The Renaissance

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The Renaissance (1350 - 1550)

- The beginning of Modern History

- Started in Italy (Rome)

- A rebirth of learning and reawakening of European culture

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Causes:

- Decline of Feudalism: middle class starts to grow and more people have disposable income (more money to spend on art)

- End of the Crusades: wars throughout Europe between the Christians (lose) and the Muslims (win) that allowed the trade of ideas (Muslims were way ahead of Europe in science, art, and medicine)

- Decline of the Power of the Church: people start to question what the Church has taught them (about God being angry and buying indulgences)

- Wealth and Prosperity: Crusades led to more trade between the East and the West, the wealthy began to pay for art

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Urbanization

- The concentration of human population in smaller areas

- This is important because due to the wealth that trading brings it, people are focusing on things that they want, rather than need

- It spreads because Johann Gutenberg invents the printing press

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Florence

- The Renaissance flourishes (and starts) here

- They had a strong economy that encouraged purchase of wants

- The people were more educated

- There was a deep appreciation of the arts

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The Medici

- The ruling family in Florence

- Lorenzo de Medici was a patron of the arts

- Under his leadership the Renaissance flourished

- He personally knew Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Botticelli

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Characteristics of Renaissance Art and Architecture

Individualism - before the Renaissance, people saw themselves as part of the Church, not as individuals. making money and being good at something was frowned upon. Now they wanted to assert themselves and show off their talents, as individuals

Secularism - this is separation from the Church. This will lead to less obvious religious influences in art and literature. All of Europe was Christian, but then the Church blew it (during the Crusades, the people had to go out and kill all Muslims and Jews if they refused to convert; selling indulgences proved to the people that money was more important to them than the actual people)

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The Birth of Venus

Painted by Botticelli

Nudes are now fair game, especially with a wealthy patron

His elegant and beautiful style borrowed upon the ancient civilizations

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Classicism/Humanism

Rediscovering and honoring the art and architecture of the classic cultures. This is the re-interest in the classic cultures of Europe (Rome and Greece), and what we learned from them. Renaissance artists will imitate their art, literature, and architecture

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Duomo Cathedral, Florence

Completed in 1436 by Fillipo Brunelleschi

This is an example of ancient architecture because the domes came from the ancient civilizations

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St. Peter's Basilica, Rome

Designed by Michelangelo, completed in 1590

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Leonardo Da Vinci

First of the High Renaissance (16th century)

Renaissance Man - had expertise in many fields; botany, geology, geography, cartography, zoology, military engineering, anatomy, and physics

Born in 1452 in Vinci, Italy to parents who were not married - mom leaves him with dad and she gets married to some other dude.

He had 17 half brothers and sisters

His father apprenticed him to a Vinci artist at age of 15

Mona Lisa; 1503 - 1506

Probably portrait of Lisa di Giocando Maria Gherardini

Mona meant Ma'am

Originally she was framed between 2 columns

It was stolen from the Louvre in 1911 and was gone for 2 years

1956, it was vandalized, some dude threw acid on the lower portion of it, and another dude threw a rock at it

She was placed behind bullet proof glass in the mid 1970s

Someone also threw red paint and a cup of coffee at it

Codex Leicester - a collection of Da Vinci's scientific notes

He was a lefty, but he refused to change and could even write completely legibly, backwards

He was a strict vegetarian

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Renaissance Influences

Johannes Gutenburg: invented movable type. Before people had to re-write everything by hand so there were few copies of books and they were very expensive

Niccolo Machiavelli: he wrote The Prince for the king (man is, by nature, selfish and aggressive; achieve your goals by any means necessary; it is better to be feared than loved; the end justifies the means) He was known as the father of political science

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Vitruvian Man

Vitruvius was an ancient Roman artist and architect

This forms the basics for proportion in drawing and painting in Renaissance art

He used geometry to figure out real human proportions