Renaissance

nullRenaissance: An intellectual awakening after a long medieval winter .Renaissance: An intellectual awakening after a long medieval winter . Renaissance, series of literary and cultural movements in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. These movements began in Italy and eventually expanded into Germany, France, England, and other parts of Europe. Participants studied the great civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome and came to the conclusion that their own cultural achievements rivaled those of antiquity. Their thinking was also influenced by the concept of humanism, which emphasizes the worth of the individual. Renaissance humanists believed it was possible to improve human society through classical education. This education relied on teachings from ancient texts and emphasized a range of disciplines, including poetry, history, rhetoric (rules for writing influential prose or speeches), and moral philosophy.nullThe word renaissance means “rebirth.” The idea of rebirth originated in the belief that Europeans had rediscovered the superiority of Greek and Roman culture after many centuries of what they considered intellectual and cultural decline. The preceding era, which began with the collapse of the Roman Empire around the 5th century, became known as the Middle Ages to indicate its position between the classical and modern world.nullScholars now recognize that there was considerable cultural activity during the Middle Ages, as well as some interest in classical literature. A number of characteristics of Renaissance art and society had their origins in the Middle Ages. Many scholars claim that much of the cultural dynamism of the Renaissance also had its roots in medieval times and that changes were progressive rather than abrupt. Nevertheless, the Renaissance represents a change in focus and emphasis from the Middle Ages, with enough unique qualities to justify considering it as a separate period of history.Historical BackgroundHistorical Background1. A Changing Economy The civilization of the Renaissance was the creation of prosperous cities and of rulers who drew substantial income from their urban subjects in the Italian city-states and the countries of England and France. The commerce that kept cities alive also provided the capital and the flow of ideas that helped build Renaissance culture. During the early Middle Ages foreign trade had virtually come to a halt. By the 11th century, however, population growth and contact with other cultures through military efforts such as the Crusades helped revive commercial activity. Trade slowly increased with the exchange of luxury goods in the Mediterranean region and various commodities such as fish, furs, and metals across the North and Baltic seas. Commerce soon moved inland, bringing new prosperity to the citizens of towns along major trade routes. As traffic along these routes increased, existing settlements grew and new ones were established.Columbus Setting Sail in 1492 In 1492 explorer Christopher Columbus departed on his first journey in search of a quicker route to Asia. On this voyage Columbus encountered the islands which became known as the West Indies, in the Caribbean Sea. Here, Columbus takes leave of Ferdinand V and Isabella, the Spanish rulers who sponsored his first expedition. Exploration became an important element in international rivalries for economic and political power.Columbus Setting Sail in 1492 In 1492 explorer Christopher Columbus departed on his first journey in search of a quicker route to Asia. On this voyage Columbus encountered the islands which became known as the West Indies, in the Caribbean Sea. Here, Columbus takes leave of Ferdinand V and Isabella, the Spanish rulers who sponsored his first expedition. Exploration became an important element in international rivalries for economic and political power.nullRise of the City The growth of trade and the rise of wealthy cities in Italy helped to encourage the political and cultural achievements of the Renaissance. Within the walls of these thriving urban centers lived an increasingly diverse mix of social and economic groups. This portion of a fresco by 14th-century painter Ambrogio Lorenzetti of Siena illustrates the energy and bustle of city life.null2. Growth of Italian Cities During the 14th century, Italy’s cities became more diverse with an influx of peasants from the countryside and the rise of new commercial classes. Many of these growing cities came under the domination of despotic rulers who helped to bring greater stability and order that, in turn, fostered the development of Renaissance culture. The shaded areas surrounding each city on this map represent the city’s area of influence.CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RENAISSANCE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RENAISSANCE Rediscovery of Classical Literature and Art Rediscovery of Classical Literature and Art Renaissance humanists studied the literature of ancient Greece and Rome, believing