Renaissance and Reformation (1300-1600)

Renaissance and Reformation Overview (1300-1600)

• This era saw new European cultural and artistic ideas because of trade with the East and the rediscovery of ancient manuscripts.
• The "Renaissance" means rebirth.
• Martin Luther started a movement to change what he thought were incorrect Catholic Church ways.
• The Reformation, as led by Martin Luther, led to the creation of non-Catholic churches.
• The printing press made books and pamphlets more quickly and cheaply.
• This increased the speed at which revolutionary Renaissance and Reformation ideas spread.

Renaissance Art and Society

• Painting, sculpture, and drawing saw huge growth
• Talented artist started to express ideas and attitudes
• Raphael's School of Athens shows how humanism valued greek philosophers
• Portraits like DaVinci's Mona Lisa is an expression of unique personality and traits
• Michelangelo's David shares stylistic qualities with ancient Roman/Greek sculpture

Italy as the Starting Point of the Renaissance

• Europe went through war and plague in the late Middle Ages.
• Survivors wanted to celebrate life/human spirit, question the institutions of the Middle Ages, and the Church.
• Writers/artists in Northern Italy began to express this new spirit and experiment with styles.
• Italy had advantages as the birthplace of the Renaissance: thriving cities, a wealthy merchant class, and classical heritage.
• Crusades spurred overseas trade and led to the growth of large city-states in northern Italy.
• Northern Italy was more urban than the rest of Europe, creating a breeding ground for intellectual evolution.
• The bubonic plague struck hard in the 1300s, killing up to 60% of the population, leading to economic changes and merchants pursuing art.

Merchants, Medici, and the Importance of Individualism

• Merchants, unlike nobles, did not inherit social rank, causing them to believe they deserved power because of individual merit.
• The belief in individual achievement became important in the Renaissance.
• The Medici family, a powerful banking family, came to rule Florence during the Renaissance
• Cosimo de Medici controlled Florence's government for 30 years by influencing the ruling council with loans, without seeking political office directly.
• Renaissance scholars looked down on Middle Age art/literature, pursuing Greek and Roman learning via ruins, manuscripts, and scholars fleeing to Rome with Greek manuscripts.

Classical and Secular Values

• Classical texts study led to Humanism
• Humanism is an intellectual movement focusing on human potential and achievements instead of Christian teachings
• Humanists influenced artists/architects to continue classical traditions and popularized humanities
• While most people stayed devout Catholics, Renaissance society developed a basic spirit that was worldly rather than spiritual
• Rich people enjoyed material luxuries, good music, and fine foods, flaunting wealth
• Church leaders patronized arts and had portraits/donated art to public squares

Qualities of the Ideal Man and Women

• Renaissance writers believed all educated people should create art.
• The ideal person strove to master almost every area of study
• Baldassare Castiglione's The Courtier (1528) taught how to be a Renaissance man: charming, witty, educated, dance, sing, play music, write poetry, skilled rider, wrestler, and swordsman.
• Upper-class women also should know the classics and be charming, but inspire art, not seek fame.
• Women were expected to support art but rarely create it and have little influence in politics
• Isabella d’Este was born into the ruling family of Ferrara and married the ruler of Mantua, bringing Renaissance artists to her court, made an art collection and defended Mantua, after her husband was captured.

Renaissance Art Innovations

• Patrons like Isabella d’Este helped dozens of artists to create
• Artistic styles changed, religious subjects were portrayed using a realistic style copied from classical models
• Greek/Roman subjects became popular; techniques of perspective used
• Realistic paintings and sculptures: painters painted prominent citizens
• Michelangelo Buonarroti realistic style when depicting human body
• Donatello's sculptures: natural postures and expressions.
• Donatello's statue of David was the first European free-standing nude statue since ancient times
• DaVinci Mona Lisa is a expressive realistic portrait
• DaVinci's Last Supper shows personalities of Jesus' disciples through facial expressions
• Raphael Sanzio portrayed his subjects' expression as gentle and calm as influenced by their works
• Raphael used perspective techniques and filled the walls of Pope Julius II’s library with paintings like School of Athens
• There were some Italian women who became notale painters

Literature and the Arts

• Italian women generally had restricted rules
• Some painters were Sofonisba Anguissola and Artemisia Gentileschi
• Gentileschi painted pictures of strong, heroic women.
• Renaissance writers such as medieval writer Dante Alighieri used techniques and concepts of the ancient world.
• Dante Alighieri wrote in vernacular language
• Petrarch was one of the earliest inflential humanists
• Boccaccio wrote the realistic but sometimes odd Decameron
• Macchiavelli wrote the Prince, which suggest ruler should gain but maintain power

Other Key Figures and Themes

• The women writers typically used less polemical, more intimate tone.
• Famous women wriiter was Vittoria Colonna, sonnet writer
• During the Renaissance, the arts become more accessible to the public.

Northern Renaissance Characteristics

• Italian Renaissance ideas mingled with northern traditions as ideas spread out of Inaly, and developed its own distinct character.
• Northern Renaissance artists were especially interested in realism
• The Renaissance ideal of human dignity inspired some northern humanists to development plans of social reform based on Judeo-Christian values.

Northern Artistic Ideas Spread

• Northern Europes population grew beginning in 1450
• The merchants became wealthy from textiles
• In 1453 France and England saw urban merchants become rich enough to act as patrons -Italian art techniques styles mixed with traditions of northen making renais
• Northern ideal on human dignity inspired huminists
• In 1494, a French king claimed the throne of Naples.
• Northern Euros studied in Italy to then bring homeland

Key Northern Painters

• Albrecht Dürer traveled to Italy to study in 1494, then created religious/myth/realistic prints
• Dürer’s emphasis on realism influenced Hans Holbein
• Wealthy merchant families in Flanders supported Jan van Eyck as well as development of oil based painting
• Pieter Bruegel the Elder was also interested in realistic details and individual people

Literature and Reform

• Italian humanists inspired northern people to study Christian teachings with goal of Christian humanism/reform
• Some Humanists wanted society reformed and focused on women education
• Desiderius Erasmus wrote The Praise of Folly which poked fun at greedy merchants, lovers, scholars, and priests and supported all studying the Bible to better society
• Thomas More wrote Utopia: an ideal place with little greed
• Christine de Pizan wrote The Book of The City of Ladies questioned why girls not educated

Elizabethan Era Characteristics in Renaissance

• The Elizabethan Age, named after Queen Elizabeth I, was the mid 15

Explore the cultural and artistic rebirth during the Renaissance (1300-1600). Learn about the Reformation led by Martin Luther, the rise of non-Catholic churches, and the impact of the printing press. Discover Renaissance art and the expression of humanism.