13. European Renaissance Flashcards
Renaissance term meaning
- Renaissance means rebirth, and refers to a revival of art and learning
Where did the Renaissance movement begin?
- Northern Italy city states like Florence, Milan, Mantua, and Genoa
3 reasons the Renaissance started in Northern Italy?
- Thriving cities
- Wealthy merchant class
- Classical heritage of Greece + Rome
What led to the growth of city-states in Italy?
- Overseas trade (Mediterranean) with Middle East spurred by the Crusades led to the growth of large city-states in northern Italy
Florence: Italian city state
- Republic, but then Cosimo de Medici turned it into a dictatorship for 30 years
- Birthplace of the Renaissance
Geographical benefits of northern Italian cities like Florence, Venice, Genoa
- The region was urban and cities were often places where ppl exchange ideas
- City states were also small, so more ppl could be involved in political life
Secular
- Worldly (concerned w/ present) rather than spiritual
- Some church leaders lived lavishly (mansions, lavish banquets, expensive clothes)
- Separate from religion
The Medici
- A powerful banking family from Florence, Italy that ruled Florence and has branch offices in Italy and European cities
- Cosimo de Medici was dictator of Florence
Humanism
- An intellectual movement that focused on human potential and achievements
What did humanists believe in?
- Humanists believed in studying Christian teaching to understand ancient Greek values
Subjects common to classical education
- History, literature, philosophy
Patrons
- Financially supporting the arts by buying art from artists or donating art to the city
Vernacular
- Writing in your native language instead of Latin
Niccolo Machiavelli
- A historian and political thinker
- Wrote “The Prince”.
The Prince
- A political guidebook that examines how a ruler can gain + keep power in spite of enemies.
- Not concerned with what’s morally right, but what’s politically effective
- Vvv cold + psychopathic view
- Written by Niccolo Machiavelli
General time period of the Renaissance
1300-1600
Renaissance art vs. Medieval art
- Medieval art: Used religious subjects to convey a spiritual ideal
- Renaissance art: Often portrayed religious subjects but used a realistic style + used 3D perspective
Leonardo Da Vinci
- Was interested in how things worked and many other things, so he was aka the ideal Renaissance man
- Painted the “Mona Lisa” and “The Last Supper”
Michelangelo
- Famous for portrayal of the human body
- Sculpted David, and painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
Describe Renaissance art through Mona Lisa + David
- Mona Lisa: Shows realism: what ppl really looked like
- David: Influenced by Ancient Greek + Roman classical statues
Petrarch’s role in the Renaissance
- Father of Renaissance humanism
- One of the earliest and most influential humanists
Where did the Northern Renaissance take place?
- Northern Europe
- England, France, Germany, and Flanders
Renaissance spirit
- Interest in classical culture
- Curiosity about the world
- Belief in human potential
Difference between Northern Europe and Italy
- Italy: Divided into city states
- England + France: Unified by strong monarchs that were patrons of the arts
How did the ideas of the Italian Renaissance spread to Northern Europe?
- A French king launched an invasion thru northern Italy, and many artists and writers immigrated.
Desiderius Erasmus
- Well-known Christian humanist from Holland
- He believed in improving society by studying the Bible, and Christianity of the ❤️
- Wrote the Praise of Folly
The Praise of Folly
- Written by Christian humanist Erasmus
- It poked fun at greedy merchants, heartsick lovers, quarrelsome scholars, and pompous priests
Sir Thomas More
- He was a Christian humanist from England.
- Wrote the book Utopia
Utopia- Book and meaning
- “No place” in Greek
- Sir Thomas More’s “Utopia”: A place where greed, corruption, and war has been weeded out
What did Northern Renaissance artists portray in their paintings?
- Realism
Johann Gutenberg
- A craftsman from Mainz, Germany that developed a printing press in 1440.
- Made it possible to produce books quickly and cheaply.
Movable type
- Letters that could be put together in any fashion and reused.
- Was a Chinese idea
2 ways that the European development of printing with movable type impacted society
- Made books cheaper
2. Increased book variety: religious works to travel guides + medical manuals
3 ways that European society during the Renaissance differed from medieval society
- Birth of Humanism
- More realistic art
- Printing made info more available and books cheaper
Christian Humanism
- Focus on church’s reformation
- Combined humanist ideals with Christian teachings
Italian Humanists
- More secular, and more concerned w/ the study of Greek and Latin
Humanism was inspired by…
Humanism was inspired by Classical Greece/ Rome
Humanism in general focused on…
Humanism in general focused on the individual, not as much on the church