that these classical works represented the height of human knowledge and were important models for a new age. St. Jerome in His Study by the Italian painter Antonello da Messina (1430-1479) depicts the 4th-century scholar Jerome. He was known for his important literary accomplishments, including a translation of the Bible into Latin. Antonello's work illustrates a careful attention to detail and an understanding of perspective that became important new characteristics of Renaissance painting.Curiosity and Objectivity Curiosity and Objectivity The Renaissance was marked by an intense interest in the visible world and in the knowledge derived from concrete sensory experience. It turned away from the abstract speculations and interest in life after death that characterized the Middle Ages. Although Christianity was not abandoned, the otherworldliness and monastic ideology of the Middle Ages were largely discarded. The focus during the Renaissance turned from abstract discussions of religious issues to the morality of human actions. nullThe Renaissance spirit of curiosity, experimentation, and objectivity were also important to the development of science in Europe. Renaissance scholars emphasized concrete experience over abstract theory and tried to observe the natural world carefully, completely, and without preconceived ideas. This spirit of impartial inquiry was more important to the future of science than any specific achievement.Renaissance Science During the Renaissance, Belgian physician Andreas Vesalius experimented with the dissection of human cadavers in order to learn more about human anatomy. The spirit of curiosity and experimentation that characterized the Renaissance created a fertile climate for the development of science. Advances were made in many fields including navigation, astronomy, mathematics and medicine.Renaissance Science During the Renaissance, Belgian physician Andreas Vesalius experimented with the dissection of human cadavers in order to learn more about human anatomy. The spirit of curiosity and experimentation that characterized the Renaissance created a fertile climate for the development of science. Advances were made in many fields including navigation, astronomy, mathematics and medicine.Individualism Individualism In the Renaissance, the unique talents and potential of the individual became significant. The concept of personal fame was much more highly developed than during the Middle Ages. Renaissance artists, valuing glory and renown in this world, signed their works. Medieval artists, with their focus on otherworldliness and on glorifying God, were more humble and remained largely anonymous. nullThe attention given to the development of an individual’s potential during the Renaissance brought with it a new emphasis on education. The goal of education was to develop the individual's talents in all intellectual and physical areas, from scholarship and the writing of sonnets to swordsmanship and wrestling. It was believed that the ideal person should not be bound to one specific discipline, such as that of scholar, priest, or warrior. This was in stark contrast to the Middle Ages, when specialization had been encouraged.Dominating IdeasDominating Ideas1. Classical Humanism It was a search of for past examples to justify new practices. In spite of certain concern for antique books and works of art, the net result was less a revival of things past than a step forward. It was a search for past examples to justify new practices. When the Florentine philosopher Pico della Mirandola said that “there is nothing to be seen more wonderful than man,” he was picking up exactly where the ancient Greek thinkers left off.null2. Scientific Naturalism The two basic directions taken by the naturalism of the 15th century led to a new experimental attitude and a new concept of space. A close partnership between art and science developed, with architects becoming mathematicians, sculptors anatomists, painters geometricians, and musicians acousticians.nullThe sculptors and painters were animated by the desire to express the structural forms of the body beneath its external appearance. In painting, naturalism meant a more faithful representation of the world of appearances, one based on the detailed an accurate observation, combining objective techniques with imaginative subjects. nullSince the subject matter of medieval art was drawn from the other world, it fell outside the scope of naturalistic representation and had to be shown symbolically. Art now entered a new phase of self-awareness as Renaissance artists began to think less in terms of allegory, symbolism, and moral lessons and more lessons and more in terms of aesthetic problems, modes of presentation, and pictorial mechanics. null3. Renaissance Individualism In the Renaissance, the desire for personal prestige through art became of prime importance. The linear perspective, seen from a single optical vantage point, was the view of artists as well as the viewer’s. Human figures, whether rendered