EUROPEAN RENAISSANCE AND
REFORMATION
Chapter 17 (Pages 468-502)
SSWH9 The student will analyze change and continuity in the Renaissance. a. Explain the social, economic, and political
changes that contributed to the rise of Florence and the ideas of Machiavelli.
b. Identify artistic and scientific achievements of
Leonardo da Vinci, the “Renaissance man,” and Michelangelo.
c. Explain the main characteristics of humanism;
include the ideas of Petrarch, Dante, and Erasmus.
Main Ideas Trade with the East and rediscovery of ancient
manuscripts caused Europeans to develop new ideas about culture and art.
Martin Luther began a movement to reform
practices in the Catholic Church that he believed was wrong. His “Reformation” led to founding of non-Catholic churches.
Invention of the printing press allowed books to be
made faster and cheaper. Also spread the ideas of the Renaissance and Reformation
Setting the Stage….War and plague had swept EuropeSome questioned the Church which taught
Christians to endure suffering while awaiting rewards of heaven.
Renaissance (Rebirth) began in ItalyRevival of art and literature
○ Classical Greek and Roman stylesNew appreciation of the ‘individual’
○ ‘humanism’
Advantages of Italy
City statesOverseas trade enhanced by CrusadesLarge city states emerge (Europe remained rural)Plague created a shortage of workers/better pay
Merchants and the MediciWealthy merchant class developsMerchants dominate politics/power derived from wits not
social class
Medici: powerful banking family○ Wins control of republican government
Became dictator of FlorenceRuled councils through loans
Lorenzo de Medici
Classical and Worldly Values Classics lead to Humanism
○ An intellectual movement that focused on ‘human potential” and “achievements”
○ Studied to understand GREEK values (not just religious texts)
○ Influences art and architecture to revive Greek traditions – history, literature, philosophy
Worldly pleasures○ Enjoy life –worldly rather than spiritual - luxury
Patrons of the Arts○ Church leaders became “Patrons of the Arts”
beautifying the Rome (art/architectural)
Renaissance Men and Women
“Renaissance Man”All educated create ‘art’Master all areas of study/excel in all
“Renaissance Woman”Upper class women: know the ‘classics’Be charming, inspire art
Renaissance Revolutionizes Art
Renaissance drew artists to ItalyMany religious painting and worksRealism: art classics like Greeks
○ Natural postures and expressions painted famous persons (individual idolized)Perspective: created 3D imagesFree-standing sculptures
Michael Angelo, Donatello, Raphael,
Leonardo Da Vinci
Leonardo Da Vinci
Leonardo de Vinci
Painter, sculptor, inventor and scientist Fascinated with ‘how things work’
painstaking observations and carried out research in fields ranging from architecture and civil engineering to astronomy to anatomy.
The manuscripts are difficult to read: wrote in mirror-image script from right to left, but he used peculiar spellings and abbreviations,
Mona Lisa
The Last Supper
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da UrbinoLeonardo was more than thirty years older
than Raphael, but Michelangelo, who was in Rome for this period, was just eight years his senior.
Michelangelo already disliked Leonardo, and in Rome came to dislike Raphael even more, attributing conspiracies against him to the younger man.
Raphael
Betrothal of the Virgin
St. George and the Dragon
Donatello
known for his work in bas relief, a form of shallow relief sculpture
Around 1430, Cosimo de Medici, the foremost art patron of his era, commissioned from Donatello the Bronze David for the court of his Palazzo Medici
Bronze David
Donatello
David
Saint Mary Magdelene
Michelangelo Buonarroti Painter, sculptor, architect and poet His portrayal of the ‘human body’ and ‘heroic
grandeur’
Michelangelo was a great leader in the Italian Renaissance.
His greatest glory, painting the Sistine Chapel, began in 1508, and was completed in 1512 .
He used the central area of the ceiling to paint the history of the Old Testament. It included over 300 figures.
The Creation of Adam(Fresco of Sistine Chapel)
Michelangelo’s PietaSt Peter’s Basilica
Anguissola and Gentileschi
Renaissance Writers
Wrote in vernacular (native language, not Latin)
Wrote for ‘self expression’ or portray ‘individuality’
Writers brought across new ideas by writing tradegies, comedies, and about everything in between
Petrarch and Boccaccio
Italian scholar, poet, and humanist, famous for his poems addressed to Laura, an
idealized beloved whom he met in 1327 and who died in 1348.
Attempts have been made to identify her, but all that is known is that Petrarch met Laura in Avignon, where he had entered the household of an influential cardinal. She is generally believed to have been the 19-year-old wife of Hugues de Sade.
