THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
The Rebirth of Greek and Roman Culture
WHERE ARE WE AT?
Ancient Civilizations
Classical Civilizations
The Middle Ages
The Renaissance
The Enlightenment
RENAISSANCE
THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
Growth of Trade
Leads to prosperous cities
(Florence/Venice)
Where are they getting goods?
What goods are they bringing back?
Renewed Interest in Ancient Culture
Greeks and Romans
Renaissance = “Rebirth”
Move from religion to the individual
Focus on art and literature
THE PEOPLE OF THE RENAISSANCE
Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael,
and Donatello
Not Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!
Isaac Newton, William
Shakespeare, Niccolò Machiavelli,
and Galileo
Walter Raleigh, Christopher
Columbus, and Hernan Cortes
THE RENAISSANCE MAN
What is a “Renaissance Man”
A person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas.
For Instance, Leonardo da Vinci was a…
Painter, sculptor, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist, and writer
VIDEO – Crash Course
NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI
The Prince
One of the most influential work
on politics in the world
Morality and Self-Interest
Middle Ages – rulers follow Christian
moral principles
Leaders must do good when
possible, but must be willing to do
evil when necessary
Separation of politics from religion
THE RISE OF FAMILIES
Lack of Monarchy
Strong cities with powerful merchants
A Republic
Citizens vote for leaders
Who is going to dominate?
The de Medici’s
Wealthy merchant family
Behind the scenes ruling
Produced four popes as well…
RENAISSANCE HUMANISM
Humanism
System of thought focusing on the importance of the individual human rather than supernatural or religious forces.
Vernacular Literature
Authors writing in their spoken languages
Downfall of Latin
Liberal Studies
“Liberal Arts”
History, ethics, public speaking, grammar, logic, poetry, mathematics, astronomy, and music
RENAISSANCE ARTISTS
Imitate Nature
Accurately portray humans
Focus on anatomy and proportion
Normal people vs. important people
Perspective
Three dimensions
Use of light and windows in art
If you could think of one word to describe the style of Italian artists of the Renaissance, what would it be?
LEONARDO DA VINCI
VIDEO CLIP – Leonardo Da Vinci
Born in Vinci (near Florence)
Illegitimate child
Father married four times, 11
kids
Apprenticeship
Little schooling, surpasses by
20 years old
Teacher never painted again
LEONARDO THE PERSON
Genius In All Things
Witty, charming and exceedingly handsome
Sang and played music brilliantly
“Renaissance Man”
Procrastinator
Reputation for not completing his works
Promised painting in 7 months, not finished for 25 years
LEONARDO THE WRITER
Kept Notes on Everything
Around 5,000 pages still exist
Mirror Writing
Ensure privacy
Only wrote normally when he
wanted someone to read something
Italian Writing
Often wrote in “short hand” that
he created himself
LEONARDO THE PAINTER
First Oil Painter
Focus on math, proportion, anatomy, etc. when painting
The Last Supper
Deteriorated almost immediately
Threatening monks
Mystery and intrigue
Mona Lisa
Mystery and intrigue
Still exists
Best known Renaissance painting
LEONARDO THE ANATOMIST
Studied Anatomy for Paintings
Wanted realism
Frustrated with other painters
Detailed Sketches of the Body
Often dissected bodies
Sketches so detailed, still used today
Religious Connection
Thought he could master God’s secret by studying the human form
LEONARDO’S HELICOPTER
LEONARDO’S TANK
LEONARDO’S PARACHUTE
LEONARDO AND SCUBA
LEONARDO’S MACHINE GUN
• This machine actually
consisted of three sets of
machine guns, set on a
rotating drum
• When the first set is fired,
the force of the explosion
would pivot the guns down,
bringing the next set of
guns to the top, ready to
be fired.
BE AN INVENTOR LIKE DA VINCI
Working on your own, think about a problem that you deal with often, and come up with an invention that solves your problem.
The invention does need to be based in reality, but doesn’t necessarily have to work if it were built today (many of da Vinci’s inventions do not work when actually built, but still work on paper).
You must sketch and label your invention on one side of the page. All of your LABELS must be done in mirror-writing!
Then on the backside write a one paragraph (5-7 sentences) description of how your invention works.