Italian Renaissance

Renaissance

"rebirth"; following the Middle Ages, a movement that centered on the revival of interest in the classical learning of Greece and Rome

linear perspective

A cue for perceiving depth with a vanishing point and horizon lines; the more parallel lines converge, the greater their perceived distance.

Humanism

A Renaissance intellectual movement in which thinkers studied classical texts and focused on human potential and achievements

Sistine Chapel

A Catholic church in Vatican City, Italy. Its ceiling was painted by the Renaissance artist Michelangelo.

"Renaissance Person"

a person with many talents, skills, or areas of knowledge who consistently tries to improve their skills in multiple areas.

Florence

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

Secular

Concerned with worldly rather than religious matters; non-religious

Vernacular

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

Brunelleschi

Florentine architect who was the first great architect of the Italian Renaissance (1377-1446); detailed the ideas behind linear perspective and build the dome in Florence.

Leonardo da Vinci

A well known Italian Renaissance artist, architect, musician, mathematician, engineer, and scientist. Known for the Mona Lisa.

Michelangelo

(1475-1564) An Italian sculptor, painter, poet, engineer, and architect. Famous works include the mural on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and the sculpture of the biblical character David.

School of Athens

painting by Raphael in the Papal Apartments depicting a secular scene in ancient Greece.

Chiaroscuro

The treatment of light and shade in a work of art, especially to give an illusion of depth.

Sfumato

Italian for "smoky", the technique of allowing tones and colors to shade gradually into one another, producing softened outlines or hazy forms.

Vitruvian Man

Sketch of human proportions by Leonardo da Vinci in his Codex notebook

Frescoes

Paintings made on wet plaster walls