as prophets or portraits, tended to become more personal and individual. Each statue was an individual person who made a powerful, unique impression. Whether medium was marble, terra-cotta, paint, words, or tones, there was evidence of the new value placed on human individuality. Whether the picture was a disguised family group, or a portrait, the figures were authentic personages rather than stylized abstractions. Differences between Renaissance and Medieval Art Differences between Renaissance and Medieval Art Medieval art served a religious function and sought to represent spiritual aspiration. The world was a veil merely hinting for the other perfect and eternal world. Renaissance art did not stop expressing spiritual aspiration, but its setting and character differ altogether. No longer a shroud, the place is the place where people live, act and worship. The reference is less to the other world and more to this world, and people are treated as creatures who find their spiritual destiny as they fulfill their human one. At its most distinctive, Renaissance art represents a conscious revolt against the art of the Middles Ages. This revolt produced revolutionary discoveries, which served as the foundation of Western art up to this century.Renaissance Artists Renaissance Artists Giotto di Bondone (c. 1266-1337) Italian painter Giotto is held in high regard as the artist who moved away from the traditional medieval technique of portraying the human figure as a stiff, flat, two-dimensional character. An artist far ahead of his time, Giotto began to protray humans as rounded, proportioned, and naturalistic. His work influenced the development of Renaissance art more than a century after his death in Florence in 1337.null Flight into Egypt On a narrow rocky path, the procession seems to move past the viewer. Equipped with everyday objects, everyone is in motion, looking at one another and talking to one another - only the Virgin Mary sits still and unmoving. The statuesque nature other upright position is further reinforced by the rock behind. Although the child is as natural as can be, the central figures in the picture thus stand out from their surroundings and have a sublime effect. nullBetrayal of Judas This scene, very seldom depicted, is displayed on the triumphal arch wall. The scribes, who were whispering in the preceding scene, The Driving of the Traders from the Temple, persuade Judas to betray his master. Judas, with the Devil at his back and holding a sack of gold, exchanges a knowing glance with the Pharisee. nullBetrayal of Judas nullDonatello (1386-1466) Donatello, real name Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi (1386?-1466), Italian Renaissance sculptor, who is generally considered one of the greatest sculptors of all time and the founder of modern sculpture. nullMore than twenty years after the “David” created for S. Maria del Fiore, probably following a journey to Rome in 1432, Donatello re-engaged the theme of the bronze model for the Medici family. The different cultural moment and the private destination of the work explain the completely different interpretation both in iconography and style that the artist used in the biblical subject, pushed this time by literature of a classical example in a humanistic, symbolic key using refined and esoteric illusions. Even now the cultural and formal apparatus of the Florentine environment is apparent in the overwhelming reality of a physical evidence and sensuality of the adolescent body.nullDonatello’s Saint Mary Magdalene Italian Renaissance sculptor Donatello created this painted wooden statue of Saint Mary Magdalene in about 1455. The expressive sculpture shows the repentant Magdalene as a haggard old woman. Scala/Art Resource, NYnullGiorgione (1477-1510) An innovation in landscape art took place after the pioneering work of Italian painter Giorgione. Working in Venice at the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century, Giorgione established mood by bathing his scenery in a soft, hazy light. He abandoned the tradition of using landscape simply as a backdrop for illustrating biblical tales and laid the foundation for future landscape artists.. The Italian painter Giorgione (1477-1510) was one of the first masters of the Venetian High Renaissance. His works are notable for their poetic qualities. nullA man, possibly a soldier, holding a long staff or pike is standing in contrapposto on the left. He smiles and glances to the right, but does not appear to be looking at the woman. Art historians have identified the man alternatively as a soldier, a shepherd, a gypsy or a member of a club of unmarried men. X-rays of the painting have revealed that in the place of the man, Giorgione originally painted another female nude. To some, he represents steadfastness. They point to the pillars behind him: pillars often symbolize force and steadfastness. However, the pillars are broken — a classic symbol of death. Everything seems to anticipate the storm. The colors are subdued, the lighting