Art and Literature

of the Renaissance

Classical Influences

During the Renaissance, artists returned to the classical principles

of Greek and Roman art.

Greek art stressed harmony

and balance, while

Roman art emphasized

realism.

Donatello’s graceful and

realistic sculpture of King David influenced

later artists of the Italian

Renaissance.

Brunelleschi championed an architecture based on mathematics,

proportion, and perspective.

Michelangelo Buonarroti would later use the engineering principles

developed by Brunelleschi to design St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome.

New Techniques in Art

The artist Giotto used shadings of

dark and light to add a feeling of space to his paintings.

The artists Masaccio and Brunelleschi developed the rules of perspective, which give paintings a

sense of depth.

Michelangelo Buonarroti

Flemish artists developed oil-based paints which dried slower and were easier to blend.

Great Italian Artists

Leonardo da Vinci(1452-1519)

• painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, and scientist

• contributed to our knowledge of anatomy, optics, and hydraulics

He used the knowledge gained from dissecting

cadavers to paint human figures more realistically.

“When you are finished, please return your trays to the cafeteria.”

Da Vinci was interested in how things worked and

used his study of birds to

draw flying machines.

Michelangelo(1475-1564)

• sculptor, painter, architect, and poet

• best remembered for his painting of the Sistine Chapel

Michelangelo’s sculptures suggest a sense of tension.

Pieta

Although he considered himself a

sculptor, he is often

remembered today as the

painter of the frescoes in the Sistine

Chapel.

St. Peter’s Basilica,Vatican City

Raphael(1483-1520)

• Renaissance painter who favoured bright colours

• was influenced by the works of da Vinci and Michelangelo

Raphael favored the bright colors traditionally used by painters from his home region of Umbria.

The School of Athens by Raphael.

Artists of Northern Europe

• were less influenced by classical styles than their contemporaries in Italy

• painted the world realistically

-paid careful attention to detail

Jan van Eyck(1390?-1441)

• Flemish painter• called the “King of Painters” by

his compatriots

Van Eyck painted the world realistically, paying careful attention to every detail.

Jan van Eyck’s

paintings often hadreligious

messages.

Pieter Bruegel was inspired by scenes of peasant country life.

Hans Holbein the Younger painted portraits of nobles and rulers.

Albrecht Durer(1471-1528)

• famous German artist of the Reformation

• widely known for his illustrations

Renaissance Literature

• emerging middle class formed a demanding new audience

-enjoyed dramatic tales as well as comedies

• popular literature was often written in the vernacular

Petrarch perfected the form of poetry known as the sonnet.

Giovanni Boccaccio(1313-75)

Best-known work the Decameron:• consisted of 100 stories that

make fun of knights and other medieval figures

• clear, narrative style served as a model for later writers

The French writer Francois Rabelais used satire to make fun of narrow-minded monks and scholars.

“Abandon yourself to Nature’s truths, and let nothing in the world be unknown to you.”

- Francois Rebelais

Miguel de Cervantes was a leading writer of the Renaissance in Spain.

In his novel Don Quixote,

Cervantes mocked medieval ideas of chivalry.

Quixote’s idealism

seems to be madness in a

world that views love

and heroism as forms of

insanity.

Renaissance Reaches England…

War of the Roses Ends

• A war of succession between the House of Lancaster (symbolized by red roses) and the House of York (symbolized by white roses).

Finally settled with Henry VII…of the

House of Tudor became King. (He was related to the House of

Lancaster)

King Henry VII invited Italian

scholars to England. They taught humanist ideals and the

study of classical texts.

William Shakespeare

(1564-1616)

• leading English playwright and poet

His themes are universal and still relevant centuries later

History of the Globe Theatre

Christian scholars urged the Roman Catholic

Church to reform.

Martin Luther

They wanted the Church to return to

its early traditions

based on the teachings of

Jesus.

Rise of Humanism in Northern Europe

• They sought to combine humanism with the study of Scripture, or Christian Humanism

• Christian Humanism is the belief that individual freedom and human dignity are essential parts of the Christian faith.

• The Renaissance Reformers relied on early Church Fathers such as Justin, Basil and Gregory of Nyssa.

Giovanni Pico della Mirandola

• Oration on the Dignity of Man

• In addition, he wrote 900 Conclusions, many of which were deemed heretical by the Catholic Church

DesideriusErasmus

(1466?-1536)

• Dutch scholar and priest• led the Christian humanists• used witty dialogues to point out

the ignorance of some clergy

Erasmus is considered

the“Father of the Reformation” because of the

way his writings influenced other

church reformers.

Sir Thomas More

(1478-1535)

• English scholar and statesman

• believed that literature could be used to serve Christian goals

More’s book Utopia

described an ideal society

in which people lived at peace with one another.

• Unlike other Christian reformers, Sir More remained unyieldingly loyal to the Catholic Church, even while recognizing it needed clean up its act.

• This devotion to the Catholic Church eventually ran him into trouble with King Henry VII.

Unfortunately for Sir Thomas More, and his neck, things did not end

well for him.

• “I die the King’s good servant, but God’s first.”