RHIANNON ARNOLD ANDSOPHIA LEGGIO

RENAISSANCE ART:PETRARCH AND

BOCCACCIO

PETRARCH: BACKGROUND

• Known as Francesco Petrarca• Born on July 20th, 1304 in Arezzo, Italy• Studied law in France like his father wished• Decided to then focus on studying classical authors• This inspired him to become an author himself. • He soon went on to become the Father of Humanism.

http://www.tuscanyvillages.com/francesco-petrarca-petrarch/

Petrarch, during his studies.

PETRARCH’S CONTRIBUTION TO POETRY

Petrarch, aside from being the Father of Humanism, is most famously known for his collections of poems about his love, Laura. One day while at a church, Petrarch saw Laura and immediately fell

in love. He spent the rest of his life writing love poems to Laura, even after she died from the Black Death in 1348.

All 366 of Petrarch’s poems written about Laura are collected in a book called The Canzoniere. It was written in the vernacular, and many people were able to read it. Of the 366 poems, 317 of them

are sonnets, which were rhyming poems that typically had some sort of an argument written within them.

The Canzoniere written in the vernacularhttp://brbl-archive.library.yale.edu/exhibitions/petrarch/3.html

“FATHER OF HUMANISM”

Petrarch is consider the father of humanity because he combined classical European culture with Christianity. He also influenced Humanism by

writing about the emotion of love.

Petrarch, the Father of Humanismhttp://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/2012/11/why-the-reformation-happened-when-it-did/

A painting of Petrarch with Laura.

Petrarch’s love, Laura.

This picture shows that Petrarch’s heart belongs to Laura.

https://bookhaven.stanford.edu/2013/07/a-birthday-card-for-petrarch-his-deepest-torments-are-shockingly-foreign/

http://notesfromapianist.wordpress.com/2011/04/06/sonnets-and-songs-tre-sonetti-del-petrarca/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrarch

BOCCACCIO: BACKGROUND• Boccaccio was born in 1313 in Tuscany Italy• His father did not support his interest in literature and sent

him to Naples to be an apprentice at a bank. • He was encouraged by his father to attend law school, and

he went to Studium and studied cannon law for six years. • While he was in Naples he fell in love with Fiammetta, and

she appears in almost all of his writings up until the Decameron.

Giovanni Boccaccio

http://litgloss.buffalo.edu/boccaccio/more.shtml

BOCCACCIO’S WORK His most popular work was the Decameron, which was written in 1348-1354. It tells the story of 10 people fleeing Florence because of the plague. They live in the countryside and each day one person is the king or queen of all the others and decide how the day will be spent. In addition the groups shared stories with each other, and over the course of 10 days 100 stories were shared which is why it’s called the Decameron or “Ten Days’ Work”. These stories cover a range of topics about life and focuses on the human ability to overcome and exploit fortune. It connects to the Renaissance because there are many example of humanism in the story because there are many aspects that are about human worth and dignity.

The Decameron painted by John William Waterhouse

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Decameron

BOCCACCIO’S ARGUMENTS WITH THE CHURCH

• He challenged arguments made by clerical minds because they wanted to limit access to classical works because they believed that they challenged the church’s beliefs. • He thought that ancient literature was important

to the development of the Renaissance and the flow of humanistic ideas and writings.

Statue of Boccaccio

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovanni_Boccaccio

The Duomo Cathedral in Florence

http://traveltips.usatoday.com/

SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCESPetrarch and Boccaccio were not just similar, but they were related in many ways. For example:• Petrarch was Boccaccio’s inspiration• After reading one of Boccaccio’s writings, the Tale of Griselda, he rewrote it

in Latin because he wanted such a wonderful story to be written in a language more people could read it in.

• Both of their fathers didn’t support their passions for literature Even though they were closely related to one another, they also had some differences:• Boccaccio is most famous for writing his book, Decameron, and Petrarch is

most known for his collection of love poems.• Petrarch also wrote letters, some called “Familiar Letters” and more called

the Seniles. Boccaccio did not write any letters.• Boccaccio created a book with 106 women’s biographies in it and Petrarch

didn’t write any biographies.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/70836/Giovanni-Boccaccio • http://

www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/dweb/boccaccio/life1_en.php • http://

www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/154876/Decameron • http://

www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/454103/Petrarch • http://www.biography.com/people/petrarch-94388

91#awesm=~oANXD4lGUN9gIn

THANK YOU FOR WATCHING

http://www.biography.com/people/petrarch-9438891

Petrarch Boccaccio

http://commons.wikimedia.org/