Renaissance Art and Architecture

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Background

1050–1350• Population growth• Economic development• City-states

1200–late 1500s• Artistic achievements

Giovanni Bellini, Sacra Conversazione

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Renaissance Italy

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Florence

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Intellectual Developments

• Humanism• Revival of antiquity• Importance of the individual• Celebration of humanity• Secular/worldly focus

The Birth of Venus by Botticelli

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Renaissance Art:Techniques and Themes

• Increasing focus on secular rather than religious subjects

• Realistic-looking figures and scenes

• Perspective/depth• Sense of movement,

activity• Symmetry/

proportionality

Italian Renaissance Artists

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Masaccio Raphael Leonardo da Vinci Michelangelo

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Renaissance Sculpture• Classical influences• Realistic-looking faces• Symmetry/proportionality• Sense of movement/activity

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Renaissance Architecture

• Classical influences• Mathematical harmony• The circle

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Changes in Literature

• More secular, less religious• Focused on “Ideals”: ideal ruler,

gentleman, state• Use of vernacular• Wrote for self-expression or to

portray the individuality of their subjects

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Italian Renaissance Writers

Dante Petrarch Boccaccio

Castiglione Machiavelli

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Northern Renaissance

• Ideas of the Renaissance Spread north to France, England, and Flanders (modern-day Benelux area)

• They spread as a result of scholars and students as well as trade and war.

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Comparison between Italian Renaissance and Northern Renaissance

• Because of a lack of middle class, monarchs and nobles were patrons of the arts instead of merchants

• More interested in religious/Christian themes, ideas and values

• However, like the Italian Renaissance, they still valued individualism and classical learning (Greek and Roman works)

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Characteristics of Northern Renaissance Art

• Highly realistic• More subtle colors• Christian Symbolism• Ex. Arnolfini Marriage

by Jan van Eyck

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The Northern Renaissance Artists

Albrecht Durer Hans Holbein

the Younger

Jan van EyckPieter Bruegel

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Northern Renaissance WritingHumanism-focus on human potential and

achievements belief that human was good versus sinful

• Shakespeare- English, wrote in vernacular, drew from the classics

• Rabelais- French, wrote in vernacular, believed humans were essentially good.

• Sir Thomas More - English, wrote in Latin, put to death• Erasmus – Dutch, wrote in Latin, strongly Christian even

though he makes fun on the church, believed in Christianity of the heart.

• Chaucer – English, wrote in vernacular, his most famous work Canterbury Tales is about a pilgrimage to a sacred shrine.

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The Printing Press

• Printing occurred in China and Korea first

• Inventor and Printer Johann Gutenberg was first in Western Europe

• The Bible was the first book printed

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Effects of the Printing Press

With the invention of the printing press:• Increase in the number of books (and use

of vernacular), so books were less expensive

• Encouraged literacy and learning• New ideas spread quickly• People formed their own opinions about

religion (people had a Bible to read)

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End of the Renaissance

• Ushered in the “Modern Era”• The belief in the dignity and worth of the

individual played a key role in the gradual rise of democratic ideals

• A spirit of inquiry (questioning) was present and influenced religion (Reformation), exploration (Age of Exploration), science and politics (Enlightenment)