Renaissance Humanism, Art, and Key Figures: Florence, Patrons, and Inventions

humanism

an intellectual movement at the heart of the Renaissance that focused on education and the classics

humanities

study of subjects such as grammar, rhetoric, poetry, and history that were taught in ancient Greece and Rome

Petrarch

Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374), an early Renaissance humanist, poet, and scholar from Florence, preserved many Greek and Roman manuscripts by gathering them from monasteries and churches.

vernacular

everyday language of ordinary people

Florence

a city in the Tuscany region of northern Italy that was the center of the Italian Renaissance

patron

a person who provides financial support for the arts

perspective

artistic technique used to give paintings and drawings a three-dimensional effect

da Vinci, Leonardo

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), the ideal Renaissance man, was an Italian artist and inventor whose works include the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. He also designed sketches resembling airplanes and submarines.

Michelangelo

Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) was an Italian artist known for the statue of David, painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling, and designing the dome of St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome.

Raphael

Raphael (1483-1520) was a Renaissance painter who blended Christian and classical styles in works such as the Madonna and The School of Athens.

Castiglione, Baldassare

Castiglione (1478-1529) was an Italian writer whose book The Book of the Courtier described the ideal, well-mannered, well-educated, and multitalented court member.

Machiavelli, Niccoló

Machiavelli (1469-1527) was a political philosopher from Florence whose book The Prince argued that in politics, the end justified the means. The term "Machiavellian" still describes deceitful politics today.

Flanders

a region including parts of northern France, Belgium, and the Netherlands; an important industrial and financial center of northern Europe during the Middle Ages and Renaissance

Dürer, Albrecht

Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528) was a German painter, draftsman, and writer known for his engravings. He studied Italian masters and helped spread Renaissance ideas to northern Europe. Famous works include The Apocalypse and Adam and Eve.

engraving

art form in which an artist etches a design on a metal plate with acid and then uses the plate to make multiple prints

Erasmus

Erasmus (c. 1466-1536) was a Dutch priest, writer, and scholar who promoted humanism, produced a new Greek edition of the Bible, called for translations into the vernacular, and advocated for Church reform.

More, Sir Thomas

Thomas More (1478-1535) was an English lawyer, scholar, writer, and politician. He wrote Utopia, describing an ideal society. He was knighted in 1521.

utopian

idealistic or visionary, usually used to describe a perfect society

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare (1564-1616), an English poet and playwright, wrote 37 plays and invented words and phrases still used today. He used humanist ideas in his character development.

Gutenberg, Johannes

Johannes Gutenberg (c. 1400-1468), a German goldsmith and printer, invented the printing press with movable type and printed the first complete Bible around 1455.