The Renaissance

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Why did the Renaissance start in Italy

the influence of greek scholars: in 1453 the turks conquered the greek city of Constantinople, the greeks fled to Italy bringing their manuscripts which interests the Italians

independent city states: no overall king or ruler, each city had its own ruler and the citizens were open to new ideas

wealthy Italian merchants: brought silk and spices from Asia and sold them all around europe, made them extremely wealthy and were able to spend money on grand architecture, paintings and sculptures

old Roman empire: surrounded by ruins of roman buildings, reminded them of ancestors accomplishments

new ideas: trade brought merchants into contact with chinese and arabs with more advanced civilisations. brought ideas back from travels

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What was the Renaissance

The Renaissance: the rebirth of learning, the learning of the ancient greeks and romans were rediscovered and new discoveries were made

Humanism: showing great interest in human nature, rather than religion

Vernacular: the local language, writing in it became popular

began in Italy in the 14/15th century

new developments in painting

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Cosimo de Medici

the medicis - the richest bankers in Florence

Cosimo was the he'd of the family in the mid 1400's

Great Renaissance patron, admired the writings of Greek and Roman scholars

built a library to house all the manuscripts he collected. first public library in Europe

set up an academy where scholars could study manuscripts - the Platonic Academy after greek writer Plato

invited artists to stay in his home and paid them to work for him - architect Brunelleschi built a church in Florence, in the new Renaissance style

Florence was a republic, but Cosimo used his money to make sure his friends were elected to government

he was the real ruler of Florence for 30 years

made alliances with other cities - trade flourished

became the cultural capital of europe

LORENZO DE MEDICI

grandson of Cosimo

a sportsman, wrote poetry, a patron of the arts

'Lorenzo the Magnificent'

supported Michaelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci

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Renaissance Painting

Anatomy: study of the body, some artists cut up dead bodies, made their paintings more realistic/ accurate

Perspective: people and objects at the back of the painting were painted smaller than at the front, gives the illusion of depth

Portraits: pictures of people, became popular

Sfumato: new technique of using tiny brush strokes to blend area together, smokey/ hazey effect

Oil Painting: began mixing paint with linseed oil, dried slowly - gave artists time to put in more detail, medieval paint was mixed with egg white

Canvas: paintings on cloth, dried slower, medieval artists painted on wood

Fresco: painting directly onto we plaster, used to decorate walls and ceilings in churches and houses

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Leonardo da Vinci

born in Vinci near Florence in 1452

son of a rich notary and a peasant woman

great interest in drawing and sketching

known as the 'Renaissance Man'

apprenticed to Master Verrochio

learned to paint, sketch, sculpt and mix colours

painted an angel in Verrochio's 'Baptism of Christ'

Joined the painters guild in 1472

wrote to the Duke of Sforza proposing himself as a military engineer

painted 'Virgin On the Rocks' in Milan

Used sfumato and perspective

painted 'Last Supper' on a dining room wall of a monastery in Milan

Used oil tempera on stone, but the paint began to peel short after

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used notebooks for sketches and ideas

would follow people home to finish a sketch

designed advanced weapons and engineering, eg. tanks, helicopters, cannons

wrote left handed and in mirror writing

no funding for his inventions

5,000 pages of his journals still exist

interested in geology, astronomy and anatomy

dissected over 30 bodies, made his paintings more accurate

returned to Florence

began work on the 'Mona Lisa', took 2 years to complete

housed in the Louvre Museum in Paris

interested in geology - how rocks are formed

discovered how to estimate a trees age by counting the rings

went to France in 1516 with an invitation from King Francis I

died in 1519 with many projects unfinished

legacy of genius and innovation, a blend of art and science

the 'Vitruvian Man' - 1487

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