Italy: Birthplace of the REnaissance Flashcards
renaissance
the period, rebirth: revival of art and learning
-educated people of italy
bring back to life culture of classical greece and rome
people of renaissance contributions:
led to innovative styles of art and literature, led to new value
italy (three advantages):
hriving cities, wealthy merchants class, classical heritage of greece and rome
cities in italy
because the overseas trade (crusades), ideal breeding for intellectual revolution (that is where people exchange ideas)
bubonic plague and art
brought economic changes, survivors could demand higher wages, few opportunities to expand business, merchants pursued other interests (art)
wealthy merchant class
dominate politics, did not inherit rank, to succeed: use wits
-using wits:
believed deserved power and wealth because of individual merit (IMPORTANT)
medici:
took france under rule, banking family, had branch offices throughout italy and major cities of europe
cosimo de medici:
wealthiest european of time won control of florence’s government, did not seek political office for himself, influenced members of ruling council by giving loans, 30 years dictator of florence
lorenzo de medici:
grandson of cosimo, ruled dictator yet kept up appearance of having an elected government
renaissance scholars:
look down on art and literature of middle ages, return to learning greeks and romans
achieve return to greek and roman
artist and scholars italy drew inspiration from ruins of rome that surrounded them, western scholars studied ancient latin manuscripts that had been preserved in monasteries, christian scholars in constantinople fled to rome with greek manuscripts when turks conquered constantinople
humanist:
intellectual movement that focused on human potential and achievements, studied christian teachings to understand ancient greek values, influenced artists and architects to carry on classical traditions, popularized study of subjects common to classical education
humanities:
history, literature and philosophy
humanists (living):
person might enjoy life without offending god
-secular
worldly rather than spiritual
spirit of renaissance:
secular, concerned with here and now
patrons: c
church leaders (spend huge amounts of money for arts and financially supporting artists, renaissance merchants and wealthy families (portrait donate art to city),
-renaissance writers:
introduce idea that all educated people were expected to create art, individual strove to master almost every area of study
-universal man / renaissance men:
man who excelled in many fields, charming witty, dance, sing, play music, write poetry, skilled rider, wrestler, swordsman
-baldassare castiglione
courtier, taught how to become universal man
-upper class women:
know classics and be charming, inspire art, but rarely create it, better educated than medieval women, little influence in politics
-isabella d’este:
exercised power,married mantua, brought renaissance artists to her court and built famous art collection, skilled in politics, won her husband’s release and defended him
-mantua:
ruler of another city state
-medieval artists
used religious subjects to convey a spiritual ideal
-renaissance artists:
portrayed religious subjects, but used a realistic style copied from classical models, used perspective
-perspective:
: show three dimensions on a flat surface
-paint prominent citizens:
revealed what was distinctive about each person
michelangelo buonarroti:
used realistic style when depicting the human body
-donatello
sculpture more realistic by carving natural postures and expressions,
-donatello (david):
revived classical form in his statue of david, first european sculpture of a large, free standing nude since ancient times
-leonardo da vinci:
painter, sculptor, inventor and scientists, interested in how things worked, incorporated findings in his art
-mona lisa:
best known portraits in the world
-last supper
shows personalities of jesus’s disciples through facial expressions
-raphael:
learned from studying michelangelo and leonardo’s work, famous for use of perspective, filled walls of pope julius II’s library with paintings
-school of athens
conveys classical influence on renaissance
-sofonisba anguissola:
first woman artist to gain an international reputation, portraits of sister and king Philip II of spain
rtemisia gentileschi,
trained with painter father, helped with his work, painted pictures of strong, heroic women
-renaissance writers:
produced works that reflected their time, but they also used techniques that writers rely on today, wrote either for self expression or to portray individuality of their subjects
-dante
-wrote in vernacular (italian)
-petrarch:
nfluential humanist, great poet, wrote both in italian (sonnet, laura) and latin (letters),
-sonnets:
14 poem lines
-laura`
mysterious women, petrarch, was his ideal
-boccaccio:
decameron, presents characters in all of their individuality and all their folly
decameron
series of realistic, sometimes off color stories, told by group of worldly young pople waiting in a rural villa to avoid plague sweeping through florence, tragic and comic views of life, cutting humor to illustrate human condition
-prince:
xamines imperfect conduct of human beings, take form of a political guide book
-machiavelli
examines how ruler can gain power and keep it in spite of his enemies, began with idea that most people are selfish, fickle, and corrupt, not concerned with what was morally right, but with what was politically effective,
-prince:
must sometimes mislead people and lie to opponents, suggested in order for a prince to accomplish great things, must crafty enough to not only overcome suspicions but also gain trust of others
-vittoria:
born of noble family, exchanged sonnets with michelangelo and helped castiglione publish courtier
women writers of renaissance:
end of 15th century:
