Renaissance

Renaissance: Meaning

  • a renewal of life, vigor, interest, etc.; rebirth; revival
  • Michelangelo’s David has become one of the most recognized works of Renaissance sculpture, a symbol of strength and youthful beauty

Renaissance Period

  • cultural bridge between middle ages and modern history
  • Began in Italy, and spread through the rest of Europe by the 16th century
  • Its influence was felt in literature, philosophy, art, music, politics, science, religion, and other aspects of intellectual inquiry

The Renaissance could be viewed as an attempt by intellectuals to study and improve worldly issues through the revival of ideas from antiquity and through new reasoning and thought.

Renaissance: Origins

  • Black Plague (Europe ) – Italy was hit badly by the plague, and it has been speculated that the resulting familiarity with death caused thinkers to dwell more on their lives – it also led to new wealth
  • Population in Europe went from 4.2 million to 2.8 millions
  • as a result of this mass decimation, the working class became more valued and the commoners came to enjoy more freedom.
  • Survivors of the Plague found that food was cheaper, and many of them inherited property from their dead relatives.
  • Desire to retrieve and study Latin and Greek literary, historical, and oratorical texts (development of printing press made this easier to obtain works)
  • Social and political structures in Italy – switch from Feudalism to a society based on merchants and commerce (perhaps a result of the Plague)

Renaissance: Characteristics

  • Humanism
  • Art
  • Science
  • Music
  • Religion

Renaissance: Humanism

  • Humanist education: poetry, grammar, history, moral philosophy and rhetoric
  • The movement to recover, interpret, and assimilate language, literature, learning and the values of ancient Greece and Rome
  • This literature was thought to provide moral instruction and an intensive understanding of human behavior.
  • Above all, humanists pushed for the genius of man – the unique and extraordinary ability of the human mind.
  • Humanists believed that it is important to transcend to the afterlife with a perfect mind and body, which could be attained with education
  • Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man (c. 1490) demonstrates Renaissance thinkers. Leonardo tried to draw the perfectly proportioned man.

Donatello, David (1440s?) Museo Nazionale del Bargello

  • Renaissance: Art
  • -development of highly realistic perspective
  • Painters studied light, shadow, and human anatomy
  • Oil paint and canvas depict themes of everyday life
  • Some artists you might know: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, (c. 1511)
  • The Creation of Adam, from the Sistine Chapel ceiling Donatello, David (1440s?) Museo Nazionale del Bargello

Renaissance: Science

  • The rediscovery of ancient texts and the invention of printing democratized learning and allowed for faster preparation of ideas
  • The willingness to question previously held truths and search for new answers resulted in a period of major scientific advancements.
  • Discovery of the scientific method: Astronomer Copernicus, or Conversations with God, by Matejko.
  • Nicolaus Copernicus was a Renaissance mathematician and astronomer

Renaissance: Music

  • The development of printing made distribution of music possible
  • Music for entertainment

Renaissance: Religion

  • Desire to reform churches
  • Martin Luther published the 95 Theses, which criticized the church and exposed its corruption - this led to reformation
  • "Thesentür" (the "Door of the Theses") memorial at All Saints' Church (Schlosskirche) in Wittenberg Martin Luther nailing the theses to the door

Renaissance: Spread to England

  • The 15th century marked the

beginning of the English Renaissance

In Britain: 15th, 16th, 17th century

  • Renaissance style and ideas, however,

were slow to penetrate England,

and the Elizabethan Era in the second half

of the 16th century is usually regarded

as the height of the English Renaissance.

English Renaissance: William Shakespeare

Literature  → Increased, English Renaissance;

Theatre became popular.

  • William Shakespeare
  • Christopher Marlowe

Music  → new creativity including a change to flowery,  → light compositions

  • William Byrd

Art Iconoclastic

Elizabethan Era 1558–1603 Elizabeth I of England

  • Marked by the reign of Queen Elizabeth I
  • Historians often depict it as the “Golden Age” in English history as it represented the highest point of the English Renaissance and saw the flowering of poetry, music and literature.
  • The era is most famous for theatre, as William Shakespeare and many others composed plays            that broke free of England's past style of theatre.
  • The Elizabethan Age may be viewed so highly because of the failings that the country experienced   before and after her reign.
  • A time of peace and prosperity Elizabeth I of England

Renaissance: Class Readings

  • Sonnets, by William Shakespeare:
  • Sonnets originated in Italy by a man named Giacomo Da Lentini
  • By the thirteenth century it signified a poem of fourteen lines that follows a strict rhyme scheme and specific structure.
  • Sonnets came to England, and William Shakespeare took off with the idea, becoming the most well-known writer of sonnets and known for his creation of The Shakespearean Sonnet A Play, by William Shakespeare: \n