Niccolo Machiavelli
“A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise.”Examined ‘imperfect humans’
Political guidebook “The Prince”Believes most people selfish, fickle corrupt“Strong as a lion and shrewd as a fox”A prince may have to ‘trick’ his subject for the
good of the state “The end justifies the means:
Famous Quotes “Above all else, be armed”
“It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both.”
“A wise ruler ought never to keep faith when by doing so it would be against his interests.”
“It is much more secure to be feared than to be loved.”
“Politics have no relation to morals.”
Section 2: Northern Renaissance Renaissance thinking spreads:
○ curiosity about the world○ Classical culture○ A belief in the human potential
1450: Europe reeling from plagueHundred Years War between France and
England ends
Merchants become wealthy to sponsor artItaly: city statesEurope’s strong monarchs sponsor art
Northern Renaissance differed from Southern Renaissance
○ Realism very popular○ Plans form for social reform
From the late 15th century the ideas spread around Europe.
This influenced the German Renaissance, French Renaissance, English Renaissance, Renaissance in the Netherlands,
each with different characteristics and strengths.
German and Flemish Painters Albrecht Durer: German Painters
Famous Engraving ‘Meloncholia’
Self portrait
Jan Van Eyck Flemish
painter
Peter Breughel –“Peasant Wedding”
“Dance”
Northern Writers○ Critical of the failure of the Christian Church to
inspire godliness○ Humanists concerned with education○ Promoted education of girls as well as boys
Desiderius Erasmus: “In Praise of Folly”
○ Poked fun at greedy merchants, heart sick lovers, scholars and priests
○ Believed in ‘Christianity of the heart’○ To improve society, ALL must read Bible
Thomas More
“Utopia” (no place)Tried to show a better model of
societyAn imaginary place where greed,
corruption and war have been weeded out
Utopians had little for money
Look at the following quotes and comment…
“Throughout the island they wear the same sort of clothes without any other distinction, except what is necessary to distinguish the two sexes, and the married and unmarried. The fashion never alters; and as it is neither disagreeable nor uneasy, so it is suited to the climate, and calculated both for their summers and winters.”
“As their cities are composed of families, so their families are made up of those that are nearly related to one another. Their women, when they grow up, are married out; but all the males, both children and grandchildren, live still in the same house, in great obedience to their common parent…provision is made that none of their cities may contain above 6,000 families, besides those of the country round it.
No familymay have less than ten and more than sixteen persons in it; but there can be no determined number for the children under age. This rule is easily observed, by removing some of the children of a more fruitfulcouple to any other family that does not abound so much in them.”
“…the oldest man of every family, as has been already said, is its governor. Wives serve their husbands, and children their parents, and always the younger serves the elder.”
“The Book of the City of Ladies”
Christine de Pizan, ○ world’s first professional female author. ○ commonly held to be the first feminist text
written by a Western woman.○ Directly confronts the sexism and misogyny
that characterized and plagued not only the literature of her day, 14th and 15th C Europe but of women reaching back into antiquity.
1429 Christine de Pisan (1364-1431)- Ditie de Jehanne d'Arc - French w/ English translation
Elizabethan Age The Elizabethan era was a time associated with Queen Elizabeth I reign
(1558–1603) and is often considered to be the Golden Age of English history.
It was the height of the English Renaissance and saw the flowering of
English poetry, music and literature. This was also the time during which Elizabethan theater flourished, and
William Shakespeare and many others composed plays that broke free of England's past style of plays and theatre.
It was an age of exploration and expansion abroad, while back at home, the Protestant Reformation became more acceptable
to the people.
It was also the end of the period when England was a separate realm before its royal union with Scotland.
William Shakespeare
English poet, dramatist, and actor, considered by many to be the greatest dramatist of all time.
Some of Shakespeare's plays, such as Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet, are among the most famous literary works of the world.
Shakespeare's "wit was in his own power; would the rule of it had been so too".
Globe Theater
Johann Gutenburg 1440: Johannes Gutenberg, a goldsmith and businessman
from the mining town of Mainz in southern Germany, borrowed money to invent a technology that changed the world of printing.
Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press with replaceable/moveable wooden or metal letters in 1436 (completed by 1440).
This method of printing can be credited not only for a revolution in the production of books, but also for fostering rapid development in the sciences, arts and religion through the transmission of texts.
Legacy of the Renaissance Reverence for the classical languages
values of the ancient world, provided the basis for an education system which extended beyond the elite
ensured the enduring impact of classical values on attitudes to social organization and to government.
demands for religious reform that culminated in the Reformation.
investigations into the natural world and science