. Wanted to create cathedrals that did NOT overwhelm the worshipper as the Gothic cathedrals did…

The Masters of the Renaissance.. 1.The final stage of Italian Renaissance paintings is called the high renaissance – associated with 3 artistic giants – Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo.

Leonardo da Vinci.. 1.Mastered the art of realistic painting - even dissected bodies to see how they worked. 2.Wanted to capture the perfection of the human body.

Raphael.. 1.Admired for his numerous Madonnas – paintings of the Virgin Mary – tried to achieve an ideal of beauty far surpassing what a human could actually look like. 2.Well known for his frescos in the Vatican palace

Michelangelo 1. Also a sculptor and architect – figures are on the Sistine Chapel – perfect human bodies with perfect proportions – reflection of “Divine” or worldly beauty

“I want you to decorate my chapel..” Pope Julius II believed Michelangelo could do anything and ordered him to decorate the ceiling of the chapel. “But I’m not a painter,” Michelangelo protested, “I’m a sculptor. I’ve hardly done anything with a brush and you want me to paint 2000 square feet on a curved ceiling!”

You’ll do a great job,” said Julius. “I’ll have my architect Bramante set up the scaffolding for you.” He was a very tough man, more like a military commander than a pope, and he didn’t want to hear objections. Once he actually struck Michelangelo with his staff for impertinence.

What Michelangelo then came up with was a vast painting of three hundred figures illustrating the pre-history of salvation—Man’s time on earth before the coming of Christ To paint on a wall old-time artists used a technique called fresco. They mixed sand and lime and spread the mix over the wall. Next they applied their colors but had to do it fast, while the wall was still wet or fresh. When it dried, the colors fused chemically with the lime and became permanent. The fresco technique is old and dates back at least to the Egyptians.