Renaissance Art, Politics, and Humanism: Key Concepts and Figures

System of government in Florence

A Republic with a constitution that limited the power of the nobility.

Who held political power in the Florentine Republic?

Middle-class merchants, a few wealthy families (such as the Medici), and the powerful guilds.

Interpretation of Florentine military victories

Seen as signs of God's favor and protection; they viewed themselves as the "New Rome" and heirs to the Ancient Roman Republic.

Humanism

The educational and intellectual program of the Renaissance, grounded in Latin and Greek literature, focused on teaching morals for an active, virtuous life.

Artists inspired by humanist ideals revived interest in...

Antiquity, specifically using ancient Greek and Roman models.

Donatello's David and Antiquity

Applied ideals through sensual nudity and the contrapposto stance, reflecting ancient Greco-Roman sculpture.

Why Leonardo da Vinci was a "Renaissance man"

He was an unrivaled painter, architect, engineer, cartographer, and scientist.

Influences on Leonardo da Vinci

Ancient texts, including Plato's Timaeus, Ptolemy's Cosmography, and Vitruvius's On Architecture.

Purpose of Leonardo's letter to Ludovico Sforza

To secure a contract by listing talents primarily as a military engineer, including designs for bridges and armored vehicles.

Early Renaissance religious art conflict

The tension between realism and spirituality; making figures look "real" often sacrificed their sense of divinity.

Leonardo's response to realism vs. spirituality

He united the real and the spiritual ("soul and substance"), creating physically realistic figures with intense spirituality.

Leonardo's angel in The Baptism of Christ

Ideally beautiful, twisting her upper body to the left while raising her head up to the right.

Why Michelangelo was called "Il Divino"

Contemporaries perceived his artworks as otherworldly and characterized by a powerfulness known as terribilità.

Michelangelo's professional start

Unlike typical apprentices, Michelangelo was paid, likely due to his talent or family connections.

Age Michelangelo started training

Thirteen, entering the workshop of Domenico Ghirlandaio.

Michelangelo's first large

scale project - The Pietà, accepted at age twenty-three.

Most important technique for Michelangelo

Disegno (drawing), viewed as both a manual and intellectual pursuit.

The White Giant

A nearly twenty-foot-tall piece of marble that Michelangelo used to create his David.

Patron for the Sistine Chapel ceiling

Pope Julius II.

Subject of the Sistine Chapel ceiling

Nine stories from the Book of Genesis.

Inspiration for Sistine ceiling figures

The ancient sculpture Laocoön.

Commissioner of Michelangelo's second fresco

Pope Paul III for The Last Judgment.

Revolutionary aspect of 16th

century Italian painting - The elevation of the artist as an intellectual peer and the reliance on artifice/models rather than live subjects.

Commonality between Last Supper and School of Athens

Use of linear perspective for harmonious space and grouping of figures for unity.

Literary source for Pantormo's Entombment

The Bible (accounts of Jesus Christ's burial).

Mannerism vs. High Renaissance

Mannerism prioritizes artificiality, contorted figures, and complex compositions over naturalism.

Bottega

The studio of an Italian artist.

Pietra serena

A dark-gray stone used for columns, arches, and trim in Renaissance buildings.

Quattrocento / Cinquecento

The 1400s (15th century) and the 1500s (16th century) in Italian art.

Tromp l'oeil

French for "fools the eye"; art representing objects as three-dimensional.

Chiaroscuro

A gradual transition from light to dark in a painting.

Genre Painting

Painting depicting scenes of everyday life.

Glazes

Thin transparent layers used to build up rich color and depth.

The "Brave New World" of Modern Art

A radical transformation rejecting the past and embracing ambiguity.

Primary goal of modern artists

Viewing a painting as an object in its own right, reflecting a subjective vision rather than imitating nature.

Influences on modern artist world view

Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity, Freud's study of the subconscious, and photography.