The Renaissance - Key Terms Flashcards
Renaissance
Means “rebirth”. This refers to the period of change throughout Europe, when people questioned old beliefs and began to form new ones surrounding art, architecture, literature, science and medicine.
Humanism
The idea that humans should be at the centre of everything and that we should think about the world in term of the lives people live.
The Roman Empire
Old art that was found from the Ancient Roman Empire closely linking Italian to Latin, which inspired the Italians to replicate the achievements of their ancestors.
Ottoman Empire
Byzantine Empire that fell to the Turks during the Fall of Constantinople (Istanbul) in 1453; the Muslim Empire gained power.
Patron
A wealthy person who commissioned artists to paint a work of art for them.
Julius II
Catholic Pope who was a popular patron.
De Medici of Florence
Patron is Florence who sponsored many artists.
Florence
The wealthiest city in Italy. De Medici family were very popular (Cosmo de Medici and his grandson, Lorenzo)
Fresco
A painting technique whereby an artist would paint directly onto fresh, wet plaster.
Perspective
A painting technique whereby artists added depth to their paintings.
Sfumato
A painting technique whereby an artist would blend and soften colours or lines to add a blurred or smokey effect to their paintings.
Egg tempera
A paint made from egg yolks mixed with powder.
Leonardo da Vinci
A famous painter and inventor from the Renaissance. His most famous piece is the Mona Lisa.
Mirror writing
Using a mirror to write backwards to hide the content of the text.
Michelangelo Buonarroti
A famous painter and sculptor from the Renaissance. Some of his most famous sculptures were the Pieta and David, while his most famous painting was the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
Printing press
A machine whereby individual letters were placed into a metal frame to form words, then coated in ink and pressed onto paper.
Johannes Gutenberg
A German goldsmith who was believed to have invented the printing press.
Vernacular
The language spoken by the people of their native country.
William Shakespeare
A famous writer and poet from the Renaissance. Famous for many of his works, such as Romeo & Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello and the Merchant of Venice.
Sonnet
A 14-line rhyming poem developed by Shakespeare, which was a popular poem form during the Renaissance.
Anatomy
The study of the structure of the human body.
William Harvey
The person who discovered that the heart pumped blood around the body.
Andreas Vesalius
The person who began the first drawings of the human body.
Galileo Galilei
The person who discovered the law of falling objects and that the world was not flat.
The law of falling objects
A law in science which states that everything falls to the ground at the same speed, regardless of weight.
Telescope
An instrument that magnified objects many hundreds of times.
Astronomy
The study of the planets and stars.
Nicolaus Copernicus
The person that discovered that the Earth actually rotates around the sun.
Heresy
Knowingly holding a view that went against the official teachings of the Catholic Church.
Inquisition
The Church court.
