The Renaissance

Politics, Literature, and Arts

PNoy warns of terror threat during Black Nazarene procession

MANILA, Philippines - Terrorists could carry out an attack during the procession for the Feast of the Black Nazarene in Manila on Monday, President Aquino warned on Sunday."In any open democracy, there will always be challenge coming from extremist elements. The sad reality of the world today is that terrorists want to disrupt the ability of people to live their lives the way they want to , including the freedom to worship," he said in a press conference."Lately, we have been getting some information that led us to believe that there is a heightened risk that leads us to take the necessary precautions, especially given the nature of the procession for the Black Nazarene which involves quite a huge number of people," he added.

Hundreds of thousands of devotees are expected to attend the procession from the Quirino Grandstand to the Quiapo Church.Mr. Aquino said several individuals associated with a terrorist group have been spotted in the National Capital Region with intentions to "create distractions" during the Feast of the Black Nazarene. He identified these individuals as local."The possibility prompts us to warn you of the risk in attending the procession," he said.

1.The Renaissance in Italy

A Renaissance historian has described the Renaissance as the “Prototype of the modern world.” This was the period in which people began to adopt a rational, objective, and statistical approach to reality and to rediscover the importance of the individual and his or her artistic creativity.

(2).The Background of the Italian Renaissance

Italy:Birthplace of the RenaissanceThe city-states of northern Italy that spawned the Renaissance were developed urban centers, where people had the wealth, freedom, and inclination to cultivate the arts to enjoy the fruits of worldly life. In Italy ,reminders of ancient Rome’s grandeur were everywhere.

With the expansion of commerce and industry, Italian feudal values of birth, military prowess, and a fixed hierarchy of lords and vassals decayed in favor of ambition and individual achievement.

(3). Humanism and Individualism

The most characteristic intellectual movement of the Renaissance was humanism, an educational and cultural program based on the study of ancient Greek and Roman literature. Humanism is the term generally applied to the predominant social philosophy and intellectual and literary currents of the period from c. 1350 to c.1600. The return to favor of classics stimulated the philosophy of secularism, the appreciation of worldly pleasures, and above all intensified the assertion of personal independence and individual expression.Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, or social outlook that stresses indepenpence, self-reliance and individual liberty.

(4). Renaissance LiteraturePetrarch (1304-1374), “the father of humanism,” His work Secretum ("My Secret book"), was an personal imaginary dialogue with Augustine.

xDante Alighieri (1265-1321) The greatest Italian poet and one of the most important writers of European literature. Dante is best known for the epic poem COMMEDIA, c. 1310-14, later named LA DIVINA COMMEDIA (Divine Comedy ).

Giovanni Boccaccio (1313 –21 December 1375) was an Italian author and poet, a friend and correspondent of Petrarch, an important Renaissance Humanist and the author of a number of notable works including the Decameron, On Famous Women, and his poetry in the Italian Vernacular

(5). Secular Politics-Machiavelli and the New

Statecraft

No one gave better expression the Renaissance preoccupation with political power than Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527).

“MIGHT MAKES RIGHT”“THE END JUSTIFY THE MEANS”

Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (May 3, 1469 –June 21,1527) was an Italian diplomat,political, philosopher,musician,poet and playwright. Machiavelli was a figure of the Italian Renaissance, and a central figure of its political scene. He is best known for his works on realist political theory.The Prince was considered one of most famous treatises on political power in western world.

2:The High Renaissance inside and outside of Italy

(1) Renaissance Art The essential meanings of the

Renaissance is conveyed through its art, particularly architecture, sculpture, and painting. Renaissance examples of all three art forms reflect a style that stressed proportion, balance, and harmony.

The great Renaissance artists included Leonardo da Vinci(1452-1519),Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), and Raphael Santi (1483-1520).

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (April15,1452-May 21, 1519) It is primarily as a painter that Leonardo was and is renowned. Two of his works, the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper occupy unique positions as the most famous, most reproduced and most parodied portrait and religious painting of all time,

Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci . Mona Lisa

Leonardo da Vinci(1452-1519). The Last Supper

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (March 6, 1475 – February 18, 1564), commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculpter, architect, poet and engineer. his versatility in the disciplines he took up was of such a high order that he is often considered a contender for the title of the archetypal Renaissance, along with his rival and fellow Italian Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci .

David By Michelangelo Buonarroti

Raphael Sanzio, usually known by his first name alone (April 6 or March 28,1483–April 6, 1520)was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance , celebrated for the perfection and grace of his paintings and drawings. Together with Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci he forms the traditional trinity of great masters of that period.

Cowper Madonna by Raphael Santi

The School of Athens by Raphael Santi

(2): The Spread of the Renaissance

Aided by the invention of printing, the Renaissance spread to Germany, France, England, and Spain in the late fifteenth and the sixteenth centuries. In its migration northward, Renaissance culture adapted itself to conditions different from those in Italy—particularly the strength of lay piety.

Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (c. 1466-1536) Erasmus was a classical scholar who wrote in a "pure" Latin style and enjoyed the Sobriquet "Prince of the Humanists." He has been called "the crowning glory of the Christian humanists. “ He belongs the credit for making Renaissance humanism an international movement.

French and English Humanism

Francois Rabelais (c. 1494-c. 1553), a former monk, exemplified the humanist spirit in France. In response to religious dogmatism, Rabelais asserted the essential goodness of the individual and the right to enjoy the world rather than be bound by the fear of a punishing God.

Francois Rabelais (c. 1494-April 9. 1553), was a major French Renaissance writer, doctor and humanist. He is regarded as an avant-garde writer of fantasy, satire, the grotesque, dirty jokes and bawdy songs. in 1532 he published his book, Pantagruel,

The most influential humanist of the early English Renaissance was Sir Thomas More (1478-1535). His most famous book is Utopia, the first major utopian treatise to be written in the West since Plato’s republic and one of the most original works on the entire Renaissance.

Thomas More (1478-1535). was an English lawyer, author, and statesman who in his lifetime gained a reputation as a leading humanist scholar. His most famous book is Utopia

William Shakespeare (1564-1616), widely considered the greatest playwright the world has ever produced, gave expression to Renaissance values—honor, heroism, and the struggle against fate and fortune.

William Shakespeare (26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616 ) was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English Language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the “Bard of Avon" (or simply "The Bard").

(3): The Renaissance and the Modern Age

The renaissance, then, marks the birth of modernity; in art; in the idea of the individual’s role in history and in nature; and in society, politics, war, and diplomacy. The revival of antiquity by the humanists did not mean, however, that they identified completely with it. The revival itself was done too self-consciously for that.