The Italian Renaissance

Italian Renaissance

• The period started from the early 1300s and ended around 1600
• Renaissance means rebirth
• New ideas and the new way of life were spread through Europe in different ways and during different time periods

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Art and Literature

• Medieval art and literature focused on the Church and salvation.
• Renaissance art and literature focused on individuals and worldly matters, along with Christianity.

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Music

• Unlike visual arts - no Greek and Roman music models
• Middle Ages Music – Mostly Gregorian Chant’s
• Created by the church
• Renaissance music introduced instruments and styles
• Renaissance culture was flooded with music

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Renaissance Art

• Subjects were lifelike
• Used perspective in paintings
• Studied human anatomy
• Great artists were revered & had a prominent place in society
• Art featured both classical mythology as well as religious themes

Painting

• Realistic style
• Giotto = painted famous frescoes = murals/paintings on walls
• Leonardo da Vinci = painted the Mona Lisa & the Last Supper
• Michelangelo = painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

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Sculpture

• Nude figures in bronze & marble
• Resembled ancient Greek & Roman statues
• Donatello, Michelangelo, Ghiberti = came from Florence
• Famous statue by Michelangelo = Statue of David

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Renaissance Art

Michelangelo Buonarroti

• Michelangelo in his heart considered himself a sculptor first, a painter second.

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David

• His most famous sculpture, it resides in the Accademia museum in Florence, Italy
• Carved out of a single slab of stone, the statue is 14.24 ft tall
• From the Biblical story of David and Goliath, it was meant to symbolize the heroic courage of the people of Florence

The Sistine Chapel

• Commissioned by Pope Julius ll to sculpt a tomb, but project was switched to painting the chapel ceiling instead
• He was given carte blanche, and painted his vision of the Old Testament stories in 9 large rectangular panels.
• Contains approx. 400 life size figures, over a space of 5600 square feet
• Painted on his back, using custom scaffolding 59 feet above the floor
• Completed between 1508-1512. He said of the work, “After 4 tortured years, I felt as old and as weary as Jeremiah. I was only 37, yet friends did not recognize the old man I had become.”

Sculpture

• Important in the early and high Renaissance
• Movement toward portraying the body as though it were made of real muscle and bone
• Donatello’s - David

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Painting - Realism

• While Medieval artists represented their ideas as symbols, Renaissance painters aimed for realism.
• Medieval artists organized space in succeeding planes; Renaissance artists gave depth and perspective.

Raphael Sanzio

• 1483-1520
• Artistic talent and “sweet and gracious nature”
• Blended Christian and classical styles
• Tender portrayals of the Madonna (mother of Jesus)
• The School of Athens

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Literature

• Poetry in the Renaissance became one of the most valued forms of literature and was often accompanied by music. 
• An increased interest in human behavior – Both good and evil
• Love
• Loss
• Betrayal
• Vengeance
• Man v. Gods

Giovanni Boccaccio

• "The Decameron," written by Giovanni Boccaccio in the 14th century, consists of 100 tales told by a group of young people sheltering from the Black Death
• The book was a social commentary on society, morality, and human nature.
• "The Decameron" served as a model for the development of the modern short story genre.

The Decameron

• Tragic and comic views of life and presented characters’ individuality and uniqueness
• Stories
• “Masetto Pretends to Be Mute” - Masetto, a handsome young man, pretends to be deaf and mute to get a job at a convent. The nuns, thinking he can’t tell anyone their secrets, take turns sleeping with him.
• “The Man Who Hid in a Chest While His Wife Slept With a Priest”
• “The Friar Who Heard Confessions a Little Too Well”

The Decameron

• The Decameron isn’t just entertainment—it captures the complex emotions of life, showing how people find laughter, love, and meaning even in the darkest times.
• Realistic portrayals of everyday people—rich and poor, clever and foolish
• Themes of Pain and Loss - Highlights the fragility of happiness and the cost of passion
• Told stories of romantic love, forbidden relationships, and sacrifice
• “The Tragic Love of Ghismonda” - Ghismonda, a noblewoman, falls in love with a servant, but when her father discovers the relationship, he kills the man and sends her his heart. Heartbroken, she drinks poison and dies beside it, choosing love in death over life without it.

Niccolo Machiavelli

• Niccolò Machiavelli, a Renaissance political philosopher and diplomat
• Wrote “The Prince” – A political guidebook in the early 16th century
• The book was originally intended as a guide for rulers on how to maintain power and control
• He argued that rulers must be logical and willing to use any means necessary, including dishonesty and violence, to achieve their goals and maintain stability

Machiavelli

• Addressed the imperfection of humans and that what was morally right was not always politically effective
• "The Prince" famously argues that rulers should not be bound by traditional ethical or moral constraints.
• Claims that the successful ruler must sometimes act in ways that are perceived as cruel or immoral for the greater good of the state.
• This idea challenged conventional moral and religious beliefs, sparking controversy and debate about the role of ethics in government.
• His name has become associated with manipulation, reflecting the enduring impact of his ideas on Western thought.

Leonardo da Vinci

• He was a singer, artist, scientist, and inventor
• Painted the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper

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Leonardo Da Vinci

• 1452-1519
• Thought of himself as an artist
• Botany, anatomy, optics, music, architecture, engineering
• Made sketches of flying machines and undersea boats centuries before actually built
• Painted the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper

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The Printing Press

• Johannes Gutenberg was first European to develop movable type – lead to the mass production of books.
• Writings from Miguel de Cervantes, William Shakespeare, and many Protestant reformers spread across Europe as a result

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Why was Gutenberg’s Printing Press Important?

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• The printing press was used to spread ideas through literature
• People learned to read in order to read the Bible
• Johann Gutenberg invented the movable type printing press
• The invention of paper also provided bookmakers with an effective way to spread ideas in a more inexpensive way
• The people now did not have to rely on the church and the monks hand copying the writing
• Classic writing from Greece and Rome as well as from current authors were easily spread throughout the land

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