CIV 101-03April 8, 2015

Class 31

The Early Renaissance: Return to Classical Roots, 1400–1494

Starts in Italy, then spreads:[circa--VERY ROUGH DATES]Germany: 1430-1580 English: 1485-1685Spain: 1492-1580French: 1494-1559Northern Renaissance: 1497-1580

• Italian City-States and social organization– Rise of the signori, the patron• Note how similar this is to the rise of Democracy

and rhetoric (to educate the young to keep power) in ancient Greece.

– Resurgence (short lived, but important) of the Papacy CENTERED IN ROME• This concentrates the power and money

– Leads to more artistic patronage– Eventually, makes breaking away easier . . . Central

target

The Spirit and Style of the Early Renaissance

The Spirit and Style of the Early Renaissance

• What changes?– Humanism and Thought/Philosophy• Concept of individual worth–Both of people/person AND of their works

• Developing ways to “finesse” adherence to and loosening of, bonds with the Catholic Church

The Spirit and Style of the Early Renaissance

• What changes?– Schooling and Scholarship• Exercising the body and mind–Recalls educational techniques of the ancient Greeks

– Classicism: Rediscovery and spread of ancient literature• Neoplatonism• Ciceronianism• Aristotle and logic and rhetoric• Latin, then Greek, then the Vernaculars• Full expression and development of the seven liberal arts• Continued development of the University

The Spirit and Style of the Early Renaissance

• What changes? ALL of the arts – as well as the rest of the needed preparations for the

sciences (toward the scientific revolution). Esp:– Linear and atmospheric perspective• Brunelleschi

– Chiaroscuro (light and shade) • Masaccio

– Perspectivism combined with humanistic and rhetorical thought• Alberti

– The importance of point of view and return to classical balance and elegance and nobility