Renaissance Art

©2008, TESCCC World History, Unit 5, Lesson 2 1

Renaissance Art


Characteristics of the Renaissance

• Humanism• Individualism• Questioning Attitude / Critical thinking• Interest in Secular (worldly, nonreligious)

matters• Rise of the middle class • Great achievements in the arts


Medieval ArtArtists depicted subjects in an unrealistic two-dimensional style to indicate the importance of the soul over the body (religious theme).

Some of the great artwork was in the stained glass windows, but again, it was two-dimensional


Characteristics of Renaissance Art

• Three Dimensional (3-D)• Realistic & Lifelike• Linear Perspective: Vanishing point• Influenced by Greco-Roman culture; its forms

and its themes (i.e. beauty of the human body)• New mediums: Oil on canvas• And old: Frescos • The importance of religion in art


Leonardo Da VinciItalian artist, scientist, engineer, etc.

a true “Renaissance Man”

• The Last Supper


Leonardo Da Vinci

• Mona Lisa


Michelangelodiscovered by Lorenzo de’ Medici

Italian painter, sculptor, architect, poet, etc.

• The Pieta


Michelangelo

• The Last Judgment


Michelangelo

• David


Donatello

• DavidPortrays David holding Goliath’s sword and standing over Goliath’s head

First major Renaissance sculpture – first free-standing nude sculpture since classical times

Italian sculptor


RaphaelItalian Painter

• Best known for his portrayals of the Madonna – the mother of Jesus


Raphael

• School of Athens


St. Peter’s Cathedral in the Vatican

• Michelangelo

(with others)

•World’s largest church•The pope lives here.

•A candle is always lit in his window.•Contains Sistine Chapel•Contains Vatican museum

•Holds Pieta

©2008, TESCCC World History, Unit 5, Lesson 2

Sistine Chapel CeilingMichelangelo

Fall of Man

Creation of Adam

Over four years, Michelangelo painted 12,000 square feet of ceiling with Biblical stories.

My stomach is thrust toward my chinMy beard curls up toward the skyMy head leans right over onto my back…The brush endlessly dripping onto my face.

Michelangelo, Poems


Dome of the Cathedral of Florence

• Brunelleschi• Part of the cathedral was

built in the Middle Ages in the Gothic Style

• The dome was added by Brunelleschi in the 1400s.


The Renaissance Moves North

• Because of the plague, it was not until 1450 that northern Europe enjoyed the economic growth that helped support the Renaissance in Italy.

• Northern artists and writers imitated Italian styles while adding new methods and ideas of their own.


Albrecht DurerFlemish artist now called the “German Leonardo”

because of his wide-ranging interests

Adoration of the Magi

Engraving – The artist etches a designon a metal plate with acid,then uses the plate to makeprints.


Jan van EyckFlemish artist who helped develop oil paint

• Giovanni Arnolfini and Bride


Renaissance Writers

• Began to use the vernacular instead of classical Latin.–(vernacular = the native language)


William ShakespeareEngland

*The best known Renaissance writer was William

Shakespeare.*Between 1590 and 1613 he

wrote 37 plays that are still performed around the world.

*Examples:HamletTaming of the ShrewA Midsummer Night’s

Dream


Dante

• The Divine Comedy• Story written in the

vernacular (Italian) which tells the story of a man’s journey through heaven and hell.


Baldassare CastiglioneItaly

• The Book of the Courtier

• Book that describes how noblemen and women should behave and what they should strive to be.


Machiavelli Italy

*Machiavelli was a political philosopher.

*The Prince advised kings how to rule – do what is

necessary to stay in power and keep stability*In Machiavelli’s way of thinking, the end justifies the means.


Humanism• Humanism is focused on human achievements

and potential rather than religious themes.• Focused on the man and his world

(The importance of man)• Concentrated on everyday human problems and

relationships• Humanists focus on reality and the world around

them. (How man relates, pleasure, passion) rather than morality.)


Humanism

• The secular nature of humanism, as well as its questioning attitude, often brought it into conflict with the traditional teachings of the Catholic Church and Medieval thinking.

• It revolves around the study of the Liberal Arts: Grammar and Rhetoric, Poetry, History, and Ethics.


Petrarch

• Considered the Father of Humanism.

• Believed the God had given man his intellect and potential to be used to the fullest.

• Assembled a library of Greek and Roman manuscripts.

• Wrote poetry in Italian and enumerable works in Latin on different subjects.


ErasmusDutch humanist and Catholic theologian

• In Praise of Folly – Book in which Erasmus

criticizes the areas of society that were in most need of reform, such as monasteries and church corruption.


Thomas More

• Utopia, a work of fiction, tells the story of a land that is almost perfect in every way and serves as an example of what the world should be. More is known as the “Man for all Seasons” because of his versatility.


The Printing Revolution

• In 1456, Johann Gutenberg printed the Bible using movable metal type on a machine called a printing press.

• Printed books became less expensive and easier to produce than hand copies.

• Readers gained access to broad range of knowledge. (Medicine to Religion)

• Literacy increased as books became more widely available.

• The printing press would greatly contribute to the Protestant Reformation.

©2008, TESCCC World History, Unit 5, Lesson 2

The Effects of the Renaissance

• The Renaissance belief in the dignity of the individual played a key role in the gradual rise of democratic ideals.

• Led to the Scientific Revolution

• Led to the Age of Exploration

Documents

Renaissance Art