Chronicles: Chapter 5 - The Renaissance: Changes in the arts and science

Anatomy

The study of the structure of the human body.

Astronomy

The study of celestial objects, including stars, planets and comets.

Christine de Pizan

Renaissance writer from Venice, Italy. She was the first professional female writer in Europe. Her books include The Book of the City of Ladies.

City-states

A city and its surrounding countryside. Most of Italy was divided into these. These zones had their own laws and money.

Classical architecture

A building style that includes dome roofs, pediments and large columns.

Cosimo de Medici

A rich patron from the ruling family of Florence. He set up the Platonic Academy and built the first public library in Florence.

Dissection

Cutting up a human corpse (dead body) or plant to study its internal structure.

Filippo Brunelleschi

Renaissance architect from Florence who designed the Foundling Hospital and the dome of Florence cathedral.

Galileo Galilei

Known as the 'father of modern science'.

Gothic architecture

A building style that includes gargoyles, spires, flying buttresses and rose windows.

Heliocentric model

A model of the solar system in which Earth and other planets revolve around the sun at the centre.

Humanism

The main philosophy of Renaissance scholars. Humanists emphasised the potential of the human mind to make sense of the world.

Isaac Newton

An English scientist who discovered the laws of gravity.

Jan van Eyck

Northern Renaissance painter who painted The Arnolfini Portrait.

Johannes Keppler

A German astronomer. He proved that Earth and other planets moved along an elliptical (oval) rather than a circular path.

Leonardo da Vinci

Painted The Last Supper, Mona Lisa and The Virgin on the Rocks.

Ligature

A thing used to bind or tie something tightly.

Michelangelo Buonarrotti

Artist who carved the Pietà and David. He also painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome.

Moveable type printing

A type of printing in which individual letters and symbols can be moved and reused to make different words.

Nicolaus Copernicus

Polish astronomer and priest. He discovered the heliocentric model.

Patron of the arts

A wealthy person who sponsors (pays) artists to produce works of art.

Perspective

A technique used in art to give the illusion of depth and space.

Renaissance

A historic period when Europeans revived their interest in the learning of ancient Greece and Rome. Scholars, artists and scientists produced great works of art and inventions.

Scientific Method

The system of noting observations, doing experiments and drawing conclusions.

Sfumato

A painting technique that allows colours to shade gradually into one another, producing softened edges instead of harsh lines. The word means ‘smoky’.

Sofonisba Anguissola

Painted The Chess Game and Self-portrait at the Easel.

Sonnet

A poem consisting of 14 lines and a fixed rhyme scheme.

Telescope

An instrument used to make distant objects appear nearer. It was invented by Hans Lippershey in 1608.

Vernacular

The language widely spoken by the people of a particular place.

William Shakespeare

Renaissance writer from Stratford-upon-Avon, England. He wrote 154 sonnets and plays including Othello and Romeo and Juliet.