Detailed Notes on the Renaissance

Renaissance

The Renaissance was a rebirth of learning, rediscovering the knowledge of ancient Greece and Rome and making new discoveries. Writing in the vernacular became popular.

Why Italy?

  • Wealthy cities provided patrons of the arts.
  • Fall of Constantinople.
  • Competition between city-states.
  • Ruins of Ancient Rome.

Differences Between Medieval and Renaissance Art

  • Religion was a theme, but other themes became important as well.
  • Movement and emotions became important.
  • Realism.
  • Perspective.
  • Sfumato.
  • Oils and canvas became popular, but egg tempera and frescoes were still used.
  • Architecture moved from Gothic to Romanesque.

Renaissance Writers

Shakespeare

Before the Renaissance, most European writers wrote in Latin, but Shakespeare was a leading vernacular writer of the Renaissance. The vernacular language is the common language of the people in a particular country, such as English and French. William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-on-Avon in 1564. At 18 years of age, he married Anne Hathaway, daughter of a wealthy landlord. Shortly afterwards, Shakespeare moved to London to become an actor. Actors were expected to act and write their own plays. By 1595, he became the most famous playwright in England. He wrote 37 plays including comedies, such as A Midsummer's Night's Dream and Much Ado About Nothing, and also tragedies, like King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, and Macbeth. Finally, he also wrote playwrights based on English history, for example, Henry V and Richard III. Shakespeare opened his own theatre called the Globe. It was a round wooden building with an open-air stage and it could hold up to 2000 people. Unlike today, a visit to a theatre could be a rowdy affair. If the audience thought the play was boring, rotten apples were thrown at the actors. Shakespeare was also famous for writing sonnets. His plays and poems made him rich and he retired in 1610 after 20 years of working. In 1616, he died in his hometown and he was buried in the local church. His plays and poems still remain popular today.

Humanist Writers

Humanism is showing great interest in human nature rather than religion.

Thomas More

In 1516, Moore published his most famous book “Utopia”, which tells of an imaginary island where life is perfect, no wars, no crimes or conflict and everyone helps each other out. The island has no police force nor prisons.

Erasmus

A Dutch-born writer, a friend of Thomas Moore was an Augustinian priest and spent most of his time criticising corruption within the Catholic Church. He hoped that through his writings he could convince the leadership of the church to live better lives.

People in History

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci was born in Vinci, near Florence in Italy in 1452. At the age of fifteen, he was sent to train as an artist’s apprentice in Florence. He worked with other apprentices in the studio of the famous painter and craftsperson, Andrea del Verrocchio. Here he learned the skills of painting and sculpture. His first painting of note was one of an angel in the corner of a larger work by Verrocchio called the “Baptism of Christ.” This angel was apparently painted so well that it caused Verrocchio to never paint again. Leonardo da Vinci was accepted into the Florentine artists’ guild at the age of twenty and spent the next ten years working there, sometimes for Lorenzo de Medici. In 1482, he went to Milan to work for Ludovico Sforza, who often used him to organize engineering works and festivals. Around this time also, Leonardo da Vinci was compiling notebooks full of ideas for tanks, submarines, helicopters and parachutes. These notes were written in ‘mirror writing’ – from right to left. During his seventeen years in Milan, da Vinci painted only six paintings, including “The Virgin of the Rocks” and “The Last Supper,” which is a fresco painted onto a wall of a monastery in Santa Maria Delle Grazie. In 1499, Leonardo left Milan and went to Florence where, among other work, he painted “The Mona Lisa,” which is now on display in Paris’ Louvre Museum. Sfumato is used in this painting which is a Renaissance technique which causes the lady’s hair and clothing to blend into the background. Leonardo da Vinci also studied science, dissecting corpses in his study of anatomy and drawing plants, horses and birds in flight in his effort to further the study of biology. He died in France, as a guest of King Francis I, in 1519.

Printing Press

Johann Gutenberg invented a printing press that was a “moveable type” in 1450. In 1455 an edition of the Bible was created, his first completed book, which contained over 12000 pages in 2 volumes. At first, the font was thick Gothic letters, but it was changed to italic to make the letters smaller and so it would fit more letters, thus making books smaller and cheaper, and the use of ideas spread more quickly. The invention of the printing press important because:

  • Books were more plentiful and cheaper.
  • Literacy and education spread.
  • Spread ideas of Renaissance and Reformation.

Important People of the Renaissance

Patrons of the Arts

Lorenzo de Medici

The Medici family ruled Florence. Lorenzo, known as ‘The Magnificent,’ collected ancient Greek and Roman manuscripts. Michelangelo was a pupil at the Platonic Academy. Lorenzo spent a fortune on art. The popes Leo X (Lorenzo’s son) and Julius II (Sistine Chapel) were also patrons.

Leonardo da Vinci

Renaissance man (wide range of talents). Apprenticed to Verrochio. He was the first to use sfumato. Painted the Last Supper (falling apart) and the Mona Lisa (Louvre). Dissected more than 30 bodies. Used mirror writing and designed planes, parachutes, cannon and tanks. He died in France.

Michelangelo

Attended Platonic Academy. Loved sculpture, particularly white marble. Created The Pieta (optical illusion) and David, which was the biggest statue of the time and showed mastery of anatomy. Julius II ordered him to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, which took 4 years. He designed the dome of St. Peter’s and was also a poet.

Galileo

The Father of Modern Science. He invented the pendulum clock and a powerful telescope. Discovered that all solid objects fall at the same speed. He proved Copernicus was right when he said the Earth moved around the sun but had to say he was wrong in front of the Inquisition.

Shakespeare

From Stratford on Avon. Married Anne Hathaway. Moved to London without the family. Worked in the Globe Theatre (open air, no women actors). Wrote 35 plays (Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet) and many sonnets. His plays are comedies, tragedies and histories.

Nicholas Copernicus

He questioned Ptolemy’s theory (that the sun and other planets revolved the earth) and claimed that the sun is at the centre of the universe and the earth and other planets revolve around it. He kept his theories a secret and only published them on his deathbed in 1543.

Effects of the Renaissance

  • Encouraged people to travel more and discover new land.
  • Spread of information via the printing press made it more difficult for political and religious leaders to brainwash the public.
  • It allowed people to look at the world in a different way by questioning theories.