Chapter 2: The Italian Renaissance Flashcards
Italian states
Cities wealthy from manufacturing and trade became centers of the Renaissance
Florence
- Center of textiles and banking
- Ruled by Medici family
- Declined after Savonarola’s puritanical rule
Medici family
Ruled Florence
- First Giovanni de Medici
- Then Cosimo de Medici
- Then Piero de Medici
- Then, most famous, Lorenzo the Magnificent
Milan
- Center of overland trade
- Gained wealth from agriculture and production of silk and armor
- Ruled by Visconti, briefly a republic, then ruled by Sforzas
Venice
- Leader in sea trade; imported spices and luxury goods from East
- Ruled by descendants of wealthy merchants (whose names were inscribed in the Golden Book); Great Council elected doge, subject to control of Council of Ten
Renaissance Popes
Greatly involved in secular matters, often at expense of spiritual regard
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
Combination of Naples and Sicily; though large, not powerful enough to threaten other states
Dante Alighieri
Wrote epic poem Divine Comedy
-Vergil guides Dante through Inferno and Purgatory, Beatrice guides Dante through Paradise
Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch)
- Wrote love sonnets to Laura
- Humanist; collected Latin manuscripts
Giovanni Boccaccio
-Wrote Decameron, stories told by young people fleeing the Black Death
Niccolò Machiavelli
Wrote The Prince, advocating secular rule concerned with retaining authority at whatever cost
Baldassarre Castiglione
- Advocated humanist education
- Wrote The Book of the Courtier, outlining gentlemanly behavior
Benvenuto Cellini
- Goldsmith and silversmith
- In his Autobiography he frankly described exploits
Lorenzo Valla
Scholar who linguistically and historically disproved authenticity of the Donation of Constantine
Giotto
- Originally painted in Byzantine style; began painting subjects more realistically in landscapes with depth and lighting
- Painted frescoes of St. Francis of Assisi
- Official architect of Florence; designed bell tower
Masaccio
- Improved perspective
- Made fresco The Holy Trinity
Sandro Botticelli
- Known for classical subjects and vivid colors
- Painted The Birth of Venus, Primavera, The Adoration of the Magi
Leonardo da Vinci
Scientist, painter, et cetera
Raphael
- Painted Madonnas
- Painted rooms in the Vatican Palace; included School of Athens and The Triumph of Religion
Michelangelo
- Painted ceiling of Sistine Chapel
- Sculpted David and Moses, and several pietàs
Lorenzo Ghiberti
Sculpted bronze doors of baptistery in Florence depicting Old Testament scenes
Donatello
- Studied classical sculpture
- Sculpted bronze David
- Sculpted equestrian statue
Brunelleschi
- Designed buildings in Florence, including Pitti Palace
- Designed octagonal dome of Florence cathedral
Bramante
Worked as architect for rebuilding St. Peter’s basilica
Gentile and Giovanni Bellini
- Well known painters
- Painted The Agony in the Garden and St. Francis in Ecstasy
Giorgione
- Pupil of Giovanni Bellini
- Painted The Tempest
Tintoretto
- Name means “little dyer”
- Painted The Miracle of St. Mark and Christ Before Pilate
Titian
- Prolific Venetian painter of many religious works
- Painted altarpiece The Assumption of the Virgin and many portraits
Palladio
- Inspired by Roman architecture
- Designed churches and palaces in Venice as well as villas in the countryside
