Italian & Northern Renaissance

What were some of the characteristics of the Italian Renaissance? 

Art became valuable, interested in exploring the richness and variety of human experience (humanism) in the here and now.

How did Italy's trade with the Muslim world contribute to the Italian Renaissance?

Through trade alone italy's coastline, people, goods, and ideas from the Muslim world entered Italy. the Muslim world had preserved much learning from ancient Greece and Rome.

What new ideas and techniques resulted in more realistic and accurate portrayals of people in Renaissance paintings?

One technique to have more realistic portraits of people is the artist studying human anatomy. Another is perspective, to make it look 3D.

What Renaissance theme appears in Machiavelli's book, The Prince?

The prince looked at real rulers in an age of ruthless power politics. His work provided a realistic view of politics.

What was the impact of the Italian Renaissance in the field of architecture?

The style of architecture reflects ancient Greek and Romans. Renaissance architects rejected the gothic style of the late middle ages. Instead they adopted the columns, arches, and domes used by the ancient Greek and Romans.

What effects did the invention of the printing press have on European society?

the great works of the Renaissance reached a wider audience with the invention of the printing press. the printing press ushered in a new era of the mass production of books. as books became more readily available, more learned to read and write. printing influenced both religious and secular thought.

How did the Flemish painters Jan van Eyck and Pieter Bruegel's realistic portrayals of townspeople and pesants reflect common themes in Renaissance art?

van eyck's portrayals of the townspeople and religious scenes are rich in detail and added to the realism of his art. he used new methods ( including oil paint) to produce strong colors and hard-surfaced paint that could survive for centuries. bruegel used vibrant colors to portray lively scenes of peasant life.

Why is the German artist Albrecht Durer compared to the Italian Renaissance figure Leonardo da Vinci?

Durer had an inquiring mind. Because of his wide-ranging interests, which extend beyond art, he is sometimes called the "German Leonardo".

What intellectual topics did the Renaissance humanists Sir Thomas More explore?

The English humanist, Thomas More, pressed social and economic reforms in Utopia. In the book, he describes an ideal society in which men and women live in peace and harmony. Private property does not exist. no one is idle; all are educated and justice is used to end crime.

flanders

region that included parts of present day northern France, Belgium, and the Netherlands; was an important industrial and financial center of northern Europe during the middle ages and the Renaissance

utopian

idealistic or visionary; usually used to describe a perfect society

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 ancient Greece and Rome

patron

a person who provides financial supports for the arts

perspective

the art of drawing solid objects on a 2D surface so as to give the right impression of their height, width, depth, and position

vernacular

the language or dialect spoken by the ordinary people in a particular country or region

leonardo de vinci

italian artist, ideal Renaissance man because of his varied talents. interests were botany, anatomy, optics, music, architecture, & engineering; famous paintings: The Last Supper & Mona Lisa. Sketched flying machines and underseas boats (planes and submarines)

Michelangelo

italian painter also known for his sculpture, engineering, architecture, and poems. Famous marble statue David, painted biblically themed ceiling murals for the sistine chapel; designed the dome of St. Peter’s cathedral in Rome.

Raphael

renaissance painter who blended Christian and classical styles; famous paintings: Madonna, mother of Jesus, and school of Athens, showing an imaginary gathering of great thinkers, scientist, and artist including Michelangelo, Leonardo, and himself.

Baldassare Castiglione

Italian courier, diplomat, writer; his handbook, the Book of Courier, was widely read for its advice on manners, skills, learning, and virtues that court members should display

Machiavelli

Renaissance political philosopher, state man, and writer; his most famous work; the prince, was a guide for rulers on how to gain and keep power; in the book, he argued that the ends justified the means in politics

Jan Van Eyck (1390-1441)

art showed townspeople and religious scenes in rich detail

Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)

art mixed traditions of the Flemish realism with themes of mythology, the Bible, and history

Albrecht Durer

german painter, pioneer in spreading Renaissance ideas to europe, applied painting techniques learned in Italy to engraving, many engravings and paintings show religious upheaval of the time

Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536)

dutch priest and humanist, called for translation of the Bible into the vernacular so it could be read by wider audience

Sir Thomas Moore (1478-1535)

English humanist called for social reform in favor of a utopian society in which people live together in peace and harmony

William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

english poet and playwright; wrote 37 plays still performed; his work reflected universal themes such as complexity in realistic setting and ____; he used language that people understand and enjoy; also enrich the English language more than 1200 worlds appeared for the 1st time in his works

Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374)

was an early renaissance humanist; gathered a library of Greek & Roman manuscript which opened works of cicero, Homer, and Virgil to western europeans

renaissance

means “rebirth”, birthplace Florence Italy, marked by a great change in culture, politics, society, and economics

secular

denoting attitudes, activities, or other things that have no religious or spiritual basis