is soft. Greens and blues dominate. The landscape is not a mere backdrop: Giorgione painted a landscape with figures rather than the other way around. The painting has a wonderful, silent atmosphere which continues to fascinate modern viewers.nullnullnullThe first female reclining nude in European painting is Giorgione's The Sleeping Venus, painted in 1510. It pictures a reclining nude and is one of the first modern works of art in which the female figure is the principal and only subject of the picture. Giorgione's Sleeping Venus is to the development of the painted nude as Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa (1505) is to the development of the painted portrait. It inaugurated the nude in a landscape setting as one of the great themes of European art. Giorgione's contouring line and modeling of paint suggests true feeling and form. Not painted for sexual desire or erotic stimulation, she is depicted as a goddess sleeping and unaware you are peeping in on her. Giorgione has made us the spectators, voyeurs into her private world. He has taken this subject seriously and for the first time the female nude is painted poetry with a new visual language. nullThe scenery of Giorgione's Sleeping Venus is characterized by contrasts: she is set underneath a protective, lush hill on the left, an approaching storm in the far center and a multilevel villa on the right. Yet the effect is completely unified. The very presence of the beautiful Venus is one of the mysteries of European painting. It is the outstanding masterpiece of the Venetian Renaissance, the summit of Giorgione's creative career. However, he died before he could complete it, therefore, the painting may have been completed by his pupil, Titian. nullLeonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)was known not only as a masterful painter but as an architect, sculptor, engineer, and scientist. His pursuit of knowledge was relentless and his discoveries left lasting changes in the fields of art and science. With his sophisticated skills and love for learning, Leonardo was the quintessential Renaissance man. He painted The Last Supper between 1495 and 1497.nullLeonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Florentine artist, one of the great masters of the High Renaissance, celebrated as a painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, and scientist. His profound love of knowledge and research was the keynote of both his artistic and scientific endeavors. His innovations in the field of painting influenced the course of Italian art for more than a century after his death, and his scientific studies—particularly in the fields of anatomy, optics, and hydraulics—anticipated many of the developments of modern science.null“A good painter has two chief objects---to paint man and the intention of his soul. The former is easy, the latter hard, for if must be expressed by gestures and the movement of the limbs….” Anthony Blunt: Artist Theory in Italy, 1450-1600nullnullnullLeonardo’s The Last Supper Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper (about 1495-1497) decorates the walls at the monastery of the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan, Italy. The figure of Christ forms the calm center of the painting, while the disciples seated to his right and left respond in agitation to his announcement that “One of you shall betray me.” The fourth figure from the left end is Judas, who betrays Christ and is shown pulling away from him in the painting.nullnullnullMona Lisa Mona Lisa (1503-1506, Louvre, Paris), Leonardo da Vinci’s world-famous portrait, was the artist’s favorite painting; in fact, it went everywhere with him. Although there have been many theories about the origin of the inexplicable smile on the woman’s face, it was probably just the result of Leonardo’s interest in natural chiaroscuro (the effect of light and shadow on the subject).Michelangelo (1475-1564) Michelangelo (1475-1564) Michelangelo (1475-1564), Italian painter, sculptor, architect, and poet whose artistic accomplishments exerted a tremendous influence on his contemporaries and on subsequent European art. Michelangelo considered the male nude to be the foremost subject in art, and he explored its range of movement and expression in every medium. Even his architecture has a human aspect to it, in which a door, window, or support may refer to the face or body, or the position of architectural elements may suggest muscular tension. nullMichelangelo created a style of art in which he freed himself from the old tradition of decoration on the one hand and documentary realism on the other. Art was to him the means by which he expressed his vision of man, man’s beauty, man’s nobility, his own anguish and his own energy, a means by which he made inquiry into the reality.nullnullPietà Pietà (1497-1500, Saint Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City), created by Michelangelo in his early twenties, depicts Mary as a young woman holding the dead Christ in her arms. It is a remarkabl